1. With
a basic understanding of your topic from reference books . . . |
. .
. it is now time to revisit your research question. Your question
may change, or you may have found sub-topics that you would like
to explore. |
Research
Questions from Step 1:
How do infants and toddlers develop
social skills?What are some techniques for developing social skills
in toddlers?
Additional Research Questions
gathered so far:
How much do social skills come from
family vs. non-family friends or caretakers? How do fear, punishment
and shame compare as techniques to praise, rewards and persuasion?
How does age affect the technique used? |
2. As
your research questions begin to develop . . . |
. . .
notice that they begin to look a lot like an outline.
This is no mistake. Finding answers
to each of these questions helps fill in the picture that you will
eventually paint for your reader. |
|
3. Use
these new research questions . . . |
. . .
to add to your keyword lists. |
Keywords
from Step 1:
child development, social skills, develop, infants, toddlers,
techniques, emotional, social abilities, confident, secure, empathy,
curious, persistent
New keywords:
friends, family, caretakers, fear, punishment, shame, praise,
reward, persuasion, age |
| 4. Use your keyword list
. . . |
. . . to find books
on your topic.
Books collect lots of information
together in one place. Although they may be out of date by a year
or two, they will give you a broad overview of the topic.
This broad overview will
help you think of more research questions and develop a stronger
outline. |
Search
the library catalog, with the following keywords:
child development
to get the following book:
Caring for your baby and young
child : birth to age 5 649.122 C191
Remember that books are about large
topics. Searching with broad categories gives you the best results. |