Finding, Summarizing, and Evaluating Information from Sources
Before you begin looking for information, consider asking yourself the following questions:
What do I know?
Ask yourself, “What do I know about this topic?” It may be useful to list that information in your science notebook.
What do I want to know?
What information do you want to find out about your topic? List any questions you may have about it. Remember—the more general your questions, the higher the chance that you will be overwhelmed with information when you begin to do research.
How am I going to find out?
Managing your research is most effective if you break down the process into stages. The following steps outline the research process and will help you frame the organization of your project:
- Look at print resources and non-print resources
- Balance the use of primary and secondary resources
- Take detailed notes from resources
- Collect bibliographic information from sources
- Critically analyze sources for quality of material
- Organize and condense notes into a manageable form
