Red Cross volunteers assembling masks for patients at Camp Devens, Boston, MA, 1918. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD)
Step 7: Write your paper/ project (Don't forget to cite your sources properly!)
Steps for beginning research:
1. Write down your topic and select important keywords for which to search. Include synonyms for each keyword. Start with terminology with which you are familiar, and refine it as needed.
2. Select the best database for your particular topic in which to begin your search. For this class, the most helpful databases for your research include America: History and LIfe, Project Muse, and JSTOR. Be prepared to use more than one database, as each has unique and important content.
3. Use the 'Advanced Search' interface wherever possible. It will give you more intuitive ways to combine concepts, and easier ways to find research studies.
4. Generally speaking, the more terms you combine in a database search, the more precise -- and narrow -- your results will be. If you retrieve too few items, try dropping some combinations from your search strategy.
5. Scan the first 10-20 records of the results. If they don't match what you want, try a different combination. PERSEVERE!
6. Look at the reference lists of the sources you're using. If the same authors or articles are cited over and over, no matter how old they are, be sure to look up those too, whether they appear in your list of database results or not.
7. When you find an article, research study, book, or other source that fits well with your topic, make sure to look through the bibliography, as the author's sources may also be good leads for you to follow in your own review. This is particularly important when you are reviewing a topic which has not had a lot of research or publication devoted to it.
