Conducting research can be a stressful undertaking for even the most seasoned researchers. Therefore, a good first step is to plan your research strategies beforehand.
Create a Plan
- A good way of tracking your progress and staying ahead of deadlines is by creating a Research timeline that will allow you to separate your research into manageable segments.
- Write down your goals and objectives. Researchers have to evaluate hundreds of resources; having a clear sense of your goals and objectives can help you determine how/if a resource fits into your research.
- Develop search strategies to shorten your "time to find". Keeping track of keywords and subjects that are being used most frequently will improve the accuracy of your searches. Furthermore, develop a working knowledge of advanced search techniques to focus your searches.
- Search for background information about your topic. Reference sources, such as: encyclopedias, dictionaries, and bibliographic databases, are great research starters. Use reference sources and databases to construct a working knowledge of your topic. Once you have located enough background information, you can focus your topic.