ENG 112

You're now familiar with how to do basic database research to find articles and other publications that answer your research question. But excellent research takes more than just finding relevant articles and using them in your writing. Excellent research requires you to incorporate multiple different authorities and more diverse sources. 

Some of the ways you might accomplish this are by:

• Fully understanding the scope of your research,

• Identifying any specific organizations or groups that may be authorities that can help your research

• Thinking carefully about your search terms and trying many different search terms

• Using different types of search language, including Boolean operators

• Seeking guidance from experts - librarians, instructors, and professionals

Diversity in where we get our information is a key component of good research. Never get all of your information from one place, or from one voice. 

When you first begin to research a topic, think about the scope of your research. This should help you identify all the different groups of people, places, or times that should be represented in your set of sources. 

For example, if your research question is “What are the most significant causes of the decline of religious identity in the American population?,” then the scope of your research must consider some specific timeframe (because a decline implies a change between one time period and another time period). Your research should also consider not just answers given by religious organizations and leaders, but also by the actual American people who have stopped being religious. This will lead you to find a variety of sources from different time periods and cultural groups. 

Searching for sources can sometimes lead to frustration if you are overwhelmed with either too many, or, not enough results when searching in databases. This is when using Boolean operators can be helpful!

Use Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT to narrow or broaden your search results.

• Use AND to:
  • Narrow your results
  • Inform the database that all search terms must be present in search results
  • EX: rivers AND conservation
    • Now your search results will be narrowed to only include items which discuss both rivers and conservation!
• Use OR to:
  • Broaden your results by connecting two or more search terms
  • Inform the database that any of your search terms can be present in search results
  • EX: rivers OR conservation
    • Now your search results will be broadened to include any items which discuss rivers or conservation!
• Use NOT to:
  • Narrow your results by excluding specific search terms
  • Inform the database to omit items from your search results which discuss specific search terms
  • EX: rivers NOT conservation
    • Now your search results will be narrowed to exclude any items which discuss conservation in association with rivers!

Research Prep

• Open new Word document before you begin searching for sources
• Format this document properly for APA or MLA and create your References or Works Cited page
• For MLA:
  • Label the page Works Cited, centered at the top of the page (do not italicize, bold or put in quotation marks).
• For APA:
  • Label the page References in bold, centered at the top of the page (do not underline or use quotation marks).
• For both MLA & APA, double space and create a hanging indent for all citations.
  • Select Paragraph Settings on the Home Page
  • Select Hanging in the Special drop down box
  • Select Double in the Line Spacing drop down box
  • Select 0 pt. in the After drop down box under the Spacing heading
• Save time by copying and pasting citations using citation tools as you locate sources
• But, instead of simply pasting the citation into your doc, use the "merge formatting" option when pasting so that the citation will be properly formatted in your document
• To merge formatting, right-click in an area of the document where you want to paste and merge the text. Next, click on the "Merge Formatting" icon under the Paste Options section of the context menu