Conducting Research for a Paper

It is a common misconception that the research process is linear. It is in fact cyclical and much more complex. At times it can be characterized as being a process of trial and error. If you find no or little or too much information on your research topic, you will need to rethink how it can be tweaked.

When tweaking your topic, consider the 5 Ws and H:

• Who--a person, organization, demographic group
• What--an event, theory, discovery
• Where--a country, region, defined geographic space
• When--a time span, century, period of time
• Why--an explanation of the significance of the topic
• How--an explanation of the influence or impact of a topic

Research Tip: You should revise your research question if there isn't enough OR there is too much information available on the selected topic OR there is another related topic that is of greater interest to you.

NEED HELP?

North Carolina University Libraries.(1 May 2014). Picking your research topic IS research [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0B3Gjlu-1o&list=PLFARv1YXpwb2k_krmasqVRuPKIHhjRK9h