Beginning a research project can be intimidating, especially when you think of how much information is out there. How do you sort through it all? How do you find what is actually useful? How do you cite your sources? Use this page as a one-stop shop for beginning your essay.
Here is a great guide to evaluating resources.
| Video games | Television | Homeschool | Food deserts |
| Violence | Media | Public school | Immigration |
| Animal testing | Teen drivers | Obesity | Reform |
| Medical research | Accident rate | Fast food ban | Amnesty |
Those are just a few keywords and phrases. You may think of more specific ones depending on the focus of your research. A good way to find key words surrounding your individual is to look up their name in the encyclopedia and write down any key vocabulary words that are important to your research. You can combine keywords and phrases using Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT) to narrow your search. For example:
Video games AND Violence
-if you want to find out how video games and violence are related.
Teen drivers NOT accident rate
-if you want to get information on teen drivers, excluding the accident rate.
Obesity OR Fast food ban
-If you want information about either obesity or the fast food ban.
Use your suggested keywords and phrases to search on the internet. And guess what! You are not limited to Google or Bing! Here is a list of great search engines that may give you better results!
Gateway sources are a great place to begin your research. They often provide an overview of a topic. While the information isn't always specific, these sources can often lead you to other, more specific information.
This resource is located on the Newport Public Library's website. Again, you need to sign up for a library card, but it is free to use. Opposing Viewpoints is a database of articles with diverging viewpoints on a wide range of topics. Very handy!
Try doing a search through back issues of a reputable newspaper or magazine. This is a just a sample of what is available to you.
TED is a website full of speeches, interviews, and articles from leading thinkers, entrepreneurs, educators, and other important figures! For example, here is an interview with a video game designer, who makes a convincing case that video games can and will help us solve a lot of real life problems.
Ok, so you all know that if you don't cite your info, you're committing plagarism, right? And you know that that's a big no-no, right? Well, lucky for you, the internets is making things a little bit easier for you. Here is a list of easy citation generators. Still, as we all know, the internets ain't perfect, SO BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR WORK!
Here are some citation resources I have created.
A. Lelliott, updated 3/14/2012.