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Social Dimensions of Health

This guide is based on the excellent Psyc 499 LibGuide, which was originally created by Jessica Mussell.

Steps to conducting research

Familiarize yourself with the jargon and narrow down your topic

  • Encylopedias, Dictionaries and Handbooks are a great way to familiarize yourself with a topic and can provide you with background information. Also refer to your course readings, including textbooks or items on reserve, that relate to your area of study.

  • Once you identify a topic and find some preliminary information, you need to locate more "peer-reviewed" or "scholarly" information from refereed journals (check your instructor's notes in your assignments).

Finding information

Read the sources you found in your preliminary search of the literature to determine

  • what research questions have been generated from the topic
  • from what perspective you may approach this topic

Brainstorm synonyms and keywords

Brainstorm Synonyms and Keywords

Create a concept map or brainstorm what you already know about a topic. This can help you to identify areas you may want to explore further.

Here are some questions to think about (or ask yourself) when trying to figure out the scope of your research inquiry:

research as inquiry

Special thanks to Bucknell University, Bertrand Library Research Services for creating and sharing this poster under a Creative Commons License.

Creative Commons License
This work by The University of Victoria Libraries is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License unless otherwise indicated when material has been used from other sources.