Steps of the Research Process

The research process is composed of several steps:

  1. Select a topic that interests you and focus on a specific problem
  2. Develop a one-sentence “thesis statement” that describes or summarizes the problem (it will be much easier to find information if you do this first before you try and look for information!)
  3. Consult background information (like encyclopedias) on your topic to find out more about the history, important developments and events, and the people involved
  4. Figure out the search words and phrases you'll use in book and periodical article databases
  5. Conduct the search, review the results and identify useful sources that support or refute (disprove) your thesis
  6. Evaluate the sources you want to use for reliability, credibility and appropriateness
  7. Properly quote, summarize, or paraphrase the ideas of others and integrate them with your own ideas
  8. Acknowledge and credit the sources you use by citing them in a form that your readers recognize and can find the information later if they choose

Research papers are opportunities to learn new things. Select a topic that interests you and find out something about it you didn't know before. You may find unexpected information that will make you want to broaden or narrow your topic focus. You may even decide after researching a topic that you want to try another topic.

It's a good idea to get started on a topic early in the semester in case you run into problems later.