Plan+Your+Strategy

= Step Two: Preparing Your Research Proposal =

( Do not develop a thesis until later in the research process.) Once you've gathered some basic information about a topic, you can begin to think about questions that require you to think critically about the topic. A topic question will help you develop a thesis statement and focus your research.
 * State Your Topic As A Question**

**For example,** if you are interested in finding out how the lack of sleep effects teenagers' school work, you might pose the question, "What effect does the lack of sleep have on the academic performance of high school students?"

Start a List of Key Words
Keywords are a list of words related to your topic that will help you find the information you need and help focus your research. They are single words or short phrases. Make a list of words or short phrases that describe your topic and closely related topics. **Example:** **Question:** What effect does the lack of sleep have on the academic performance of students? **Keywords:** "sleep deprivation" "sleep disorder" "high school students" teenagers "academic performance" grades **Remember to use quotation marks around phrases.** **You will be able to add more keywords to your list as you learn more about your topic.**

**Try these tools to help you brainstorm keywords:** **Clusty Google AdWords: Keyword Tool** **Graphic Organizers:** ** [|Cluster Word Web] [|Inverted Triangle] **

Create More Questions and Keywords
Now that you have an overview of your topic, you are ready to brainstorm more questions to help you answer your topic question. Your questions should address the what, when, where, why, and how about your topic. Think about what you already know and what you need to know.

Look at your newly created questions, and add words and short phrases to your keyword list. These will help with with your search for information.

You will try to find the answers to these questions when you do your research.

How do I create a research strategy? Determine what information you will need to answer your research question. Where will you find the information you need? Does your teacher specify the number of resources you need? Are you required to use certain types of resources (books, journals, newspapers, BHS databases)? Do the articles have to come from scholarly journals? Does your topic require current resources? Where should I look for information? What types of sources are available? Which sources are likely to be most useful to you? Libraries? The Internet? Academic periodicals? Newspapers? Government records?

**Identify Relevant Material** What kind of information do you need? ( facts, opinions, research studies, statistics, interviews, history, news reports, pictures **)**

**Brainstorm a List of Possible Sources** Consider the following: Prioritize the sources on your list by numbering them in the order that you will use them.
 * Books
 * Reference Books
 * Magazines
 * Newspapers (current and historical)
 * Maps or Atlases
 * People
 * Government Documents
 * Site visits (to museums, organizations)
 * Television Programs
 * Radio Programs
 * Sound Recordings
 * Videos
 * Library Databases
 * Websites

//Hint: Librarians are very useful at knowing which kinds of sources can be used to find certain types of information. Use their expertise. It will save you valuable time.//


 * Keep in mind that a variety of sources will produce a balanced and more interesting paper. Don't rely too much on one source.**


 * You** **are now ready to begin the next step, Step Three, Begin Your Research.**