From search to research
Questions requiring a simple search
You already know from your everyday experience that there are questions that can be answered with a simple “Google search”. Imagine that you are looking for the 2018 World Cup winner, or which cinema, near your home, plays the Bohemian Rhapsody film. If you “google” these questions you will get the answers you need, on the top of the first page of your results list, in less than 35sec.
Questions requiring research
However, as a college student you often try to answer questions like “how does divorce affect the academic performance of teenage students?” This type of question requires repetitive searches to find a good answer. This happens basically because the answer is not based on quick facts but it is based on ongoing conversations that take place between communities of scholars, researchers and professionals, who publish their studies as journal articles or books.
What is research anyway
Research is the systematic investigation of a topic. You often start with a question which you want to explore with the intention of revealing new facts, theories, and principles, or discovering the current state of knowledge on the subject. Research is a repetitive process which requires multiple searches.
More unknown terms
When you are a beginner in doing research you may not be familiar with terms like; information literacy, sources, and thesis statement.
Watch this video to start familiarizing yourself with such terms.