Information Literacy Modules: 4 Research as Inquiry

Research is a Process

Used with permission from UW Libraries / Kali Stoeher & Anna Eisen Research 101: Research is a Process
Research is a Process Transcript available at bottom of box

Background Information

What is Background Information?

It’s reading up on the subject before you make too many decisions about how you’re going to approach your research. It introduces you to a topic before you dive in, pretending to be an expert.

You wouldn’t start to build a house without a floor plan, would you? Surely, you wouldn’t cook a seven-course meal without checking on the ingredients you need? For both building a house and preparing an elaborate meal, planning is essential.

Background information serves the same purpose in research. It is the foundation on which you build good research.

Why is Background Information Important?

• It helps you to focus on names, dates, events, organizations, terms, etc., associated with a topic.
• It can help you to formulate/reformulate your topic (or, to put it another way, it can help you decide whether to broaden or narrow your topic).
• Background sources might include bibliographies that you can use to find additional sources for your project.

Where Do You Find Background Information?

Encyclopedias are good sources for background information. You may choose to use a general encyclopedia, such as World Book Encyclopedia, or a specialized encyclopedia such as Encyclopedia of Early Childhood Education.

The type of specialized encyclopedia you use might depend on the approach you plan to take in your research. For instance, if you need an encyclopedia article on love, there are several options, including World Book Encyclopedia as a general encyclopedia, or Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology, and Encyclopedia of Bioethics as specialized encyclopedias.

Library Resources

To access background material in the library you can search the library catalog or you could explore some of our databases.

Library Catalog

The Library Catalog (also sometimes referred to as Primo or our Discovery Tool) is a great place to search for books and ebooks to help with your background research. You can find the link to the Catalog on the A-Z database list, beneath the PHSC banner. The Electronic Library Resources link in your Canvas courses also goes to Primo - Library Catalog. Section 5 will discuss searching the library catalog in more detail.

Look for books with the word "encyclopedia" or "handbook" in the title, as these generally will give broader overviews on a topic. 

If you are interested in researching Ancient Greece, you could do an advanced search under everything with the keywords encyclopedia and Greece in the title and the material type set to books.

Note that because I am looking for books and ebooks, I should change the first drop menu to "Books and More" instead of the default Books and Articles -(other options are Books and Articles, Articles and More). I also want my key words to be in the title, so I changed the second drop menu to "title". Other options are:

• Author/Creator
• Subject
• ISBN
• ISSN

Limit to eBooks

If I only want to see eBooks I can use the left sidebar tools to filter to only the books available online.

Library Databases

In addition to the library catalog, we have databases which can be used to aid with background research. If you aren't sure which databases to use, ask a PHSC librarian- we are always happy to help!

There is a link to the databases on the Primo- Library Catalog page. Above the search box you will see a link to A-Z Databases. Click that link and you are taken to an A to Z list of databases page. You can scan through the list, or choose from the drop-down menus--for example, you can search for a specific subject area:

You can scroll down that list of subjects and find the reference area, a good place to begin research:

Searching through these reference sources will help you to clarify your research objectives. Oxford Reference Online Premium and Virtual Reference Library are excellent places to begin research (they especially provide resources on a broad range of topics).

Depending on what your topic is, there are other databases which can also provide excellent background information. If you are looking at history, some of the ABC-CLIO databases under the subject "social sciences" would be helpful. For your research on Ancient Greece, the database Ancient World History is a great option. If you are researching a person, the database Biography (Gale in Context) can help.

Develop a Research Question

When you start to do research, you aren't always given a specific research question. You need to identify and narrow a topic and develop an appropriate research question. 

Narrowing a Topic

Sometimes you don't know exactly what your research question is. You need to gather information on the broader topic to explore options and new possibilities to help you narrow your topic

Choose an Interesting Topic

If you are interested in your topic, chances are that others will be as well. Plus, researching is more fun if you enjoy what you are reading about!

Gather Background Information

Look for some of those references sources that were discussed in 4.3. Wikipedia articles can provide some good background information on a wide variety of topics

Ask yourself:

• What subtopics relate to the broader topic?
• What questions do these sources raise?
• What do you find interesting about the topic?
• Who would be interested in the issue? (consider your audience)

Examples

You want to find a topic that can be researched (not too narrow or too broad). Think about the following three questions. Can they be researched? Are they too broad, or not well defined?

1. Does McDonald's or Burger King make a better burger?
2. Is Prozac a good treatment for clinical depression in certain cases?
3. What effects does television viewing have?

Question 1: As worded, it has no concrete meaning. What is meant by "better"? Better in terms of nutrition? Better tasting? Better value? Fewer calories? Better for making kids happy? This question is not researchable. Only if you define its terms could this question become researchable. 

Question 2: You would have to sift through a lot of information, both pro and con, in order to choose the best information to answer the research question and support your own point of view, but there is enough information to sift through. This question is researchable.

Question 3: As worded, this question is too broad. What kind of effects? Effects on whom? This question is too broad to be researchable. A researchable version would be: Is there a link between hours of television viewing and violent behavior in children aged 8-14?

From Topic to Research Question

After choosing a topic and gathering background information, add focus with a research question.

Explore Questions

• Ask open-ended "how" and "why" questions about your general topic.
• Consider the "so what" of your topic. Why does this topic matter to you? Why should it matter to others?
• Reflect on the questions you have considered. Identify one or two questions you find engaging and which could be explored through research.

Determine and Evaluate Your Research Question

• What aspect of the more general topic will you explore?
• Is your research question clear?
• Is your research question focused? (Research questions must be specific enough to be well covered in the space available).
• Is your research question complex? (Questions shouldn't have a simple yes/no answer. They should require research and analysis).

Hypothesize

After you have come up with a question, consider the path your answer might take.

• If you are making an argument, what will you say?
• Why does your argument matter?
• How might others challenge your argument?
• What kind of sources will you need to support your argument?

Sample Research Questions

Clarity

Unclear: Why are social networking sites harmful?
Clear: How are online users experiencing or addressing privacy issues on social networking sites like Facebook and Instagram?

Focused

Unfocused: What is the effect on the environment from global warming?
Focused: How is glacial melting affecting penguins in Antarctica?

Simple vs. Complex

Too simple: How are doctors addressing diabetes in the U.S.?
Appropriately complex: What are common traits of those suffering from diabetes in America, and how can these commonalities be used to aid the medical community in prevention of the disease?

Narrow vs. Broad

Too narrow: What is the 2017 rate of juvenile delinquency in the U.S.?
Too broad: What can be done to reduce juvenile delinquency in the U.S.?
Appropriately narrow (focused): How does education effect juvenile delinquents' return to crime?

Adapted from Indiana University Libraries: Narrowing a Topic