Prof. Zwick - CJ205 Research Methods in Criminal Justice: Getting Started - Background Information

​When you do background research you can find:

• Words or phrases that are specific to your topic.
• Information that answers basic information on your topic. 
• Major ideas related to your topic.
• People, places, time periods that are relevant to your topic.
• Additional readings on your topic.

Narrowing a topic requires you to create a specific question about something that interests you. This will focus your research and make your information-gathering process more manageable.

Thinking about the following questions will help you narrow your topic: 

Who? is the specific person or group on which you will focus? 

What? do you want your readers to know about your issue, problem or question?

Where?  is the geographic area or region you would like to study?

When? what time period will be your focus?

Why? is it important to study this topic?

How? will you persuade your readers to care about your findings?

Information literacy is a set of abilities that requires individuals to:

• Identify information needs
• Locate information
• Evaluate information for credibility
• Identify bias in information
• Synthesize information from multiple sources
• Apply information to solve problems or answer questions
• Use information to support research findings or make informed decisions
• Use information ethically to avoid plagiarism (cite your sources)