It may surprise you that the answer to that is... no.
Research -- when you're doing it right -- means looking for and synthesizing lots of pieces of information to come up with your answer. If you can get an easy solution with just one or two Google searches, you're not thinking big enough!
That's not to say that doing many Google searches isn't part of the research process... and it is a process. As you practice (i.e. by completing research assignments), you'll start do the different stages intuitively, but if this is unfamiliar to you, take the time to go through each step! Write things out and be really deliberate about how you're tackling this. We promise, it'll make things more straightforward in the long run.
Don't be surprised if you end up moving back and forth! Research is an iterative process.
This won't necessarily be your actual topic yet -- just a general idea. |
Build out the big picture and start making connections between ideas. |
Select a small piece of that big picture and decide what question you want to ask about it. As you dig into your research (#5) you might adjust or even change your topic based on what info is available. |
What key words describe your topic? You may revisit this once you start researching (#5): watch for what other terms and tags your sources use. |
Start looking for sources that help you answer your research question. Keep track of what you find and cite as you go! |
One idea should logically flow into the next. Make sure your citations are in order, too. |
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