This document outlines the research process, beginning with asking a question, brainstorming related terms, searching for background information, defining a search strategy, evaluating results, and potentially repeating the process with new questions. It discusses primary and secondary sources and provides examples. Key steps include narrowing the research topic, determining where relevant information can be found, and assessing if search results answer the question. The goal is an iterative process of discovering new questions to further understanding.

1. RESEARCH PROCESS
Originally Prepared for Research for Creative Writing I
By Melissa Clark, Information Services Librarian

2. The Research Process
Ask a
Question
Brainstorm
Background
Information
Search
Evaluate
Results

3. Ask a Question
Research starts with Curiosity
What do you want to know?
May start with a general question
Ex. What would life have been like for a young woman immigrating to
New York from Ireland during the Great Famine?

4. Ask a
Question
Brainstorm
Background
Information
Search
Evaluate
Results

5. Brainstorm Related Terms and
Ideas
Pick out the key ideas in your
topic/question
Try to think of synonyms or
alternate phrasing
List any related terms
(broader/narrower) you can
think of
Ireland | Irish | Éire | Gaelic |
County Cork, etc.
Great Famine | Potato
Famine | an Gorta Mór (“the
Great Hunger”) | an
Drochshaol (“the bad life”)
New York | Ellis Island | Five
Points
Immigration | Emigration
1845 – 1852

6. Ask a
Question
Brainstorm
Background
Information
Search
Evaluate
Results

7. Initial Search for Background
Information
Read for general information on your topic
Identify gaps in your existing knowledge
Narrow and focus your research
Sources
Encyclopedias and other Reference Books
Skim a Book on the general topic
Web Search

8. Ask a
Question
Brainstorm
Background
Information
Search
Evaluate
Results

9. Define a Search Strategy
Articulate what you need to know
Determine where/how you are most likely to find it
If you don’t know, ASK!

10. Types of Information Sources
 Primary Sources
Information in its original form when it first appears
 Secondary Sources
Restates, rearranges, examines, or interprets information from one or more
primary sources
 Tertiary Sources
Leads you to secondary sources

11. Primary Sources
 Has not been published anywhere else or put into a context, interpreted, filtered,
condensed, or evaluated by anyone else
 Examples
A speech, lecture, or presentation
Writing by the witnesses of an event, person, or place
 Newspaper articles
 A diary or journal
 Letters, correspondence, or transcribed conversations
Artwork, poetry, and other artistic expressions
An original scientific study
Historical documents or publications
 The U.S. Constitution

12. Secondary Sources
 Has been removed from its original source and repackaged
 Examples
Notes or summary of a speech, lecture, or presentation
Book or journal article analyzing an historical person or event and attempting
to put it in context
Critic’s response to artwork, poetry, and other artistic expressions
Encyclopedia article on a topic
Newspaper article reporting on a scientific study published elsewhere
 May also lead you to primary information
Bibliography or index of primary sources

13. Tertiary Sources
 Commonly used to identify and locate secondary sources
 Examples
Bibliography of critical works about a person, period, work, or other topic
Index to secondary sources
 Index to journal, magazine, or newspaper articles
 Library catalog

14. Timeline of Primary and
Secondary Sources

15. Where Do I Find…
Primary Sources
Library’s Catalog
Library’s Databases
 ARTstor
Print Indexes
Archives
Historical Societies
Manuscript Collections
Museums
Embedded in Secondary Sources
Secondary Sources
Library’s Catalog
Library’s Databases
PsychINFO
ERIC
MLA International Bibliography
Print Indexes

16. Creative Writing Research Guide
http://libguides.sdstate.edu/creativewriting

17. Ask a
Question
Brainstorm
Background
Information
Search
Evaluate
Results

18. Evaluate Your Results
Did you find an answer to your research question?
Yes – Is the answer useful for your research project?
 Fact vs. Opinion
 Sufficient detail?
No – Re-evaluate your search strategy and try something different

19. Repeat?
Research is an iterative
process
Finding the answer to
your initial question may
raise new, more
interesting questions
Ask a
Question
Brainstorm
Background
Information
Search
Evaluate
Results

20. Ask a Question
Original Question
What would life have been like
for a young woman immigrating
to New York from Ireland during
the Great Famine?
Focus and Narrow
What would have been popular
or common knowledge?
Stories and Tales
Flowers
Clothes
Occupations