English 100 - Professor Walsh - FALL 2024: Understand
Your Topic

Breaking Down The Research Process  

The following outline gives a simple and effective strategy for finding information for a research paper and documenting the sources you find. Depending on your topic and your familiarity with the library, you may need to rearrange or recycle these steps. Adapt this outline to your needs. We are ready to help you at every step in your research.

1. Choose a topic - or have one assigned
2. Understand your topic
   • Background reading
   • Consider a main focus
   • Refine your topic
   • Make a list of your keywords and concepts
3. Search Sources
   • Find Books
   • Find Articles
   • Find Websites
4. Write your paper - Informative, Analytical, Argumentative, Critical
5. Cite your sources

• Look up your keywords in the indexes to subject encyclopedias.

• Read articles in these encyclopedias to set the context for your research.

• Note relevant items in the bibliographies at the end of the encyclopedia articles.

• Additional background information may be found in your lecture notes, textbooks, and reserve readings.

SCIENCE

• Stem cell research offers opportunities for cures but also ethical problems.

HISTORY

• President Franklin Roosevelt’s breaking of the Japanese code and subsequent knowledge of the impending Pearl Harbor attack offers a new perspective on his plans for World War II.

MEDICINE

• Cancer “cures” through the use of food and supplements offer alternatives to traditional cancer “treatments.”

SOCIOLOGY

• Black slave owners in the United States are a forgotten class.

ARCHITECTURE

• Form as a reflection of philosophy and function is exemplified in the buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright.

EDUCATION

• Multiple language acquisition at an early age in some countries provides information on the thinking capabilities of young children.

LITERATURE

• Shakespeare’s discussion of mental and physical disorders reveals an extraordinary knowledge of medicine.

ACTIVITY

• Pick a few statements or research questions and try to come up with a thesis statement for each.
• What keywords would you use in your search for information?
• How would you connect them in a search string?

Progression from Broad Topic to Narrower Topic to Research Question to Thesis

Issue: The quality of online instruction versus traditional face to face instruction.

• Broad Topic: Online Courses
  • Narrowed Topic: The Effectiveness of Online Courses
    • Research Question: Which type of course delivery is more effective—Online or Traditional?
      • Thesis:Traditional courses are more effective than online courses because face to face communication is more efficient and because students are more likely to be engaged in the learning process in a face to face learning community.

  Learn about your topic

Once you have chosen a topic, use general reference sources to better understand it and get background information. Reference sources are a good starting point for your research because they help you become better acquainted with your topic. This will help you refine you topic and come up with keywords to help you find more information.

Below are some of the library's online resources that can help you get some background information on your topic.  These resources are available on and off campus but require a login for off-campus use.  Enter your Cerritos College ID and password when prompted. 

Video Tutorials on Using These Three Databases

Although you probably started with only a broad idea of what you wanted to write about, after testing your topic and doing background reading you should be able to narrow your focus and write your thesis statement. Here are two examples of narrowing a broad topic to come up with a thesis statement:

Sex Discrimination

• Discrimination against women in the workplace
  • Women are given fewer opportunities for advancement in the workplace
    • Although all women come up against the “glass ceiling” it is worse for women who are mothers vs. those who are not.

Eating Disorders

• Anorexia Nervosa
  • Anorexia in teenage girls
    • The media’s portrayal of women contributes significantly to the incidence of anorexia in teenage girls.

Before you get started on your research, it's a good idea to brainstorm a list of keywords for all the key concepts in your research question.

Try some of these steps in thinking of keywords:

• Define your topic - You can't research or write about a topic if you can't articulate what it is.

• Try writing your topic down as a sentence or a question

• Think of keywords to describe each concept involved in your topic

• Focus on synonyms and related terms. What are other ways to state your topic? Is there a specific word that will describe an abstract concept in your topic?

Sample topic: Does the death penalty unfairly target minorities?

Concept 1: death penalty

Alternative Terms: capital punishment, execution

Concept 2: unfairly targeting minorities

Alternative Terms: discrimination, racism, prejudice

Alternative Terms: African-American, Hispanic, ethnic groups

Examples of Search Strings

Simple: "death penalty" and minorities

Complex: (death penalty or capital punishment) and (minorities not african-americans)