Deciding What You Need to Know — Part 1

Many things affect how you do your research. The following questions will help you shape your research direction.

What Type of Assignment Is It?

Assignments can vary from a short five-minute oral presentation, to a major research project, with many other possibilities in between, such as critiques, summaries, short essays, or term papers. The longer and more involved the assignment, the more research required.

How Much Information Do You Need?

Shorter, less complex assignments like the five-minute oral presentation can be completed by consulting brief summaries or overviews...

...while longer, more involved assignments like the 10-page research paper require more detailed and comprehensive information.