APUSH Research: Home

The beginning stages of research is pre-research.  You might be tempted to begin searching before completing these preliminary steps but the pre-research process will save you time and effort. The first step in the pre-research process is to choose an interesting topic and create a research question. Then, use your research question and do some background checking to learn more about your topic. Doing this will  help you to refine your topic and write a strong, focused thesis statement. Your thesis statement is what you will ultimately use to choose keywords and create search statements.These steps will prep you for using search tools, creating targeted searches, and retrieving the best information to use in your paper or project..

Research, in simplest terms, is information seeking but it's not just finding a piece of information.  Research is a thorough examination of a topic. The process includes locating information, thinking about what you're learned, and adapting your ideas.  And lastly, organize those thoughts into a logical order so you can use those sources and ideas to produce a project.