Research strategy
Welcome! Get started on your research for your literature review and consulting project. ![](//s3.amazonaws.com/libapps/accounts/9266/images/evaluation.jpg)
Some helpful hints...
- Questions? Don't hesitate to Ask A Librarian! We can answer your questions via email, or set up a time to meet in-person or via Zoom.
- Begin by familiarizing yourself with current and available information and generating keywords and phrases about your topic. Then, search for those keywords and phrases using:
- The Library Catalog (for books and other general information resources)
- Databases and other specialized resources in this guide
- Set up your research strategy and information management
- Research background information about your topic
- Do a preliminary literature search in major databases
- Discover web resources,"grey literature" (non-peer-reviewed scholarly and substantive info), government info, statistics, etc.
- Gather or generate analysis of your own information
- Be sure to evaluate what you are finding!
Other Useful Guides for Getting Started
- Literature Reviews: An Overview for Graduate StudentsExcellent short video introduction to literature reviews by North Carolina State University.
- Introduction to ResearchFor a general introduction to research at Cornell University Library
Literature Review Overview
NCSU Libraries has a great overview of the literature review process in the video below.
The Process of Developing a Research Question
- Research Topic
- The Topical area where the research question falls under
- Research Problem/Objective
- Specific problem on which the research question is formulated
- Research Question
- The actual question the researcher seeks to answer via a research study
- Hypothesis
- Predictive statement about expected outcome of the research
Finding your Research Question
- Can it hold your interest?
- Can it pass the "so what" test?
- Is the research question well-grounded in existing research?
- Are all the terms in the research unambiguous and operationally definable?
- Is answering the research question feasible given the constraints of time, budget, expertise, personnel and ethics?