Communication Studies 301 - Introduction to Public Speaking (Thornton-Sides): Your Assignment

Your Assignment

Before you begin your search, make sure you understand the assignment.

Some good questions are:

• How many pages?
• How many sources?
• What kinds of sources

Your professor is your best resource to answer these questions.

The Research Process

The following is a simple and effective outline of the research process.

Step One: Understand the Assignment, and Choose Your Topic

• Consider how much you know about your topic
• Do some background reading in an encyclopedia 
  Hint: Try Gale eBooks

Step Two: Start Your Search

• Use keywords that you gathered from your background reading or prior knowledge
• Search for books, articles, and news in OneSearch, or try an advanced Google search to find websites on your topic

Step Three: Put It All Together

• Begin organizing an outline for your paper or presentation, incorporating the resources you discovered in your search
• You may need to repeat previous steps to fill in any information gaps
• Be sure to save the publication information for each of your sources to create your citation page