Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition

Conducting research worksheet

1. Research Topic or Question

Write your research topic or question.

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2. Key Concepts and Search Terms

Examine your research topic or question. What are the main concepts?

How can these concepts be expressed differently?

Sample topic: What is the impact of economic recovery on social services to the poor?

3. Preliminary Search Statement

Use the chart to help you create a search statement. As a general rule, incorporate no more than

2 or 3 concepts into the statement.

Use appropriate “boolean” connectors (and, or, not) to combine search terms and phrases.

Example: econom* and (social services or social policy) and (poor or poverty)

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4. Determine the scope or limits of your research (how much of “the literature” am I searching through?):

• Publication Dates:         ______________________________________________________

• Language(s):         ______________________________________________________

Evaluate Your Sources

Start with established or seminal articles or works. Consult your supervisor for this information, and you can also connect with the Bibliographics Librarian to examine the 'important' publications/authors/topics in your discipline.

Evaluation Criteria:

- Content: what are the key contributions for the topic? What limitations should be noted? How does it relate to other works?
-  Accuracy: How comprehensive is the coverage? Are all sides covered?
- Authority: Who is the author and what are their credentials? To what extent is the work cited by others?
- Objectivity: Is there bias on the part of the publisher, author, organization, funder? Is the work fair, balanced and reasonable? Can you determine any conflict of interest?

Types of sources   

Determine the resources you will use to conduct your research. Explore a Database.

• What topics does it cover?
• How many years does it cover?
• Can I isolate review articles?
• Can I search by a particular methodology e.g. participatory research?

How many databases will you need to search? This is dependent upon the scope of your research (research paper, formal literature review, systematic review, major research paper, Thesis, Dissertation, etc.), and on the multidisciplinarity of your research question. There are likely different disciplinary 'lenses' from which to look at your question. 

Database Features

Databases have their own accounts (called various things, such as profile, research page, account, etc) - sign up for these free accounts as they usually provide you with features that make your search process easier: 

• Save Searches
• Build the search from the saved search history
• Search Alerts
• Exporting to citation management tools
• Share your results via email or RSS

Databases have their own thesauri and vocabulary (list of subject terms used to classify and organize information; shows relationships between terms) - using/understanding its vocabulary allows you to enhance your searching

Databases use Wildcards, Truncation, Proximity Searching and other tools -- using these helps you use the database at an advanced level. The "Search Tips" or "Help" will reveal these features. 

If you are dealing with more than a handful of citations in your reports, you should strongly consider using a bit of software called a reference or citation manager.

Citation management software (CMS) can help you collect and organize the items that you find when searching in databases, and it automates the process of creating your bibliography in your selected style when you're writing.

There are many citation management tools available, both paid and free, all with different strengths and weaknesses.

McMaster Libraries doesn't recommend any specific system, but we do have a citation management software comparison chart to help you choose from these three popular choices:

EndNote is available to current McMaster employees and students at no cost and consists of a website, browser plug-ins and desktop application (which can be synced across devices & with website). NOTE: A web-based citation management tool called EndNote Basic is free to anyone and has no desktop component. EndNote Basic has less storage and fewer features than EndNote. See this chart for details.

Mendeley is a free citation management tool that consists of  a website, browser extension and desktop application (which can be synced across devices & with website).
 

Zotero is a a free citation management tool that consists of  a website, browser extension or bookmarklet, and desktop application (which can be synced across devices & with website).

 
Guides for each of these citation managers [linked above and in the left navigation pane] are also available to help you through the process of setting up a citation management system, adding references to it from a database, and using it with MS Word to format your bibliography.

If these three options do not meet your needs, you can view a much larger comparison chart on Wikipedia, which includes both free and fee-based alternatives.