Overview of the Research Process

Stage One: Choosing a Topic

• Review your assignment. Make sure you understand the requirements.
• Select a broad subject area. This will probably be dictated by the content of the class.
• Find an idea concerning that subject area that sparks your interest.
• Identify and read some background material. Use what you find to help focus your research on a specific topic.
• Construct a research question that you wish to answer.

Stage Two: Developing a Research Proposal

• Using your research question, develop a preliminary research strategy.
• Use your strategy to identify sources of information. Gather your sources and read them. Take notes. Write down questions that your reading has raised in your mind.
• Use what you have learned to refine your search strategy and gather more information. As you work your way through this stage, you may sometimes feel frustrated or overwhelmed. This is normal, so don't give up. If you persist, the project will begin to take shape, and become more manageable.
• Using the information that you have found, draft a research proposal.

Stage Three: Completing Your Research

• Once you have your proposal written, you should have a good idea about where you want the project to go. Continue gathering information, reading, and refining your search.
Have you:
• Identified the prominent authorities and prevailing schools of thought on your topic?
• Identified issues and relationships within the topic?
• Found articles reflecting current research and thought on the topic?
• Using what you have learned, draft a thesis statement and list the major points that you wish to cover.
• Go back over your sources and evaluate them critically. Consider the author's point of view, and degree of expertise. Use what you have learned to place each article in context.
• Organize your reference list.
• Make an outline and begin writing a first draft. What questions do you still need to answer?

Stage Four: Writing and Refining

• Complete your first draft. Read it through.
• Are there still any ends dangling?
• Can you rearrange your material to present it more effectively?
• Have you stated your thesis clearly? Do your ideas flow smoothly?
• Does your information adequately support your thesis?
• Is your argument unified and cohesive?
• Have you addressed all the central issues of your topic?
• Does your paper examine current research on the topic?
• Begin another draft. You may need to collect some more information, to fill gaps that you have found in writing your first draft. When you have finished, read through and ask yourself the same questions. You may need to rewrite several times before you are satisfied with the final draft. This can be frustrating, but it is normal. Your paper will get better each time you revise it.