research book topic

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 113 great research paper topics.

General Education

One of the hardest parts of writing a research paper can be just finding a good topic to write about. Fortunately we've done the hard work for you and have compiled a list of 113 interesting research paper topics. They've been organized into ten categories and cover a wide range of subjects so you can easily find the best topic for you.

In addition to the list of good research topics, we've included advice on what makes a good research paper topic and how you can use your topic to start writing a great paper.

What Makes a Good Research Paper Topic?

Not all research paper topics are created equal, and you want to make sure you choose a great topic before you start writing. Below are the three most important factors to consider to make sure you choose the best research paper topics.

#1: It's Something You're Interested In

A paper is always easier to write if you're interested in the topic, and you'll be more motivated to do in-depth research and write a paper that really covers the entire subject. Even if a certain research paper topic is getting a lot of buzz right now or other people seem interested in writing about it, don't feel tempted to make it your topic unless you genuinely have some sort of interest in it as well.

#2: There's Enough Information to Write a Paper

Even if you come up with the absolute best research paper topic and you're so excited to write about it, you won't be able to produce a good paper if there isn't enough research about the topic. This can happen for very specific or specialized topics, as well as topics that are too new to have enough research done on them at the moment. Easy research paper topics will always be topics with enough information to write a full-length paper.

Trying to write a research paper on a topic that doesn't have much research on it is incredibly hard, so before you decide on a topic, do a bit of preliminary searching and make sure you'll have all the information you need to write your paper.

#3: It Fits Your Teacher's Guidelines

Don't get so carried away looking at lists of research paper topics that you forget any requirements or restrictions your teacher may have put on research topic ideas. If you're writing a research paper on a health-related topic, deciding to write about the impact of rap on the music scene probably won't be allowed, but there may be some sort of leeway. For example, if you're really interested in current events but your teacher wants you to write a research paper on a history topic, you may be able to choose a topic that fits both categories, like exploring the relationship between the US and North Korea. No matter what, always get your research paper topic approved by your teacher first before you begin writing.

113 Good Research Paper Topics

Below are 113 good research topics to help you get you started on your paper. We've organized them into ten categories to make it easier to find the type of research paper topics you're looking for.

Arts/Culture

• Discuss the main differences in art from the Italian Renaissance and the Northern Renaissance .
• Analyze the impact a famous artist had on the world.
• How is sexism portrayed in different types of media (music, film, video games, etc.)? Has the amount/type of sexism changed over the years?
• How has the music of slaves brought over from Africa shaped modern American music?
• How has rap music evolved in the past decade?
• How has the portrayal of minorities in the media changed?

Current Events

• What have been the impacts of China's one child policy?
• How have the goals of feminists changed over the decades?
• How has the Trump presidency changed international relations?
• Analyze the history of the relationship between the United States and North Korea.
• What factors contributed to the current decline in the rate of unemployment?
• What have been the impacts of states which have increased their minimum wage?
• How do US immigration laws compare to immigration laws of other countries?
• How have the US's immigration laws changed in the past few years/decades?
• How has the Black Lives Matter movement affected discussions and view about racism in the US?
• What impact has the Affordable Care Act had on healthcare in the US?
• What factors contributed to the UK deciding to leave the EU (Brexit)?
• What factors contributed to China becoming an economic power?
• Discuss the history of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies  (some of which tokenize the S&P 500 Index on the blockchain) .
• Do students in schools that eliminate grades do better in college and their careers?
• Do students from wealthier backgrounds score higher on standardized tests?
• Do students who receive free meals at school get higher grades compared to when they weren't receiving a free meal?
• Do students who attend charter schools score higher on standardized tests than students in public schools?
• Do students learn better in same-sex classrooms?
• How does giving each student access to an iPad or laptop affect their studies?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Montessori Method ?
• Do children who attend preschool do better in school later on?
• What was the impact of the No Child Left Behind act?
• How does the US education system compare to education systems in other countries?
• What impact does mandatory physical education classes have on students' health?
• Which methods are most effective at reducing bullying in schools?
• Do homeschoolers who attend college do as well as students who attended traditional schools?
• Does offering tenure increase or decrease quality of teaching?
• How does college debt affect future life choices of students?
• Should graduate students be able to form unions?

• What are different ways to lower gun-related deaths in the US?
• How and why have divorce rates changed over time?
• Is affirmative action still necessary in education and/or the workplace?
• Should physician-assisted suicide be legal?
• How has stem cell research impacted the medical field?
• How can human trafficking be reduced in the United States/world?
• Should people be able to donate organs in exchange for money?
• Which types of juvenile punishment have proven most effective at preventing future crimes?
• Has the increase in US airport security made passengers safer?
• Analyze the immigration policies of certain countries and how they are similar and different from one another.
• Several states have legalized recreational marijuana. What positive and negative impacts have they experienced as a result?
• Do tariffs increase the number of domestic jobs?
• Which prison reforms have proven most effective?
• Should governments be able to censor certain information on the internet?
• Which methods/programs have been most effective at reducing teen pregnancy?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Keto diet?
• How effective are different exercise regimes for losing weight and maintaining weight loss?
• How do the healthcare plans of various countries differ from each other?
• What are the most effective ways to treat depression ?
• What are the pros and cons of genetically modified foods?
• Which methods are most effective for improving memory?
• What can be done to lower healthcare costs in the US?
• What factors contributed to the current opioid crisis?
• Analyze the history and impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic .
• Are low-carbohydrate or low-fat diets more effective for weight loss?
• How much exercise should the average adult be getting each week?
• Which methods are most effective to get parents to vaccinate their children?
• What are the pros and cons of clean needle programs?
• How does stress affect the body?
• Discuss the history of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
• What were the causes and effects of the Salem Witch Trials?
• Who was responsible for the Iran-Contra situation?
• How has New Orleans and the government's response to natural disasters changed since Hurricane Katrina?
• What events led to the fall of the Roman Empire?
• What were the impacts of British rule in India ?
• Was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary?
• What were the successes and failures of the women's suffrage movement in the United States?
• What were the causes of the Civil War?
• How did Abraham Lincoln's assassination impact the country and reconstruction after the Civil War?
• Which factors contributed to the colonies winning the American Revolution?
• What caused Hitler's rise to power?
• Discuss how a specific invention impacted history.
• What led to Cleopatra's fall as ruler of Egypt?
• How has Japan changed and evolved over the centuries?
• What were the causes of the Rwandan genocide ?

• Why did Martin Luther decide to split with the Catholic Church?
• Analyze the history and impact of a well-known cult (Jonestown, Manson family, etc.)
• How did the sexual abuse scandal impact how people view the Catholic Church?
• How has the Catholic church's power changed over the past decades/centuries?
• What are the causes behind the rise in atheism/ agnosticism in the United States?
• What were the influences in Siddhartha's life resulted in him becoming the Buddha?
• How has media portrayal of Islam/Muslims changed since September 11th?

Science/Environment

• How has the earth's climate changed in the past few decades?
• How has the use and elimination of DDT affected bird populations in the US?
• Analyze how the number and severity of natural disasters have increased in the past few decades.
• Analyze deforestation rates in a certain area or globally over a period of time.
• How have past oil spills changed regulations and cleanup methods?
• How has the Flint water crisis changed water regulation safety?
• What are the pros and cons of fracking?
• What impact has the Paris Climate Agreement had so far?
• What have NASA's biggest successes and failures been?
• How can we improve access to clean water around the world?
• Does ecotourism actually have a positive impact on the environment?
• Should the US rely on nuclear energy more?
• What can be done to save amphibian species currently at risk of extinction?
• What impact has climate change had on coral reefs?
• How are black holes created?
• Are teens who spend more time on social media more likely to suffer anxiety and/or depression?
• How will the loss of net neutrality affect internet users?
• Analyze the history and progress of self-driving vehicles.
• How has the use of drones changed surveillance and warfare methods?
• Has social media made people more or less connected?
• What progress has currently been made with artificial intelligence ?
• Do smartphones increase or decrease workplace productivity?
• What are the most effective ways to use technology in the classroom?
• How is Google search affecting our intelligence?
• When is the best age for a child to begin owning a smartphone?
• Has frequent texting reduced teen literacy rates?

How to Write a Great Research Paper

Even great research paper topics won't give you a great research paper if you don't hone your topic before and during the writing process. Follow these three tips to turn good research paper topics into great papers.

#1: Figure Out Your Thesis Early

Before you start writing a single word of your paper, you first need to know what your thesis will be. Your thesis is a statement that explains what you intend to prove/show in your paper. Every sentence in your research paper will relate back to your thesis, so you don't want to start writing without it!

As some examples, if you're writing a research paper on if students learn better in same-sex classrooms, your thesis might be "Research has shown that elementary-age students in same-sex classrooms score higher on standardized tests and report feeling more comfortable in the classroom."

If you're writing a paper on the causes of the Civil War, your thesis might be "While the dispute between the North and South over slavery is the most well-known cause of the Civil War, other key causes include differences in the economies of the North and South, states' rights, and territorial expansion."

#2: Back Every Statement Up With Research

Remember, this is a research paper you're writing, so you'll need to use lots of research to make your points. Every statement you give must be backed up with research, properly cited the way your teacher requested. You're allowed to include opinions of your own, but they must also be supported by the research you give.

#3: Do Your Research Before You Begin Writing

You don't want to start writing your research paper and then learn that there isn't enough research to back up the points you're making, or, even worse, that the research contradicts the points you're trying to make!

Get most of your research on your good research topics done before you begin writing. Then use the research you've collected to create a rough outline of what your paper will cover and the key points you're going to make. This will help keep your paper clear and organized, and it'll ensure you have enough research to produce a strong paper.

What's Next?

Are you also learning about dynamic equilibrium in your science class? We break this sometimes tricky concept down so it's easy to understand in our complete guide to dynamic equilibrium .

Thinking about becoming a nurse practitioner? Nurse practitioners have one of the fastest growing careers in the country, and we have all the information you need to know about what to expect from nurse practitioner school .

Want to know the fastest and easiest ways to convert between Fahrenheit and Celsius? We've got you covered! Check out our guide to the best ways to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit (or vice versa).

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Improve With Our Famous Guides

• For All Students

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points

How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section:

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading

Score 800 on SAT Writing

Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section:

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading

Score 600 on SAT Writing

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For?

15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points

How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section:

36 on ACT English

36 on ACT Math

36 on ACT Reading

36 on ACT Science

Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section:

24 on ACT English

24 on ACT Math

24 on ACT Reading

24 on ACT Science

What ACT target score should you be aiming for?

ACT Vocabulary You Must Know

ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide

Should you retake your SAT or ACT?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Looking for Graduate School Test Prep?

Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here:

GRE Online Prep Blog

GMAT Online Prep Blog

TOEFL Online Prep Blog

Holly R. "I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”

Get Access To 1000+ Research Topic Ideas

If you’re trying to find a suitable research topic for your dissertation, thesis or research project, this is for you. Simply put, this mega list of research topic ideas will help stimulate your thinking and fast-track the topic ideation process.

The list provides 1000+ topic ideas across 25 research areas, including:

• Accounting & finance
• Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning
• Biotech and genetic engineering
• Blockchain and crypto
• Business, management and leadership
• Communication
• Cybersecurity
• Data science and analytics
• Education and training
• Engineering
• Environmental science and climate change
• Law and public policy
• Materials science
• Mental health
• Neuroscience
• Political science
• Psychology and sociology
• Public administration
• Public health and epidemiology
• Robotics and automation

Simply put, this is the largest single source of research topic inspiration you’ll find. Plus, you’ll get free access to our popular webinar , Research Topic Ideation 101, as well as our tried and trusted research proposal template . 

PS – You can also download our free dissertation template below 🙂

Categories:

• The Writing Process

Researching Your Book Topic: A Complete Guide

February 5, 2021 3 min. Read

Research can be complicated, and many authors don’t know where to start. When researching your book topic, it’s easy to get bogged down in the details and stalls the whole process or, worse, derails the book from your initial idea into something you no longer feel passionate about writing.

In our complete guide for researching your book topic, there are two things you need to know:

• -You know enough to write the book but want to add sources and citations to make the text more persuasive and robust.
• – Or you don’t know enough, but you love the topic, so you need to learn more to make the book believable.

Palmetto Publishing has some useful research tips that will help you build a more substantial book while showing you how to get through the research process without wasting time.

Book Research Methods 

Our most salient advice for book research methods is to wait until you finish your rough draft. The problem with researching while you’re writing is that you slow your momentum if you leave your train of thought just to verify a fact. 

Your draft will take longer to finish, and it will be harder to write if you need to jump out of your writing mindset to switch over to research. Trust us on this, don’t do any research until your draft is done but do make notes throughout that make it easier to return to points of the story or narrative that need additional information.

Read Texts on your subject 

When you first start research, you need to understand the big picture and your subject’s context, not so you can tell the readers, but also understand what is necessary for your book. 

With a clear picture of what’s going on to write your story successfully through your research, you can then translate your perspective to your audience.

Delve into other forms of media 

“Write what you know” is standard advice, but you never know what might inspire a chapter, provide a setting, or make a perfect anecdote. There’s no such thing as researching too much: watch documentaries and YouTube videos; Look at art and photography; Talk to friends and strangers alike; Read fiction and nonfiction books that cover similar ground.

It’s antiquated to think your research comes from text sources on the internet or in books. The first-hand experience is best, but not the only way to immerse yourself in a subject. Get creative about what you want to learn about and make it happen. 

Speak to people related to your book topic 

When thinking of where to begin your research, consider another expert in the field. Get an expert’s perspective on the topic and save yourself valuable research time. You should consider speaking to professors, editors, authors, journalists, CEOs, thought leaders, etc. 

However, not all ideas for book topics are going to resonate with people. You can start your research by asking your social media followers for thoughts on your book topic, which can be quite insightful. Also, it would help if you put an abstract together; this will help you reach more people and experts instead of having to explain your idea over and over.

Establishing a system to organize and store research 

Before you start researching or writing, you need to figure out two main things: your audience and your message. This is called book positioning, and it’s an essential part of the book writing process.

You need to compile all your resources together in one place so you can find them later. The organization of your research now will make adding research to your manuscript later easier and quicker. The most important system to use is one that you’ll use. For example, don’t buy an additional software program to separate information if word documents in folders on your desktop work for you. 

Related Articles

The new year’s book writing game plan.

It’s a new year — time to reset, start fresh, and achieve. Whether you’re starting a brand-new project or want to finally finish that…

Did You Miss NaNoWriMo? Don’t Let That Stop You From Writing Your Novel!

Whether you’re an aspiring or seasoned writer, you probably have plenty of exciting ideas for potential novels. But writing, editing, and publishing a book…

Elements of a Great Story

So you're thinking of self-publishing your own book. It's a story that resonates deeply within you that you can't wait to share with the…

Start Your Publishing Journey

• Do you have a manuscript ready?* * Do you have a manuscript ready?* Yes, I'm ready to publish today Yes, I'll be ready to publish in 1 to 3 months Yes, I'll be ready to publish in 3 to 6 months Yes, I’ll be ready to publish in 6 to 12 months No, I do not have a book or manuscript ready
• What type of book do you plan on publishing? * What type of book do you plan on publishing? Business Biography Inspirational Non-Fiction How-To Autobiography/Memoir Self-Help Children's Spiritual/Religious Fiction Art/Photography Cookbook Other
• Name * First Last
• Zip Code * Please enter a number from 00000 to 99999 .

Submitting your information indicates that you have read our privacy policy and give us permission to call, email, and send text messages.

• Email This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Selecting a Research Topic: Overview

• Refine your topic
• Background information & facts
• Writing help

Here are some resources to refer to when selecting a topic and preparing to write a paper:

• MIT Writing and Communication Center "Providing free professional advice about all types of writing and speaking to all members of the MIT community."
• Search Our Collections Find books about writing. Search by subject for: english language grammar; report writing handbooks; technical writing handbooks
• Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation Online version of the book that provides examples and tips on grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and other writing rules.
• Select a topic

Choosing an interesting research topic is your first challenge. Here are some tips:

• Choose a topic that you are interested in! The research process is more relevant if you care about your topic.
• If your topic is too broad, you will find too much information and not be able to focus.
• Background reading can help you choose and limit the scope of your topic. 
• Review the guidelines on topic selection outlined in your assignment.  Ask your professor or TA for suggestions.
• Refer to lecture notes and required texts to refresh your knowledge of the course and assignment.
• Talk about research ideas with a friend.  S/he may be able to help focus your topic by discussing issues that didn't occur to you at first.
• WHY did you choose the topic?  What interests you about it?  Do you have an opinion about the issues involved?
• WHO are the information providers on this topic?  Who might publish information about it?  Who is affected by the topic?  Do you know of organizations or institutions affiliated with the topic?
• WHAT are the major questions for this topic?  Is there a debate about the topic?  Are there a range of issues and viewpoints to consider?
• WHERE is your topic important: at the local, national or international level?  Are there specific places affected by the topic?
• WHEN is/was your topic important?  Is it a current event or an historical issue?  Do you want to compare your topic by time periods?

Table of contents

• Broaden your topic
• Information Navigator home
• Sources for facts - general
• Sources for facts - specific subjects

Start here for help

Ask Us Ask a question, make an appointment, give feedback, or visit us.

• Next: Refine your topic >>
• Last Updated: Jul 30, 2021 2:50 PM
• URL: https://libguides.mit.edu/select-topic

• Boston University Libraries

Choosing a Research Topic

• Starting Points

Where to Find Ideas

Persuasive paper assignments, dissertations and theses.

• From Idea to Search
• Make It Manageable

If you are starting a research project and would like some help choosing the best topic, this guide is for you.  Start by asking yourself these questions:

What does your instructor require? What interests you? What information sources can support your research? What is doable in the time you have?

While keeping these questions in mind, find suggestions in this guide to select a topic, turn that topic into a database search, and make your research manageable.  You will also find more information in our About the Research Process guide.

Whether your instructor has given a range of possible topics to you or you have to come up with a topic on your own, you could benefit from these activities:  

Consult Course Materials If a reading, film, or other resource is selected by your instructor, the subject of it is important to the course. You can often find inspiration for a paper in these materials.

• Is a broad topic presented?  You can focus on a specific aspect of that topic.  For example, if your class viewed a film on poverty in the United States, you could look at poverty in a specific city or explore how poverty affects Americans of a specific gender, ethnic group, or age range.
• Are experts presented, quoted, or cited?  Look up their work in BU Libraries Search or Google Scholar .

Use Background Sources If you've identified one or more topics you'd like to investigate further, look them up in an encyclopedia, handbook, or other background information source.  Here are some good places to start.

• Britannica Academic This link opens in a new window Online version of Encyclopædia Britannica along Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus, magazines and periodicals and other reference sources.
• Oxford Reference This link opens in a new window Published by Oxford University Press, it is a fully-indexed, cross-searchable database containing dictionaries, language reference and subject reference works.

Explore the Scholarly Literature Ask your instructor or a librarian to guide you to the top journals in the field you're studying.  Scanning the tables of contents within these journals will provide some inspiration for your research project.  As a bonus, each of the articles in these journals will have a bibliography that will lead you to related articles, books, and other materials.

Ask a Librarian We are here to help you!  You can request a consultation or contact us by email or through our chat service .  We can help you identify what interests you, where to find more about it, and how to narrow the topic to something manageable in the time you have.

If your assignment entails persuading a reader to adopt a position, you can conduct your research in the same way you would with any other research project. The biggest mistake you can make, however, is choosing a position before you start your research.   Instead, the information you consult should inform your position.  Researching before choosing a position is also much easier; you will be able to explore all sides of a topic rather than limiting yourself to one.

If you would like examples of debates on controversial topics, try these resources:

• CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window Covers the most current and controversial issues of the day with summaries, pros and cons, bibliographies and more. Provides reporting and analysis on issues in the news, including coverage of issues relating to health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy.
• New York Times: Room for Debate Selections from the New York Times' opinion pages.
• ProCon.org Created by Britannica, this site exposes readers to two sides of timely arguments. Each article includes a bibliography of suggested resources.

If you are writing a dissertation or thesis, you will find more specialized information at our Guide for Writers of Theses and Dissertations .

If you would like to find published dissertations and theses, please use this database:

This database contains indexing and abstracts of American doctoral dissertations accepted at accredited institutions since 1861 and a selection from other countries. Masters theses are included selectively. Date coverage: full text 1997 - present; abstracts 1980 - present; indexing 1861 - present.

• Next: From Idea to Search >>
• Last Updated: May 9, 2024 10:27 AM
• URL: https://library.bu.edu/choosing-a-topic

• SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
• COVID-19 Library Updates
• Make Appointment

Research 101 (A How-to Guide): Step 1. Choose a topic

• Step 1. Choose a topic
• Step 2. Get background information
• Step 3. Create a search strategy
• Step 4. Find books and e-books
• Step 5. Find articles
• Step 6. Evaluate your sources
• Step 7. Cite your sources

Step 1. Choose a Topic

Choosing an interesting research topic can be challenging.  This video tutorial will help you select and properly scope your topic by employing questioning, free writing, and mind mapping techniques so that you can formulate a research question.

Good Sources for Finding a Topic

• CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window Browse the "hot topics" on the right hand side for inspiration.
• 401 Prompts for Argumentative Writing, New York Times Great questions to consider for argumentative essays.
• ProCon.org Facts, news, and thousands of diverse opinions on controversial issues in a pro-con format.
• Room For Debate, New York Times This website, created by editorial staff from the New York Times, explores close to 1,500 news events and other timely issues. Knowledgeable outside contributors provide subject background and readers may contribute their own views. Great help for choosing a topic!
• US News & World Report: Debate Club Pro/Con arguments on current issues.
• Writing Prompts, New York Times New York Times Opinion articles that are geared toward students and invite comment.

Tips for Choosing a Topic

• Choose a topic that interests you!   
• Pick a manageable topic, not too broad, not too narrow. Reading background info can help you choose and limit the scope of your topic.
• Review lecture notes and class readings for ideas.
• Check with your instructor to make sure your topic fits with the assignment.

Picking your topic IS research!

• Developing a Research Question Worksheet

Mind Mapping Tools

Mind mapping, a visual form of brainstorming, is an effective technique for developing a topic.  Here are some free tools to create mind maps.

• Bubbl.us Free account allows you to save 3 mind maps, download as image or HTML, and share with others.
• Coggle Sign in with your Google account to create maps that you can download as PDF or PNG or share with others.
• << Previous: Overview
• Next: Step 2. Get background information >>
• Last Updated: Apr 9, 2024 2:36 PM
• URL: https://libguides.depaul.edu/research101

How to Write a Research Paper Book: A Step-by-Step Guide

Affiliate Disclaimer

As an affiliate, we may earn a commission from qualifying purchases. We get commissions for purchases made through links on this website from Amazon and other third parties.

Writing a research paper can be a daunting task, especially for those who are new to the process. However, with the right guidance and approach, anyone can learn how to write a research paper book that is both informative and engaging. In this article, we will provide a step-by-step guide on how to write a research paper book that will help you organize your ideas, conduct research, and present your findings clearly and concisely.

The first step in writing a research paper book is to choose a topic that is both interesting and relevant to your field of study. Once you have chosen a topic, you will need to research to gather information and data that will support your thesis statement. This may involve reading books, articles, and other sources of information, as well as conducting interviews and surveys.

Once you have gathered your research, the next step is to organize your ideas and develop an outline for your book. This will help to ensure that your book is well-structured and easy to follow, and will also help you to identify any gaps in your research that need to be filled. With a clear outline in place, you can begin to write your research paper book , using your research to support your arguments and ideas.

Planning and Preparation

Understanding the Assignment

Before starting to write the research paper, it is important to understand the assignment requirements thoroughly. Understanding the assignment will help in selecting a relevant topic, developing a research question, and conducting research. Students should pay attention to the assignment instructions, including the length of the paper, formatting requirements, and the due date.

Selecting a Topic

Selecting a topic is one of the most important steps in writing a research paper. Students should choose a topic that is interesting and relevant to the assignment. Brainstorming can help generate ideas for the topic. Once a topic is selected, students should develop a research question that is specific, clear, and focused. The research question will guide the research process and ensure that the paper is focused on a specific topic.

Conducting Preliminary Research

Before starting the actual research, it is important to conduct preliminary research to get an overview of the topic. This will help in identifying relevant sources and developing a research plan. Students should use a variety of sources, including books, articles, and websites. They should also pay attention to the credibility and reliability of the sources. Developing research skills is important in conducting effective research.

Overall, planning and preparation are crucial steps in writing a research paper. Understanding the assignment, selecting a topic, and conducting preliminary research will help in developing a focused and relevant research paper.

Structure and Outline

Writing a research paper requires a systematic approach to ensure that the final product is well-structured and easy to read. The following subsections will guide how to create an outline, the components of a research paper, and how to organize chapters.

Creating an Outline

An outline is a crucial step in the research paper writing process . It helps to organize thoughts and ideas and provides a roadmap for the paper. A standard outline includes an introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction should provide a brief overview of the topic and the main objectives of the research. The body should include the main points and arguments, while the conclusion should summarize the findings and provide recommendations for future research.

Research Paper Components

A research paper typically includes several components, including the title page, abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion. The title page should include the title of the paper, the author’s name, and the date of submission. The abstract should provide a brief summary of the paper, including the research question, methodology, and key findings. The introduction should provide background information on the topic and a clear statement of the research question. The literature review should provide an overview of previous research on the topic. The methodology should describe the research design and methods used. The results should present the findings of the research, while the discussion should interpret the results and provide conclusions. The conclusion should summarize the main findings and provide recommendations for future research.

Organizing Chapters

Organizing chapters is an essential part of writing a research paper. Each chapter should focus on a specific aspect of the research question. The introduction chapter should provide background information and a clear statement of the research question. The literature review chapter should provide an overview of previous research on the topic. The methodology chapter should describe the research design and methods used. The results chapter should present the findings of the research. The discussion chapter should interpret the results and provide conclusions. The conclusion chapter should summarize the main findings and provide recommendations for future research.

In conclusion, a well-structured research paper requires a systematic approach that includes creating an outline, understanding the components of a research paper, and organizing chapters. By following these guidelines, researchers can produce a high-quality research paper that is easy to read and understand.

Writing the Paper

When it comes to writing a research paper, the actual writing process can be daunting. However, by following a few key steps, the process can be broken down into manageable chunks. In this section, we will discuss how to craft a thesis statement, develop arguments, and cite sources.

Crafting a Thesis Statement

The thesis statement is the backbone of any research paper. It is a clear and concise statement that summarizes the main point or argument of the paper. A good thesis statement should be specific and debatable, and it should provide a roadmap for the rest of the paper.

To craft a strong thesis statement, the writer should first identify the topic of the paper. From there, they should brainstorm ideas and narrow down their focus until they have a clear argument. Finally, they should refine their argument until it can be expressed in a single, concise sentence.

Developing Arguments

Once the thesis statement is in place, the writer can begin developing their arguments. Each argument should support the thesis statement and be backed up by evidence. The evidence can come from a variety of sources, including scholarly articles, books, and primary sources.

To develop strong arguments, the writer should start by outlining the main points they want to make. From there, they should gather evidence to support each point. Finally, they should organize their arguments logically and coherently.

Citing Sources

Citing sources is an important part of the research paper writing process. It allows the writer to give credit to the original authors and avoid plagiarism. There are two main types of citations: in-text citations and reference list citations.

In-text citations are used to give credit to the original authors within the body of the paper. They typically include the author’s last name and the year of publication. Reference list citations are used to provide more detailed information about the sources used in the paper. They typically include the author’s name, the title of the source, and publication information.

When citing sources, it is important to follow the citation style specified by the instructor or publication. Common citation styles include APA, MLA, and Chicago.

By following these steps, writers can successfully write a research paper that is well-organized, well-supported, and properly cited.

Formatting and Style Guides

When writing a research paper, it is important to follow the appropriate formatting and style guidelines to ensure that your paper is clear, organized, and professional. This section will cover some of the most commonly used formatting and style guidelines, including APA and MLA styles, title page and headings, and references page formatting.

APA and MLA Styles

The American Psychological Association (APA) and Modern Language Association (MLA) are two of the most commonly used style guides for research papers. APA style is often used in the social sciences, while MLA style is often used in the humanities. It is important to consult the appropriate style guide for your field of study to ensure that you are following the correct guidelines.

APA style requires in-text citations with the author’s last name and year of publication, while MLA style requires in-text citations with the author’s last name and page number. Both styles also require references or works cited page at the end of the paper, which must be formatted according to specific guidelines.

Title Page and Headings

The title page of a research paper should include the title of the paper, the author’s name, and the institution where the paper will be submitted. The title should be centered on the page, and the author’s name and institution should be centered below the title. The title page should also include the date of submission.

Headings are an important part of organizing a research paper. They should be used to divide the paper into sections and subsections and should be formatted according to the appropriate style guide. In APA style, headings should be centered and bolded, while in MLA style, headings should be left-aligned and formatted in title case.

References Page Formatting

The references page should include a list of all sources cited in the paper, and should be formatted according to the appropriate style guide. In APA style, the references should be listed alphabetically by the author’s last name, while in MLA style, the works cited should be listed alphabetically by the author’s last name or the title of the work. Each entry should include the author’s name, the title of the work, the date of publication, and other relevant information, depending on the type of source.

In conclusion, following the appropriate formatting and style guidelines is an essential part of writing a research paper. By using the appropriate style guide, formatting the title page and headings correctly, and formatting the references page according to specific guidelines, you can ensure that your paper is clear, organized, and professional.

Revising and Editing

After completing the first draft of a research paper, it is essential to revise and edit it thoroughly to ensure that it is clear, coherent, and free of errors. This section will discuss the key aspects of revising and editing a research paper.

Reviewing for Clarity and Coherence

One of the primary goals of revising a research paper is to improve its clarity and coherence. To achieve this goal, it is crucial to review the paper for the following:

• Logical flow of ideas: Ensure that the ideas presented in the paper are logically connected and presented in a coherent sequence.
• Consistency: Check for consistency in style, tone, and formatting throughout the paper.
• Clarity: Ensure that the language used in the paper is clear, concise, and easily understandable by the target audience.
• Appropriateness: Ensure that the paper meets the requirements of the assignment and addresses the research question or thesis statement.

Checking for Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious offense in academic writing and can result in severe consequences. Therefore, it is essential to check the research paper for plagiarism before submitting it. There are several tools available online that can help detect plagiarism. However, it is important to understand that these tools are not foolproof and may not detect all instances of plagiarism. Therefore, it is essential to review the paper for the following:

• Proper citation: Ensure that all sources used in the paper are properly cited using the appropriate citation style.
• Paraphrasing: Ensure that all paraphrased content is properly cited and does not exceed acceptable limits.
• Direct quotes: Ensure that all direct quotes are properly cited and accurately represent the source.

Final Edits

After reviewing the research paper for clarity, coherence, and plagiarism, it is time to make the final edits. The following are some key aspects to consider during the final editing phase:

• Grammar and spelling: Check for grammar and spelling errors and correct them.
• Formatting: Ensure that the paper follows the appropriate formatting guidelines specified by the instructor or the journal.
• Proofreading: Read through the paper several times to ensure that it is free of errors and flows smoothly.

In conclusion, revising and editing a research paper is a crucial step in the writing process. It helps ensure that the paper is clear, coherent, and free of errors. By following the guidelines discussed in this section, writers can produce high-quality research papers that meet the requirements of their instructors or journals.

Publishing and Submission

Understanding publication requirements.

Before submitting a research paper for publication, it is important to understand the publication requirements of the target journal or publisher. These requirements may include specific formatting guidelines, word count limitations, and citation styles. It is also important to ensure that the research paper meets the scope and focus of the publication.

One way to understand the publication requirements is to review the submission guidelines provided by the journal or publisher. These guidelines may be available on the publication’s website or in the author instructions section of the publication. It is important to carefully review these guidelines to ensure that the research paper meets all of the requirements and guidelines.

Submission Process

Once the research paper is ready for submission, the author can begin the submission process. The submission process may vary depending on the journal or publisher but typically involves submitting the research paper through an online submission system or via email.

Before submitting the research paper, it is important to ensure that all of the submission requirements have been met. This may include providing a cover letter, abstract, and author information. It is also important to ensure that the research paper is properly formatted and meets all of the publication requirements.

After the research paper has been submitted, it will undergo a peer-review process. This process involves experts in the field reviewing the research paper for accuracy, significance, and originality. The author may receive feedback and suggestions for revisions during this process.

Once the research paper has been accepted for publication, the author may need to sign a publishing agreement. This agreement outlines the terms and conditions of publication, including copyright ownership and distribution rights. It is important to carefully review and understand the terms of the publishing agreement before signing.

In conclusion, understanding publication requirements and following the submission process are key steps in successfully publishing a research paper. By carefully reviewing the submission guidelines and ensuring that all requirements have been met, authors can increase their chances of publication success.

Latest posts

Achieving Your Word Count Goals with Daily Sprints: A Guide

Many writers struggle with meeting their word count goals, whether it’s for a school assignment, a blog post, or a novel. It can be frustrating to stare at a blank page or screen and feel like you’re not making progress. However, there is a technique that can help you achieve your word count goals and…

Beat Burnout: Setting Reasonable Writing Expectations

Writing can be a fulfilling and rewarding experience, but it can also be exhausting and draining. Writing burnout is a real phenomenon that can affect anyone, from professional writers to students. When writers push themselves too hard, they can experience stress, lack of motivation, and even physical symptoms like headaches and fatigue. To avoid burnout,…

Dealing with Criticism and Rejection as an Author: Tips and Strategies

As an author, receiving criticism and rejection is an inevitable part of the writing process. It can be difficult to navigate the emotions that come with having your work scrutinized, but it’s important to remember that criticism and rejection are not personal attacks. Instead, they are opportunities for growth and improvement. One way to deal…

Start your research

Picking a good topic, step 1: choose a topic.

The first step in doing research is choosing a good topic. A good research topic should be focused and clear and not something that can be answered by a Google search.

For example, instead of asking "Why is social media harmful?" you could ask, "How is interacting with social media, like TikTok and Twitter, impacting the mental health of college students?"

In choosing a research topic, you should pick something that you are interested in and something that fits the assignment you are doing.

Something else here than explains the stuff.

Watch: Choosing a research topic

• Find ideas and language on a topic using online tools and techniques
• Use techniques like mind mapping, the 5W’s, and freeform writing to narrow a large topic
• Tutorial: Choosing a research paper topic
• << Previous: Home
• Next: Searching Effectively >>

• University of Michigan Library
• Research Guides

Essentials of Library Research

• Choosing Your Topic
• Getting Started
• Finding Books & Media
• Finding Articles & Journals
• Evaluating Information
• Citing Sources

Choosing a Topic

Coming up with a topic for your paper can sometimes be the hardest or most frustrating part of the research process. It can be intimidating to have a big library research task in front of you. Don't worry--just about everyone feels this way at some point! 

And it's O.K. to not feel completely confident about your topic. That is why we do research: to see what is already out there, and then come to a conclusion or make an argument. It may take several iterations before you settle on a final topic or thesis. That's why it's important to start as early as you can, so that you still have enough time for the searching and exploring stage.

See the Finding and Exploring Your Topic Research Guide for more in-depth help for this stage of your research.

Creating Keywords

Building a good search statement will help you find great resources related to your topic. The library's Search Strategy Generator  will help you translate your topic into search terms or keywords.  

Choosing an Argument

The library has some series of books and specialized databases which summarize both sides of an issue. These may help you develop a topic, and help you track down appropriate research.

To find relevant books go to  Library Catalog Search ,  and search one of the following:

" opposing viewpoints "

" contemporary world issues "

Databases & Websites

• Culture Wars in America: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices Encyclopedia covers major topics of contemporary importance to America society.
• CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window CQ Researcher is noted for its in-depth, unbiased coverage of health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy. The Pro/Con section offers succinct articles by experts arguing for and against given topics.
• Issues & Controversies This link opens in a new window Issues and Controversies offers accurate discussions of over 250 controversial topics in the news supplemented with chronologies, illustrations, maps, tables, contact information, and bibliographies including primary source documents and news editorials.
• Opposing Viewpoints in Context This link opens in a new window Covers current social and cultural issues, and includes pro and con "viewpoint" essays, topic overviews, primary sources, and news articles.
• ProCon.org: Pros and Cons of Controversial Issues ProCon.org presents both sides of a current "controversial" issue. The topics on this site include: politics, religion, medicine and health, sports, science, and education.

Narrowing Your Topic

Sometimes a topic that seems like the right size for your paper can seem way too big after you’ve learned a little more about it.   When this happens, you need to narrow the focus of your paper.   You can do this by considering different ways to restrict your paper topic.

Some of the ways you can limit your paper topic are by:

• Who – population or group (e.g., college students; women; Asian Americans)
• What – discipline or focus (e.g., sociological or historical perspective)
• Where – geographic location (e.g., United States; universities; small towns)
• When – time period or era (19 th century; Renaissance; Vietnam War)
• Why – why is the topic important? (to the class, to the field, or to you)

For example, a paper about alcohol use would be very broad.   But a paper about reasons for alcohol abuse by female college students in the United States during the 1990s might be just right.

Broadening Your Topic

Sometimes you will find that your topic is too narrow - there is not enough published on your topic.  When this happens, you can try to broaden your topic.  There are a couple of strategies you can try when broadening your topic.

One strategy is to choose less specific terms for your search, e.g., standardized tests instead of SATs, or performance-enhancing drugs instead of anabolic steroids.

Another strategy is to broaden your topic by changing or removing limits or filters from your topic:

• Who - population or group (e.g., instead of college students, choose a broader section of the population)
• What  - discipline or focus (e.g., instead of choosing a sociological perspective, look at a number of perspectives)
• Where  - geographic location (e.g., instead of Michigan, choose United States)
• When  - time period or era (e.g., instead of 1984, choose 1980s or 20th century)

For example, a paper about alcohol use by college students at the University of Michigan in 1984 might be too narrow of a focus.  But a paper about alcohol use by college students in the 1980s might be just right.

Table of Contents

Tip 1: Start with Your Positioning and Outline

Tip 2: make a research plan, tip 3: ask the internet, tip 4: read books, tip 5: talk to experts, tip 6: collect survey data, tip 7: keep everything organized.

• Tip 8: Set a Deadline & Stop Early

Tip 9: Write the First Draft

How to conduct research for your book: 9 tips that work.

If you’re like many first-time nonfiction writers, you’ve probably wondered, “How do I research for my book?”

I get this question a lot, and there are plenty of tips I can share. But before I dive into it, I’m going to throw you a curveball:

Don’t assume you have to do research for your book.

Because the purpose of nonfiction is to help the reader solve a problem or create change in their life (or both) by sharing what you know. If you can do this without a lot of research, then don’t do research.

We’ve had many Authors who knew their topic so inside and out that they didn’t need research. That is perfectly fine. They still wrote incredible books.

When it boils down to it, there are only 2 reasons to do research for your book:

• You know enough to write the book, but you want to add sources and citations to make the book more persuasive to a specific audience.
• You don’t know enough, and you need to learn more to make the book complete.

We’ve had many Authors who–despite knowing their stuff–wanted to include additional data, expert opinions, or testimonials to ensure that readers would find their arguments credible. This is important to consider if you’re writing for a scientific or technical audience that expects you to cite evidence.

Likewise, we see many Authors who know their industry but have a few knowledge gaps they’d like to fill in order to make their arguments more robust.

In fact, that’s the whole key to understanding how much research you should do. Ask yourself:

What evidence does a reader need to believe your argument is credible and trustworthy?

Research can be complicated, though. Many Authors don’t know where to start, and they get bogged down in the details. Which, of course, derails the book writing process and stalls them–or worse, it stops them from finishing.

The bad news? There’s no “right way” to make a book research plan.

The good news? The basic research tips apply for either person.

In this post, I’ll give you 9 effective research tips that will help you build a stronger, more convincing book.

More importantly, these tips will also show you how to get through the research process without wasting time.

9 Research Tips for Writing Your Book

Don’t jump into research blindly. Treat it like any other goal. Plan, set a schedule, and follow through.

Here are 9 tips that will help you research effectively.

Before you start researching or writing, you need to figure out two main things: your audience and your message.

This is called book positioning , and it’s an essential part of the book writing process.

Your job as an Author is to convince readers that your book will help them solve their problems.

Every piece of research you include in the book–whether it’s a survey, pie chart, or expert testimonial–should help you accomplish that.

Once your positioning is clear, you can put together your book outline.

Your outline is a comprehensive guide to everything in your book, and it is your best defense against procrastination, fear, and all the other problems writers face . It’s crucial if you don’t want to waste time on research you don’t need.

With an outline, you’ll already know what kind of data you need, where your information gaps are, and what kinds of sources might help you support your claims.

We’ve put together a free outline template to make the process even easier.

All this to say: without solid positioning and a comprehensive outline, you’ll wander. You’ll write, throw it away, write some more, get frustrated, and eventually, give up.

You’ll never finish a draft, much less publish your book .

If you don’t know your subject well enough to figure out your positioning and make a good outline, it means you don’t know enough to write that book—at least not right now.

Your plan will vary widely depending on whether you are:

• An expert who knows your field well
• Someone who needs to learn more about your field before writing about it

The majority of you are writing a book because you’re experts. So most of the information you need will already be in your head.

If you’re an expert, your research plan is probably going to be short, to the point, and about refreshing your memory or filling small gaps.

If you’re a non-expert, your research plan is probably going to be much longer. It could entail interviewing experts, reading lots of books and articles, and surveying the whole field you are writing about.

The outline should highlight those places where your book will need more information.

Are there any places where you don’t have the expertise to back up your claims?

What key takeaways require more evidence?

Would the book be stronger if you had another person’s point of view?

These are the kinds of gaps that research can fill.

Go back through your outline and find the places where you know you need more information. Next to each one, brainstorm ways you might fulfill that need.

For example, let’s say you’re writing a book that includes a section on yoga’s health benefits. Even if you’re a certified yoga instructor, you may not know enough physiology to explain the health benefits clearly.

Where could you find that information?

• Ask a medical expert
• A book on yoga and medicine
• A website that’s well respected in your field
• A study published in a medical journal

You don’t have to get too specific here. The point is to highlight where you need extra information and give yourself leads about where you might find it. ​

The kinds of research you need will vary widely, depending on what kind of nonfiction book you’re writing.

For example, if you’re giving medical advice for other experts, you’ll likely want to substantiate it with peer-reviewed, professional sources.

If you’re explaining how to grow a company, you might refer to statistics from your own company or recount specific anecdotes about other successful companies.

If you’re writing a memoir, you won’t need any quantitative data. You might simply talk with people from your past to fill in some gaps or use sources like Wikipedia to gather basic facts.

Different subject matter calls for different sources. If you’re having trouble figuring out what sources your subject needs, ask yourself the same question as above:

Ask yourself what evidence does a reader need to believe your argument is credible and trustworthy?

Generally speaking, an expert can do their research before they start writing, during, or even after (depending on what they need).

If you’re a non-expert, you should do your research before you start writing because what you learn will form the basis of the book.

It may sound obvious, but the internet is a powerful research tool and a great place to start. But proceed with caution: the internet can also be one of the greatest sources of misinformation.

If you’re looking for basic info, like for fact-checking, it’s fantastic.

If you’re looking for academic information, like scientific studies, it can be useful. (You might hit some paywalls, but the information will be there.)

If you’re looking for opinions, they’ll be abundant.

Chances are, though, as you look for all these things, you’re going to come across a lot of misleading sources—or even some that straight-up lie.

Here are some tips for making sure your internet research is efficient and effective:

• Use a variety of search terms to find what you need. For example, if you’re looking for books on childhood development, you might start with basic terms like “childhood development,” “child psychology,” or “social-emotional learning.”
• As you refine your knowledge, refine your searches. A second round of research might be more specific, like “Piaget’s stages of development” or “Erikson’s psychosocial theories.”
• Don’t just stop with the first result on Google. Many people don’t look past the first few results in a Google search. That’s fine if you’re looking for a recipe or a Wikipedia article, but the best research sources don’t always have the best SEO. Look for results that seem thorough or reputable, not just popular.
• Speaking of Wikipedia, don’t automatically trust it. It can be a great place to start if you’re looking for basic facts or references, but remember, it’s crowd-sourced. That means it’s not always accurate. Get your bearings on Wikipedia, then look elsewhere to verify any information you’re going to cite.
• Make sure your data is coming from a reputable source. Google Scholar, Google Books, and major news outlets like NPR, BBC, etc. are safe bets. If you don’t recognize the writer, outlet, or website, you’re going to have to do some digging to find out if you can trust them.
• Verify the credentials of the Author before you trust the site. People often assume that anything with a .edu domain is reputable. It’s not. You might be reading some college freshman’s last-minute essay on economics. If it’s a professor, you’re probably safe.

Using a few random resources from the internet is not equivalent to conducting comprehensive research.

If you want to dive deeper into a topic, books are often your best resources.

They’re reliable because they’re often fact-checked, peer-reviewed, or vetted. You know you can trust them.

Many Authors are directly influenced by other books in their field. If you’re familiar with any competing books, those are a great place to start.

Use the internet to find the best books in each field, and then dive into those.

Your book will have a different spin from the ones already out there, but think of it this way: you’re in the same conversation, which means you’ll probably have many of the same points of reference.

Check out the bibliographies or footnotes in those books. You might find sources that are useful for your own project.

You might want to buy the books central to your research. But if you aren’t sure if something’s going to be useful, hold off on hitting Amazon’s “one-click buy.”

Many Authors underestimate the power of their local libraries. Even if they don’t have the book you’re looking for, many libraries participate in extensive interlibrary loan programs. You can often have the books you need sent to your local branch.

Librarians are also indispensable research resources. Many universities have subject-specific research librarians who are willing to help you find sources, even if you aren’t a student.

Research doesn’t always require the internet or books. Sometimes you need an answer, story, or quotation from a real person.

But make sure you have a decent understanding of your field BEFORE you go to experts with your questions.

I’m an expert at writing nonfiction books, so I speak from personal experience. It’s annoying as hell when people come to you with questions without having done at least a little research on the topic beforehand—especially when you already have a 3,000 word blog post about it.

Experts love it when you’ve done some research and can speak their language. They hate it when you ask them to explain fundamentals.

But once you find a good expert, it condenses your learning curve by at least 10x.

To figure out who you need to talk to, think about the kind of nonfiction book you’re writing.

Is it a book about your own business, products, or methods? You may want to include client stories or testimonials.

In Driven , Doug Brackmann relied on his experience with clients to teach highly driven people how to master their gifts.

Is it a book that requires expert knowledge outside your own area of expertise (for example, a doctor, IT specialist, lawyer, or business coach)? You might want to ask them to contribute brief passages or quotations for your book.

Colin Dombroski did exactly that for his book The Plantar Fasciitis Plan . He consulted with various colleagues, each of whom contributed expert advice for readers to follow.

It’s much easier to contact people who are already in your network. If you don’t personally know someone, ask around. Someone you already know may be able to connect you with the perfect expert.

If that doesn’t work out, you can always try the cold call method. Send a polite email that briefly but clearly explains what your book is about and why you’re contacting them.

If you do this, though, do your research first. Know the person’s name. Don’t use “To whom it may concern.” Know their specialty. Know exactly what type of information you’re seeking. Basically, know why they are the person you want to feature in your book.

Some Authors like to collect surveys for their books. This is very optional, and it’s only applicable in certain books, so don’t assume you need this.

But if you want to include a section in your book that includes how people feel about something (for example, to back up a point you’re making), you might want to have survey data.

You might have access to data you can already cite. The internet is full of data: infographics, Pew data, Nielsen ratings, scholarly research, surveys conducted by private companies.

If you don’t have access to data, you can conduct your own surveys with an online platform like SurveyMonkey. Here’s how:

• Consider your research goals. What are you trying to learn?
• Formulate the survey questions. Most people prefer short, direct survey questions. They’re also more likely to answer multiple-choice questions.
• Invite participants. If you want a reliable survey, it’s best to get as many participants as possible. Surveying three family members won’t tell you much.
• Collect and analyze the data.

That will work for more informal purposes, but surveys are a science unto themselves. If you require a lot of data, want a large sample size, or need high statistical accuracy, it’s better to hire pros. Quantitative data is more effective and trustworthy when it’s properly conducted.

Don’t go overboard with statistics, though. Not all books need quantitative data. There are many other ways to convince readers to listen to your message.

Organize your research as you go. I can’t stress this enough.

If you research for months on end, you might end up with dozens of articles, quotations, or anecdotes. That’s a lot of material.

If you have to dig through every single piece when you want to use something, it’ll take you years to write.

Don’t rely on your memory, either. Three months down the line, you don’t want to ask, “Where did I find this piece of information?” or “Where did that quotation come from?”

I suggest creating a research folder on your computer where you collect everything.

Inside the main folder, create subfolders for each individual chapter (or even each individual subsection of your chapters). This is where your outline will come in handy.

In each folder, collect any pdfs, notes, or images relevant to that section.

Every time you download or save something, give the file a clear name.

Immediately put it into the correct folder. If you wait, you might not remember which part of your book you found it useful for.

Also, be sure to collect the relevant citation information:

• Author’s name
• Title of the book, article, etc.
• The outlet it appeared in (e.g., BBC or Wired) or, if it’s a book, the publisher
• The date it was published
• The page number or hyperlink

If you have photocopies or handwritten notes, treat them the same way. Label them, file them, and add the necessary citation information. This will save you a lot of time when you sit down to write.

Some Authors use programs like Scrivener or Evernote to keep track of their research. I personally use the software program Notion, which is similar to Evernote.

These programs allow you to collect references, notes, images, and even drafts, all in one convenient place.

They save you from having to create your own digital organizational system. They also make it easier to consult documents without opening each file individually.

Once you’ve got a system in place, don’t forget: back up your data. Put it on the cloud, an external hard drive, or both. There’s nothing worse than spending hours on research just to have it disappear when your computer crashes.

All of this takes time, and it may seem tedious. But trust me, it’s a lot more tedious when you’re racing toward your publication deadline, and you’re hunting down random data you quoted in your book.

Tip 8: Set a Deadline & Stop Early

Research is one of the most common ways Authors procrastinate.

When they’re afraid of writing or hit roadblocks, they often say, “Well, I just need to do a little more research…”

Fast-forward two years, and they’re still stuck in the same spiral of self-doubt and research.

Don’t fall into that trap. Learn when to stop.

When I’m writing, I set a research deadline and then stop EARLY. It’s a great way to beat procrastination , and it makes me feel like I’m ahead of the curve.

Here’s the thing: there’s always going to be more information out there. You could keep researching forever.

But then you’d never finish the book—which was the point of the research in the first place.

Plus, excessive research doesn’t make better books . No one wants to read six test cases when one would have worked.

You want to have enough data to convincingly make your case, but not so much that your readers get bogged down by all the facts.

So how will you know when you’ve done enough?

When you have enough data, anecdotes, and examples to address every point on your outline.

Your outline is your guide. Once it’s filled in, STOP .

Remember, the goal of data is to support your claims. You’re trying to make a case for readers, not bludgeon them with facts.

If you feel like you have to go out of your way to prove your points, you have 1 of 2 problems:

• You’re not confident enough in your points, or
• You’re not confident enough in your readers’ ability to understand your claims.

If you’re having the first problem, you may need to go back and adjust your arguments. All the research in the world won’t help support a weak claim.

If you’re having the second problem, ask yourself, If I knew nothing about this subject, what would it take to convince me? Follow through on your answer and trust that it’s enough.

When you think you have enough research, start writing your vomit draft.

If it turns out you’re missing small pieces of information, that’s okay. Just make a note of it. Those parts are easy to go back and fill in later.

Notice: I said “later.” Once you start writing, stop researching.

If you stop writing your first draft to look for more sources, you’ll break the flow of your ideas.

Research and writing are two completely different modes of thinking. Most people can’t switch fluidly between them.

Just get the first draft done.

Remember, the first draft is exactly that—the first draft. There will be many more versions in the future.

It’s okay to leave notes to yourself as you go along. Just be sure to leave yourself a way to find them easily later.

I recommend changing the font color or highlighting your comments to yourself in the draft. You can even use different colors: one for missing data and another for spots you need to fact-check.

You can also use the “insert comment” feature on Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or any other writing software you prefer.

Another useful tip is to simply type “TK.” There’s no word in the English language where those two letters appear together. That means, when you’re ready to go back through your draft, you can use the “Find” option (Control+F). It will take you back to all the spots you marked.

Whatever method you choose, don’t stop writing.

Also, don’t worry about how “good” or “bad” it is at this point. No one ever wrote an amazing first draft. Not even bestselling Authors.

Just keep at it until you have a complete first draft.

That won’t be hard because you won’t be missing any huge pieces. The whole point of the outline was to zero in on exactly what you want to write for the exact audience you want to reach. If you followed that outline when you researched, you’ll be able to stay on track during the writing process.

The Scribe Crew

Read this next.

Audiobooks: Who Benefits Most and Why Authors Should Consider Them

When Should You Hire a Ghostwriter for a Business Book?

How to Write a Motivational Book: How Self-Help Leaders Turn Wisdom into Written Word

info This is a space for the teal alert bar.

notifications This is a space for the yellow alert bar.

Research Process

• Brainstorming
• Explore Google This link opens in a new window
• Explore Web Resources
• Explore Background Information
• Explore Books
• Explore Scholarly Articles
• Narrowing a Topic
• Primary and Secondary Resources
• Academic, Popular & Trade Publications
• Scholarly and Peer-Reviewed Journals
• Grey Literature
• Clinical Trials
• Evidence Based Treatment
• Scholarly Research
• Database Research Log
• Search Limits
• Keyword Searching
• Boolean Operators
• Phrase Searching
• Truncation & Wildcard Symbols
• Proximity Searching
• Field Codes
• Subject Terms and Database Thesauri
• Reading a Scientific Article
• Website Evaluation
• Article Keywords and Subject Terms
• Cited References
• Citing Articles
• Related Results
• Search Within Publication
• Database Alerts & RSS Feeds
• Personal Database Accounts
• Persistent URLs
• Literature Gap and Future Research
• Web of Knowledge
• Annual Reviews
• Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
• Finding Seminal Works
• Exhausting the Literature
• Finding Dissertations
• Researching Theoretical Frameworks
• Research Methodology & Design
• Tests and Measurements
• Organizing Research & Citations This link opens in a new window
• Scholarly Publication
• Learn the Library This link opens in a new window

Finding a Research Topic

Which step of the research process takes the most time?

A. Finding a topic B. Researching a topic C. Both

How did you answer the above question? Do you spend most of your efforts actually researching a topic, or do you spend a lot of time and energy finding a topic? Ideally, you’ll want to spend fairly equal amounts of effort on both. Finding an appropriate and manageable topic can sometimes be just as hard as researching a topic.

A good research topic will have a body of related research which is accessible and manageable. Identifying a topic with these characteristics at the beginning  of the research process will ultimately save you time.

Finding a research topic that is interesting, relevant, feasible, and worthy of your time may take substantial effort so you should be prepared to invest your time accordingly. Considering your options, doing some background work on each option, and ultimately settling on a topic that is manageable will spare you many of the frustrations that come from attempting research on a topic that, for whatever reason, may not be appropriate.

Remember that as you are searching for a research topic you will need to be able to find enough information about your topic(s) in a book or scholarly journal. If you can only find information about your topic(s) in current event sources (newspapers, magazines, etc.) then the topic might be too new to have a large body of published scholarly information. If this is the case, you may want to reconsider the topic(s).

So how do you find a research topic? Unfortunately there’s no directory of topics that you pick and choose from, but there are a few relatively easy techniques that you can use to find a relevant and manageable topic. A good starting point may be to view the Library's Resources for Finding a Research Topic Workshop below.

The sub-pages in this section (on the left-hand menu) offer various tips for where and how to locate resources to develop your research topic. And for additional information on selecting a research topic, see the resources below.

• Defining a Topic - SAGE Research Methods
• Develop My Research Idea - Academic Writer Note: You MUST create an Academic Writer account AND start a paper in order to access this tool. Once you have done so, open a paper and click Research Lab Book in the left navigation menu.
• The Process for Developing Questions - ASC Guide

Resources for Finding a Research Topic Workshop

This workshop will introduce you to library resources which can be used to locate potential topics for a research paper or dissertation. This workshop explores websites, reference books, and scholarly articles, as well as review criteria to consider when selecting a topic.

• Resources for Finding a Research Topic Workshop Outline

Was this resource helpful?

• << Previous: Home
• Next: Brainstorming >>
• Last Updated: May 15, 2024 4:04 PM
• URL: https://resources.nu.edu/researchprocess

© Copyright 2024 National University. All Rights Reserved.

Privacy Policy | Consumer Information

Research Process Guide

• Step 1 - Identifying and Developing a Topic
• Step 2 - Narrowing Your Topic
• Step 3 - Developing Research Questions
• Step 4 - Conducting a Literature Review
• Step 5 - Choosing a Conceptual or Theoretical Framework
• Step 6 - Determining Research Methodology
• Step 6a - Determining Research Methodology - Quantitative Research Methods
• Step 6b - Determining Research Methodology - Qualitative Design
• Step 7 - Considering Ethical Issues in Research with Human Subjects - Institutional Review Board (IRB)
• Step 8 - Collecting Data
• Step 9 - Analyzing Data
• Step 10 - Interpreting Results
• Step 11 - Writing Up Results

Step 1: Identifying and Developing a Topic

Whatever your field or discipline, the best advice to give on identifying a research topic is to choose something that you find really interesting. You will be spending an enormous amount of time with your topic, you need to be invested. Over the course of your research design, proposal and actually conducting your study, you may feel like you are really tired of your topic, however,  your interest and investment in the topic will help you persist through dissertation defense. Identifying a research topic can be challenging. Most of the research that has been completed on the process of conducting research fails to examine the preliminary stages of the interactive and self-reflective process of identifying a research topic (Wintersberger & Saunders, 2020).  You may choose a topic at the beginning of the process, and through exploring the research that has already been done, one’s own interests that are narrowed or expanded in scope, the topic will change over time (Dwarkadas & Lin, 2019). Where do I begin? According to the research, there are generally two paths to exploring your research topic, creative path and the rational path (Saunders et al., 2019).  The rational path takes a linear path and deals with questions we need to ask ourselves like: what are some timely topics in my field in the media right now?; what strengths do I bring to the research?; what are the gaps in the research about the area of research interest? (Saunders et al., 2019; Wintersberger & Saunders, 2020).The creative path is less linear in that it may include keeping a notebook of ideas based on discussion in coursework or with your peers in the field. Whichever path you take, you will inevitably have to narrow your more generalized ideas down. A great way to do that is to continue reading the literature about and around your topic looking for gaps that could be explored. Also, try engaging in meaningful discussions with experts in your field to get their take on your research ideas (Saunders et al., 2019; Wintersberger & Saunders, 2020). It is important to remember that a research topic should be (Dwarkadas & Lin, 2019; Saunders et al., 2019; Wintersberger & Saunders, 2020):

• Interesting to you.
• Realistic in that it can be completed in an appropriate amount of time.
• Relevant to your program or field of study.
• Not widely researched.

Dwarkadas, S., & Lin, M. C. (2019, August 04). Finding a research topic. Computing Research Association for Women, Portland State University. https://cra.org/cra-wp/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2019/04/FindingResearchTopic/2019.pdf

Saunders, M. N. K., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2019). Research methods for business students (8th ed.). Pearson.

Wintersberger, D., & Saunders, M. (2020). Formulating and clarifying the research topic: Insights and a guide for the production management research community. Production, 30 . https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-6513.20200059

• Last Updated: Jun 29, 2023 1:35 PM
• URL: https://libguides.kean.edu/ResearchProcessGuide

How to Organize Research for Your Book

If you’re writing a book, at some point, you’ll need to research, whether it’s a tiny factoid to supplement a scene or story, or a deep dive into psychological studies to build your argument. Conducting research is part of the job description.

The challenge comes in organizing the information so that we can find it during the writing process.

You’ll want to organize it so that it’s accessible and searchable.

It’s easiest to choose your tools and set up your system before you start researching and get buried under a pile of documents and books. If you’re already drowning in PDF’s and resources stored in boxes, notebooks, and fifteen different places on your computer, you’ll need to create a system to transfer, sort, and store all of this information.

This will take time, but it is worth it due to the time you’ll save in the long run by being able to find and access the information when you need it as you write.

Step #1 – Choose your Tools

You can choose either digital tools, analog tools (pen and paper), or a combination of both. No tool is better than another. The best one is the one that works for you and that you’ll actually use.

I use a combination of both analog and digital tools, but you can easily stick with one or the other.

Analog Options:

• labeled file folders
• an indexing system – not high tech – I used a lined sheet of paper for this

Digital Options

There can be a learning curve with some of these but sometimes the time you take to learn is well spent with the time saved searching for things.

• a spreadsheet to summarize and link to different online articles/resources
• A folder system on your computer – you can use the folders, Google Drive, Evernote, Scrivener or whatever other storage tool you like as long as you can have folders to hold links, notes, & documents
• An online database tool like Airtable or Notion – these are highly useful with STEEP learning curves to use effectively – I’m super tech savvy but these two are tough. Users who use them LOVE them, but I personally found the amount of time I was spending learning these tools wasn’t worth it. If you do a ton of research or have a lot of material to index they would be worth the time to master.
• A scanner to scan any hard copies of research you might have such as photos, printed newspaper clippings that you can’t access online, printed notes that you don’t want to type up etc.

Don’t stress too much about getting your system perfect. Choose what feels good and easy. You can always change it or adjust it later, but start with something.

Step #2 – Set up your system

The first step is to set up your folders. These can be digital folders on your computer, paper file folders, or sections in a binder.

First, decide how you will sort your folders. You can organize them by topic/sub-topic, by date/chronology, OR by type of research such as article, interview, photo, map etc.

You might know immediately which one makes the most sense, but if not, take the following steps:

Step #1 – Topic brain dump – You don’t want one big file or folder called “Book Research” with everything shoved inside with no system because you won’t be able to find what you need when you need it. So make a big list of all of the TOPIC areas you might be researching.

These may include key dates, topic areas, the type of research you’re collecting like documents, interviews, studies, maps, photos etc.

List it all out on a piece of paper. This will probably grow as you dive into your project, but once you have a system set up, it’s much easier to add new folders or topics to an existing system.

Here’s an example of topics I researched and had folders on from my historical Overlander’s Series :

• larger topic areas included: wagon trains, Native American tribes, trappers, the Oregon Trail, quilts – 1850
• sub-topics included: emigrants, clothing, food, wagons, maps, routes, deaths, etc.
• key dates: 1847, 1848, 1849
• types of research included: articles, maps, books, photos

Step #2 – Decide on a folder structure

Once you have an idea of your topic areas, you need to choose your folder structure. If you’re using a digital system, you’re going to create a series of nested folders, so you need to decide how to organize your main folders. You can do this by topic, date, or type of information, or some other system that makes sense to you and your content.

If you’re using an analog system, you’re going to have a binder or file drawer for each set of folders.

You’re going to want main folders divided into sub-folders in a nested system, so it will look like this (specific examples shown below):

• sub-topic (if needed)

Choose the overarching structure that makes the most sense for your project and for how your brain works. Below are some specific examples.

Folders Organized by Topic

For fiction, I tend to organize by topic.

Here is an example from The Overlander’s Daughter, my historical novel. The big topics were main folders and the sub-topics became subfolders. Here’s what it looked like:

• packing for the trip – food etc.
• the wagons – size, mechanics etc.
• joining/traveling together, captains
• maps & route information
• descriptions
• historical quilts from 1850’s – images and stories
• common quilt blocks and patterns from the midwest
• info from my Thesis – I did my Master’s Thesis on quilts in 19th-century short stories, so I had some information that I pulled in from that other research project. I did this research in the early 2000’s so it was all on paper and in binders. I had to sort through it and pull out the relevant information so I could index it and reference it. This information got its own subfolder.

Folders Organized by Chapters

For nonfiction, I organize by outline or chapters (which is essentially topic driven). I have a research folder for each chapter, and below that, one for each main topic area in that chapter.

In this structure, you’d have a folder for each chapter with sub-folders for either the topics in that chapter OR for the types of research.

• Stories/anecdotes
• Research Studies/facts
• interviews etc.
• sub-topic 1
• sub-topic 2
• sub-topic 3

Folders Organized by Time/Chronology

For a memoir, a chronological narrative, using dates as your main organizational structure might make the most sense.

Here’s an example of what that might look like:

• big event #1
• topic area #1
• topic area #2
• books (see tip for using kindles/ebooks below)

Step #3 – Organize Your Research

Now comes the real work!

Organizing Paper Resources

If most of your resources are printed on paper, you’re going to use an actual 3-ring binder for your “Main folder.” In your binder, you’ll sort your resources according to your structure and add dividers for each section.

The first page of your binder is a Table of Contents (ToC) or Index for what is in that specific binder. I handwrite this on a lined piece of paper – not fancy. When I start, I write on every 3rd or 4th line, knowing that I’ll be adding things into the binder. On the ToC, I list the title and a super brief summary or just some keywords. If I know that a specific article has information for a specific part of my book, I’ll note that.

I also recreate this into a spreadsheet on my computer, so when I’m writing, I can quickly see what’s in my binders without leaving my computer. It’s also searchable that way.

Your spreadsheet for your “Summer 1982” Binder would look like this:

Your next step is to actually build your binders. You’ll need to sort through all of your research and put each article, PDF, photo, map etc. into the category where it fits best. Create your ToC or Index as you do this.

I know this might sound daunting but if your project is research heavy, this will save a ton of time and allow you to actually utilize all of your research as you write your book.

Organizing Digital Resources

You’ll approach this the same say as your paper resources but you’ll be dragging files and PDF’s into your new nested folder system rather than hole-punching them and sticking them in a binder.

The first step is to create the folder system on your computer. You can do this in the existing folder system, or you might set it up in Evernote, Scrivener, or Google docs.

The next step is to create a searchable spreadsheet for your Table of Contents, similarly to how I described above. If you’re using a 100% digital system, you might not need a spreadsheet as you can search your file structure, but I like to create one so I can see everything in one place and adding keywords or tags is helpful. It’s like the index for a book and helps us find what we need when we need it.

Naming Your Files

One of my clients who was writing a memoir that included a lot of historical information actually created a unique naming system for each document because she had so many. This is above and beyond what I would do, but she was creating a massive spreadsheet from events ranging from 1968-1976. Her system allowed her to sort items according to topic, date, or type of document which helped her as she structured her memoir and sorted through what actually needed to be in her story.

The name of each document followed this format: year-month-topic-type. So all of her folders and specific files looked like: 75-8-rodeo-schedule-pdf.

When we were working together to develop a system to organize the vast amounts of research she had, her face LIT UP when I suggested she create a spreadsheet. She loves spreadsheets and organizing and got excited about a system to name each file and insert it into her spreadsheet. This made perfect sense to her.

Renaming each file like this would make my brain explode, so again, create a system that works for you! It might take a few tries to get something that works AND that you will use, so keep it user friendly for yourself. If it’s too complicated, you won’t use it which defeats the whole purpose.

Moving forward, you’ll want to keep your research organized as you go, so when you find an article or resource, file it into the appropriate folder and immediately list it on your spreadsheet.

Tips for Sorting Research

Tip #1 – Name your folders and files with details and specifics

When you are researching, you’ll find lots of resources with similar information or titles. You’ll also have files with similar topics, so be specific and clear as you name your files. Like my memoir client, you might create a system for naming for each file to help you stay organized.

Tip #2 – Include all of the necessary citation information with the original document.

You do not want to inadvertently plagiarize someone, so make sure you cite every single source that you use. You must give credit where credit is due! For help with citing sources and avoiding plagairizing, the OWL (online writing lab) at Purdue is a great resource.

For a start, in your documents, either handwritten on printed PDF’s or noted on your spreadsheet, make sure you’ve got the author’s name, the book or article title, the date it was published, the date you accessed it, and the page numbers. If you’re using scholarly sources, this is easy to get, but again, check out the OWL for specifics on citations.

Tip #3 – Create a “Link” document for each topic area

If you don’t want to download and print your PDF’s and prefer to keep those sources online, create one Google doc, Word doc, or Scrivener file for online articles where you paste the link and a brief summary. You can also do this on your spreadsheet. Either works well if you want to avoid printing a ton of articles.

Personally, I prefer to print because I take margin notes and sticky notes, and I like having the resources. But, this also adds the step of printing and sorting my resources into a binder and indexing it in my spreadsheet.

Tip #4 – How to use Kindle books for research

This tip comes from Anne Janzer’s book The Writing Process . It’s BRILLIANT. I used to avoid doing any research in books on my kindle until I learned this handy little trick. Now, I use it all the time. If you read on your kindle and find nuggets of useful information that you want to include in a project, you can highlight that information and make a note.

Then, when you get to your computer, open up the kindle app. You can copy and paste your highlighted sections and notes/thoughts directly onto a document on your computer that you can sort and organize in your research system.

Tip #5 – Keep Your Research Organized as You Do It

We think we’ll remember that one great idea or where we found a fact, but while our brains our brilliant, they often don’t remember what we think they will.

As you collect research documents, file them immediately in your system with a clear name (see tip #1).

I’d love to hear any additional tips that you’ve got for sorting and organizing your resources for your book projects.

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Privacy Overview

Introduction to College Research

(5 reviews)

Walter D Butler, Pasadena City College

Aloha Sargent, Cabrillo College

Kelsey Smith, West Hills College Lemoore

Copyright Year: 2021

Publisher: Academic Senate for California Community Colleges

Language: English

Formats Available

Conditions of use.

Learn more about reviews.

Reviewed by Maletta Payne, Systems Administrator/Reference Librarian, Southern University on 4/2/24

Introduction to College Research extends beyond mere language. Each chapter unfolds logically, building upon previous concepts while laying the groundwork for library research. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Introduction to College Research extends beyond mere language. Each chapter unfolds logically, building upon previous concepts while laying the groundwork for library research.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The text is written on timely topics that impact the way researchers synthesize information, using examples from searching the Internet. The author carefully guides the researcher away from the influence of algorithms and leads the reader to the importance of library resources.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The book is relevant to researchers because it introduces readers to an updated approach to understanding information and its impact on society, the importance of research, and how to conduct research without biases.

Clarity rating: 4

By presenting information coherently and systematically, the book ensures that students can navigate its contents with ease, fostering deeper comprehension and retention.

Consistency rating: 4

The book’s consistency builds on the information landscape of how technology is being transformed and how it is evolving to impact learning in the digital age.

Modularity rating: 5

Whether students are seeking a comprehensive overview of research methodology or focusing on specific skills and techniques, they can navigate the book with ease, selecting and sequencing modules according to their preferences and priorities.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Key points are highlighted, summaries are provided for quick reference, and interactive exercises reinforce learning objectives.

Interface rating: 5

The book is intuitive and user-friendly, enhancing the overall learning experience and facilitating engagement with the material.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I did not note any grammatical errors throughout the book.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The Introduction to College Research acknowledges racial bias and challenges the readers to explore use of algorithms that perpetuate these biases.

The book does focus on some databases that may not be applicable to users. Librarians using this book can adapt the information to reflect their community of users.

Reviewed by Kelly Comcowich, Adjunct Instructor, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 2/23/24

The content of this text is clear and concise. I was especially impressed by the first chapter about algorithms and how they create or bias while seeming objective. The chapter on disinformation was also very useful and clear. The text covers... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The content of this text is clear and concise. I was especially impressed by the first chapter about algorithms and how they create or bias while seeming objective. The chapter on disinformation was also very useful and clear. The text covers most of the basic elements of research for an intro to research class.

This text does not have a lot of information on how students might use that information to create written material after completing the research (argument structure, rhetoric, summary, paraphrasing, outlining etc). As such, it would need to be used along with another text in a research WRITING course.

The accuracy of information seemed solid, and the discussion of how bias is created in online algorithms was very informative and well supported.

Most material was very up to date -- the only thing missing was a robust discussion of AI. Perhaps an update about how the algorithims are affecting AI generated material in research might be in order.

Clarity rating: 5

The content of this text is clear and concise.

Consistency rating: 5

There was a lot of consistency and focus in this text. The overarching theme appears to be educating students about media bias, and making them aware of the many issue surrounding this in researching online.

The chapters do hold up seprately, and I plan to use the first chapter about algorithms , the second chapter on disinformation, and the second to last chapter on plagiarism. These separate chapters should be easy to include in various parts of my research writing course.

The structure overall is great -- easy to follow and logical.

Interface rating: 4

The format of the online version was a little frustrating. The text seemed to be broken into tiny bits (perhaps to make it easier to read on a phone screen?). The “next” button was tiny and located in the very bottom of the screen -- took me a little while to find it. I know that students may have this difficulty as well.

The page format and next button are not a huge issues, but the navigation was not as intuitive as other OER texts I have looked at.

Grammar looks good. The structure and writting are clear.

Many of the examples of racial and cultural bias were covered pretty well, and there were a variety of sources used.

Reviewed by Tracy Scharn, Instruction and Outreach Librarian, Oregon Institute of Technology on 6/5/23

This book is explicitly an introduction to the topic of college research. As such, it provides an overview of key information literacy concepts, issues and components in a way that is broad but not deep. In general, it presents a comprehensive... read more

This book is explicitly an introduction to the topic of college research. As such, it provides an overview of key information literacy concepts, issues and components in a way that is broad but not deep. In general, it presents a comprehensive introduction to how information is produced, gathered and used. There is no index, but the table of contents is effective and easy to navigate. There is a glossary. Throughout the book the authors also generally provide in-text or pop-up definitions of key concepts but there are some notable gaps (for instance, not explaining what database aggregators are).

The authors are knowledgeable on the subject and provide information that is accurate and free of errors. The text presents different types of examples and scenarios which impart a balanced understanding of the information landscape and how to approach research within it.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

This book does contain references to current events that will eventually be less relevant (recent elections, news, etc.). However, a book about the information landscape should be updated periodically to reflect current information trends and concerns, and the examples used in the text are highly relevant and engaging. There are links to outside sources (including videos) that may become broken over time.

Because it was designed and written for California community college students and uses library examples that are specific to the California system, users outside that system would need to make adjustments. For instance, the section on how to use OneSearch (a widely used but not universal discovery system) would need to be adapted to local tools, but it provides a good outline of what that section should cover. Additionally, any book that references specific information interfaces (library catalogs, EBSCO databases, etc.) will become out of date when those interfaces change.

Each chapter begins with clearly stated Learning Objectives. The language is accessible -- at times even conversational, which is an asset for this type of text. The authors generally define any jargon or subject-specific terminology. A couple of chapters (particularly the Introduction) suffer from an overuse of quotes that make it harder to follow the flow of text. Throughout the book, information is presented in different ways: text, charts, icons, illustrations, and so on. In several places, multimedia is used to convey more information (chiefly videos). All of these techniques help keep the reader's attention.

The structure of each chapter is usually consistent. There are points throughout the text in which the reader is invited to answer a question or reflect upon a concept, and these boxes are the same color as the quote boxes throughout. That similarity makes it harder for the reader to immediately recognize these invitations to engage.

Modularity rating: 4

The material is generally modular, however a few chapters have points where authors refer readers to a different section of the book. Usually there is enough information in the current chapter to avoid having to jump to a different one, but this does impact the modularity somewhat.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The book follows a logical structure and progression, with later chapters building on information presented in earlier ones. For instance, the book begins with topics that help the reader understand the current information landscape (algorithms, disinformation, information cynicism, etc.) -- aspects of research that can be often be overlooked. This provides a context for understanding the complexity of conducting research and evaluating information, which are covered in later chapters.

The Pressbooks format is easy to use and navigate. The book is also offered in other formats: PDF, EPUB, and MOBI. It can also be ordered as a printed and bound book. The efforts of the authors to be accessible are notable. Images consistently have alt-text or text-based descriptions of the information presented in the image; options are offered to enlarge images for enhanced readability; captions and transcripts are offered for multimedia; and information is often presented in multiple ways to serve different learners.

No major grammatical errors were noted.

The examples, images and multimedia used throughout the book are highly diverse and represent a range of identities. The authors also directly address inequities in the information landscape. This is especially evident in the chapter on algorithmic biases, but is also present in other sections. For example, in their section on the appropriate uses of Wikipedia, they also discuss who is most engaged in the production of Wikipedia's content and what that means for its content coverage.

If your institution uses Canvas, you might be interested in the extensive supplementary materials the authors created for that learning management system. You can freely download and use them in your own Canvas course. Those elements are not reviewed here. Find links to those materials in the chapter titled "A Note for Instructors."

Reviewed by Rachel Milani, Assistant Librarian, Minnesota North College on 5/16/23

This text provides a solid foundation on the subject of college research, covering relevant content areas that impact research and providing sound research strategies. The supplementary Canvas modules add to this, providing resources that... read more

This text provides a solid foundation on the subject of college research, covering relevant content areas that impact research and providing sound research strategies. The supplementary Canvas modules add to this, providing resources that instructors often seek when adopting open resources.

Information provided is accurate. All statistics provided include citations to their sources.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

As technology is an ever evolving tool that directly affects the way we access and consume information, this text will inevitably require updating in future. However, based on the way we presently access and consume information, the information in this text is current and relevant to college research.

The text provides a glossary and in-text definitions for terminology that might be unfamiliar to students, and utilizes said terminology in context so that students can more readily understand the subject matter.

Layout of information and formatting is consistent throughout the text. Each chapter begins with stated learning objectives, and each chapter is broken down into sub-sections that each contain information and source citation. Images, charts, and text blocks are interspersed throughout, making for easier reading.

The text and the accompanying ancillary materials on Canvas are easily broken down into modules that could be utilized on their own or in conjunction with other resources as needed. Each chapter is broken down into easily digestible sub-sections.

This text is well organized, laying a strong foundation by first establishing how algorithms affect the information generated by our searches, and immediately following that up with information on disinformation and how to determine whether a source is accurate and reliable. The text then lays out the different types of information sources and logically walks through the process for researching the primary academic repositories of those sources (namely libraries and databases).

No navigation issues or image distortions are present.

The text utilizes proper grammar and punctuation.

This text covers neutral information and is not insensitive or offensive. The text also covers the issue of bias in information in an objective manner.

Reviewed by kat gullahorn, Lecturer III, University of New Mexico on 5/11/23

This text provides a sound foundation of the subject matter. It covers the major content areas and strategies for an introductory research course and includes a helpful glossary for reference. The supplementary Canvas modules include additional... read more

This text provides a sound foundation of the subject matter. It covers the major content areas and strategies for an introductory research course and includes a helpful glossary for reference. The supplementary Canvas modules include additional instructional objects, assignments, discussions and quizzes.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

Content is neutral, appropriately biased against information biases. there are no apparent errors in the framing or application. Content is easily paired with additional materials.

The content is highly relevant and up-to-date. Content is composed to pages or modules can be easily updated to refresh examples. The illustrations are relevant and informative.

Prose is accessible to the casual reader. Technical jargon is clearly defined and supported with a glossary. The supplemental materials in Canvas are composed to compliment the text.

The layout and content format is consistent throughout the text. The use of color and pattern aid in navigation while alternating text and illustration break up the type into manageable portions. There is a suggested attribution provided at the bottom of each page and a hyperlinked bibliography at the end of each chapter.

Content is scaffolded appropriately and presented in digestible portions of information. Hyperlinks to internal content and external sources are balanced and do not distract the reader. Chapters in the book are parallel with the Canvas modules. Content is brief and concise, allowing space for discussion and creativity in the classroom delivery.

Topics are presented in a logical fashion and chapters appear to be able to re-order without disrupting the reader's experience. The instructor may rearrange topics to appear in an order that suits their objectives, and will not be hindered by linear internal references.

The interface is simple and logical. Navigation is sound. Each piece of content is meaningful; there is no visual noise to distract or confuse the reader. The simplicity leaves room for the instructor to augment or adapt as necessary with the confines of the open license.

No grammatical errors were found.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

The content is neutral and includes exercises and examples from a variety of perspectives.

I am looking forward to interacting more with this text.

Table of Contents

• A Note for Instructors
• Read Online or Download this Book
• Introduction
• The Age of Algorithms
• Disinformation
• Fact-Checking
• Types of Information Sources
• Getting Your Research Started
• Search Strategies
• Finding Materials in the Library
• Using Library Databases
• Searching the Web: Strategies and Considerations
• Ethical and Legal Use of Information
• Citing Sources

Ancillary Material

• Xiaoyang Behlendorf and Cynthia Mari Orozco

About the Book

This book acknowledges our changing information landscape, covering key concepts in information literacy to support a research process with intention. We start by critically examining the online environment many of us already engage with every day, looking at algorithms, the attention economy, information disorder and cynicism, information hygiene, and fact-checking. We then move into an exploration of information source types, meaningful research topics, keyword choices, effective search strategies, library resources, Web search considerations, the ethical use of information, and citation.

About the Contributors

Walter D. Butler,  Pasadena City College

Aloha Sargent,  Cabrillo College

Kelsey Smith,  West Hills College Lemoore

Contribute to this Page

• PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
• EDIT Edit this Article
• EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
• Browse Articles
• Learn Something New
• Quizzes Hot
• This Or That Game
• Train Your Brain
• Explore More
• Support wikiHow
• About wikiHow
• Log in / Sign up
• Education and Communications

How to Research a Topic

Last Updated: January 10, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD and by wikiHow staff writer, Jennifer Mueller, JD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. There are 14 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 293,889 times.

With so much information potentially available at your fingertips, having a research assignment can be daunting. However, if you approach your research methodically, you'll be able to answer any research question in a thoughtful and comprehensive way. Develop a research question that is narrow enough to be addressed within the scope of your paper, then use keywords to find sources that have the information you need. Once you've found several sources, you'll be ready to organize your information into a logical report that adequately answers your question. [1] X Research source

Developing Your Topic

• If you don't understand any aspect of the assignment, don't be afraid to ask your instructor directly. It's better to get an explanation about something than to assume you know what it means and later find out your assumption was incorrect.

• For example, suppose your instructor assigned a research paper about a "public health concern." You might make a list that included such public health concerns as teenage vaping, anti-vaxxers, and drunk driving.
• From your list, choose one area in particular that you want to look at. This is where you'll start your research. For the purposes of this example, assume you chose to research vaping among teenagers.

• If you're doing a general internet search on your topic and not getting back many strong results, there may not be enough information out there for you to research that topic. This is typically rare, though, unless you've started off with a topic that's too narrow. For example, if you want to study vaping in your high school, you might not find enough sources. However, if you expanded your search to include all high schools in your state, you might have more luck.
• If you're not very knowledgeable about your topic, look for a resource that will provide a general overview, so you can become more familiar with possible questions you could answer in your research paper.

• For example, if you wanted to look at teenagers and vaping, you might decide to ask "Are teenagers who vape more likely to smoke than teenagers who don't?"
• How you frame your question also depends on the type of paper you're writing. For example, if you were writing a persuasive research essay, you would need to make a statement, and then back that statement up with research. For example, instead of asking if teenagers who vape are more likely to smoke than teenagers who don't, you might say "Teenagers who vape are more likely to start smoking."

Tip: Be versatile with your research question. Once you start more in-depth research, you may find that you have to adjust it or even change it entirely, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's just part of the process of learning through research.

• Look at the number of results you get, as well as the quality of the sources. You might also try an academic search engine, such as Google Scholar, to see how much academic material is out there on your chosen question.

• For example, if you've selected teenagers who vape, the "who" would be teenagers. If a search of that topic yields too much information, you might scale it back by looking at a specific 5-year period (the "when") or only at teenagers in a specific state (the "where").
• If you needed to broaden your question on the same topic, you may decide to look at teenagers and young adults under the age of 25, not just teenagers.

Finding Quality Sources

• 1- to 2-page paper: 2 to 3 webpages or short journal articles
• 3- to 5-page paper: 4 to 8 journals or scholarly articles, webpages, or books
• 5- to 10-page paper: 6 to 15 journals or scholarly articles, webpages, or books
• 10- to 15-page paper: 12 to 20 journals or scholarly articles, webpages, or books

• For example, if you're researching the prevalence of vaping among teenagers, you might also include "adolescents" and "youth" as synonyms for teenagers, along with "tobacco use" or "e-cigarettes" as synonyms for vaping.
• Take advantage of academic databases available online through your school in addition to the internet.

Tip: Get help from research librarians. They know the most efficient ways to find the information you need and may be able to help you access sources you didn't even know existed.

• Currency : How recent is the information? When was the source last updated?
• Reliability : Are there references for facts and data? Is the content mostly opinion?
• Authority : Who is the creator of the content? Who is the publisher? Are they biased in any way? Does the creator have academic credentials in the field?
• Accuracy : Has the content been peer-reviewed or edited by a third party? Is the information supported by evidence? Can you easily verify facts in another source?
• Purpose/Perspective : Is the content intended to teach you something or to sell you something? Is the information presented biased?

Tip: If your source fails any prong of the CRAAP method, use extreme caution if you refer to it in your research paper. If it fails more than one prong, you're probably better off not using it.

• If an author mentions a particular source more than once, you definitely want to read that material.
• The reference list typically contains enough information for you to find the source on your own. If you find that you can't access the source, for example because it's behind a paywall, talk to your school or a public librarian about it. They may be able to get you access.

• List the citation information for the source at the top of the card, then take notes in your words. Include the page numbers (if applicable) that you would use in your citation.
• If you copy something directly from the source, put quote marks around those words and write the page number (if applicable) where that quote appears. You may also want to distinguish quotes even further, for example, by having quotes in a different color text than your words. This will help protect you against accidental plagiarism .

Organizing Your Information

• Include columns for the full citation and in-text citation for each of your sources. Provide a column for your notes and add them to your spreadsheet. If you have direct quotes, you might include a separate column for those quotes.
• Many word-processing apps have citation features that will allow you to input a new source from a list, so you only have to type the citation once. With a spreadsheet, you can simply cut and paste.

Tip: Even if your word-processing app automatically formats your citation for you, it's good practice to create the citation yourself in your spreadsheet.

• For example, if you were writing a paper on teenagers and vaping, you may have notes related to the age teenagers started vaping, the reasons they started vaping, and their exposure to tobacco or nicotine before they started vaping.
• If you used a digital note-taking app, you typically would categorize your notes by adding tags to them. Some notes may have more than one tag, depending on the information it covered.

• For example, suppose your research indicated that teenagers who vaped were more likely to switch to regular cigarettes if someone in their household smoked. The category covering teenage vapers' exposure to tobacco or nicotine before they started vaping would most likely be the first thing you talked about in your paper, assuming you wanted to put the strongest evidence first.

• Unless your instructor has specific requirements for your outline, you can make it as detailed or as simple as you want. Some people prefer full sentences in their outlines, while others have sections with just a word or two.
• Working through the outline methodically can help you identify information that you don't have yet that you need to support your thesis or answer your research question.

• Even at this late stage, don't be afraid to change your question to more accurately frame your research. Because of your research, you know a lot more about the topic than you did when you first wrote your question, so it's natural that you would see ways to improve it.

• For example, when outlining your paper about teenagers and vaping, you may realize that you don't have any information on how teenagers access e-cigarettes and whether that access is legal or illegal. If you're writing a paper about teenagers vaping as a public health concern, this is information you would need to know.
• It's also likely that as you formulated your outline, you discovered that you didn't need some sources you previously thought would be valuable. In that situation, you may need to seek more sources, especially if throwing out a source took you below the minimum number of sources required for your assignment.

Community Q&A

• Start your research as soon as possible after you get your assignment. If you leave it to the last minute, you won't have time to properly research the topic. You may also find that you overlook important information or make mistakes because you're rushing to finish. Thanks Helpful 4 Not Helpful 0
• Breaking the research process down into small chunks and accomplishing a little each day can help you manage your time. Plan on spending at least as much time researching as you spend writing, if not more. Thanks Helpful 4 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://libguides.uta.edu/researchprocess/organize
• ↑ https://researchguides.ben.edu/topics
• ↑ https://clark.libguides.com/brainstorming
• ↑ https://libraries.indiana.edu/sites/default/files/Develop_a_Research_Question.pdf
• ↑ https://www.nhcc.edu/student-resources/library/doinglibraryresearch/basic-steps-in-the-research-process
• ↑ https://ggu.libguides.com/c.php?g=106905&p=694002
• ↑ https://salve.libguides.com/c.php?g=434998&p=2963676
• ↑ https://guides.lib.lsu.edu/ENG1001/CRAAP
• ↑ https://libguides.sdstate.edu/c.php?g=842619&p=6053357
• ↑ https://advice.writing.utoronto.ca/researching/notes-from-research/
• ↑ https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/writingprocess/organizing
• ↑ https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/outline
• ↑ https://guides.lib.k-state.edu/c.php?g=181829&p=1197416
• ↑ https://guides.lib.k-state.edu/c.php?g=181829&p=1196003

About This Article

To research a topic, you should use scholarly articles, books, and authoritative webpages, since they'll offer the most reliable information. You can find good sources by searching for keywords related to your topic online or using an academic database. For example, if your topic is about saving wild tigers, you could include keywords like "conservation," "tigers," and "wildlife," in your searches. Once you find a source you want to use, double check that it's up to date and written by someone trustworthy before you use it. Additionally, make sure you keep track of all your sources, since you'll need to make a reference list that includes each source you used. For tips on how to come up with a research topic, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

• Send fan mail to authors

Reader Success Stories

Jenna-lea O.

Nov 20, 2023

Did this article help you?

Feb 6, 2017

Oct 27, 2019

Veronica Gilkes

Mar 3, 2017

Shreya Kulhalli

Jul 22, 2016

Featured Articles

Trending Articles

Watch Articles

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Do Not Sell or Share My Info
• Not Selling Info

wikiHow Tech Help Pro:

Level up your tech skills and stay ahead of the curve

• USC Libraries
• Research Guides

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper

• Reading Research Effectively
• Purpose of Guide
• Design Flaws to Avoid
• Independent and Dependent Variables
• Glossary of Research Terms
• Narrowing a Topic Idea
• Broadening a Topic Idea
• Extending the Timeliness of a Topic Idea
• Academic Writing Style
• Applying Critical Thinking
• Choosing a Title
• Making an Outline
• Paragraph Development
• Research Process Video Series
• Executive Summary
• The C.A.R.S. Model
• Background Information
• The Research Problem/Question
• Theoretical Framework
• Citation Tracking
• Content Alert Services
• Evaluating Sources
• Primary Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Tiertiary Sources
• Scholarly vs. Popular Publications
• Qualitative Methods
• Quantitative Methods
• Insiderness
• Using Non-Textual Elements
• Limitations of the Study
• Common Grammar Mistakes
• Writing Concisely
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Footnotes or Endnotes?
• Further Readings
• Generative AI and Writing
• USC Libraries Tutorials and Other Guides
• Bibliography

Reading a Scholarly Article or Research Paper

Identifying a research problem to investigate usually requires a preliminary search for and critical review of the literature in order to gain an understanding about how scholars have examined a topic. Scholars rarely structure research studies in a way that can be followed like a story; they are complex and detail-intensive and often written in a descriptive and conclusive narrative form. However, in the social and behavioral sciences, journal articles and stand-alone research reports are generally organized in a consistent format that makes it easier to compare and contrast studies and to interpret their contents.

General Reading Strategies

W hen you first read an article or research paper, focus on asking specific questions about each section. This strategy can help with overall comprehension and with understanding how the content relates [or does not relate] to the problem you want to investigate. As you review more and more studies, the process of understanding and critically evaluating the research will become easier because the content of what you review will begin to coalescence around common themes and patterns of analysis. Below are recommendations on how to read each section of a research paper effectively. Note that the sections to read are out of order from how you will find them organized in a journal article or research paper.

1.  Abstract

The abstract summarizes the background, methods, results, discussion, and conclusions of a scholarly article or research paper. Use the abstract to filter out sources that may have appeared useful when you began searching for information but, in reality, are not relevant. Questions to consider when reading the abstract are:

• Is this study related to my question or area of research?
• What is this study about and why is it being done ?
• What is the working hypothesis or underlying thesis?
• What is the primary finding of the study?
• Are there words or terminology that I can use to either narrow or broaden the parameters of my search for more information?

2.  Introduction

If, after reading the abstract, you believe the paper may be useful, focus on examining the research problem and identifying the questions the author is trying to address. This information is usually located within the first few paragraphs of the introduction or in the concluding paragraph. Look for information about how and in what way this relates to what you are investigating. In addition to the research problem, the introduction should provide the main argument and theoretical framework of the study and, in the last paragraphs of the introduction, describe what the author(s) intend to accomplish. Questions to consider when reading the introduction include:

• What is this study trying to prove or disprove?
• What is the author(s) trying to test or demonstrate?
• What do we already know about this topic and what gaps does this study try to fill or contribute a new understanding to the research problem?
• Why should I care about what is being investigated?
• Will this study tell me anything new related to the research problem I am investigating?

3.  Literature Review

The literature review describes and critically evaluates what is already known about a topic. Read the literature review to obtain a big picture perspective about how the topic has been studied and to begin the process of seeing where your potential study fits within the domain of prior research. Questions to consider when reading the literature review include:

• W hat other research has been conducted about this topic and what are the main themes that have emerged?
• What does prior research reveal about what is already known about the topic and what remains to be discovered?
• What have been the most important past findings about the research problem?
• How has prior research led the author(s) to conduct this particular study?
• Is there any prior research that is unique or groundbreaking?
• Are there any studies I could use as a model for designing and organizing my own study?

4.  Discussion/Conclusion

The discussion and conclusion are usually the last two sections of text in a scholarly article or research report. They reveal how the author(s) interpreted the findings of their research and presented recommendations or courses of action based on those findings. Often in the conclusion, the author(s) highlight recommendations for further research that can be used to develop your own study. Questions to consider when reading the discussion and conclusion sections include:

• What is the overall meaning of the study and why is this important? [i.e., how have the author(s) addressed the " So What? " question].
• What do you find to be the most important ways that the findings have been interpreted?
• What are the weaknesses in their argument?
• Do you believe conclusions about the significance of the study and its findings are valid?
• What limitations of the study do the author(s) describe and how might this help formulate my own research?
• Does the conclusion contain any recommendations for future research?

5.  Methods/Methodology

The methods section describes the materials, techniques, and procedures for gathering information used to examine the research problem. If what you have read so far closely supports your understanding of the topic, then move on to examining how the author(s) gathered information during the research process. Questions to consider when reading the methods section include:

• Did the study use qualitative [based on interviews, observations, content analysis], quantitative [based on statistical analysis], or a mixed-methods approach to examining the research problem?
• What was the type of information or data used?
• Could this method of analysis be repeated and can I adopt the same approach?
• Is enough information available to repeat the study or should new data be found to expand or improve understanding of the research problem?

6.  Results

After reading the above sections, you should have a clear understanding of the general findings of the study. Therefore, read the results section to identify how key findings were discussed in relation to the research problem. If any non-textual elements [e.g., graphs, charts, tables, etc.] are confusing, focus on the explanations about them in the text. Questions to consider when reading the results section include:

• W hat did the author(s) find and how did they find it?
• Does the author(s) highlight any findings as most significant?
• Are the results presented in a factual and unbiased way?
• Does the analysis of results in the discussion section agree with how the results are presented?
• Is all the data present and did the author(s) adequately address gaps?
• What conclusions do you formulate from this data and does it match with the author's conclusions?

7.  References

The references list the sources used by the author(s) to document what prior research and information was used when conducting the study. After reviewing the article or research paper, use the references to identify additional sources of information on the topic and to examine critically how these sources supported the overall research agenda. Questions to consider when reading the references include:

• Do the sources cited by the author(s) reflect a diversity of disciplinary viewpoints, i.e., are the sources all from a particular field of study or do the sources reflect multiple areas of study?
• Are there any unique or interesting sources that could be incorporated into my study?
• What other authors are respected in this field, i.e., who has multiple works cited or is cited most often by others?
• What other research should I review to clarify any remaining issues or that I need more information about?

NOTE :  A final strategy in reviewing research is to copy and paste the title of the source [journal article, book, research report] into Google Scholar . If it appears, look for a "cited by" followed by a hyperlinked number [e.g., Cited by 45]. This number indicates how many times the study has been subsequently cited in other, more recently published works. This strategy, known as citation tracking, can be an effective means of expanding your review of pertinent literature based on a study you have found useful and how scholars have cited it. The same strategies described above can be applied to reading articles you find in the list of cited by references.

Reading Tip

Specific Reading Strategies

Effectively reading scholarly research is an acquired skill that involves attention to detail and an ability to comprehend complex ideas, data, and theoretical concepts in a way that applies logically to the research problem you are investigating. Here are some specific reading strategies to consider.

As You are Reading

• Focus on information that is most relevant to the research problem; skim over the other parts.
• As noted above, read content out of order! This isn't a novel; you want to start with the spoiler to quickly assess the relevance of the study.
• Think critically about what you read and seek to build your own arguments; not everything may be entirely valid, examined effectively, or thoroughly investigated.
• Look up the definitions of unfamiliar words, concepts, or terminology. A good scholarly source is Credo Reference .

Taking notes as you read will save time when you go back to examine your sources. Here are some suggestions:

• Mark or highlight important text as you read [e.g., you can use the highlight text  feature in a PDF document]
• Take notes in the margins [e.g., Adobe Reader offers pop-up sticky notes].
• Highlight important quotations; consider using different colors to differentiate between quotes and other types of important text.
• Summarize key points about the study at the end of the paper. To save time, these can be in the form of a concise bulleted list of statements [e.g., intro has provides historical background; lit review has important sources; good conclusions].

Write down thoughts that come to mind that may help clarify your understanding of the research problem. Here are some examples of questions to ask yourself:

• Do I understand all of the terminology and key concepts?
• Do I understand the parts of this study most relevant to my topic?
• What specific problem does the research address and why is it important?
• Are there any issues or perspectives the author(s) did not consider?
• Do I have any reason to question the validity or reliability of this research?
• How do the findings relate to my research interests and to other works which I have read?

Adapted from text originally created by Holly Burt, Behavioral Sciences Librarian, USC Libraries, April 2018.

Another Reading Tip

When is it Important to Read the Entire Article or Research Paper

Laubepin argues, "Very few articles in a field are so important that every word needs to be read carefully." However, this implies that some studies are worth reading carefully. As painful and time-consuming as it may seem, there are valid reasons for reading a study in its entirety from beginning to end. Here are some examples:

• Studies Published Very Recently .  The author(s) of a recent, well written study will provide a survey of the most important or impactful prior research in the literature review section. This can establish an understanding of how scholars in the past addressed the research problem. In addition, the most recently published sources will highlight what is currently known and what gaps in understanding currently exist about a topic, usually in the form of the need for further research in the conclusion .
• Surveys of the Research Problem .  Some papers provide a comprehensive analytical overview of the research problem. Reading this type of study can help you understand underlying issues and discover why scholars have chosen to investigate the topic. This is particularly important if the study was published very recently because the author(s) should cite all or most of the key prior research on the topic. Note that, if it is a long-standing problem, there may be studies that specifically review the literature to identify gaps that remain. These studies often include the word review in their title [e.g., Hügel, Stephan, and Anna R. Davies. "Public Participation, Engagement, and Climate Change Adaptation: A Review of the Research Literature." Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 11 (July-August 2020): https://doi.org/10.1002/ wcc.645].
• Highly Cited .  If you keep coming across the same citation to a study while you are reviewing the literature, this implies it was foundational in establishing an understanding of the research problem or the study had a significant impact within the literature [positive or negative]. Carefully reading a highly cited source can help you understand how the topic emerged and motivated scholars to further investigate the problem. It also could be a study you need to cite as foundational in your own paper to demonstrate to the reader that you understand the roots of the problem.
• Historical Overview .  Knowing the historical background of a research problem may not be the focus of your analysis. Nevertheless, carefully reading a study that provides a thorough description and analysis of the history behind an event, issue, or phenomenon can add important context to understanding the topic and what aspect of the problem you may want to examine further.
• Innovative Methodological Design .  Some studies are significant and worth reading in their entirety because the author(s) designed a unique or innovative approach to researching the problem. This may justify reading the entire study because it can motivate you to think creatively about pursuing an alternative or non-traditional approach to examining your topic of interest. These types of studies are generally easy to identify because they are often cited in others works because of their unique approach to studying the research problem.
• Cross-disciplinary Approach .  R eviewing studies produced outside of your discipline is an essential component of investigating research problems in the social and behavioral sciences. Consider reading a study that was conducted by author(s) based in a different discipline [e.g., an anthropologist studying political cultures; a study of hiring practices in companies published in a sociology journal]. This approach can generate a new understanding or a unique perspective about the topic . If you are not sure how to search for studies published in a discipline outside of your major or of the course you are taking, contact a librarian for assistance.

Laubepin, Frederique. How to Read (and Understand) a Social Science Journal Article . Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ISPSR), 2013; Shon, Phillip Chong Ho. How to Read Journal Articles in the Social Sciences: A Very Practical Guide for Students . 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2015; Lockhart, Tara, and Mary Soliday. "The Critical Place of Reading in Writing Transfer (and Beyond): A Report of Student Experiences." Pedagogy 16 (2016): 23-37; Maguire, Moira, Ann Everitt Reynolds, and Brid Delahunt. "Reading to Be: The Role of Academic Reading in Emergent Academic and Professional Student Identities." Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice 17 (2020): 5-12.

• << Previous: 1. Choosing a Research Problem
• Next: Narrowing a Topic Idea >>
• Last Updated: May 18, 2024 11:38 AM
• URL: https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide

What Is Research, and Why Do People Do It?

• Open Access
• First Online: 03 December 2022

Cite this chapter

You have full access to this open access chapter

• James Hiebert 6 ,
• Jinfa Cai 7 ,
• Stephen Hwang 7 ,
• Anne K Morris 6 &
• Charles Hohensee 6  

Part of the book series: Research in Mathematics Education ((RME))

17k Accesses

Abstractspiepr Abs1

Every day people do research as they gather information to learn about something of interest. In the scientific world, however, research means something different than simply gathering information. Scientific research is characterized by its careful planning and observing, by its relentless efforts to understand and explain, and by its commitment to learn from everyone else seriously engaged in research. We call this kind of research scientific inquiry and define it as “formulating, testing, and revising hypotheses.” By “hypotheses” we do not mean the hypotheses you encounter in statistics courses. We mean predictions about what you expect to find and rationales for why you made these predictions. Throughout this and the remaining chapters we make clear that the process of scientific inquiry applies to all kinds of research studies and data, both qualitative and quantitative.

You have full access to this open access chapter,  Download chapter PDF

Part I. What Is Research?

Have you ever studied something carefully because you wanted to know more about it? Maybe you wanted to know more about your grandmother’s life when she was younger so you asked her to tell you stories from her childhood, or maybe you wanted to know more about a fertilizer you were about to use in your garden so you read the ingredients on the package and looked them up online. According to the dictionary definition, you were doing research.

Recall your high school assignments asking you to “research” a topic. The assignment likely included consulting a variety of sources that discussed the topic, perhaps including some “original” sources. Often, the teacher referred to your product as a “research paper.”

Were you conducting research when you interviewed your grandmother or wrote high school papers reviewing a particular topic? Our view is that you were engaged in part of the research process, but only a small part. In this book, we reserve the word “research” for what it means in the scientific world, that is, for scientific research or, more pointedly, for scientific inquiry .

Exercise 1.1

Before you read any further, write a definition of what you think scientific inquiry is. Keep it short—Two to three sentences. You will periodically update this definition as you read this chapter and the remainder of the book.

This book is about scientific inquiry—what it is and how to do it. For starters, scientific inquiry is a process, a particular way of finding out about something that involves a number of phases. Each phase of the process constitutes one aspect of scientific inquiry. You are doing scientific inquiry as you engage in each phase, but you have not done scientific inquiry until you complete the full process. Each phase is necessary but not sufficient.

In this chapter, we set the stage by defining scientific inquiry—describing what it is and what it is not—and by discussing what it is good for and why people do it. The remaining chapters build directly on the ideas presented in this chapter.

A first thing to know is that scientific inquiry is not all or nothing. “Scientificness” is a continuum. Inquiries can be more scientific or less scientific. What makes an inquiry more scientific? You might be surprised there is no universally agreed upon answer to this question. None of the descriptors we know of are sufficient by themselves to define scientific inquiry. But all of them give you a way of thinking about some aspects of the process of scientific inquiry. Each one gives you different insights.

Exercise 1.2

As you read about each descriptor below, think about what would make an inquiry more or less scientific. If you think a descriptor is important, use it to revise your definition of scientific inquiry.

Creating an Image of Scientific Inquiry

We will present three descriptors of scientific inquiry. Each provides a different perspective and emphasizes a different aspect of scientific inquiry. We will draw on all three descriptors to compose our definition of scientific inquiry.

Descriptor 1. Experience Carefully Planned in Advance

Sir Ronald Fisher, often called the father of modern statistical design, once referred to research as “experience carefully planned in advance” (1935, p. 8). He said that humans are always learning from experience, from interacting with the world around them. Usually, this learning is haphazard rather than the result of a deliberate process carried out over an extended period of time. Research, Fisher said, was learning from experience, but experience carefully planned in advance.

This phrase can be fully appreciated by looking at each word. The fact that scientific inquiry is based on experience means that it is based on interacting with the world. These interactions could be thought of as the stuff of scientific inquiry. In addition, it is not just any experience that counts. The experience must be carefully planned . The interactions with the world must be conducted with an explicit, describable purpose, and steps must be taken to make the intended learning as likely as possible. This planning is an integral part of scientific inquiry; it is not just a preparation phase. It is one of the things that distinguishes scientific inquiry from many everyday learning experiences. Finally, these steps must be taken beforehand and the purpose of the inquiry must be articulated in advance of the experience. Clearly, scientific inquiry does not happen by accident, by just stumbling into something. Stumbling into something unexpected and interesting can happen while engaged in scientific inquiry, but learning does not depend on it and serendipity does not make the inquiry scientific.

Descriptor 2. Observing Something and Trying to Explain Why It Is the Way It Is

When we were writing this chapter and googled “scientific inquiry,” the first entry was: “Scientific inquiry refers to the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence derived from their work.” The emphasis is on studying, or observing, and then explaining . This descriptor takes the image of scientific inquiry beyond carefully planned experience and includes explaining what was experienced.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “explain” means “(a) to make known, (b) to make plain or understandable, (c) to give the reason or cause of, and (d) to show the logical development or relations of” (Merriam-Webster, n.d. ). We will use all these definitions. Taken together, they suggest that to explain an observation means to understand it by finding reasons (or causes) for why it is as it is. In this sense of scientific inquiry, the following are synonyms: explaining why, understanding why, and reasoning about causes and effects. Our image of scientific inquiry now includes planning, observing, and explaining why.

We need to add a final note about this descriptor. We have phrased it in a way that suggests “observing something” means you are observing something in real time—observing the way things are or the way things are changing. This is often true. But, observing could mean observing data that already have been collected, maybe by someone else making the original observations (e.g., secondary analysis of NAEP data or analysis of existing video recordings of classroom instruction). We will address secondary analyses more fully in Chap. 4 . For now, what is important is that the process requires explaining why the data look like they do.

We must note that for us, the term “data” is not limited to numerical or quantitative data such as test scores. Data can also take many nonquantitative forms, including written survey responses, interview transcripts, journal entries, video recordings of students, teachers, and classrooms, text messages, and so forth.

Exercise 1.3

What are the implications of the statement that just “observing” is not enough to count as scientific inquiry? Does this mean that a detailed description of a phenomenon is not scientific inquiry?

Find sources that define research in education that differ with our position, that say description alone, without explanation, counts as scientific research. Identify the precise points where the opinions differ. What are the best arguments for each of the positions? Which do you prefer? Why?

Descriptor 3. Updating Everyone’s Thinking in Response to More and Better Information

This descriptor focuses on a third aspect of scientific inquiry: updating and advancing the field’s understanding of phenomena that are investigated. This descriptor foregrounds a powerful characteristic of scientific inquiry: the reliability (or trustworthiness) of what is learned and the ultimate inevitability of this learning to advance human understanding of phenomena. Humans might choose not to learn from scientific inquiry, but history suggests that scientific inquiry always has the potential to advance understanding and that, eventually, humans take advantage of these new understandings.

Before exploring these bold claims a bit further, note that this descriptor uses “information” in the same way the previous two descriptors used “experience” and “observations.” These are the stuff of scientific inquiry and we will use them often, sometimes interchangeably. Frequently, we will use the term “data” to stand for all these terms.

An overriding goal of scientific inquiry is for everyone to learn from what one scientist does. Much of this book is about the methods you need to use so others have faith in what you report and can learn the same things you learned. This aspect of scientific inquiry has many implications.

One implication is that scientific inquiry is not a private practice. It is a public practice available for others to see and learn from. Notice how different this is from everyday learning. When you happen to learn something from your everyday experience, often only you gain from the experience. The fact that research is a public practice means it is also a social one. It is best conducted by interacting with others along the way: soliciting feedback at each phase, taking opportunities to present work-in-progress, and benefitting from the advice of others.

A second implication is that you, as the researcher, must be committed to sharing what you are doing and what you are learning in an open and transparent way. This allows all phases of your work to be scrutinized and critiqued. This is what gives your work credibility. The reliability or trustworthiness of your findings depends on your colleagues recognizing that you have used all appropriate methods to maximize the chances that your claims are justified by the data.

A third implication of viewing scientific inquiry as a collective enterprise is the reverse of the second—you must be committed to receiving comments from others. You must treat your colleagues as fair and honest critics even though it might sometimes feel otherwise. You must appreciate their job, which is to remain skeptical while scrutinizing what you have done in considerable detail. To provide the best help to you, they must remain skeptical about your conclusions (when, for example, the data are difficult for them to interpret) until you offer a convincing logical argument based on the information you share. A rather harsh but good-to-remember statement of the role of your friendly critics was voiced by Karl Popper, a well-known twentieth century philosopher of science: “. . . if you are interested in the problem which I tried to solve by my tentative assertion, you may help me by criticizing it as severely as you can” (Popper, 1968, p. 27).

A final implication of this third descriptor is that, as someone engaged in scientific inquiry, you have no choice but to update your thinking when the data support a different conclusion. This applies to your own data as well as to those of others. When data clearly point to a specific claim, even one that is quite different than you expected, you must reconsider your position. If the outcome is replicated multiple times, you need to adjust your thinking accordingly. Scientific inquiry does not let you pick and choose which data to believe; it mandates that everyone update their thinking when the data warrant an update.

Doing Scientific Inquiry

We define scientific inquiry in an operational sense—what does it mean to do scientific inquiry? What kind of process would satisfy all three descriptors: carefully planning an experience in advance; observing and trying to explain what you see; and, contributing to updating everyone’s thinking about an important phenomenon?

We define scientific inquiry as formulating , testing , and revising hypotheses about phenomena of interest.

Of course, we are not the only ones who define it in this way. The definition for the scientific method posted by the editors of Britannica is: “a researcher develops a hypothesis, tests it through various means, and then modifies the hypothesis on the basis of the outcome of the tests and experiments” (Britannica, n.d. ).

Notice how defining scientific inquiry this way satisfies each of the descriptors. “Carefully planning an experience in advance” is exactly what happens when formulating a hypothesis about a phenomenon of interest and thinking about how to test it. “ Observing a phenomenon” occurs when testing a hypothesis, and “ explaining ” what is found is required when revising a hypothesis based on the data. Finally, “updating everyone’s thinking” comes from comparing publicly the original with the revised hypothesis.

Doing scientific inquiry, as we have defined it, underscores the value of accumulating knowledge rather than generating random bits of knowledge. Formulating, testing, and revising hypotheses is an ongoing process, with each revised hypothesis begging for another test, whether by the same researcher or by new researchers. The editors of Britannica signaled this cyclic process by adding the following phrase to their definition of the scientific method: “The modified hypothesis is then retested, further modified, and tested again.” Scientific inquiry creates a process that encourages each study to build on the studies that have gone before. Through collective engagement in this process of building study on top of study, the scientific community works together to update its thinking.

Before exploring more fully the meaning of “formulating, testing, and revising hypotheses,” we need to acknowledge that this is not the only way researchers define research. Some researchers prefer a less formal definition, one that includes more serendipity, less planning, less explanation. You might have come across more open definitions such as “research is finding out about something.” We prefer the tighter hypothesis formulation, testing, and revision definition because we believe it provides a single, coherent map for conducting research that addresses many of the thorny problems educational researchers encounter. We believe it is the most useful orientation toward research and the most helpful to learn as a beginning researcher.

A final clarification of our definition is that it applies equally to qualitative and quantitative research. This is a familiar distinction in education that has generated much discussion. You might think our definition favors quantitative methods over qualitative methods because the language of hypothesis formulation and testing is often associated with quantitative methods. In fact, we do not favor one method over another. In Chap. 4 , we will illustrate how our definition fits research using a range of quantitative and qualitative methods.

Exercise 1.4

Look for ways to extend what the field knows in an area that has already received attention by other researchers. Specifically, you can search for a program of research carried out by more experienced researchers that has some revised hypotheses that remain untested. Identify a revised hypothesis that you might like to test.

Unpacking the Terms Formulating, Testing, and Revising Hypotheses

To get a full sense of the definition of scientific inquiry we will use throughout this book, it is helpful to spend a little time with each of the key terms.

We first want to make clear that we use the term “hypothesis” as it is defined in most dictionaries and as it used in many scientific fields rather than as it is usually defined in educational statistics courses. By “hypothesis,” we do not mean a null hypothesis that is accepted or rejected by statistical analysis. Rather, we use “hypothesis” in the sense conveyed by the following definitions: “An idea or explanation for something that is based on known facts but has not yet been proved” (Cambridge University Press, n.d. ), and “An unproved theory, proposition, or supposition, tentatively accepted to explain certain facts and to provide a basis for further investigation or argument” (Agnes & Guralnik, 2008 ).

We distinguish two parts to “hypotheses.” Hypotheses consist of predictions and rationales . Predictions are statements about what you expect to find when you inquire about something. Rationales are explanations for why you made the predictions you did, why you believe your predictions are correct. So, for us “formulating hypotheses” means making explicit predictions and developing rationales for the predictions.

“Testing hypotheses” means making observations that allow you to assess in what ways your predictions were correct and in what ways they were incorrect. In education research, it is rarely useful to think of your predictions as either right or wrong. Because of the complexity of most issues you will investigate, most predictions will be right in some ways and wrong in others.

By studying the observations you make (data you collect) to test your hypotheses, you can revise your hypotheses to better align with the observations. This means revising your predictions plus revising your rationales to justify your adjusted predictions. Even though you might not run another test, formulating revised hypotheses is an essential part of conducting a research study. Comparing your original and revised hypotheses informs everyone of what you learned by conducting your study. In addition, a revised hypothesis sets the stage for you or someone else to extend your study and accumulate more knowledge of the phenomenon.

We should note that not everyone makes a clear distinction between predictions and rationales as two aspects of hypotheses. In fact, common, non-scientific uses of the word “hypothesis” may limit it to only a prediction or only an explanation (or rationale). We choose to explicitly include both prediction and rationale in our definition of hypothesis, not because we assert this should be the universal definition, but because we want to foreground the importance of both parts acting in concert. Using “hypothesis” to represent both prediction and rationale could hide the two aspects, but we make them explicit because they provide different kinds of information. It is usually easier to make predictions than develop rationales because predictions can be guesses, hunches, or gut feelings about which you have little confidence. Developing a compelling rationale requires careful thought plus reading what other researchers have found plus talking with your colleagues. Often, while you are developing your rationale you will find good reasons to change your predictions. Developing good rationales is the engine that drives scientific inquiry. Rationales are essentially descriptions of how much you know about the phenomenon you are studying. Throughout this guide, we will elaborate on how developing good rationales drives scientific inquiry. For now, we simply note that it can sharpen your predictions and help you to interpret your data as you test your hypotheses.

Hypotheses in education research take a variety of forms or types. This is because there are a variety of phenomena that can be investigated. Investigating educational phenomena is sometimes best done using qualitative methods, sometimes using quantitative methods, and most often using mixed methods (e.g., Hay, 2016 ; Weis et al. 2019a ; Weisner, 2005 ). This means that, given our definition, hypotheses are equally applicable to qualitative and quantitative investigations.

Hypotheses take different forms when they are used to investigate different kinds of phenomena. Two very different activities in education could be labeled conducting experiments and descriptions. In an experiment, a hypothesis makes a prediction about anticipated changes, say the changes that occur when a treatment or intervention is applied. You might investigate how students’ thinking changes during a particular kind of instruction.

A second type of hypothesis, relevant for descriptive research, makes a prediction about what you will find when you investigate and describe the nature of a situation. The goal is to understand a situation as it exists rather than to understand a change from one situation to another. In this case, your prediction is what you expect to observe. Your rationale is the set of reasons for making this prediction; it is your current explanation for why the situation will look like it does.

You will probably read, if you have not already, that some researchers say you do not need a prediction to conduct a descriptive study. We will discuss this point of view in Chap. 2 . For now, we simply claim that scientific inquiry, as we have defined it, applies to all kinds of research studies. Descriptive studies, like others, not only benefit from formulating, testing, and revising hypotheses, but also need hypothesis formulating, testing, and revising.

One reason we define research as formulating, testing, and revising hypotheses is that if you think of research in this way you are less likely to go wrong. It is a useful guide for the entire process, as we will describe in detail in the chapters ahead. For example, as you build the rationale for your predictions, you are constructing the theoretical framework for your study (Chap. 3 ). As you work out the methods you will use to test your hypothesis, every decision you make will be based on asking, “Will this help me formulate or test or revise my hypothesis?” (Chap. 4 ). As you interpret the results of testing your predictions, you will compare them to what you predicted and examine the differences, focusing on how you must revise your hypotheses (Chap. 5 ). By anchoring the process to formulating, testing, and revising hypotheses, you will make smart decisions that yield a coherent and well-designed study.

Exercise 1.5

Compare the concept of formulating, testing, and revising hypotheses with the descriptions of scientific inquiry contained in Scientific Research in Education (NRC, 2002 ). How are they similar or different?

Exercise 1.6

Provide an example to illustrate and emphasize the differences between everyday learning/thinking and scientific inquiry.

Learning from Doing Scientific Inquiry

We noted earlier that a measure of what you have learned by conducting a research study is found in the differences between your original hypothesis and your revised hypothesis based on the data you collected to test your hypothesis. We will elaborate this statement in later chapters, but we preview our argument here.

Even before collecting data, scientific inquiry requires cycles of making a prediction, developing a rationale, refining your predictions, reading and studying more to strengthen your rationale, refining your predictions again, and so forth. And, even if you have run through several such cycles, you still will likely find that when you test your prediction you will be partly right and partly wrong. The results will support some parts of your predictions but not others, or the results will “kind of” support your predictions. A critical part of scientific inquiry is making sense of your results by interpreting them against your predictions. Carefully describing what aspects of your data supported your predictions, what aspects did not, and what data fell outside of any predictions is not an easy task, but you cannot learn from your study without doing this analysis.

Analyzing the matches and mismatches between your predictions and your data allows you to formulate different rationales that would have accounted for more of the data. The best revised rationale is the one that accounts for the most data. Once you have revised your rationales, you can think about the predictions they best justify or explain. It is by comparing your original rationales to your new rationales that you can sort out what you learned from your study.

Suppose your study was an experiment. Maybe you were investigating the effects of a new instructional intervention on students’ learning. Your original rationale was your explanation for why the intervention would change the learning outcomes in a particular way. Your revised rationale explained why the changes that you observed occurred like they did and why your revised predictions are better. Maybe your original rationale focused on the potential of the activities if they were implemented in ideal ways and your revised rationale included the factors that are likely to affect how teachers implement them. By comparing the before and after rationales, you are describing what you learned—what you can explain now that you could not before. Another way of saying this is that you are describing how much more you understand now than before you conducted your study.

Revised predictions based on carefully planned and collected data usually exhibit some of the following features compared with the originals: more precision, more completeness, and broader scope. Revised rationales have more explanatory power and become more complete, more aligned with the new predictions, sharper, and overall more convincing.

Part II. Why Do Educators Do Research?

Doing scientific inquiry is a lot of work. Each phase of the process takes time, and you will often cycle back to improve earlier phases as you engage in later phases. Because of the significant effort required, you should make sure your study is worth it. So, from the beginning, you should think about the purpose of your study. Why do you want to do it? And, because research is a social practice, you should also think about whether the results of your study are likely to be important and significant to the education community.

If you are doing research in the way we have described—as scientific inquiry—then one purpose of your study is to understand , not just to describe or evaluate or report. As we noted earlier, when you formulate hypotheses, you are developing rationales that explain why things might be like they are. In our view, trying to understand and explain is what separates research from other kinds of activities, like evaluating or describing.

One reason understanding is so important is that it allows researchers to see how or why something works like it does. When you see how something works, you are better able to predict how it might work in other contexts, under other conditions. And, because conditions, or contextual factors, matter a lot in education, gaining insights into applying your findings to other contexts increases the contributions of your work and its importance to the broader education community.

Consequently, the purposes of research studies in education often include the more specific aim of identifying and understanding the conditions under which the phenomena being studied work like the observations suggest. A classic example of this kind of study in mathematics education was reported by William Brownell and Harold Moser in 1949 . They were trying to establish which method of subtracting whole numbers could be taught most effectively—the regrouping method or the equal additions method. However, they realized that effectiveness might depend on the conditions under which the methods were taught—“meaningfully” versus “mechanically.” So, they designed a study that crossed the two instructional approaches with the two different methods (regrouping and equal additions). Among other results, they found that these conditions did matter. The regrouping method was more effective under the meaningful condition than the mechanical condition, but the same was not true for the equal additions algorithm.

What do education researchers want to understand? In our view, the ultimate goal of education is to offer all students the best possible learning opportunities. So, we believe the ultimate purpose of scientific inquiry in education is to develop understanding that supports the improvement of learning opportunities for all students. We say “ultimate” because there are lots of issues that must be understood to improve learning opportunities for all students. Hypotheses about many aspects of education are connected, ultimately, to students’ learning. For example, formulating and testing a hypothesis that preservice teachers need to engage in particular kinds of activities in their coursework in order to teach particular topics well is, ultimately, connected to improving students’ learning opportunities. So is hypothesizing that school districts often devote relatively few resources to instructional leadership training or hypothesizing that positioning mathematics as a tool students can use to combat social injustice can help students see the relevance of mathematics to their lives.

We do not exclude the importance of research on educational issues more removed from improving students’ learning opportunities, but we do think the argument for their importance will be more difficult to make. If there is no way to imagine a connection between your hypothesis and improving learning opportunities for students, even a distant connection, we recommend you reconsider whether it is an important hypothesis within the education community.

Notice that we said the ultimate goal of education is to offer all students the best possible learning opportunities. For too long, educators have been satisfied with a goal of offering rich learning opportunities for lots of students, sometimes even for just the majority of students, but not necessarily for all students. Evaluations of success often are based on outcomes that show high averages. In other words, if many students have learned something, or even a smaller number have learned a lot, educators may have been satisfied. The problem is that there is usually a pattern in the groups of students who receive lower quality opportunities—students of color and students who live in poor areas, urban and rural. This is not acceptable. Consequently, we emphasize the premise that the purpose of education research is to offer rich learning opportunities to all students.

One way to make sure you will be able to convince others of the importance of your study is to consider investigating some aspect of teachers’ shared instructional problems. Historically, researchers in education have set their own research agendas, regardless of the problems teachers are facing in schools. It is increasingly recognized that teachers have had trouble applying to their own classrooms what researchers find. To address this problem, a researcher could partner with a teacher—better yet, a small group of teachers—and talk with them about instructional problems they all share. These discussions can create a rich pool of problems researchers can consider. If researchers pursued one of these problems (preferably alongside teachers), the connection to improving learning opportunities for all students could be direct and immediate. “Grounding a research question in instructional problems that are experienced across multiple teachers’ classrooms helps to ensure that the answer to the question will be of sufficient scope to be relevant and significant beyond the local context” (Cai et al., 2019b , p. 115).

As a beginning researcher, determining the relevance and importance of a research problem is especially challenging. We recommend talking with advisors, other experienced researchers, and peers to test the educational importance of possible research problems and topics of study. You will also learn much more about the issue of research importance when you read Chap. 5 .

Exercise 1.7

Identify a problem in education that is closely connected to improving learning opportunities and a problem that has a less close connection. For each problem, write a brief argument (like a logical sequence of if-then statements) that connects the problem to all students’ learning opportunities.

Part III. Conducting Research as a Practice of Failing Productively

Scientific inquiry involves formulating hypotheses about phenomena that are not fully understood—by you or anyone else. Even if you are able to inform your hypotheses with lots of knowledge that has already been accumulated, you are likely to find that your prediction is not entirely accurate. This is normal. Remember, scientific inquiry is a process of constantly updating your thinking. More and better information means revising your thinking, again, and again, and again. Because you never fully understand a complicated phenomenon and your hypotheses never produce completely accurate predictions, it is easy to believe you are somehow failing.

The trick is to fail upward, to fail to predict accurately in ways that inform your next hypothesis so you can make a better prediction. Some of the best-known researchers in education have been open and honest about the many times their predictions were wrong and, based on the results of their studies and those of others, they continuously updated their thinking and changed their hypotheses.

A striking example of publicly revising (actually reversing) hypotheses due to incorrect predictions is found in the work of Lee J. Cronbach, one of the most distinguished educational psychologists of the twentieth century. In 1955, Cronbach delivered his presidential address to the American Psychological Association. Titling it “Two Disciplines of Scientific Psychology,” Cronbach proposed a rapprochement between two research approaches—correlational studies that focused on individual differences and experimental studies that focused on instructional treatments controlling for individual differences. (We will examine different research approaches in Chap. 4 ). If these approaches could be brought together, reasoned Cronbach ( 1957 ), researchers could find interactions between individual characteristics and treatments (aptitude-treatment interactions or ATIs), fitting the best treatments to different individuals.

In 1975, after years of research by many researchers looking for ATIs, Cronbach acknowledged the evidence for simple, useful ATIs had not been found. Even when trying to find interactions between a few variables that could provide instructional guidance, the analysis, said Cronbach, creates “a hall of mirrors that extends to infinity, tormenting even the boldest investigators and defeating even ambitious designs” (Cronbach, 1975 , p. 119).

As he was reflecting back on his work, Cronbach ( 1986 ) recommended moving away from documenting instructional effects through statistical inference (an approach he had championed for much of his career) and toward approaches that probe the reasons for these effects, approaches that provide a “full account of events in a time, place, and context” (Cronbach, 1986 , p. 104). This is a remarkable change in hypotheses, a change based on data and made fully transparent. Cronbach understood the value of failing productively.

Closer to home, in a less dramatic example, one of us began a line of scientific inquiry into how to prepare elementary preservice teachers to teach early algebra. Teaching early algebra meant engaging elementary students in early forms of algebraic reasoning. Such reasoning should help them transition from arithmetic to algebra. To begin this line of inquiry, a set of activities for preservice teachers were developed. Even though the activities were based on well-supported hypotheses, they largely failed to engage preservice teachers as predicted because of unanticipated challenges the preservice teachers faced. To capitalize on this failure, follow-up studies were conducted, first to better understand elementary preservice teachers’ challenges with preparing to teach early algebra, and then to better support preservice teachers in navigating these challenges. In this example, the initial failure was a necessary step in the researchers’ scientific inquiry and furthered the researchers’ understanding of this issue.

We present another example of failing productively in Chap. 2 . That example emerges from recounting the history of a well-known research program in mathematics education.

Making mistakes is an inherent part of doing scientific research. Conducting a study is rarely a smooth path from beginning to end. We recommend that you keep the following things in mind as you begin a career of conducting research in education.

First, do not get discouraged when you make mistakes; do not fall into the trap of feeling like you are not capable of doing research because you make too many errors.

Second, learn from your mistakes. Do not ignore your mistakes or treat them as errors that you simply need to forget and move past. Mistakes are rich sites for learning—in research just as in other fields of study.

Third, by reflecting on your mistakes, you can learn to make better mistakes, mistakes that inform you about a productive next step. You will not be able to eliminate your mistakes, but you can set a goal of making better and better mistakes.

Exercise 1.8

How does scientific inquiry differ from everyday learning in giving you the tools to fail upward? You may find helpful perspectives on this question in other resources on science and scientific inquiry (e.g., Failure: Why Science is So Successful by Firestein, 2015).

Exercise 1.9

Use what you have learned in this chapter to write a new definition of scientific inquiry. Compare this definition with the one you wrote before reading this chapter. If you are reading this book as part of a course, compare your definition with your colleagues’ definitions. Develop a consensus definition with everyone in the course.

Part IV. Preview of Chap. 2

Now that you have a good idea of what research is, at least of what we believe research is, the next step is to think about how to actually begin doing research. This means how to begin formulating, testing, and revising hypotheses. As for all phases of scientific inquiry, there are lots of things to think about. Because it is critical to start well, we devote Chap. 2 to getting started with formulating hypotheses.

Agnes, M., & Guralnik, D. B. (Eds.). (2008). Hypothesis. In Webster’s new world college dictionary (4th ed.). Wiley.

Google Scholar  

Britannica. (n.d.). Scientific method. In Encyclopaedia Britannica . Retrieved July 15, 2022 from https://www.britannica.com/science/scientific-method

Brownell, W. A., & Moser, H. E. (1949). Meaningful vs. mechanical learning: A study in grade III subtraction . Duke University Press..

Cai, J., Morris, A., Hohensee, C., Hwang, S., Robison, V., Cirillo, M., Kramer, S. L., & Hiebert, J. (2019b). Posing significant research questions. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 50 (2), 114–120. https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc.50.2.0114

Article   Google Scholar  

Cambridge University Press. (n.d.). Hypothesis. In Cambridge dictionary . Retrieved July 15, 2022 from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/hypothesis

Cronbach, J. L. (1957). The two disciplines of scientific psychology. American Psychologist, 12 , 671–684.

Cronbach, L. J. (1975). Beyond the two disciplines of scientific psychology. American Psychologist, 30 , 116–127.

Cronbach, L. J. (1986). Social inquiry by and for earthlings. In D. W. Fiske & R. A. Shweder (Eds.), Metatheory in social science: Pluralisms and subjectivities (pp. 83–107). University of Chicago Press.

Hay, C. M. (Ed.). (2016). Methods that matter: Integrating mixed methods for more effective social science research . University of Chicago Press.

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Explain. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary . Retrieved July 15, 2022, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/explain

National Research Council. (2002). Scientific research in education . National Academy Press.

Weis, L., Eisenhart, M., Duncan, G. J., Albro, E., Bueschel, A. C., Cobb, P., Eccles, J., Mendenhall, R., Moss, P., Penuel, W., Ream, R. K., Rumbaut, R. G., Sloane, F., Weisner, T. S., & Wilson, J. (2019a). Mixed methods for studies that address broad and enduring issues in education research. Teachers College Record, 121 , 100307.

Weisner, T. S. (Ed.). (2005). Discovering successful pathways in children’s development: Mixed methods in the study of childhood and family life . University of Chicago Press.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

School of Education, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA

James Hiebert, Anne K Morris & Charles Hohensee

Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA

Jinfa Cai & Stephen Hwang

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Hiebert, J., Cai, J., Hwang, S., Morris, A.K., Hohensee, C. (2023). What Is Research, and Why Do People Do It?. In: Doing Research: A New Researcher’s Guide. Research in Mathematics Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19078-0_1

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19078-0_1

Published : 03 December 2022

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-031-19077-3

Online ISBN : 978-3-031-19078-0

eBook Packages : Education Education (R0)

Share this chapter

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

Self-publishing

Amazon kdp niche research – 5 tools to find profitable book topics.

• By Author: Anita Nipane
• In Self-publishing

You might see Amazon as a bookstore, but in fact, it operates as a search engine . When people are looking for books to buy on Amazon, they usually type in keywords to find them. For example, if they want to find a book about cooking, in the Amazon search bar, they enter a keyword like “ cooking books ,” or something more specific like “ cooking books for kids .” And books that have those keywords in their title, description, or keyword list will appear in the search results. Since your goal is to make sure your book appears in the relevant search results, you need to find the most profitable keywords for your book. That’s why I have created this list of tools for Kindle niche research.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhHbs31UyG0[/embedyt]

If you just publish your book without putting any thought into how it will rank on Amazon’s algorithm, you likely won’t see many sales.

5 Tools to Do Amazon KDP Niche Research and Find Profitable Book Topics

• AMZ Suggestion Expander

Put yourself in the shoes of one of your readers and picture the kind of phrases he might enter into the Amazon search box when looking for your book. Start typing a word and see what auto-suggestions Amazon offers. For example, “social media a..,” “social media b…,” “social media c….” And so on with every letter of the alphabet – till “z.”

If you have installed the free Google Chrome extension AMZ Suggestion Expander, it will expand the number of search suggestions that are shown in the Amazon search bar, like in the picture below. It will also show the keywords that Amazon would suggest before and after the ones you have entered.

Thanks to this Amazon Kindle niche research tool , you can quickly see what keywords people use when trying to find books about your topic on Amazon.

Each “keyword” can actually be made up of several separate words.

For best results, use phrases that are 2-4 words long.

Don’t use single words, because they are too generic and won’t work. Your readers are most likely not going to search for a single word on Amazon but rather a more specific phrase, so the search results are more relevant. Moreover, shorter phrases or single words also usually have a very high competition. The goal of this task is to have a list of 10-15 appropriate keywords so that you have options to choose from when you are ready to choose your book title and publish your book.

2. Amazon Book Sales Calculator

Click on your competitor books and scroll down to the “Product Details” section to find “Amazon Best Sellers Rank” or ABSR. It shows where each book ranks compared to other books within the entire Kindle store. The general rule is – the bigger the number, the fewer sales this book is making . It also means if your sales increase, your ranking improves (and it moves closer to #1). If your sales decrease, your ranking worsens.

To put it in perspective, if the book rank is #80,336, it means that there are currently 80,335 books that are selling better than this book. Although nobody (except Amazon) knows the exact numbers, the general estimates are that anything over #100,000 is selling less than one copy a day on average. But anything that is under #1000 is selling hundreds of copies a day. Even if ABSR is 10,000-20,000, the sales are really great – about 10-20 books a day.

You can easily get the estimated sales of each book by using this Amazon book sales calculator. Simply type in the ABSR’s and see the calculations.

3. Keywords Everywhere

Use Keywords Everywhere browser extension as an additional Amazon Kindle niche research tool that will help you evaluate the potential number of search results for a given keyword. Thanks to this tool, each time you search for a keyword on Amazon, you can immediately see the number of the estimated monthly search volume on Google. Therefore, you can compare which keyword is more popular. For example, the “ dog training books ” keyword is used about 4 400 times a month. But if you type in “ how to train your dog ,” you will see that its search volume is only about 12 100 a month. It means that the “ how to train your dog ” keyword is more popular and might be a better choice for positioning your book.

Although these numbers don’t reflect the precise search statistics on Amazon, they can help you choose the most popular among several keywords.

Unfortunately, Keywords Everywhere is not a free tool anymore as it used to be. But it’s not expensive. You can get 10,000 keyword searches for $10, and it’s more than enough. This tool can be very helpful during your keyword research phase.

Once installed, Keywords Everywhere automatically starts showing search volume and competition data also in other supported sites, like, Google, Amazon, YouTube, and others.

4. Bklnk.com

If you want to see what categories you or your competitor books are listed in, copy their ASINs from their book product pages, go to this tool, and enter them here. You will see all the categories where these books are listed on Amazon.

BKLNK can also help you find other related categories you didn’t even know existed. If you click on the small button “Catalize,” it will show other categories that are related to the ones listed for the books in that genre.

Go through these categories and find the ones that would be the easiest to rank for, e.g., you will need fewer daily sales to become a bestseller in your chosen categories. It will take some time and manual work, but it will be worth it.

5. Publisher Rocket

If you want to go an easier and much faster way, use Publisher Rocket . This Amazon Kindle niche research tool will do all the hard work for you in seconds. And, instead of 4 tools, you will need only this one.

For example, if you do a keyword search with Publisher Rocket, you can quickly get a list of competing books that rank for your chosen keyword; how profitable this keyword is, how many times Google has searched for it, and what Amazon monthly search estimate is. And, how hard it would be to rank your book for that keyword. The lower the number, the easier it is to rank.

If you press the “Competition” button, you will also see the most popular books that rank for this keyword. How long ago the book was published, its sales rank (the lower the number, the better its sales are), number of pages, and if the book has this keyword in its title or subtitle. If no, it will be easier to rank your book for this keyword. Also, its price and daily and monthly sales estimates.

You can also see the categories these books are listed in. Either by clicking on the books one by one or generating the entire list of all categories that you can export and later use as your book categories.

Do your category search also by keywords and sort the results by daily estimated sales. As you can see, in order to rank number one in the “Horses->Showing&Training” category, you need to sell only two books a day. But to rank for at least the number 10 spot, you need to sell only one book a day. This way, you can quickly find the categories that are easiest to rank your book as a bestseller in its category.

Although Publisher Rocket is not a free Amazon Kindle research tool (you will need to make a one-time investment), it’s a huge time saver. And, if you are serious about building your passive income stream with Kindle book publishing, I highly suggest you have it, because it definitely will pay off.

Can you suggest other good tools for Amazon Kindle niche research? Then tell about them in the comments section below!

If you want to learn a few more strategies to sell more books on Amazon, get my free book “ 5 Secret Strategies of Kindle Publishing: Earn Passive Income with Non-fiction Books “ . It will show you how to u se Amazon algorithm for your own benefit and write books that help you sell more books on Amazon.

Related Posts:

• A 6-Question Formula To Find a Profitable Niche for Your Non-fiction Book
• Find a Profitable Book Topic on Amazon in 3 Easy Steps

How to Choose Amazon Book Categories: A Guide for Authors

• Discover BookBeam - the Perfect Publisher Rocket Alternative

You may also like

How to turn a YouTube video into a blog post with ChatGPT?

• July 9, 2023
• by Author: Anita Nipane
• in Content Marketing

How to Write a Book Description for Amazon?

Discover BookBeam – the Perfect Publisher Rocket Alternative

this is great information for all novice writers planning on a book of some sort. This helps to refine their plan over all. Awesome information! thank you

Leave A Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

• Writing, Research & Publishing Guides

Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Amazon Prime includes:

Fast, FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button.

• Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
• Unlimited Free Two-Day Delivery
• Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
• A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
• Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
• Unlimited photo storage with anywhere access

Important:  Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.

Return this item for free

Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges

• Go to your orders and start the return
• Select the return method

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Follow the authors

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Where Research Begins: Choosing a Research Project That Matters to You (and the World) (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) First Edition

Purchase options and add-ons.

Plenty of books tell you how to do research. This book helps you figure out WHAT to research in the first place, and why it matters.

The hardest part of research isn't answering a question. It's knowing what to do before you know what your question is . Where Research Begins tackles the two challenges every researcher faces with every new project: How do I find a compelling problem to investigate—one that truly matters to me, deeply and personally? How do I then design my research project so that the results will matter to anyone else?

This book will help you start your new research project the right way for you with a series of simple yet ingenious exercises. Written in a conversational style and packed with real-world examples, this easy-to-follow workbook offers an engaging guide to finding research inspiration within yourself, and in the broader world of ideas.

Read this book if you (or your students):

Under the expert guidance of award-winning researchers Thomas S. Mullaney and Christopher Rea, you will find yourself on the path to a compelling and meaningful research project, one that matters to you—and the world.

• ISBN-10 022681744X
• ISBN-13 978-0226817446
• Edition First Edition
• Publisher University of Chicago Press
• Publication date April 1, 2022
• Part of series Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing
• Language English
• Dimensions 5.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches
• Print length 218 pages
• See all details

Frequently bought together

Similar items that may ship from close to you

From the Publisher

Plenty of books tell you how to do research. this book helps you figure out what to research in the first place, and why it matters.

• have difficulty choosing a research topic
• know your topic, but are unsure how to turn it into a research project

• feel intimidated by or unqualified to do research
• worry that you’re asking the wrong questions about your research topic

• have plenty of good ideas, but aren’t sure which one to commit to
• feel like your research topic was imposed by someone else

• want to learn new ways to think about how to do research

This book is designed to be practical, first and foremost, providing specific and tested techniques to help you:

• choose a research topic;
• transform this topic into a set of concrete and compelling questions;
• identify the underlying problem motivating the questions you’re asking;
• deal with the assumptions, biases, and preconceived notions you might have about your topic;
• articulate the stakes involved in this problem and prioritize competing interests and concerns;
• approach and navigate the broader community of researchers who work on the same “topic” as you (that is, your “major” or “field”);
• discover and map out relevant researcher communities that exist beyond your field;
• find sources that will be useful to your research project;
• use the sources you find to refine your questions further (especially during the preliminary research stage);
• deal with mental roadblocks and keep up your momentum during the critical early stages of your project, when it’s easiest to feel lost;
• remain flexible, nimble, astute, and motivated as a researcher.

One of the many exercises you'll find inside:

Editorial Reviews

About the author, product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Chicago Press; First Edition (April 1, 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 218 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 022681744X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0226817446
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.6 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches
• #66 in Reference (Books)
• #79 in Research Reference Books
• #2,902 in Unknown

About the authors

Thomas s. mullaney.

Thomas S. Mullaney is Professor of History at Stanford University, a Guggenheim Fellow, and the Kluge Chair in Technology and Society at the Library of Congress.

He is the author or lead editor of 7 books, including Where Research Begins: Choosing a Research Project that Matters to You (and the World), The Chinese Deathscape, The Chinese Typewriter (winner of the Fairbank prize), Your Computer is on Fire, Coming to Terms with the Nation: Ethnic Classification in Modern China, and the forthcoming The Chinese Computer—the first comprehensive history of Chinese-language computing.

His writings have appeared in dozens of outlets, including MIT Technology Review, The Boston Globe, Fast Company, South China Morning Post, the Journal of Asian Studies, Technology & Culture, Aeon, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy, among others, and his work has been featured in the LA Times, The Atlantic, the BBC, and in invited lectures at Google, Microsoft, Adobe, and more.

He holds a PhD from Columbia University.

Christopher G. Rea

Christopher Rea is Professor of Chinese and former Director of the Centre for Chinese Research at the University of British Columbia.

Learn about his books and research at: https://asia.ubc.ca/profile/christopher-rea/

He is the creator of the Chinese Film Classics project, the world's largest collection of early Chinese films with English subtitles: chinesefilmclassics.org

Subscribe to his YouTube channel @ModernChineseCulturalStudies

"Where Research Begins," co-authored with Thomas S. Mullaney, is a guide for the researcher starting a new project. Editions forthcoming in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Thai.

"Chinese Film Classics, 1922-1949" is an essential guide to 14 Chinese cinematic masterworks of the black-and-white era. Chinese edition forthcoming.

"The Book of Swindles" is a 400-year-old Chinese collection of stories about fraud, and especially the perils faced by merchants traveling in the southern reaches of empire during the late Ming dynasty. A second volume is under contract with Columbia University Press.

"The Age of Irreverence" is a history of how China laughed its way into the modern age. It traces an unruly current in modern Chinese culture, following the stories of whimsical poets, vaudevillian entrepreneurs, renowned revilers, twee essayists, winking farceurs, and self-promoting jokesters--as well as the vocal opponents who tried to tame them. The Association of Asian Studies awarded "The Age of Irreverence" the Joseph Levenson Book Prize (Post-1900 China) in 2017. A Taiwan edition was published by Rye Field (Maitian) in 2018; a PRC edition is forthcoming from Peking University Press.

"The Business of Culture" is a study of cultural entrepreneurship that traces the rise of cultural personalities, tycoons, and collective cultural enterprises in China and Southeast Asia, from Tianjin and Shanghai to Hong Kong and Singapore.

"Humans, Beasts, and Ghosts," is a translated collection of stories and essays by Qian Zhongshu, twentieth-century China's paragon of urbane wit and acerbic satire.

"China's Literary Cosmopolitans" offers a comprehensive survey of the literary oeuvres of two of China's leading scholar-writers, Qian Zhongshu and Yang Jiang, and explains their contributions to the notion of literary cosmopolitanism.

"Imperfect Understanding: Intimate Portraits of Modern Chinese Celebrities" features fifty witty and idiosyncratic pen sketches, written in English by a Cambridge-educated author born in the Dutch East Indies, of Chinese cultural celebrities in the 1930s.

"China's Chaplin: Comic Stories and Farces by Xu Zhuodai" is a humor anthology that will answer the questions that have been keeping you up at night, such as: What is a father’s duty when he and his son are courting the same prostitute? And why should you never, never, never pull a hair from a horse’s tail?

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Reviews with images

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices