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Getting Started on your Research

Public Health is an interdisciplinary topic which means that the literature you will need to write your papers can be found in a variety of disciplines, including, but not limited to, medicine, psychology, and sociology. This tutorial is designed to help you in learning how to gain access to this literature.

Overview of the Literature

All discoveries must be published in order for them to be of general use. Such publications give rise to the body of science knowledge known as 'the literature'. The literature can be divided in three broad categories:

1. Primary - Direct, uninterpreted records of the subject of your research project. As such, a primary source can be almost anything, depending on the subject and purpose of your research.
2. Secondary - Books, articles, and other writings by scholars and researchers build on primary sources by interpreting and assessing primary information.
3. Tertiary - Encyclopedias, indexes, textbooks, and other reference sources which present summaries of or introductions to the current state of research on a topic, or provide a list of primary and secondary sources of more extensive information.

Research Tips:

Work from the General to the Specific: i.e. Work backwards. Usually, your research should begin with tertiary sources:

1. Tertiary - Start by finding background information on your topic by consulting reference sources for introductions and summaries, and to find bibliographies or citations of secondary and primary sources.
2. Secondary - Find books, articles, and other sources providing more extensive and thorough analyses of a topic. Check to see what other scholars have to say about your topic.
3. Primary - Now that you have a solid background knowledge of your topic, you are better able to understand, interpret, and analyze the primary source information. See if you can find primary source evidence to support or refute what other scholars have said about your topic, or posit an interpretation of your own and look for more primary sources to confirm or refute your thesis. When you present your conclusions, you will have produced another secondary source to aid others in their research.

Write down what you find and where

Write out a complete citation for each source you find; you may need it again later.

Translate your topic into the subject language of he discipline

Check your topic words against a thesaurus or subject heading list.

• Need help clarifying your topic?
• Need ideas about where to look next?
• Want to be sure you're using a reference source effectively?

Ask a Librarian for help!

Research Process:

1. Identify your topic

   Narrow your topic - The initial idea for a research topic is often too broad. If your first searches for resources are so general that you find more information than you can click a mouse at or deal with in a reasonable amount of time (i.e. before the research project is due), focus on one of the following:

   • a specific period of time
   • a specific geographic location
   • specific individuals or groups
   • a specific aspect of the subject
   • the viewpoint of a specific discipline

   Make it a question

   • It is often helpful to state your topic in the form of a question. Treat the research project as an attempt to find a specific answer for a specific question.

   List main concepts

   • Pull out ideas and key terms that describe your topic. You can get a better idea of these by looking up your topic in an encyclopedia or other appropriate reference work.
   • This will give you a better understanding of your topic, which will help you figure out what sources you will need and where you will need to look to find them.

2. Find background Information

   Consult reference sources for

   • Introductions to a topic
   • Brief, comprehensive summaries of a topic
   • Key terms and names to search for in indexes and databases
   • Lists of secondary and primary sources for more extensive and detailed information elsewhere
   • Facts or statistics to defend or illustrate a statement or conclusion

   Using reference sources

   • Reference sources are compilations of brief and specific bits of information, not intended to be read cover to cover as are regular books.
   • Use tables of contents and indexes to help you quickly and efficiently find sections relevant to your topic. For example, encyclopedias often have indexes which indicate all the articles which discuss a certain topic; thus, you can find much more on a topic in an encyclopedia by using the index than you could by just looking up the main article on the topic.
   • Reference books are often formatted and presented in different ways, so always refer to introductory guides and instruction sections so that you will know how to use them most effectively.

   To find reference sources relevant to your topic

   • Ask a librarian for assistance
   • Search for your topic in the Consuls  Online Catalog; select to do a Complex Search, where you can limit your search to location = reference.
   • Browse the stacks in the reference collection in the appropriate subject areas. Books in the reference collection are shelved by subject. To find the appropriate section, ask a librarian. 

3. Find books in the library catalogue
4. Use Indexes to find periodical articles
5. Evaluate what you find
6. Write your paper!