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RHW 102 Dr. Edmonds- First-Year Seminar in Writing

Define Your Topic 

When you first begin your research, it is helpful to search for background information surrounding your topic. Doing background research can help you identify keywords that might help you in your search. 

Brainstorm Ideas

  • What do you find interesting? 
  • Must be relevant to assignment 
  • Avoid topics that are too broad or narrow.

Gather Background Info

  • What terms do you need to know to better understand the issue? 
  • Who is affected by the issue? 
  • What are the main controversies? 
  • Who are the key figures and organizations? 
  • What significant events/policies have there been? 
  • Use Google or ChatGPT! 

Once you have done some background research and found your topic, you can begin to narrow down your search. You might need to conduct several different searches as you work to make sure your topic is not so general that you are overwhelmed with different search avenues, but also not so narrow that you have a difficult time finding articles. 

Evaluating Websites 

Evaluation of Web Documents  Consider the Following
1. Accuracy 
  • Who wrote the page? Can you contact them? 
  • What is the purpose of the content and why was it produced? 
  • Is the person qualified to write this content? 
2. Authority 
  • Who published the content? 
  • Check the domain. Can you figure out what institution publishes this content? 
  • Does the publisher list their qualifications? 
3. Objectivity 
  • What goals/objectives does the page meet? 
  • How detailed is the information? 
  • What opinions (if any) are expressed by the author? 
4. Currency
  • When was it produced? 
  • Is it regularly updated? 
  • Do the links work? 
5. Coverage 
  • Is the information free or is there a fee to access the content? 
  • Is it all images or a balance of text and images? 
  • Is the topic covered in-depth? 

It's important to keep in mind that authority is contextual. This means that information from non-scholarly sources are not necessarily less credible-- the type of information you should gather depends on the information you need. You may decide that for the purpose of your research, you should look journalistic perspectives from different communities or even discussion boards to understand what regular people are saying about a specific subject. There may be occasions when you decide that peer-reviewed research is what you need to support your claims.