Starting the Research Process

Getting the ball rolling on a research project is often the most intimidating part of the entire process. You might be tempted to dive right into researching the topic straight away – even if you aren’t really sure how to start that, either – but the better approach is to build yourself a foundation of knowledge. Once you’ve got a general topic in mind, this initial stage is where you should begin developing an understanding of the basic facts, history, and current events/conversations that are surrounding the issue. This is where you develop your research question.

During this early exploratory stage, tools like Google and Google Scholar can be useful as places to gather general background information.

Developing Your Research Question & GenAI Socratic Tutor

Let’s start building your Research Question (RQ) by focusing in on what gets you fired up.

Before you start using outside tools to develop your RQ, you should start with your own critical thinking. It might be tempting to jump right into using GenAI to begin your brainstorming, but all the chatbots have their own algorithms that might unconsciously lead you in a specific direction and focus your thoughts/searches in a biased manner – toward what the AI thinks is important and not what you do – which would stifle your autonomy, interests, and creativity.

And we all know that if you’re not interested in what you’re working on, or don’t see it as important then you’re not going to be as focused as you should be.

With our social justice project, for example, you shouldn’t choose a topic just because you think it will be “easy”. I get it – we all want to set ourselves up for success and an easier topic probably feels like it’s a better topic – but that easier topic isn’t as likely to keep you interested and motivated. If you seek out an issue that genuinely catches your attention and makes you want to know more, that will engage your natural curiosity which will keep you focused.

When you care about the outcome of your work – and not just about the grade – the research process feels much less like a chore and much more like an investigation. All the best research starts with genuine curiosity, so you should pick an issue that matters to you.

Choosing the Topic

For our project, you might have already chosen a topic or have a few possibilities in mind. But if you’ve found yourself thinking about it and then thinking about it some more and then thinking about it even more and staring at nothing but a blank page, there are some ways you can get out of that cycle and make some choices.

• The Scroll Test – When you’re scrolling the internet (or doomscrolling, as the case may be), what are the local, national, or global news stories that make you stop scrolling and actually read the article or (even worse) read the comments? Not sure? Open up a news feed and start scrolling! Active thinking can get your curiosity and creativity flowing.
• The Community Connection – We all live in communities and see people and neighborhoods that are directly impacted by social issues/situations/challenges every day. What are some of the issues that directly impact your community, your neighbors, or your family? Or maybe the issues that directly tie into your planned career path? Research and academic writing can often feel very abstract – make it real.
• The Magic Wand – Most of us spend our lives wishing we had the power to actually change things, to make things better for our families and communities. So, if you actually had the power to change one systemic inequality today, what would it be? What’s the first thing that jumps to mind when you make that wish?
• The Dinner Table Debate – If your family doesn’t sit around the dinner table to eat together, then change the metaphor to ‘The Couch Conversations’ or ‘The Porch Ponderings; the name might be different, but the idea remains the same: what are the topics that you find yourself passionately discussing/arguing about with your family or your friends? If you’re willing to yell at your parents/siblings/besties about it, then you’re probably willing to research it.

Now What?

Once you’ve got a broad topic idea in mind – something like ‘mental health services in economically disadvantaged communities’ or ‘the wage gap’ – the next step is to engage your own critical thinking.

Spend a few minutes ‘writing to explore‘ by thinking about your connection to the topic you’ve chosen and writing about that connection.  Try focusing on these ideas:

• Your ‘Why’ – What is it about this specific issue that interests you personally, intellectually, or ethically? Or all three?
• Your Prior Knowledge – What do you already know about this topic? Where has that prior knowledge come from? Experience? The news? Other classes?
• Your Specific Interests – What exactly do you want to learn more about? What aspects of the topic do you feel like you need more information on? Are there terms you need to clarify or any alternative viewpoints that you should consider?

If you want to build a truly complex research question – the kind that gets you the best results – it helps to consider your topic from four specific angles:

1. People – What specific groups/publics are impacted by the issue or involved with it in some way? Who are the stakeholders? Does the issue affect different groups in different ways?
2. Problems – Most issues have multiple problems connected to them. What are the potential problems or challenges related to your chosen issue? Have they changed over time? Are the present-day problems the same as those that arose in the past or those that might come in the future? Are there short-term problems that differ from the long-term ones?
3. Programs – Are there any systems, supports, or structures that already exist to address the issues? If so, are they effective? Are the equitable (fair) to everyone affected by the issue? Were past attempts to deal with the issue successful or did they fail?
4. Phenomena – Social issues like these don’t just appear on their own. What sorts of underlying situation, contexts, or environments existed that led to the creation of this issue in the first place? Are there other connected events that might be worth some investigation?

And Finally…

Review everything you’ve written. Look for common themes or repeated ideas. And, based on what you’ve written, choose the single most interesting question or angle that you want to investigate as you move forward.

Now, you’re ready to bring in the tools – including GenAI – to help you research.