ResearchPR 305: Dr. Kelly Winfrey

Types of Research

• Primary Research• Gathers new information• Includes surveys, interviews, and observations

• Secondary Research• Retrieves published information• Includes library and online research

Types of Sources

• Primary Sources• The original source that conducted primary

research• Examples- academic journals, research

organizations, think tanks, some books

• Secondary Sources• Reports on research conducted by others• Examples- newspapers, magazines, some books

Getting started

• Start with quality sources• Library databases• Reputable websites

• Do some basic research on the topic to get an understanding of what’s out there

• Be patient

• Skim

Conducting Research

• Decide if this requires “hard research” or “soft research”• “Hard research” is scientific, objective, has

evidence to support claims, and comes from a credible source/author

• “Soft research” is more subjective and opinion-based

• Mixed “hard” and “soft” research requires both solid facts and good opinions.

Conducting Research

• Decide which type of sources are appropriate.• “Hard” topics require academically respected

evidence. • “Soft” topics is more about collecting the opinions of

respected people.

• Start with a broad set of search terms, and arrow terms until you get a manageable number of sources

• Skim articles and look for more specific terms to help with additional searches

• Go beyond public search engines to the Deep Web

Conducting Research

• Keep track of your sources• Bookmark pages that look credible on first

glance• Use bookmark folders to keep organized

• Filter and validate content• Author/source credibility• Timeliness• Be suspicious of:

• Pages with a lot of advertising• Ranting, overstating• Commercial websites

Activity

• Get into groups of 2 or 3

• I will assign you a research link to examine

• http://courses.greenlee.iastate.edu/wp/305-winfrey/

• You will have about 10 minutes to see what the source has to offer and come up with a demonstration search

• Each group will come to the front and demonstrate their research link

Activity

• Research Race

• Find a new group of 3 or 4. Do not stay with your original partner(s).

• I will give the class a question to research. The first group to find the answer wins a prize.

Research Race

• Find a research report about using websites to recruit donors and volunteers for a charity

• Find a press release from Hy-Vee about a recent recall

• Find the percentage of people in Ames that live below the poverty line

• Find how many political student organizations Iowa State has.

• Find out which fast food restaurant has the largest share of the market in the United States.