This document provides guidance on choosing a good research question and basic search strategies. It recommends choosing a question that interests you, matters to others, and is neither too broad nor too narrow. It then gives examples of potential research questions at different scopes related to Martin Luther King Jr. The document also provides tips for using the library database Magnolia and strategies for when search results are too many or too few, such as using more keywords, quotation marks, synonyms or truncation.

1. Creating a Research Question & Basic Search Strategies March 26, 2007 Ms. Gardner

2. How to choose a good research question 1. Choose a question that interests you!

3. How to choose a good research question 2. Choose a question that matters. This means other people are writing about it and you will be able to find sources to write your paper.

4. How to choose a good research question 3. Choose a question that is not too BIG or too little.

5. Which is little , which is BIG and which is “just right”? 1. What did Martin Luther King accomplish in his life? 2. What was Martin Luther King’s impact on future ministers in Georgia? 3. How did King’s faith impact his message?

6. Basic Search Strategies Try MAGNOLIA first Don’t forget to check the FULL TEXT box http://library.msstate.edu/magnolia Password from home: magn0897 If you SKIM an article and it looks good, email or “Save to my EBSCO folder”

7. If using a website, read this first… You may only use 3 websites TOTAL Wikipedia may be one of your websites Your other websites must be RELIABLE They should have an author and should be from an EXPERT (someone we can trust)

8. Q: I’m getting too many results, what do I do? A: Try using more KEYWORDS or try putting “ “ marks around a person’s name or a phrase. Ex: “Martin Luther King” AND impact AND civil rights AND faith

9. Q: I’m getting too few results, what do I do? A: Try using less KEYWORDS Try using SYNONYMS Ex: try “legacy” instead of impact Try using truncation: use a * to search for a root word with multiple endings Ex: teach* searches for teach, teacher, teaches, teaching, etc.