How to Conduct Research Online1. Defining you topic 【T1】

In this section you will hear a talk. You will hear the talk ONCE ONLY. While listening, you may look at ANSWER SHEET ONE and write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each gap. Make sure the word(s)you fill in is(are)both grammatically and semantically acceptable. You may use the blank sheet for note-taking.
    You have THIRTY seconds to preview the gap-filling task.
     (a thirty-second interval)
    Now listen to the talk. When it is over, you will be given TWO minutes to complete your work.
                    How to Conduct Research Online
    Good morning, everyone. In today’s lecture, I’ll talk about tips on how to do research online.
    Nowadays, online resources can be found easily, and they can be of very high quality. Whether you are looking for journal articles, thesis, factual information, or high-quality resources, the same principles are always helpful. Therefore, it is useful to look at each of the steps individually.
    Define your topic. Narrow it down, but don’t constrain it too much. Develop a solid thesis statement that gives you room to develop an argument. This is a great time to do brainstorming. Clusters, mind maps, concept maps, decision trees, and free-writing are all very useful.
    Determine what fields of study your research question will address. Identifying the fields of study will help you determine which journals or databases to search.
    Make a list of items that interest you about the topic. It will help you develop search terms and focus your search by going to the correct types of journals and materials.
    Narrow your topic. This requires another round of brainstorming, but this time you will be focusing on what others have written. List terms, ideas, and concepts that occur to you, and then focus on the subcategories that you find most interesting. Then, use the list to narrow your topic. Once you have a sense of main players, you can start to do searches based on author name as well as key words or topics.
    Evaluate your materials. How do you determine if a source of information is of high quality? You should be aware that the articles you have got could be prejudiced. Therefore, web pages should be viewed with even more caution than most print materials. In particular, you should look for:
    Who is responsible for the site — is there a name and contact address?
    What is the operating rule for the site — is it supporting a particular viewpoint to prove other views to be wrong?
    Is there a list or bibliography of evidence?
    Is there any information when the site was last updated — how long ago did this happen?
    Does the site seem to be permanent or part of a permanent organization?
    Organize your sources, articles, and notes. After you have found your articles, be sure to organize them so that you have a sense of where they will go in your paper. This is a good time to return to your outline and to start mapping out where you plan to use your sources and materials.
    Create a bibliography. As you download and read your articles, you can keep track of them by creating an " electronic notebook" which would consist of a list of your sources.
    Update, your outline. Re-examine your thesis. Look at your argumentation structure. Determine where you have gaps and redundancies.
    Fill in the gap. Make a list of the places in your paper where you need additional support for your argument. Then, after eliminating redundancies, map where you need to fill gaps, and where your argument needs additional support.
    With this, we’re coming to the end of today’s lecture. Thanks for your patience.