Introduction to Research

Once you've gathered a few interesting sources, your first instinct might be to just start reading each book or article from front to back, but this usually isn’t doable within the context of a research project. Instead, you should think about strategic searching and reading within your sources to accomplish your goals within a reasonable timeframe. 

• Skim the abstract and conclusion to orient yourself to the article, and then skim the section headings to identify the most relevant parts for your research.
• Use the search feature (ctrl+f) to strategically search the document for key words or terms related to your topic. Use the up/down arrows to cycle through them, and skim over any relevant sentences you find.
• First read the sections or paragraphs that seem most relevant to your research project. 

• Skim the table of contents to identify the most relevant chapters.
• Once you’ve selected one or two chapters to focus on, skim the section headings or topic sentences if section headings aren’t given.
• For E-books: Use the search feature (ctrl+f) to strategically search the file for key words or terms related to your topic. Use the up/down arrows to cycle through them, and skim over any relevant sentences you find.
• For print books: skim the index to strategically search the book for key words or terms related to your topic
• First read the sections or paragraphs that seem most relevant to your research project. 

• When you identify ideas or evidence you’d like to use in your project, make a note in a notebook or computer document that indicates the information, source, and page number. Don’t forget this, since you’ll need all of this information to cite your work later on.