The Research Process

The following steps outline a simple strategy for writing a research paper. Please note: you may need to reorder some of these steps based on your familiarity with the topic.

Research Process - Overview

Research is an iterative process of asking questions, finding information, refining your ideas, and contributing your own voice to an academic conversation. Whether you are writing a short essay or a final BA thesis, following these six steps will save you time, help you find better sources, and ensure you meet academic standards.

Note: Research is rarely a straight line. You will often need to revisit earlier steps as you learn more about your topic.

Step 1: Define Your Research Question

Before you can search effectively, you need a clear focus. A strong research question is specific, debatable, and complex enough to require genuine investigation.

Read more: How to Define a Research Question

Step 2: Gather Background Information

Do not dive straight into complex academic journals. Start by mapping the landscape of your topic to understand key debates, definitions, and vocabulary.

Read more: Gathering Background Information

Step 3: Develop a Search Strategy and Find Sources

Academic searching requires different tools and techniques than a standard web search. A systematic approach ensures you do not miss critical literature.

Read more: Developing a search strategy

Step 4: Evaluate Your Sources

Not all information is equal. You must critically assess every source before deciding to use it in your academic work, especially for a thesis.

Read more: How to evaluate academic sources

Step 5: Read, Manage, and Synthesize

Once you have your sources, you need to extract the relevant information and organise it so you can build your own argument.

Tip: The library strongly recommends using Zotero to manage your sources. See our guide on Citation Management Software.

Read more: Read, Manage, and Synthesize

Step 6: Write and Cite

Writing is how you enter the academic conversation. It requires integrating your sources accurately, ethically, and persuasively.

Faculty Requirements: The Faculty of Business (FoB) uses APA style. The Faculty of Architecture and Design (FoAD) uses Chicago style.

How to Define a Research Question

Overview

This document explains how to develop, refine, and evaluate a research question. A research question is the central question your essay or thesis aims to answer. It guides your literature search, determines your methodology, and keeps your writing focused.

Prerequisites

Before developing a research question, you must:

Why the Research Question Matters

A well-defined research question prevents you from being overwhelmed by search results. If you start searching for a broad topic like "sustainability," you will find millions of results. A precise question acts as a filter; it tells you exactly what information is relevant and what you can safely ignore.

Step-by-Step Guide to Defining a Question

Step 1: Identify a Broad Topic

Begin with a general subject area that genuinely interests you and fits within your course requirements.

Step 2: Conduct Preliminary Background Reading

Read subject encyclopaedias, textbooks, or recent news articles to understand the current debates and key vocabulary in your topic area. Look for gaps, controversies, or recent developments.

Step 3: Narrow Your Scope

Broad topics are impossible to cover thoroughly in a single paper or thesis. Narrow your focus by applying specific limits:

Understand Frameworks and Methodologies

Before you finalize your research question, you must decide *how* you are going to answer it. This means choosing a research framework and a methodology. Your question must match your method.

New to these concepts? Before diving deeper into your topic, it is highly recommended to understand these foundational academic terms. Learn more in our short guides: What is a Research Framework? and What is Research Methodology?

Step 4: Draft the Question

Formulate your narrowed topic into a clear, open-ended question. Avoid questions that can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no". Instead, start your question with "how", "why", or "to what extent".

Step 5: Evaluate Your Question

Test your drafted question against three criteria:

  1. Is it clear? The reader should understand exactly what you are investigating without needing additional explanation.
  2. Is it focused? The scope must be narrow enough to answer thoroughly within your word count.
  3. Is it complex? The question should require research, analysis, and synthesis to answer, rather than a quick Google search.

Using Generative AI for Brainstorming

Generative AI tools (like ChatGPT or Claude) are highly effective for the early stages of topic development. You can use them as a sounding board to break a broad topic into narrower angles.

Example Prompt:

"I have to write a bachelor thesis in business administration. I am interested in fast fashion and sustainability. Suggest ten specific, researchable angles focusing on the European market."

Important: AI tools are for brainstorming only. They frequently invent facts, citations, and authors (hallucinations). You must verify all claims and concepts through academic library databases before committing to a topic. See our full guide on Making the most of Generative AI.

Troubleshooting Common Pitfalls

Problem Symptoms How to Fix It
Too broad Your search returns hundreds of thousands of results. Your question could fill three books. Add geographic, demographic, or temporal constraints. Focus on a single variable or relationship.
Too narrow You cannot find any academic literature on the topic. Broaden the geographic scope (e.g., expand from Berlin to Germany, or Germany to the EU). Choose a slightly broader demographic.
Yes/No format The question can be answered with a single word (e.g., "Does marketing affect sales?"). Change the phrasing to explore mechanisms or degrees. Use "How does..." or "To what extent does..."
Assumption-based The question assumes a conclusion before the research begins (e.g., "Why is greenwashing the only way fast fashion brands survive?"). Adopt a neutral stance. Rephrase to allow the data to dictate the conclusion (e.g., "How do fast fashion brands utilise greenwashing in their public relations?").

Next Steps

Once you have a working research question, you are ready to identify the keywords and concepts needed to search the library catalogue and academic databases.

Gathering Background Information

Overview

This document explains how to map the landscape of your topic before diving into complex academic journals. Gathering background information helps you understand the context of your research, identify key theories, and discover the exact vocabulary used by professionals in your field.

Prerequisites

Before gathering background information, you should have:

Why Background Information Matters

A common mistake in academic research is jumping straight into academic databases (like EBSCO or JSTOR) using everyday language. Peer-reviewed journal articles are highly specific; they assume the reader already understands the broader context, history, and terminology of the field.

If you do not gather background information first, you risk retrieving irrelevant results, misunderstanding complex articles, or missing the most important sources because you did not use the correct academic keywords.

Step-by-Step Guide to Background Research

Step 1: Consult Subject-Specific Reference Works

Instead of general web searches, start with academic reference materials. These include subject encyclopaedias, dictionaries, handbooks, and foundational textbooks. They provide verified, broad overviews of concepts, movements, and theories.

Step 2: Mine for Academic Keywords

Professionals and academics use specific jargon. As you read reference works, write down the exact terms used to describe your topic. You will need these keywords later to build your database search strategy.

Step 3: Identify Key Authors and Precedents

Background reading will frequently mention the most important figures or examples related to your topic. Note these down.

Step 4: Use Wikipedia Strategically

Wikipedia is an excellent tool for pre-research, but it comes with strict limitations in higher education.

The Golden Rule of Wikipedia: Wikipedia is a great place to start your research, but a terrible place to end it. Never cite Wikipedia in a university assignment or thesis.

Use Wikipedia to get a fast overview of an unfamiliar topic, learn basic definitions, and harvest keywords. Most importantly, scroll to the "References" section at the bottom of the Wikipedia page; these links often point to credible books, news articles, and academic papers that you can evaluate and cite.

Troubleshooting Common Pitfalls

Problem Symptoms How to Fix It
Terminology mismatch Your initial searches bring up completely unrelated topics, or zero results. You are likely using everyday words instead of academic jargon. Return to subject dictionaries or encyclopaedias to find the correct professional terms.
Information overload The background reading reveals that your topic spans decades of history and multiple disciplines. Use this information to narrow your research question. Focus on a specific decade, a single design movement, or one specific market.
Getting stuck on visuals For design students: you have found many images on Pinterest or ArchDaily, but no theoretical context. Visuals are precedents, not academic background. Take the names of the buildings, designers, or concepts from those images and search for them in library reference books.

Next Steps

Once you understand the context of your topic and have a list of academic keywords, key authors, and precedents, you are ready to construct a formal search strategy.

Continue to: Develop a Search Strategy and Find Sources

Develop a Search Strategy and Find Sources

Overview

Searching for academic literature is different from using Google. A simple web search guesses what you mean; academic databases match your exact words. This means you must build a structured search strategy to ensure you find the most relevant literature without missing crucial studies. This guide outlines how to translate your research question into a database search.

Writing a systematic literature review? See our advanced guide on Conducting Your Search for instructions on building complex concept blocks and testing search strings.

Prerequisites

Before building a search strategy, you must have completed:

Step 1: Identify Your Key Concepts

Do not type your entire research question into a library database. Instead, break it down into its core concepts (the most important nouns). Ignore instructional words (like "assess" or "describe") and relationship words (like "impact" or "effect").

Example Research Question:

"How do recent European Union regulations impact the marketing strategies of fast fashion retailers?"

Key Concepts:

Step 2: Brainstorm Alternative Search Terms

Authors use different words to describe the same idea. If you only search for "fast fashion," you will miss articles that use the term "disposable clothing." For each concept, list synonyms, broader terms, and narrower terms.

Concept 1: Regulations Concept 2: Marketing Concept 3: Fast Fashion
European Union Marketing strategy Fast fashion
EU law Advertising Disposable clothing
Legislation Public relations Ultra-fast fashion
Policy Branding Apparel industry

Using Truncation and Wildcards

Save time by searching for multiple word endings at once using an asterisk (*). This is called truncation.

Step 3: Combine Your Terms with Boolean Operators

boolean operators

Library databases use three commands—AND, OR, and NOT—to connect your search terms. These must usually be typed in ALL CAPS.

  1. OR (Expands your search): Connects synonyms. It tells the database to find articles containing any of the words.
    • Example: "fast fashion" OR "apparel industry"
  2. AND (Narrows your search): Connects different concepts. It tells the database to find articles containing all of the words.
    • Example: "fast fashion" AND marketing
  3. NOT (Excludes terms): Removes irrelevant results. Use with caution, as it might remove good articles that happen to mention the excluded word.
    • Example: "fast fashion" NOT footwear

Building the Search String

Use brackets to group your synonyms (your OR terms) before connecting them with AND.

("fast fashion" OR "apparel industry") AND (marketing OR advertising) AND ("European Union" OR EU)

Step 4: Choose the Right Tool

Now that you have a search string, you need to decide where to run it. Different tools hold different types of information.

Library Access: Remember to use the EZProxy Bookmarklet to access paywalled articles from off-campus.

Step 5: Search, Review, and Adjust (Iterative Searching)

Searching is an iterative process. You will rarely get perfect results on your first try.

Using Generative AI to Design Searches

Generative AI can help you brainstorm synonyms and structure your Boolean strings. You can prompt an AI with: "I am researching the impact of EU regulations on fast fashion marketing. Generate a list of academic synonyms for these concepts and format them into a Boolean search string."

Always review the AI's string before using it, as it may include unnecessary punctuation or overly complex terms. For more guidance, see Enhancing Search Queries with AI.

Next Steps

Once you have found a selection of relevant books and articles, you must evaluate them for academic credibility before deciding to use them in your writing.

Adapted from My Learning Essentials resources developed by the University of Manchester Library and licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0.

Evaluate Your Sources

Overview

Not everything you find in a library database is perfect for your research, and not everything you find on the open web is useless. Evaluation is the process of deciding whether a piece of information is credible, relevant, and appropriate for your specific academic assignment.

This step is critical: building a well-written thesis on weak sources is like building a beautiful house on a foundation of sand.

Prerequisites

Before you begin evaluating sources in depth, you should have:

The Two Evaluation Frameworks

There is no single "perfect" way to evaluate a source. Different types of information require different approaches. We recommends two complementary frameworks depending on where you found the information: the CRAAP test (best for academic papers and books) and the SIFT method (best for open-web sources and news).

Method 1: The CRAAP Test (For Academic Sources)

The CRAAP test is a checklist designed to help you deeply analyse a traditional academic source, such as a journal article or a published book. Ask yourself these questions as you review the text:

What is Peer Review? If an article is "peer-reviewed," it has passed a high standard of academic accuracy because it was evaluated by independent experts before publication. Most library databases (like EBSCO) have a checkbox allowing you to filter your search strictly for peer-reviewed journals.

Method 2: The SIFT Method (For the Open Web)

SIFT Method Infographic
"SIFT Infographic" by Mike Caulfield is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

When you are researching current events, business trends, or design precedents on the open internet, the CRAAP test is often too slow and assumes too much goodwill. The SIFT method (developed by digital literacy expert Mike Caulfield) uses a technique called "lateral reading." Instead of staying on the website to see if it looks professional, you open new tabs to see what the rest of the internet says about that site.

Evaluating Different Source Types

Your faculty and your methodology dictate what kind of sources are acceptable for your assignments.

For Architecture and Design (FoAD)

For Business Administration (FoB)

Next Steps

Once you have evaluated your sources and selected the most credible and relevant ones, you must read them critically and extract the data you need.

Read, Manage, and Synthesize

Overview

Once you have found and evaluated a collection of high-quality sources, you must process them. This step bridges the gap between researching and writing. It involves reading efficiently, storing your files logically, and combining different authors' ideas into a unified argument (synthesis).

Prerequisites

Before you begin reading deeply, you should have:

1. Read Strategically

Academic articles and reports are dense. You should almost never read them from beginning to end like a novel. Instead, use a strategic reading approach to quickly decide if a paper is worth your time:

  1. Read the Abstract: This tells you the main problem, method, and conclusion. If it does not relate to your research question, stop reading and move on to the next source.
  2. Read the Introduction and Conclusion: This provides the context and the final takeaway. You will understand the author's main argument without getting bogged down in the data.
  3. Check the Headings and Visuals: Look at the charts, graphs, or architectural plans. What evidence are they highlighting?
  4. Read the Methodology and Findings: Only read the full text if the first three steps prove the source is highly relevant to your thesis or assignment.

2. Manage Your Sources

Do not leave a chaotic trail of downloaded PDFs named article_final_v2.pdf on your desktop. Disorganized research leads to "accidental plagiarism"; when you forget where a quote came from and accidentally present it as your own idea.

Highly Recommended: The library strongly advises using Zotero to manage your sources and automatically generate your bibliographies. See our guide on Citation Management Software to get started.

3. Take Notes and Synthesize

A literature review is not a summary of Source A, followed by a summary of Source B. It is a synthesis: a conversation between the sources, grouped by theme.

To achieve this, you must change how you take notes.

Group by Theme, Not by Author

Instead of taking notes source-by-source, take notes theme-by-theme. If your research is about sustainable architecture, your themes might be Materials, Energy Efficiency, and Cost. When you read an article, place the relevant notes directly under those thematic headings.

Create a Synthesis Matrix

For a thesis, try using a "Synthesis Matrix" (a simple spreadsheet).

This method forces you to see where authors agree, where they disagree, and where the gaps in the research are. When it is time to write, you simply read down the "Theme" column to see exactly what all your sources said about that specific topic.

Paraphrase Immediately

When taking notes, write the author's ideas in your own words immediately. Only copy exact sentences if the phrasing is so unique or impactful that it cannot be changed. This saves you from accidentally plagiarizing when you transfer your notes into your final paper.

Using Generative AI for Synthesis

Generative AI (like ChatGPT, Claude, or specific research AIs like Elicit) can be a helpful assistant during the reading phase, but it cannot replace your own critical thinking.

Good uses of AI in this step:

Bad uses of AI in this step:

Academic Integrity: Never paste unpublished interview transcripts, sensitive company data, or copyrighted book chapters into public AI tools. Always review the library's guide on Making the most of Generative AI before proceeding.

Next Steps

Now that you have extracted, managed, and synthesized the data from your sources, you are ready to outline your argument and begin writing your paper.

Write and Cite

Overview

Writing an academic paper or thesis is the final step in the research process. It is the moment you enter the scholarly conversation by presenting your own argument, supported by the evidence you have gathered. This step covers how to structure your writing, integrate your sources effectively, and cite them correctly to maintain academic integrity.

Prerequisites

Before you begin writing, you should have:

1. Structure Your Argument

Do not start writing without a plan. An outline acts as a roadmap, ensuring your argument flows logically and every paragraph serves a purpose.

Most academic papers follow a standard structure:

2. Integrate Your Sources

Research writing is a conversation between your ideas and those of other experts. You must integrate their work smoothly to support, challenge, or contextualise your own arguments.

There are three ways to use a source:

  1. Summarizing: Condensing a large amount of information (like an entire book or a long methodology section) into a brief overview in your own words.
  2. Paraphrasing: Rewriting a specific point or finding in your own words. This is the most common and preferred method in academic writing because it proves you understand the material.
  3. Quoting: Using the author's exact words, enclosed in quotation marks. Use quotes sparingly, only when the original phrasing is so unique, powerful, or specific that changing it would ruin the meaning (e.g., a specific definition or a controversial claim).

Avoid "Quote Dropping": Never drop a quote into a paragraph without context. Always introduce the author or the context first, provide the quote, and then explain how it connects to your argument.

3. Cite Your Sources (and Avoid Plagiarism)

Whenever you summarize, paraphrase, or quote another person's work, you must provide a citation. This applies to books, journal articles, websites, interviews, and even visual precedents like architectural plans or corporate logos.

Failing to cite your sources, whether intentionally or accidentally, is plagiarism, which is a serious academic offence.

Faculty Citation Requirements

Different academic disciplines use different rules for formatting citations and bibliographies. You must follow the style mandated by your faculty:

Detailed Examples: For specific examples of how to format books, articles, and websites in your required style, see the library's guides on Citation Examples: APA and Citation Examples: Chicago.

4. Cite as You Write

Do not leave your citations and bibliography until the very end. Trying to remember where a specific idea came from three weeks after you read it usually leads to accidental plagiarism.

Insert your citations (or footnotes) immediately as you draft each paragraph. The most efficient way to do this is by using a citation management tool like Zotero, which integrates directly with Microsoft Word or Google Docs to insert citations and format your bibliography automatically.

5. Review and Proofread

The first draft is never the final draft. Writing is a process of revision.

Using Generative AI for Writing and Proofreading

Generative AI can be a powerful tool during the writing phase, but it must be used transparently and ethically.

Acceptable uses:

Unacceptable uses:

Declaration: If you use AI to assist with your writing or proofreading, you may be required to declare this in your methodology or appendix. Always follow your professor's instructions and the library's guide on Making the most of Generative AI.