This document outlines the steps of a research project assigned to students in their Non Fiction unit. It includes 5 steps: 1) crafting a research question, 2) gathering information from the internet related to their question, 3) analyzing and evaluating sources, 4) organizing information into categories, and 5) creating a research report or essay. The document provides guidance for students on how to effectively search for information online, evaluate source credibility, and structure their findings into an organized final project.

1. From Non Fiction Unit to the Research Process and Final Project
1. In the final week and a half of the Non Fiction I asked students to switch from looking for
connections between their texts and themselves (based on the 4 Corners) to looking for
connections that exist between your text and a larger “topical” concern. For instance a
biography of Rap Artist Tu Pac Shakur would reveal topics like violence, poverty, materialism
etc.
2. Following the completion of their Weekly assignments I assigned students the Media
Music Project.
Step 1: Have students complete Parts A and B in class on the worksheets provided. This is the
beginning of effective research and that is to reflect on one’s prior knowledge of a topic prior to
crafting a question for more directed/ focused study.
Step 2: Share your findings with a classmate and record any thoughts, additions or questions they
might have posed about your prior knowledge of this subject.
Step 3: Craft a question for further study and post it on the Google Group and look for the teacher’s
response to your question. If you find no response then continue on with your question. Discussion
called Media Music Project Update I
Step 4: Gather information from the Internet related to your question and post a complete reply on
the Discussion called Media Music Project Update II requires students to 1) record the search
strings they use as they gather information; 2) open and explore releveant web addresses that result
from these searches; 3) list 10 web addresses with brief annotations or explanations as to what can
be found there.
Step 5: Create a plan for a visual representation of what you discovered in the first 3 steps both
written and visual. An exemplar is provided on the Google Group Files page. This plan is to be
printed and submitted to the teacher for evaluation.
3. Non Fiction Research Discussion: Students are to craft a question to direct their further study of a
topic related to their Non Fiction work/text. This question is to be posted as a reply to the Non Fiction
Research Discussion.
4. Non Fiction Research Update II Discussion : Similar to the Media Music Project Update II students
are to record search strings on their question, open and explore web addresses that result and list and
annotate any relevant web addresses. Again 10 is a nice round number.
5. Non Fiction Research Update III Discussion: Conduct more scholarly searches using sources like
Grolier, EBSCOHost, Big Chalk, Thomson Gale and Google Scholar.
http://eastdale.ddsbschools.ca/for/library.html
Students are to post their findings including search strings, documents properly cited and annotations of
these sources.
(This File is available in its entirety on the Google Group’s Pages Tab)
Step 3 In the Research Process:

2. Step Three: Analyzing and Evaluating
Before you incorporate information from a book, article, website or other source in your research
paper, consider the following:
• Who is the author? What are his or her credentials? Is it possible to learn more about the
individual?
• Does the author refer to or provide a bibliography of other sources? A bibliography can
indicate that the author is knowledgeable and has done some research.
• Who is the publisher? Is it a recognized university press, a reputable commercial
publisher or a vanity press?
• What is the agenda, bias or point-of-view of the publisher, sponsoring organization or
individual?
• When was the information published? Consider whether you need current or historical
information?
• Where was the information published? Consider whether you require Canadian, US or
international perspectives on your topic.
• Does the publication's intended purpose support your research needs?
• Can the information be verified?
• Is the publication peer-reviewed (reviewed by experts in the field)?
For help with these questions, see previous Comparing Sources of Information
Special Considerations for Websites
• Is there a publisher or sponsoring organization for the website? Or, is this a personal
web page?
• Why was the site created?
• Can you identify the place of origin or where the web site was created?
• How current is the information on the website? Is there a "last updated" date or
copyright date?
Clues:
• Look at the URL. Does it incorporate a person's name or is it an organization? Does it
have a ~, which might indicate that it is a private page? What is the URL ending? Look for a
link that tells "About" the organization or authors.
• Check the page header and footer.
• Look for any "disclaimers" that may be linked from the page.
More Information
For more information on evaluating websites, please refer to:
• Finding Information on the Internet: A Tutorial
by UC Berkley Library

3. • Criteria for Evaluating Internet Resources
by University of British Columbia Library
Now that students have fair amount of information from the internet and other more scholarly
databases they must ‘filter’ this information using the skills cited above.
Because part of the requirement for this final project is a Research Report/ Essay it is imperative that
students first choose “organizational categories” so that they can begin to slot filtered information into
them. For instance if research was conducted on poverty in the Southern United States and a student
discovered that the majority of impoverished men and women lived in inner cities and that the majority
of inner city residents were not
Caucasians then a “organizational category” in their Report might be “Racial Trends” or something like
that.
It is important to note that note all categories that are part of this planning stage need to or will find
their way along with its information into the final Report since the Report is to be focused on a problem
or question that may change as the research process progresses.
* I will provide a worksheet(s) to help students organize themselves as they attempt to move from
Research process through to the Research Project (including its rough drafts).