General Steps to the Research Process

general steps of

the research process

Choosing a Topic

The first step is to decide on a research topic that both interests you, but is also relevant to your field of study. Pro-Tip: choosing a topic that you are curious about and want to learn more about will make the research process much easier!

backgroundresearch

Once you have a topic in mind, you'll want to do some initial research to get a sense of what's already been done on the topic. This will help you identify gaps in the literature and potential areas for further study. This is an opportunity to start collecting sources.

Developing aresearch question

Based on your background research, you'll want to develop a specific research question or hypothesis that you want to explore in your research.

Make a plan

Once you have a research question, it is a good idea to create an outline and begin formulating the direction your essay will go. An outline will help you: organize your thoughts, clarify your ideas, focus on main ideas, and identify any gaps in your research that you should address

Collect Additionalsources

With your outline and background research, it is time to accumulate relevant sources that will be the focus of your analysis and synthesis. This is the time to weed out sources you don't need, and focus on the ones you do.

Analyze and Synthesize

You will need to analyze your sources in order to answer your research question. You will then need to synthesize the information and draw your own conclusions on the topic from your analysis.

Writing your paper!

using your outline as a guide, you will have a majority of the work out of the way! convey your synthesis of the information, using sources as evidence to support your claims.

Congrats! You're all done!

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