Interior Design Guide to Research

Once you have a basic idea of what your topic is, you'll need to get an idea of the big picture. What are the major issues involved in your topic? What are the terms associated with it?

Reference sources are a great way to begin your search. They'll show you which sources experts recommend and give you ideas for specific areas of the topic you may want to research. These are often broad and general, so it's best to start here and narrow your topic down as you progress.

Based on your findings in books and reference sources, you'll want to narrow down your topic so that you can focus on a few main points. A few ways to do this are:

-Look at the terms used by authors of general works

-Look for the main concepts or issues mentioned in general sources

-Look at citations in general sources (the bibliography at the end of a reference article) or for mentions of experts in the field

Research is like a treasure hunt or solving a mystery.

We have to try to combine the right terms in the right place to find the information we need.

How should you combine search terms to find what you are looking for?

Broad Search

Search for information using the single most important term related to your topic. Use this type of search when looking for basic background information.

Specific Search

Search for information by combining key concepts using the words you have brainstormed. Each concept/word should be separated by the word "AND". Use this kind of search when looking for specific evidence related to your claim/thesis.

Getting Too Many Irrelevant Results?

Add more search terms for narrower results.

Getting Too Few Relevant Results?

Change, switch out, or remove some search terms for more accurate or broader results.

Building a bank of keywords will make the rest of your research much simpler.

1. Gather background information, which will give you some key words to start with, and make your research a little easier.

2. Brainstorm other search terms: think of synonyms, or more technical terms, or official language vs. colloquial language

3. Think of some narrower search terms to get even more specific and some broader words in case you aren't finding much.

4. Think about what ideas and terms are related to your subject that might also be helpful.

Even when you've got a good keyword bank started, keep adding to it!

If you find a good article or book, look at the data record to see what other terms and subjects are used to describe it.

Remember that with library resources especially, it pays to search smart:

use AND in between search terms to group them together

use OR for more results

use NOT if you want to exempt a word from your results

use quotation marks "_" to isolate phrases

use the wildcard * to get all versions of a word

SIFT is a method you can use to evaluate your sources to help determine whether they are credible and reliable. Simply use the four moves below if you are worried about whether a source is trustworthy:

Stop

If you have a strong reaction to information you come across, this is a good indication to do more research. 

Ask yourself whether you know the source of the information, as well as that source's reputation. If you don’t have that information, use the other moves to get a sense of what you’re looking at.

Investigate the Source

Take time to look up the source and the author. Is this source credible? Is the author impartial, or do they have a vested interest in the argument that is being made?

One way to quickly determine an author or organization's agenda is to check their Wikipedia page.

Find Better Coverage

Try checking other sources to see how they are covering the topic you are researching. Scanning multiple sources quickly can help you determine the consensus around an issue or claim.

Trace Claims, Quotes and Media

Track down the original source of claims, quotes and media. Reputable news articles will provide links within the text, and academic articles provide sources in their footnotes and bibliography. Tracking down the original source will provide context and will show if that source was misrepresented in the article you are evaluating.

Caulfield, M. (2019, June 19).  SIFT (The Four Moves). Hapgood. https://hapgood.us/2019/06/19/sift-the-four-moves/.