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Learn the Library

This guide will introduce you how to use the library to do basic research.

Where to start?

The best place to start is your assignment description. Read it thoroughly to understand the assignment. If you're unsure about certain aspects, ask your instructor for clarification.

The assignment may provide topics to choose from, or you may be able to choose your own topic.

Choose a topic you are interested in! This will make the research more interesting and rewarding. 

Topic

Try turning your topic into a question to express your thesis statement:

Example: I'm interested in "emotions of theatre audiences"

Research Question: "What aspects of live performance art affect theatre goers the most and why?"


In other words...

  • What is the research topic?

  • What is your research question?

  • What is your hypothesis?

What to ask to formulate your research question?

Ask yourself these questions to help define your research question:

  • What have people already written on?
  • Are there attitudes or beliefs that need to be questioned or supported?
  • What are some controversies?
  • What interests you?
  • From which lens/framework can you approach your topic? i.e. think of the "isms", think of ideologies, think of policy, politics, economics, sociology, emotion
  • Revisit the Research Process visual on the homepage! It's a continual process.

The Struggle is Real

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