Step 2 of A Research Process
- A Research Process
- Objectives
- Steps in a Research Process
- Managing an Extended Research Process
- Research or Empirical Research Studies
- Literature Reviews
Step 2: Develop an overview of the topic
This step is most often ignored, but is one of the most important. It will help you to:
- develop an overview of your topic
- gather background information
- refine your topic
- develop a general bibliography
- identify additional keywords related to your topic, useful when searching for additional topic-related information
Working from "general" to "specific" is most effective:
- get an overview of the topic by referring to general encyclopedias, such as the online Encyclopedia Britannica to learn more about the topic
- begin to browse the library's online catalog (OPAC) to find sources held by the library that relate to your topic
- browse subject-based encyclopedias, handbooks and directories to begin to refine your topic
- review the footnotes, endnotes and bibliographies from the end of subject-based encyclopedia and handbook articles to identify related sources
- also refer to bibliographies in course textbooks and reserve readings
- browse subject-related, indexed sources on the World Wide Web to find sources that relate to your topic:
- use the Sawyer Library's Help and Research Guides, and
- use the Sawyer Library's Free Selected Web Sites