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MFT 8321 : Theory Building in Family Sciences

Step One

Step 1:  Identify and Develop a Topic

 

  • Topic=  Broadly defined Subject area
  • Research Question=narrower focus of the topic
    • Why are you researching?
    • What do you want to know about the topic?
  • Suggestions for picking a topic and a research question:
    • Discuss with your professor or classmates
    • Identify something that you are passionate about
    • Scan professional and trade publications for current trends on your TOPIC, and select a RESEARCH QUESTION based on that.
    • For dissertations, your research question(s) should be "general enough to evolve during the course of the research, but yet focused enough to provide direction in the research."  Texas Wesleyan University.  Doctor of Education Program Handbook"  p 43
 Image: Drawing of a man with a thought bubble containing a lightbulb, indicating an idea

Step Two

​Step 2:  Develop an Overview of the Topic

  • Do background research on the topic--find out what you can about your topic.
  • Do background research on the different parts of your research question
  • Refine your research question—you may have picked a question that is very general and you need to make it more specific (or vice-versa).
  • Useful sources for finding background information
    • GENERAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS
    • SUBJECT ENCYCLOPEDIASClick here
    • BOOKS—look at table of contents and index
    • PERIODICALS/JOURNALSBrowzine
    • NEWSPAPERS
    • SUBJECT DICTIONARIES
    • ALMANACS
    • RESEARCH STARTER
SELECTING KEYWORDS
  • Know what you are looking for first!
  • Going to a search engine, library catalog, or database and simply typing in words for inspiration will lead quickly to frustration
  • Typing in your entire question almost never works.

Identifying a Research Question

Step Three

Image: binoculars​

Step 3:  Locate Materials

  • Books: Use mainly for background information, history, overviews of a topic
    • What to Search: Use your broader search terms (topic keywords) to search catalogs for books
    • Where to Search:  Library Catalog, (select Search Books and Media tab over the search box on the library main page). Also search Worldcat (to find other books that  the West Library doesn't have)
  • Journal Article:Use for in-depth topic research, and experimental results
    • What to Search: Use the keywords you selected from your research question or other terms that you identified from steps 1 and 2
    • Where to Search:  EBSCO Discovery Service, individual Journal databases
  • Web Pages: Varied--Everything from scholarly level research to pop-culture pages
    • What to search: Use the keywords that you developed in steps 1 and 2
    • Where to search:  Google, USA.gov, other search engines