Assignment | ENGL 1302 Annotated Bibliography (Davis-Bibb): Research Process

Starting With Nothing

Your professor might provide a list of topics to choose from... but you might also encounter the freedom of "anything that interests you"! How do you find a topic when anything (that relates to the class, at least) is on the table?

Begin thinking about the type of research you would like to do by asking yourself the questions below.  Remember, even seemingly silly ideas can lead you to relevant new topic areas and research questions.

• What are your major interests within the discipline (or that you can somehow relate to the discipline)?
• What personal experiences have you had that were particularly significant or meaningful to you, as it relates to your discipline?
• Are there some ideas you have studied which you are curious about and would like to explore more?
• What are your career goals upon completion of your degree?
• What are the major issues or problems faced in your industry today?
• Have you read any interesting articles or books (or heard any neat podcasts) that you can relate to the class?

Get Some Ideas

These resources have topic collections that you can browse and explore. What catches your attention?

Below going too far into your information sources, pause to set-up PowerNotes. Give this tool a try. It may be perfect for your work style.

As you move from Step 1. Brainstorm (to find ideas) we are skipping a few steps to Step 4: Developing your idea. See the complete steps in the master guide Research Process

Once you know your topic and your research question, you need to figure out how you're going to find more in-depth information.

First, pick out the key terms from your research question: 

What effects on the education system does racial discrimination have?

Next, you'll want to brainstorm some related and alternate terms for these keywords to give you some variability in your search strategies. Your background research should have helped you uncover some of these.