The Research Process

Very basically, we can think of the research process as:

• Developing a topic
• Planning a search
• Searching for information
• Reading and analyzing information
• Writing a paper or completing a research project
• Citing sources

These steps are not linear, meaning that we do not have to do them in the order listed above. In fact, you will repeat many steps throughout the process and may even complete steps simultaneously.

For example, you may have planned to search for information about social media’s impact on mental health. During your search for information, you might read and analyze articles about social media and anxiety. As you’re searching you might find that you want to re-do your search for information about social media’s effects on college students specifically. You will have to plan a new search! We also recommend that you start drafting your paper and citing your sources as you go.

In ENGL 1010 or ENGL 2010, you will likely be asked to do research as part of your Establishing the Facts paper, Annotated Bibliography assignment, or Research paper. Usually, these assignments involve finding many different sources on the same topic.

Later in this tutorial, you’ll learn how to find and evaluate different source types.