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Developing a Research Strategy
Conducting background research is an essential step, that many of us skip!
Background research is so important because:
1) It will help you become more grounded in your understanding of your topic, which will help you develop a strong research question.
2) It will also give you an idea of important keywords and terms, and what kind of resources (scholarly, popular, etc.) are written about your topic. This will help you develop a search strategy that is more effective and efficient.
Use Encyclopedia Databases
As a Babson student, you have access to a variety of databases that are wonderful for conducting broad, background research. Find the best fit for you below.
DO NOT use encyclopedia content in your literature review. Encyclopedia resources should only be used to teach yourself a little about your topic, so that you are able to devise an efficient search strategy.
- Britannica Online Academic Edition This link opens in a new window
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Britannica Online is a great resource for conducting topical, background research to get a firmer foundation in the subject of your research. As an encyclopedia resource, it contains both topical overviews on a variety of subjects, as well as historical timelines. - Gale Ebooks This link opens in a new window
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Gale eBooks is another great resource for finding online encyclopedia and/or other specialized reference sources. - Opposing Viewpoints in Context This link opens in a new window
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Opposing Viewpoints in Context is best suited to those researching timely, "hot-button" social, political, or policy issues. It offers viewpoints and opinions in a variety of categories, including news/magazine articles and topical overviews. - CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
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Like Opposing Viewpoints, CQ Researcher is best suited to those researching timely social or political issues. You can search or browse by topics for overviews, timelines, and additional information to provide you with some background on your subject. - U.S. History in Context This link opens in a new window
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For students who have chosen historical, U.S.-based topics: a comprehensive collection of reference, full-text articles from leading scholarly publications, an array of primary sources, and images which provide expansive geographic and chronological research materials for the study of US history. - World History in Context This link opens in a new window
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For students who have chosen historical topics based outside of the U.S.: comprehensive collection of reference, full-text articles from leading scholarly publications, an array of primary sources, and images which provide expansive geographic and chronological research materials for the study of world history. - Global Issues In Context This link opens in a new window
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Similar to CQ Researcher and Opposing Viewpoints in Context, this resource is best suited for students who are researching timely social and political subjects, and would like to get a non-U.S. perspective.
Use Power Search
Power Search is our library search engine. It can be used to search across many of our scholarly article, reference, and news databases, as well as our print book and eBook collection. It's a great resource for conducting background research, because not only do you have the ability to filter for the kind of resources you'd like to see, but you get a birds-eye view of what kind of scholarship is available on your topic in general.
Tip: Power Search uses Boolean logic, so it may be helpful to utilize some Boolean Search Strategies to enhance your results.
Google It!
It is completely fine to do a little Googling at the beginning of your research process. When you are choosing a research topic, surveying a number of different kinds of resources can a good way of getting some basic background knowledge on your topic.
Try a few different searches using the keywords you developed in your brainstorming exercise, and see what comes up. Keep in mind that Google surveys the open, unfiltered web, so you'll need to exercise your source evaluation skills here!
Be VERY wary of using resources that you find on the open web in your literature review! Always cross-check academic articles in the Horn Library's Power Search engine to make sure they are peer-reviewed.
Research Question
Your research question serves as the compass for all of the steps in your research and writing processes, so it's very important that your question is strong (and meaningful to you!).
After conducting some background research on your topic, ask yourself the following questions:
- What interests you about your topic?
- How does your topic relate to your assignment?
- What lingering questions do you have about your topic?
- What would you like to learn more about?
Using these questions and the foundation you've built from the background research process, draft a research question to share with your instructor or advisor. This research question will guide your literature search and literature review (not "literary" review!). To learn more, see here.
Source: Scribbr
Determine Your Disciplinary Context
Determining the academic disciplines that are most concerned with your topic will help you to determine what kind of materials you may need to be looking for, which will help you develop a search strategy.
For example:
- In Literature and the Liberal Arts, you will most likely be less concerned with academic journal research, and more concerned with finding books and primary source material.
- In the Social Sciences (e.g. Economics, Sociology), you will have more luck finding research published in academic journals, but you can also use book chapters, primary source material, and statistical data depending on your information need.
- For Legal Research, you will most likely be consulting law review journals and case law. Depending on the scope of your information needs, however, you may also seek out books, primary source material, statistical data, and academic journal articles.
In some cases, the topics that Honors students pursue are interdisciplinary, meaning that they cross over multiple academic disciplines. Therefore, the material and information needs can vary. See below for some helpful tips, and if you're still unsure what you should be looking for, reach out to a librarian.
Tip #1: Ask Yourself: Who Cares?
If you're unsure what disciplinary context(s) your research topic falls under, ask yourself the following questions:
- Who are the stakeholders? What academic or professional communities do they belong to?
- Who cares about my topic? What academic or professional communities do they belong to? Or, what academic or professional communities seek to support them?
Tip #2: Scan the journal titles!
Another way to determine which disciplines are concerned with your topic is to do a broad, exploratory search in Power Search or Google Scholar.
In your search results list, scan the titles of the academic journals that are publishing articles on the topic. What academic disciplines do they belong to?
See below for an example for a search performed in Google Scholar ("artificial intelligence" AND education). In addition to journals focusing on the intersection of technology and education, there is also an article published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). This clues me into the fact that while Education might be the primary discipline interested in Artificial Intelligence's role in education, I may also seek and find materials in Information Technology and Engineering.
