4.1.4: Gather

Start in the library.

Books and encyclopedia:

Don’t overlook books to gain a broad understanding of your topic. You can also use the index in the back to pinpoint specific topics relevant to your paper. Encyclopedia contains general information on a broad number of topics.

Databases:

Start with your school library. Your library’s databases contain credible, expertly-written sources for your paper. Start with broad databases that cover many topics such as Academic Search Premier or Academic OneFile. Once you have a good understanding of your topic, you could look into the specialty databases for that discipline.

Sometimes students will say that “googling” a topic is a lot easier than trying to find sources in a database. It is true that there is a little more effort in finding sources there, but once you do, you will discover the advantages of databases over web searches. Databases include subject headings to find related topics, which is helpful when narrowing a topic. They often include similar articles, text to voice, and ways to download the article. It is easier to annotate and print database articles, too. Databases also include citation information that you can copy/paste into your paper. Most importantly, you do not have to spend time determining whether the source is trustworthy. So, it may take a little more work at first, but using databases are much more efficient, thus saving time in the long run.

Libguides:

Often instructors will ask librarians to put a collection of resources in a libguide. A libguide contains resources for your class or assignment. These might include specific databases, citation resources, researching techniques, or other resources. If you don’t know if a libguide has been created for you, ask your instructor or librarian if one is available.

Conduct your own field research:

Field research refers to research that you conduct yourself. You can observe or ask questions to gather qualitative data. Qualitative data contains socially-based information. This is unlike quantitative data, which can be counted or measured then stated in numbers. Qualitative information includes interviews, surveys, and case studies while quantitative information includes experiments, calculations that can be quantified.

Because you will not have a lot of time to conduct intricate studies, you will want to focus on quicker methods of field research. You should be able to conduct interviews or short surveys provided you start early enough.

Interviews can be a good source to support other sources or introduce an idea. They can also be educational and enjoyable on a personal level when done with the right person.

1. Your instructors are a good place to start when looking for people to interview. You could also ask professionals you know or have connections with.
2. Be professional and courteous when asking for an interview.
3. When you ask for an interview, be transparent and explain what it is for and what kind of information you are looking for.
4. Ask if they prefer the interview to be in person or through email.
5. If you want a quote from the interview, ask first, and if they say “no,” abide by their wishes.
6. Have your questions prepared before the interview to avoid wasting time. Make them specific for the type of information you need.
7. Do not wait until the last minute to ask for an interview. Most professionals are busy, so it may be awhile before they answer an email or have time for an appointment.
8. Cite your interview within your paper and in the works cited page.

Surveys can be done fairly quickly with a small sample size. They won’t be official, but you might be able to show trends from a small, regional group.

1. Use a wide sampling, not just your friends or a few volunteers to avoid skewed data. You want as much diversity possible to get accurate information. Obviously, if you want information about a certain group, you survey a diverse section of that group.
2. Make your survey short. You want to be very specific to get the desired information.
3. Make sure your question(s) are clear and logical. Fallacious logic leads to incorrect conclusions. Consider beta testing your questions with a few different people before you send out the survey.
4. Devise a consistent method to measure response data. If you have a rate something from one-ten, then keep that same method throughout the survey.
5. Once you have gotten your responses, evaluate them to see if the results seem likely. You could possibly compare them to other academic studies to see if they show the same trends.
6. When you cite your survey, explain your methodology and sample group.
7. Surveys and interviews can be good sources, but it is wise to follow up with quantitative information that supports your results. Having multiple sources that say a similar thing helps reinforce your data.

Go to experts on the web.

Wikipedia bibliographies:

A bibliography is an organized list of sources used in a document. Do a keyword search in Wikipedia. Once you get an article, scroll to the end of the article to the references. There might be useful books or articles in the list of sources used. Peruse these to discover relevant sources for your paper.

Government and university sources:

These can be full of current information on your topic. Both the government and universities conduct extensive research. They end their URLs with .gov or .edu. However, do not be fooled by websites that look valid but aren’t. Anyone can use these endings; they aren't limited to certain entities. Always check who is providing the information before using it.

Online books or databases.

Often you can find peer-reviewed sources online. Google Scholar and JSTOR are a couple examples.

Use caution when doing an online search.

As you know, the web contains all kinds of misinformation. You need to investigate the credibility of any source you are considering. Keep in mind the possible problems with using these kinds of sites.

Websites from searches:

Often these are biased, promotional, or commercial. Be sure to know who is providing the information and why before using.

Blogs or other opinion sites:

Obviously, these sites are not reliable since they are personal. If the writer includes a bibliography, it is better to use one of those sources instead.

Commercial, political, religious, or other biased sites:

As a researcher, you want to stay impartial; therefore, avoid any sites with a particular point of view, which is what we mean by bias. Sometimes it is tricky to tell if a site is biased. Usually a quick search can tell you. Look for reviews, business ratings, and warnings.

Keep copies of your sources!

It’s a good idea to download, email to yourself, or print your sources. First of all because database URLs often change for security reasons. Secondly, you’ll the copies in case you need to submit them to your instructor or use them as proof of your research.

Collect sources in a working bibliography.

Rather than immediately reading and taking notes, gather a selection of sources on your topic first. Then you can skim through them to determine their usability. Set aside the ones that are not useful.

Collect all of your sources in one place in a working bibliography. You can store them on slides, docs, storage drives- whatever works best for you.

When you find a potential source, note the author, title, provider, URL or DOI number, and why you thought it might be a good source. This will help when you document and write your works cited page. It will also come in handy if your teacher assigns an annotated bibliography.