SCLA 101: Forming a Policy Speech

When doing research to figure out the solution to your problem, try these tips:

1. Start anywhere. Don't let an empty search box make you feel overwhelmed or discouraged. Simply throw any relevant terms you can think of into the search box, and let the results show you whether you can dive right in, or need to re-work something.
   • Dive in: this means you start seeing search results that appear directly related to what you were hoping to find. Great! Look for the View or Full Text options to read or download the articles, book chapters, etc.
   • Re-work: this means that you aren't seeing search results that you were hoping to see. No problem! Simply learn from them. Did you spell anything wrong? Can you determine (probably with a simple Google search) if you need to use a different term, like a synonym or jargon? Are there any other ways to talk about your problem, and if so, try a new search with those terms. 
2. Give yourself time. We're used to getting quick answers to simple questions, but that's not what college-level research is about. 
   • Consider many points of view. Using the example about textbooks, you'd probably automatically look at education resources, but you would want to make sure you have points of view from students (the ones who have to pay for them), faculty (the ones who choose and assign them), university administration (who can try to urge faculty to change their practices), as well as librarians (who are used to dealing with free information) and publishers (who aren't in the habit of giving away things for free).
   • Look at what has already been done. Who else is interested in this problem, and what have they done to try to solve it? Has it worked or failed, and why?
3. Take notes as you read. Scholarly conversations (the books, articles, statistics) and popular conversations (the social media and blog posts, news entries, and documentaries/interviews) surrounding most topics will often circle each other and overlap, and it's always a good idea to get a well-rounded sense of your issue. If you take notes as you read, specifically about counterpoints and historical references/facts, you'll be better prepared when the time comes to think about implementation. 

Once you've found your solution, try these suggestions for figuring out who would implement it:

1. Scholarly or Peer-Reviewed articles:
   • Who are the authors talking about? These are people directly impacted by the problem.
   • What journal was the article published in? These are the people most interested in solving the problem.
   • What sources are the authors referencing? This can point you in the direction of additional sources/people/information. 
2. Books/eBooks: 
   • What background does the author(s) have, and what can you learn from that?
   • Does the author(s) have an online presence where they continue their scholarly work into present day, and what can you learn from that?
3. Statistics:
   • When looking at data, does it leave anything out, like a particular region, demographic, etc.? If so, who would be the most concerned about filling that gap?

Don't be afraid to Google things for a better understanding or to make connections. Simply evaluate your sources to ensure you're on the right track.