Explain a concept - A guide to research tools!

Choosing a Research Topic

Subject Area – A Place to Start

There is a big difference between a "subject area" of research interest and a "research topic." Subject areas are quite broad and cover too much material for a meaningful research project. A very common problem students have with research assignments is that they often select subject areas rather than specific research topics to write their paper on. This can make the research process overwhelming, frustrating, unfocused.

For example: "consumption" or "overpopulation" are very broad subject areas. There are entire books written on both of them!

How to go from Subject Area to Research Topic:

Ų There are several ways to narrow your topic:

Limit to a particular event
Limit to a particular geographic region
Limit to an ethnic group
Limit by chronological era
Limit by a particular approach

Ų Form your research topic into a question - if you can't, this may mean that you need to define and narrow down your topic further.

For example: "overpopulation"--> Does population growth threaten our environment?

Ų Note that sometimes topics may be too narrow, technical, or peculiar for extensive research. Always ask yourself:

      o        can the answer to my research question be found in a single source (ex. an encyclopedia or statistical source)?     o        can the answer to my research question be a simple 'yes' or 'no'?
o        is the information I need contained in highly technical journals written in language I may not understand?
o        is my topic so unusual that it would be difficult to research?

Examples: Good, Too Broad or Too Narrow?

should governments promote population control?
what are the effects of consumption?
what is the present rate of population growth?

Starting points .... Encyclopedias and other reference sources

One way to start your project is by using one of our online encyclopedias to explore in general what other people have researched and found about your subject. These sources may also give you ideas on how best to narrow down your subject to a researchable topic by narrowing it down to a specific question or aspect.

Our library subscribes both to individual electronic encyclopedias on different subjects (click here to see the whole list) and also to huge online reference collections (kinda like "virtual" big library collections of reference materials...) such as Credo Reference and Oxford Reference Online. Credo, in particular, is one of my favorite new subscriptions, an award winning database providing access to the full text of hundreds of highly regarded titles! How to access and explore these wonderful resources? See instructions below...

go to our library homepage.
under the category Quick facts: Encyclopedias, stats, etc. click on Encyclopedias (alternatively, you may also find these sources under the category Articles & More: Databases, under Encyclopedias and other sources).
Go ahead and try a search in Credo Reference or any of the individual online titles such as the Dictionary of American History, Encyclopedia of Bioethics, Encyclopedia of Education, etc! They are easy to use and search!

Additional databases to gather your first sources

The two databases below can be a big help as you brainstorm possible research topics/questions and also as you gather some of your most important sources for your project :

CQ Researcher - A great source for in-depth, objective analysis of contemporary, controversial issues. Topics range from social and teen issues to environment, health, education, and science and technology.

Opposing Viewpoints - Another great resource for controversial social issues! Offers viewpoint articles, topic overviews, full-text magazine, academic journal, and newspaper articles, primary source documents, statistics, images and podcasts, and links to websites.

Here is one way to access these two wonderful databases (there are other places where these two databases are also listed on our library web site):

go to the Campus Library homepage
under the heading, Articles & More: Databases, select "Encyclopedias and other sources"
find th link for the CQ Researcher and/or Opposing Viewpoints alphabetically.
once in these web sites, note that you may either search or simply browse by topic (in the CQ Researcher the "Browse by Topic" link is n the left blue panel). For more information on these two databases, visit: http://web.cocc.edu/thovekamp/lib127/researchideas/PART4amain.html

How do I find additional journal articles?

Need to explore more for your sources? COCC has paid subscriptions to many periodical databases.

Here is how you may access these databases:

go to the Campus Library homepage (http://campuslibrary.cocc.edu/)
under the heading "Articles & more: Databases," select "All Databases" to see an alphabetical list of all databases or select by subject. A good academic database for most disciplines is Ebsco's Academic Search Premier. For more information on how to use this or other Ebsco databases, see: http://web.cocc.edu/thovekamp/lib127/EBSCO.html
in addition, if you are looking for newspaper articles, keep in mind that LexisNexis is a huge full-text database specializing in news sources. For more information on how to use Lexis-Nexis visit: http://web.cocc.edu/thovekamp/lib127/LexisNexis.html

Search Hints
All databases are slightly different, but here are a few hints you should be able to apply in all.

Start with keyword searching. If you find a highly relevant article, look at its subjects and try those subjects.
Use quotation marks for phrases, for example "blood pressure."
Use or to link synonyms.
Use and to combine concepts.
Check out those dropdown boxes! They can be very helpful.
If possible and appropriate, limit searches to scholarly articles.

Note that a good number of databases give you the article in full text, right there on the screen. To get to that full text, just click on the html or pdf full text link under the article in your results list. You can also limit your search results to only full text.

If an article is not available full text, the database may give you the option to request it through Interlibrary loan. Just look for the link that will allow you to place your request online! Articles requested through interlibrary loan are usually delivered to you electronically (check your COCC email) within 7-10 days.

Need more help? Contact Tina Hovekamp, thovekamp@cocc.edu

Last updated 10/7/09