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Research Basics at MCCC: Introduction

What is a research question?

 
Identify the terms you will use to search for articles in the databases by identifying the main topic or topics of your research question or thesis statement.

Here's an example of a research question:

What is your research question or thesis statement?
An example of a research question might be
What instruction methods work best with distracted students?
An example of a thesis statement might be
Causes of student distraction and how instruction methods can help students concentrate will be addressed in this paper.
Choose the subjects from your research question or thesis statement, these are your keywords for your topic.
The subjects in the thesis statement and research question are in red.

 

Research Series

How can I find the best search terms?

 

To find the best search terms - or to search strategically, you might try breaking down your topic into related words that interest you:

“student distractions”
Related terms
“distracted students”
“cell phones”
“types of instruction”
Related terms
“instruction methods”
“backward design”

So your search might be:

"student distraction" AND phones AND "instructional design"