The 5 Steps On How To Research: Guide and Tools

Research is the process of gathering information. It can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be; it can also be fun and rewarding. Research is often overlooked as a critical process. Yet, it is time-consuming because you’re essentially collecting information that you’re going to use to form a new hypothesis or idea, which you will later test by conducting an experiment or collecting more data.

Additional Readings

1. How to write a conclusion for a research paper
2. How to write a research paper outline

Here are the five steps on how to do research, but first, let’s define what it is a research:

What Is Research?

Research is the process of finding information. There are many different ways to research a topic, and you’ll likely need to use more than one method. For example, you may need to find information from books or websites and ask people you know if they have any experience with the topic.

5 Steps for How to Research

Fortunately, research is not as daunting a task as it may seem. To get started with your research, follow these five simple steps:

• Pick a Topic
• Are There Enough Sources?
• Validation: Find the Best Sources
• Make Notes
• Organize Your Information

Step 1: Pick a Topic

Research is an intriguing process that requires you to find out as much information as possible about your topic of choice. Thus, it’s important to choose a topic wisely. When you begin researching, be sure to consider the following:

• Is the topic interesting? Naturally, you want something that will pique your interest to make the research process more enjoyable for you.
• Is the topic manageable? If the scope is too wide or there are too many topics within your chosen subject area, it might be a good idea to narrow down its focus to become more manageable.
• Is this a topic of interest to others? As part of writing an academic paper with proper citations and other components needed in most assignments, it’s best to find academic literature on your topic so that what you write can be supported by credible sources. It also helps if there is a general interest in your topic; when others read what you have written on the subject matter, they can appreciate learning about something of value (instead of reading something uninteresting).
• Has this been researched extensively by others? It’s still possible for you to write about a subject even if there have been many studies done previously on this topic—the key is for you to ask unique questions and offer groundbreaking insights regarding the subject matter. Also, remember that some studies have only scratched the surface; thus, even with existing research on a given subject matter, there may still be plenty left undiscovered or uncovered! However, if perhaps too much has already been written about this issue or concern, it could prove difficult for you to say anything new while not simply repeating what has already been written.
• Is my topic researchable? In some cases, it turns out that no amount of research yields any results; either nothing appears online (and offline), or very little information exists concerning what

Step 2: Are There Enough Sources?

The next thing you want to do is see if there are enough sources on your topic. You’ll have a good idea if this is a topic you can write about most of the time. But some topics may not be as obvious.

For these topics, you can use Google Scholar to figure out if there are enough resources for your paper. You need to enter a keyword (or phrase) into Google Scholar and see how many results it gives back.

If there are over 200 results, there are probably plenty of sources for your paper!

Another way to tell is by looking at the types of sources available on the topic. If it has news articles, books, scholarly journals, and other reliable sources, then that’s also a good sign that there are enough resources for your paper.

Step 3: Validation: Find the Best Sources

Now, it’s time to find some research to support your claim. Many students don’t understand why they have to do this step because they think they already did the work in the previous steps and can look up a few things on Google Scholar.

However, this is not the case. You have to remain objective throughout the process of researching.

When searching for credible sources, you should validate them before using them in your paper.

Validation is defined as ensuring that a source is reliable and credible by checking that experts have approved it in its field through peer review and fact-checking or verification. It’s important because it shows that those with authority agree with its information and assertions. Sources that are not validated should be used with caution since their information may not be accurate or well researched.

The most reliable sources will come from people who have already researched your topic. This saves you a ton of time, but you’ll also get more accurate information. These sources can be books, academic journals, articles, or experts in the field.

The best way to find these sources is by using a search engine like Google Scholar or a library database. The results will be mostly academic articles, which means they’ve been peer-reviewed (or checked by experts in the same field). You might want to avoid using Wikipedia as a source because anyone can edit it, so you can’t always trust that the information is correct.

To check if a source has been peer-reviewed, read through the journal’s submission guidelines.

“Peer review” means experts reviewed an article or book in that field before publication. Doing this ensures that readers will get accurate information and not misinformation put up by people who may not be qualified to write about the topic.

Step 4: Make Notes

Make notes while you read, taking care not to copy large sections of text. To do this quickly and efficiently, you’ll want to identify each source’s essential facts, concepts, and keywords. Then paraphrase the information by putting it into your own words, or take short quotes from your sources if necessary. You should write down the source where you found each piece of information to include it in your list of references when you write your paper or report.

Doing this will also help you avoid plagiarism (using someone else’s work as if it were your own). Plagiarism is a serious offense and can get you expelled from school and imprisoned for some time, depending on the nature and severity of the offense.

Step 5: Organize Your Information

The fifth and final step is to organize all of your information to make sense. This step is especially important if you are doing a research project where you have to write a paper and cite your sources.

Organizing your information can be done in many different ways, including:

• By sections: For example, one section could discuss the history, another section could discuss the present, and another section could discuss the future of your topic.
• By Group: For example, one group could include facts about dogs, and another group could include facts about cats.
• By themes: you can organize by similarities or differences between topics or people associated with your subject matter.
• By Category: For example, one category could be fun facts about dogs and cats, while another could be scary facts about dogs and cats. Then you can use these categories as headings for different parts of the paper or report that you will eventually write on this topic (or if it’s just for fun).
• By priority: This would mean ranking (or numbering) each fact from most important to least important.

6 Essential Research Tools

Now that you know the basic research steps, it’s time to learn what tools are available.

We have compiled a list of the six best tools to help you with your research process:

1. Google

The biggest and most resourceful tool is Google which has google scholar, Google Books, and Google News. All these are essential in doing research:

• Google Scholar: This tool is perfect for searching academic literature and journals. It allows you to search across multiple disciplines and sources—from articles to theses, court opinions, and books.
• Google Books: This tool will allow you to read entire books online or purchase them with just a few clicks. It also offers book reviews from reliable sources like NPR and The New York Times Book Review.
• Google News: If you’re looking for news sources on your topic, Google News is an excellent place to start your search. You can set the filters for frequency of publication, region (national or international), language (English only or all languages), and more.

2. Todoist

Todoist provides a wonderful tool to help you organize and manage your research project.

Todoist is a task management app available on multiple platforms and devices, including a web interface, desktop application, and mobile apps. You can use it to create lists of tasks that you can organize into projects (e.g., for your different classes). Within these projects, you can assign tasks to other people (great for group assignments), prioritize the order of your tasks, add deadlines and reminders, attach files and comments from Google Drive or Dropbox, and much more!

3. EndNote

An EndNote is a tool that helps you manage your bibliographies. It’s available to students, faculty, and staff. EndNote Desktop is an application that works with Word and Pages to help you easily cite your sources in your writing. You can also use the web version of EndNote for the same purpose. These tools even make it easier for you to format citations and references (APA, MLA, and more), so this step in the process can be done quicker.

4. RefWorks

RefWorks is a free web-based citation manager. RefWorks will:

• Help you keep track of your research by organizing it into folders.
• Allow you to generate bibliographies in any citation style, including those required by your instructors.
• Import citations from various databases and websites or manually input citations.

RefWorks works on any computer and can be accessed off-campus by logging in to the Refworks website and entering your JWU username and password.

5. DataElixir

DataElixir is a newsletter about the best data science news and resources published every two weeks by the same folks as Data Science Weekly, which I also recommend highly.

DataEilxir includes:

• Each fortnight, a curated list of the hottest data science news articles and blog posts.
• The top job opportunities in data science, data analysis, big data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence from around the globe.

6. DeepDyve

DeepDyve is a subscription service that gives you access to millions of journal articles. There are several ways to approach the subscription, but they offer a free trial period most popularly. With this option, you can test drive their service and see if it suits your purposes. As with any research tool, it must be easy to use and search for exactly what you need; luckily, DeepDyve has many filters to help narrow your topic down by the author, publication date, and more. Also, there is an app!

Final Thoughts

Research isn’t always easy or fun, but it’s an essential part of schooling and working in academia. If you keep these guidelines for researching a topic in mind, you’ll be more likely to have a successful experience.

If you’re stuck, don’t hesitate to seek help from your teacher or professor. They can give useful advice on focusing on your topic and finding the right sources. You can also contact us at EssayFreelanceWriters.Com if you need any other help with your research or academic writing.

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Sarah Bentley

With a passion for helping students navigate their educational journey, I strive to create informative and relatable blog content. Whether it’s tackling exam stress, offering career guidance, or sharing effective study techniques