Documentary research

You just received an assignment and to complete it, you have to do a documentary research. We tend to forget but finding good sources is not always so easy. Here is a page to help you do a good research so you can find good sources.

Step 1 - Identify the subject

Before launching yourself into your work:

read the instructions and make sure that you understand everything. Do not hesitate to use an encyclopedia or a dictionary.
Find the defining Key-Words in the instructions
Ask yourself what you know of your work, use the 5WH:

What? Define your subject
Who? Who is involved in the subject
Where? Where is the subject situated
When? When is it happening?
Why? Why is this interesting, what made you want to do this?
How? What form, how does it manifest?

With these information, select your key-words that you are going to use to do your research.

Step 2 - Search for sources

Identify what sources and tools are really important and at the core of your research.
Was there a recent documentary on the subject ?
Is there someone that I could contact, a specialist on the subject?
What are the reference books on the subject? Try finding as many primary sources as possible, if it not possible (not available und unreadable, then use secondary sources.

Use your key-words to begin researching for articles and sources online
Think about a problematic to start with.

Wikipedia is good starting point, especially the bottom of the page with all the sources, but it is not a good source so do not use it as a reference!

Step 3 - Select your ressources

Now that you have found many useful ressources, it is time to sort them out, keep only the documents that relates to your subject.

Remove the ones that are too old or too unreliable
Prefer those who have an author as well as a date.

It is also time to begin your bibliography so you do not lose your documents.

Step 4 - Extract information

Read your documents quickly to spot the interesting parts: use summaries and indexes to spot them., there is no point in reading an entire book when the interesting parts consists of two pages.
When you have selected what really concerns you, then read attentively and take notes, especially if you want to cite a part.
It also helps to do reading sheet so you know where to find each and every arguments that you need.

Step 5 - Process information

Classify your notes and ideas
Do you have a main theme that emerges from your work?
Can you answer the instruction that were given to you or can you answer the question you had at the beginning?
If yes, then write your final problematic
Make a plan of your entire work

Step 6 - Put everything in shape

It is now time to write while abiding by the redaction rules demanded by your work
Quote and cite as you go, doing it at the very end is impossible and you might miss a reference or two.
For each citation and quote, be sure that your reference is in your bibliography!

To help you better understand the why of this approach