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Research Help

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Meet with a Librarian!

Is Google only finding unreliable sources or items that require payment? Do you have an assignment that requires you to locate appropriate books, articles, or other materials?

Whether you're just getting started with your research topic or you've hit a roadblock, librarians can help guide you through your research project and assist in navigating various credible resources. Work with librarians on your research from start to finish!

We can help you...

  • articulate your research question or topic
  • effectively search databases
  • navigate library holdings
  • understand the research process
  • find and access primary and secondary sources
  • evaluate the credibility of sources
  • with any assignments that require locating appropriate books, articles, or other materials
  • locate free-to-you materials and information

If you need help with research or accessing library resources, make an appointment with a librarian!

  • 30-45 minute sessions are available in person and online.
  • Make an appointment by selecting your preferred consultation method and find a time slot that works for you.

Meet with a Librarian

For writing assistance and tutoring, check out ASC, SRC, or PARC! See below.

Helpful Guides

Check out these guides for helpful information on everything from doing research to citing sources

Research Topics and Tools

 When you are just starting on a research project, we recommend you follow these steps.

First Steps

  1. Choose a topic
  2. Conduct background research
  3. Refine your topic
  4. Create a research question

In-Depth Research

  1. Develop a search strategy
  2. Search
  3. Collect and organize your citations using online tools to help cite, save, and manage your sources.
  4. Evaluate your results and sources
  5. Adjust and/or repeat your search

Start Writing

  1. Start writing (visit the Start Writing Research Guide for more information)
  2. Review and revisit research
  3. Cite and edit

Keeping your sources and citations organized with digital tools (other than Google Drive) can make research a breeze! Explore the tools available to help you keep your sources organized and easily retrievable.

Be on the lookout for Zotero workshops offered throughout the semester to show you how to get started using these tools!

Zotero

  • Free, open-source
  • Fast and easy to learn
  • Online Zotero Workshops available each semester with your MSMU Librarians!
  • Download software on your own device and sync with web Zotero
  • What can it do?
    • Organize records and citations for articles and books with folders
    • Store PDFs
    • Highlight text and take notes
    • Tag records

Zotero Login  Zotero Download

You can find help writing and revising essays in the following locations:

Undergraduate Students

Graduate and WEOC Students

  • Professional & Academic Resource Center (PARC) - (Doheny Campus) Schedule an appointment for Writing in myMSMU. Assistance is available for brainstorming, grammar, punctuation, citation, coherent argument, and writing revisions.

A literature review is a discussion of current published materials in a particular field or topic of study. Understanding what others have written on your topic is important. You can then use those sources to help you explore your research question to better support your final argument.

Assembling and synthesizing those sources is the first step of a literature review, the foundation of your research. A literature review is not an annotated bibliography. In an annotated bibliography, the researcher analyzes individual articles and/or sources, and provides a summary of each item. A literature review synthesizes and evaluates the literature as it relates to the research question and provides a broad overview of the state of research on a particular topic.

You should be able to synthesize and discuss the important studies and themes of the literature before you make your original argument.

Research methods are specific ways of gathering evidence and data for original research. The most useful method depends on the type of subject matter. Methods usually fall into one of two categories: qualitative and quantitative.

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research involves numerical data and requires strictly quantifiable measurement. A quantitative approach is one in which the investigator uses surveys, statistics, and experimental strategies of inquiry.*

*Creswell, J.W. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches. Sage Publications, 2003.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research involves subjective textual data and requires a human interpreter. A qualitative approach is one in which the investigator uses strategies of inquiry such as narratives, ethnographies, phenomenologies, or case studies with the primary intent of developing themes from the data.*

*Creswell, J.W. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches. Sage Publications, 2003.

Mixed-Methods Research

A mixed-methods approach is one in which the investigator uses closed-ended measures and open-ended observations that involves both numeric information as well as text information, so the data represent both quantitative and qualitative information.*

*Creswell, J.W. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches. Sage Publications, 2003.

Undergraduate Capstone Research

The undergraduate capstone project is a process in which students pursue independent research on a topic of their choice in relevant disciplines with the guidance of a faculty mentor that reflects a deep understanding of the topic.

Examples include:

  • Senior capstones
  • Honors capstone or thesis
  • Exhibit of artwork

Graduate Capstone Research

The graduate capstone project is an original work in which students reflect on the interdisciplinary courses they have taken and apply it to examine a specific idea/topic.

Examples include:

  • Master’s degree thesis
  • Doctoral dissertation
  • Projects determined by individual programs

Regardless of the method used, research involving human subjects must be approved and monitored by an internal Institutional Review Board (IRB) to validate that the research meets certain basic ethical standards.

Research with Human Subjects

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