THE RESEARCH PROCESS: Researching a Controversial Issue
(Print this page out to serve as a worksheet.)
Often when one is asked to research a contoversial issue the assignment is something like the following:| An in-depth definition and description of the issue itself with examples and/or evidence from your research. Example: What is abortion? Medically? Legally? Different kinds? Different stages of pregancy? Legal treatment over time? The social problems which cause the issue and which it affects with examples/evidence. Examples: Women's rights; racial considerations; birth control; etc. Potential resolutions to the issue with actual examples and/or evidence. Examples: Outright ban; limit to specific times; force when the government desires; etc. The best solution based upon your reading and research. This is the part of the paper where you are given the opportunity to, based on your research, to make some decisions about how the problem should be handled. |
Keep this in mind as you are writing your paper or doing any research: |
1. OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog)
Click on "SEQUOYAH--The
Online Catalog" from the library's home page or use
the dedicated catalog stations.
Keyword (Words anyplace in the record--author, title,
subject, notes)
Title (First words in the title)
Subject (Controlled vocabulary)
The record: Call number; Title; Author; [Place] and
Publisher, Publication date, Physical description, Subject(s)
Hyperlinks: Author, Subject (Other materials by
a particular author or on a particular subject)
The OPAC leads you to:
361-365 area of the library (both in the main room and the reference
room) are where books about social problems are found.
361 (Social problems in general); 362 (Social welfare
problems: Physical & mental illness); 363 (Other social problems: Public
safety, Police, Public morals, Housing, Public utilities, Environmental
problems, Food supply, Population); 364 (Criminology); 365 (Prisons)
172-179 area of the library (both in the main room and the reference
room) are where books about ethics are found.
172 (Political ethics); 173 (Family relationships);
174 (Occupational ethics); 175 (Recreation, leisure, communication); 176
(Sex and reproduction); 177 (Social relations); 178 (Consumption; 179 (Other,
including respect for human and animal life, profanity, treatment of children)
613.8 Substance abuse; 616.8 Diseases of the nervous system and mental disorders
Then check out online resources:
Social & Ethical Issues Page - http://rhslibrary.org/social_issues.htm
Teen Issues Page - http://rhslibrary.org/teen.htm
Health Page - http://rhslibrary.org/health.htm
Opposing
Viewpoints Resource Center -
The entire Opposing Viewpoints series is available at this site plus many more publications including magazine and newspaper articles, images, statistical information, links to good websites, primary source documents, and reference materials linked to specific controversial topics. A recent addition to this database is the "Critical Thinking" component. It "[i]ncludes vocabulary, definitions and assessments to formulate arguments about and analysis of issues and concepts. Full articles are available in both text and MP3 format."
Please note that the "Viewpoints" tab links to essays and articles which state different points of view.
EBSCOHost Magazine & Newspaper Database
Click on EBSCOhost icon on desktop;
enter User name and Password. Ask your teacher or the library staff for
the user name and password.
Choose "Student Research Center." Once inside the database you can narrow your search by type of material, e.g. magazine or newpaper article, biography, radio & TV transcripts, maps, etc, using the icons at the top of the page. You can also narrow the search to a specific topic byusing the links in the left column of the page. Make sure that the "Full Text" box is checked to get articles rather than just abstracts.
Another terrific source of information for controversial issues is CQ Researcher. The CQ Press has published 24-page weekly reports on all sorts of topics since 1991. And before that it produced the well-respected Editorial Research Reports. All of the CQ Researcher articles since 1991 (over 700!) are cataloged in the OPAC and can be searched by title, author, and subject. A link saying "Go to CQ Researcher online" will take you to the database and you'll discover many more reports going all the way back to 1923! We have print versions of reports from the past six years (REF 300.973 CQ) and many of the older reports are also filed in the Pamphlet File under the topic of the report.
All reports include an overview, background, current situation, outlook, special focus, chronology, pro/con debate, bibliography, next steps, and contacts.
Once you've exhausted all the above sources try:
5. General Online Searching
Finally, if you still don't have the information you need you should search the Internet. A great tutorial on web searching can be found here.
Remember to be careful about using such broad search engines as Google and Yahoo. Lots of results come up but you need to carefully evaluate the web sites you use in your project. This is why it is often easier to use websites listed on the Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center or the Library's website. They have already been checked by professional librarians and have been found to be accurate; authoritative; objective; current; and have good coverage of a topic. A good web evaluation rubric can be found here. If you'd like more help in learning how to evaluate websites take a look at this presentation on webpage evaluation.