Advanced Research Strategies
Graduate research is like joining a panel discussion at an academic conference—you must know what others have said, respect their contributions, and offer your own reasoned, evidence-based voice to move the discussion forward.
Rips Law Librarian. (2022, March). Scholarship is an ongoing conversation [Image]. WordPress. https://ripslawlibrarian.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/scholarship-is-ongoing-conversation.png
Research Strategies Tabbed Box
First things first...
Research success necessitates organization and a research plan:
- Good notetaking is vital, including an organized way to capture the information needed to cite your sources properly.
- Your credibility as a researcher is related to your ability to plan and organize your work.
- Good notetaking helps to prevent plagiarism.
The Benefit of Background Information
Once you have your research question(s) and topic, it is important to find sources to build your background information:
- Tertiary sources (dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc.) are very helpful in building your background knowledge of a topic.
- Background knowledge means taking note of the specialized vocabulary, people, places, and dates associated with the topic.
- This knowledge is how you will best build relevant keyword and subject searches.
Research Emotions
The research process is emotional and cyclical!
- At the beginning you might feel excitement about your topic or uncertainty in your abilities or a little bit of both.
- During the process you will have highs and lows, successes and frustrations, as you search for sources and really dig into the material.
- The highs and lows will come and go throughout the process—this is all perfectly normal.
- Even at the end, especially of a big project that you have spent a lot of time on, you might be excited to be finished, nervous about your grade, or a bit unsure of what do to with all your free time.
- It's all normal!
Using the PEO Framework
Using the PEO Framework to Formulate Research Questions
The PEO framework—Population, Exposure, Outcome—is a useful tool for developing focused, answerable research questions, particularly in qualitative research. While originally developed for clinical contexts, it is increasingly applied in fields such as education, organizational behavior, and leadership studies to explore lived experiences, perceptions, and contextual influences (Booth, Sutton, & Papaioannou, 2016).
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Population (P): The group or demographic under study
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Exposure (E): The experience, condition, or environment being examined
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Outcome (O): The perceived result, perception, or theme of interest
Using the PEO model helps researchers formulate research questions that are both structured and open-ended—well-suited to exploratory, qualitative approaches.
Example:
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P (Population): First generation students in university settings
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E (Exposure): Social factors contributing to ongoing anxiety
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O (Outcome): Mental health management
Sample research question: "How do social factors within university settings contribute to ongoing anxiety among first-generation students, and how do these students manage their mental health?"
This question is aligned with qualitative methodologies such as thematic analysis or phenomenological inquiry and supports the development of effective search strategies for relevant literature.
Booth, A., Sutton, A., & Papaioannou, D. (2016). Systematic approaches to a successful literature review (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.
Richardson, W. S., Wilson, M. C., Nishikawa, J., & Hayward, R. S. (1995). The well-built clinical question: A key to evidence-based decisions. ACP
Journal Club, 123(3), A12–A13.
Teesside University. (2022). PEO for qualitative research. LibGuides. https://libguides.tees.ac.uk/c.php?g=677985&p=4862473
Reference Mining
Reference mining—also known as citation searching—is the process of using the reference lists of scholarly works and citation tools to discover additional, relevant sources. It allows you to build a more comprehensive, connected, and high-quality literature review by following scholarly conversations both backward and forward in time.
Backward Reference Mining
This involves reviewing the reference list or bibliography of an article to find older or foundational sources that the author used.
How to do backward reference mining:
- Locate the articles reference list or bibliography
- Scan the list for titles relevant to your research topic
- Search for those titles using:
- Google Scholar
- Databases
Forward Reference Mining
This involves finding newer articles that have cited the article you are currently reading--helping you trace how the conversation has evolved.
How to do forward reference mining:
- Search the article's title (or DOI) in:
- Google Scholar
- Semantic Scholar
- In Google Scholar
- Locate the article in the search results
- Click the "Cited by" link below the article to see newer works that cited it.
- In Semantic Scholar:
- Enter the article title or DOI in the search bar (avoid full citations in APA style).
- On the article's page, scroll to the "Citations" section to view newer articles citing the one you're using
Mapping Your Research Question
Concept mapping is useful for database searching because it helps identify the key concepts in your research question and organize them clearly. It allows you to generate synonyms and related terms, which improves the breadth and accuracy of your search. By visually mapping these elements, you can create more effective Boolean search strings and avoid missing relevant literature. Here is an example of concept mapping for the sample research question below:
"How do social factors within university settings contribute to ongoing anxiety among first-generation students, and how do these students manage their mental health?"
|
Core Concept |
Synonyms/Related Terms |
|
First generation students |
First-gen students; First in family; first-generation college students; Educationally disadvantaged students |
|
University settings |
Higher education; College; Postsecondary education; Tertiary education; academic institutions |
|
Social factors |
Social environment; campus culture; social support; Belonging; Peer relationships; discrimination; social integration |
|
Ongoing anxiety |
Anxiety; Chronic anxiety; Generalized anxiety disorder; persistent anxiety; psychological distress; mental disorders; student stress; mental strain; anxiety disorders |
|
Mental health management |
Coping strategies; mental health support; stress management; resilience; self-care; help-seeking behavior; mental health |
