The Research Process: Select, Explore, Narrow, Refine, and Use: Home

Doing research involves several interconnected steps. The list below is numbered for the sake of simplicity, but you should imagine doing research as a process with overlapping layers; expanding or refining your topic, tweaking your search, or changing topics altogether is a normal part of doing research. Explore the tabs for details about each research step.

Research process summary

1. Select a topic that meets the requirements of your assignment.

2. Explore information: find background information. Explore a few ideas and perspectives to focus on. Identify potential sources of information.

3. Narrow your topic: identify key points you want to explore and formulate a question or argument around them. This is where you start formulating your research question and thesis.

4. Refine your search & evaluate resources. Explore information that is related to your argument and make connections between your ideas and the ideas of others. Consider the quality of your sources.

5. Use information appropriately. Give credit to the original creators of information and strengthen your argument. This is the reference/bibliography part of your paper. Remember to keep track of your citations during your research.