English 1A - Immigration: Getting Started

Selecting a topic isn't always easy. The following is list of mediums that will provide you with ideas for selecting and narrowing your topic:

- What's on the News (television, newpaper, online)

- Current debate everyone is discussing

- Topic that is of interest to you

- Googled the Topic

This website on Immigration is a good start: The Urban Institute

The information cycle illustrates what types of information is available based on events. By understanding the information cycle, you will be able to determine what information is available on the topic and better evaluate information sources covering it.

Image from University Library - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Select a Topic
  Immigration
• Brainstorm for Ideas
  Choose an area that interests you > strong opinion about it? read or hear about it?
• Do some background reading
  Encyclopedias, websites, articles
• Refine the topic
  Limit to geographical area, population group, discipline
• Make a list of keywords
  Broader or narrower terms, synonyms, key concepts
• Form a research question
  What do you attempt to answer or discuss 
• Locate  & Analyze your information
  Library catalog, databases, Internet search engines > evaluate your sources
• Form your Thesis Statement
  Write your topic as a thesis statement, the answer to your research question
• Write, write, write - cite, cite, cite

Washington State E-Learning Council.  "Types of Information: Cash in Your Information Riches." IRIS 4-2. (http://www.clark.edu/Library/iris/types/sources/sources.shtml). Published by Clark College Libraries. Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0.