LibGuides: PAMM104 Finding evidence: Effective research

To search effectively you need to invest time up front to plan out a research strategy. It is easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer breadth of information available, and you can also waste time if you look in the wrong place.

This tutorial will prepare you to effectively search for evidence in the research literature. The following topics will be explored:

Formulating an answerable question (i.e. how can you effectively define your research topic in order to get an answer to your question)
Planning an effective search strategy
Identifying information sources and applying your search

Effective literature searches

There are five key stages involved in planning and conducting searches for information

Literature searching is an iterative process. You may find too little, or too much research when you begin the search process and you'll need to evaluate your results and modify your search strategy to get the best results. This tutorial will give you an introduction to planning an effective search strategy and then running searches on key resources. The first and most important step is formulating an answerable question and identifying your search terms.