ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how students can find research studies that might provide answers to their questions. It identifies some of the main sources where they can find such research, along with giving examples that walk them through the necessary steps for using them. The chapter then provides guidelines on how to distinguish between the different types of published articles and how to weigh their value for answering questions. There are three places where students can locate primary research: preliminary sources, secondary sources, and tables of references/bibliographies. Publications that lead to primary research are known as preliminary sources. Besides primary research, students search using preliminary sources will turn up another category of literature, referred to as secondary sources. One of the most useful secondary sources is a well-written review of research. Another type of secondary source commonly found is the position paper. The third secondary source that can provide information about research consists of published books.
