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ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES: Academic Inquiry

From Topic to Research Questions

Research Process

  • Research doesn't happen in a straight line from start (assignment prompt) to finish (polished paper/presentation).
  • Research includes finding background information to help you shape your ideas.
  • Research incorporates analyses from journalists and scholars, whose ideas help you reframe and revise your research questions.
  • Research includes making evaluative decisions about which and whose perspectives to incorporate into your own scholarship.


 

The Information Cycle

How could I use this source of information?

What could a writer/presenter/performer do with this source?

More on "How to Use Sources Effectively."

Based on Bizup, J. (2008). BEAM: A rhetorical vocabulary for teaching research-based writing. Rhetoric Review 27.1, 72-86.

Does the information source fit my assignment?

Information Need Sources to Consult Search Tools & Help
Overview of Topic
  • Encyclopedias
  • Handbooks
  • Ask a librarian
  • Search Primo (Limit by Resource Type: Reference Entry)
Definitions
  • Dictionaries
  • Handbooks
  • Ask a librarian
  • Search Primo (Limit by Resource Type: Reference Entry)
Primary Sources (first hand or contemporary accounts)
  • Books
  • Digital archives
  • Magazines & newspapers
  • Videos
Secondary Sources (comprehensive and/or detailed analyses)
  • Journal articles
  • Books
  • Some magazines & newspapers
Facts
  • Dictionaries
  • Almanacs
  • Statistical Handbooks
  • Ask a librarian
  • Search Primo
Current Events, Popular Culture
  • Newspapers
  • Magazines
  • Video
Historical Information
  • Books
  • Digital archives
  • Magazines & newspapers
  • Film
Evaluative Sources
  • Book reviews
  • Film/video reviews
  • Ask a librarian
  • Search Primo
  • Use How Do I? search