Basic Research
Basic Research
Research begins with getting the big picture of a topic. It starts with general information and gets increasingly more specific and complex. Once we get out of elementary school, teachers routinely discourage the use of encyclopedias. If that is where your research begins and ends, I would too. But when we use such sources to get an overview of the topic, we begin to frame our research question.
The Internet serves as that modern encyclopedia. Not only can you access online versions of the print classics such as Briticanica or Columbia Encyclopedia, you can use Encyclopedia.com, Encarta, Information Please, Symbols.com or How Stuff Works. There has been a great deal of discussion in academic circles about the problems associated with Wikepedia, so I would encourage you to be very careful should you use this source. Problems arise since information contained is not verified and some information is specious or outright wrong.
Regardless of the topic, there are basic questions that should be asked:
- What are the key words and terms associated with the subject?
- Who are the major thinkers and writers on the subject?
- Who conducts research in this area?
- Are there university professors, think tanks, or government agencies who study this topic in detail?
- Who supports the ideas and who opposes them? Why?
This generic understanding of a topic permits us to organize our thoughts. From there, we can begin to explore the topic in more detail.
