ENGL 1223 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Prq
Document Summary
Research is often described as a cycle rather than a linear process, especially its first few steps. The reason for this is because researchers often need to go back and refine certain previous steps based on information they gather. The following is an outline of the first three steps in the research process, which cycle at least once through (if not more times). Decide on a topic and define a broad question (preliminary rq) Look up sources through keywords from your broad question. Analyze your sources (summary and evaluation) and implement. Polish your prq based on your new knowledge and define variables. Look up new sources based on your final rq and variables. Analyze the new sources (summary and evaluation) and implement. This cycle can be repeated as many times as necessary or if something changes during research. The rest of the research process is also a cycle, as shown in the figure below.
