Your assignment: write about a topic of your choosing from three different perspectives. First, as an observer, second from your personal experience, and thirdly, as a scholar.

One of the more important processes in conducting research is designing a clear research question and a search strategy. The following are things to consider before starting your research process:

1. Develop a Research Question
   A research question pinpoints exactly what you want to find out in your project. A good research question is essential to guide your search strategy.
   It should be:
   • Focused on a single problem or issue
   • Researchable using primary and/or secondary sources
   • Feasible to answer within the timeframe and practical constraints
   • Specific enough to answer thoroughly
   • Complex enough to develop the answer over the space of a paper or thesis; and
   • Relevant to the field of study and/or society more broadly.
   
   
   
    
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2. Analyze your topic
    
   • You may need to find information in different kinds of sources
     [ Books | Journals | Newspapers | Magazines | Media (images, video, sound recordings)]
    
   • You may need to use more than one search tool (database)
     [ Some examples: JSTOR | Academic Search Complete | Web of Science ]
    
   • You may need to explore a subject over a period of time
     [ For example: 5 years | Decade | 20 years | 19th Century | 20th Century ]
     
     It is important to clarify what you are interested in finding out about your topic; familiarize yourself with the key issues and context.  What question are you attempting to answer?
      
3. Select Keywords
   • Create a list of Related Terms. Another way to express this, is to create a list of synonyms for the important concepts in your topic or research question.
      
   • Narrower terms: (Good for limiting your search, excluding irrelevant information, or adding focus to your search)
     • • Population -gender (men, women), age (children/teens, adults, elderly), groups (artist, educators, clergy, ethnic/racial groups, etc.), organizations
       • Geography - towns, cities, states, countries, regions
       • Time Period - current, decade, 20th Century, ancient
   • Broader terms: (Allow you to explore the broader context of your topic. Good if you're having difficulty finding sources)
     Sovereignty, Treaties, Native Americans
      
4. Create a Search Query
   
   Many of our databases require that you use AND or OR to combine multiple terms/keywords in a search.
   
   See examples below:
    
   • fishing rights AND Makah (narrows your search, both terms 'South Africans' and 'AIDS' must appear)
    
   • Snohomish Tribe AND federal recognition (narrows your search, both terms 'Peru' and 'deforestation' must appear)
    
   • American Indians OR Native Americans (broadens your search, one of the terms must appear. Good for use with synonyms.)
    
   • Use a technique called truncation with the * symbol to search additional forms of a word.
     
     Example: cultur* will also find cultural, culture, cultured, cultures, culturing.
     
     American Indians AND cultur*

     Be aware that the truncation symbol may vary depending on the database (*,#,?,!) are the most common.

5. What is a database?  A database is a collection of digitized information (files, documents, records, articles, etc.) ,that is organized (tagged) so that it can be easily accessed, managed and updated.

6. Undergraduate Researcher Tutorial - a self-paced online tutorial that introduces undergraduate students to research skills and UW Libraries resources and services.