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RESEARCHING

Research is the action of looking for information in order to learn, understand, explore, and create new ideas.

Step #1 Questioning

Step #2 Finding Information

Step #3 Assessing Information

Step #4 Using Information

Step #5 Putting it All Together

Step #6 Reflecting

Sources are different places where we can get information. Sources can be books, encyclopedias, pictures, objects, websites, web documents, videos, or personal interviews.

However, you need to make sure that you get your information from reliable sources.

A reliable source is a source that has trustworthy information and is considered an authority in what you are researching. For example, a brain surgeon would be an authority if you are researching brain surgery or an academic paper from the “American Journal of Political Science” would be a trustworthy source if you are researching politics.

Reliable Sources	NOT Reliable sources
Encyclopedias	Wikipedia or most other Wikis
Academic Papers or Journals	Blogs
.edu websites	Answer websites (Ask.com, AskJeeves, YahooAnswers)
.gov or .mil websites	Fiction Books
.org websites
Non-Fiction Books in the Library!

Always remember to evaluate your source before you use it! Is it a professional publication? Is it a trustworthy and authoritative source? Guidelines on how to evaluate can be found here: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/553/01/ on OWL@Purdue’s website.

AVOIDING PLAGIARISM BY CITING YOUR

SOURCES

Plagiarism is using information, ideas, pictures, or quotations from a source without giving credit to where it came from. If you use ANYTHING from a source you must cite it in your Bibliography or Works Cited page.

Use the following citation makers to help you cite your sources easily:

For your extended essay use NoodleBib: www.noodletools.com

Free on the internet for future use: www.Bibme.com or www.EasyBib.com

MLA or APA format should be used. See OWL@Purdue for specifications: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/

In general, MLA format is used for topics in humanities (literature, history, art) and APA is used in the sciences (math, science)

HOW TO START INTERNET RESEARCHING

Once you have a research topic, the fun begins!

Start by finding out what resources are available to you. Think about where to go to get the best resources for your topic—Google or another mass search engine is not always the best choice!

*Try the library’s databases (we have Newsbank, EBSCO, Ebrary (coming soon!) and CultureGrams ---– Usernames: ISP Passwords: library).

*Try taking the research survey here to see where would be a good spot to start: http://www.noodletools.com/noodlequest/

*Or go to NoodleTools’s list of where to search best for your topic:

http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html

Remember, when you are searching you are talking to a computer—it will not do anything except what you tell it to! The computer will not make guesses or fill in the blanks in your research SO you must learn to search in several different ways. Here are some tips to help you get started!

Example research question—Do dolphins have language or communication skills?

TIP!

Example Search Term

If you are not finding what you want try searching a different term. Sometimes you want to start broad by searching the overview of your topic, but most of the time that search is going to give you lots of things you don’t want—these terms are too broad. Try searching more specifically.

Broad: Animals

Language

Specific: animal language

If what you want is still not coming up or you are getting deeper into your research--try searching synonyms or similar words.

animal communication

dolphin language

raven communication

animal linguistics

Try searching for topics related to your search

Language vs communication

Communication theory

Search Operators—if I want an exact phrase I would put quotes around my search term.

Exact phrase: “chimp talk George Johnson”

Search Operators—If I would like to search for two search terms at the same time-making sure both are used I will add the word AND in-between them.

Ravens AND animal language

Search Operators—If I would like to search for a variety of things that could fit in the middle of a phrase I can put an asterisk in place of the missing word. The example might pull up results for searches like: animals use language, animals do not use language, animals learn language, etc.

Wild Card: animals * language

Search Operators—If I would like to search and exclude something from the results I will add a minus sign in front of the thing I want excluded. This is particularly useful if a certain topic is coming up in your searches that you do not want!

Exclude: animal language -dolittle

Use search terms that mimic the vocabulary you want to find-do not type in sentences or questions

NO: talking animals or Do animals use language to communicate?

YES: animal semantics or animal pragmatics

Use the Advanced search options!

On Google they look like the picture below.

See more searching tips from Google: http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/static.py?hl=en&page=guide.cs&guide=1221265&answer=134479&rd=3

Google Advanced Search:

Remember to use your sources wisely! If you find a good source, take a look at their bibliography—maybe there are good sources there that you can use. If you find a good phrase in a source that captures what you want to research—use it as a search term. Let your research guide you to new sources and topics!

Download this Handout:

Research Handout for IB Extended Essays.docx
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