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Research 101

In this guide, you’ll learn about the steps in the research process including how to develop a research question, identify keywords, find, evaluate, and cite information sources and more.

Try out your new skills

Find two articles on a news topic from different publications. Or find a news article and an opinion piece on the same topic. Make a Venn diagram comparing the similarities and differences. Based on the criteria in the SIFT Method, what article do you think is more credible and why?

Choose a graph, map, or chart from The New York Times’ What’s Going On In This Graph series.  Discuss the data that you see in the graph you have chosen.

After you have finished Lesson 2: Verifying Online Source:

Use the link for the Consumer Brands Association (Links to an external site.) to practice finding the following information: 

  • Scan the homepage.
  • Who is the author?
  • Is the site upfront about its agenda? Does the site exhibit any bias?
  • When was the site last updated?
  • What do other reputable sources/organizations have to say about Consume Brands Association?

Knowing more about an author's credentials and authority on a topic will help you to determine whether or not the information is credible.