Writing a thesis is one of the most challenging tasks in working on a research paper and will focus the direction of your work. Below are some websites to help give you some pointers!
Photo credit: William Warby (Flickr)
As you begin searching and exploring the information available on your research topic, you may find that you are either finding a lack of materials on the topic or that you are overwhelmed with the information available.
Here's what you should do if:
1.) Your topic is too broad. Find a way to limit the depth or scope of your search. Narrow or restrict the topic to something, such as a certain aspect of a subject or issue, you can deal with that will not be so overwhelming as you are searching for information.
2.) Your topic is too narrow. Find a way to expand your topic to include a wider range of information that can be retrieved through your research.
If you still have problems following one of these strategies, it could be time to consider another topic but check with the library first! Below are some useful links to help you develop research questions and gain control over the research process overall.
If you have a question and would like to chat with a librarian, click on the "Chat Now?" button below.
If you would like to schedule an appointment to meet with a librarian, click on the button Schedule Appointment with Librarian.
If you need help and Chat is offline, contact us through "Ask A Librarian" form. We will respond as soon as we can.
You may also call (606)759-7141, ext. 66206.
Can't get to the databases? Go to the Off-Campus Instructions library guide.
NOTE: Students may see a login error when accessing electronic library resources. Often, this error occurs when using Google Chrome. This error is generally caused either by an expired authentication token or a prior sign-in attempt in progress.
To avoid this error, you can close the browser and reopen it in a "private" or "incognito" window. It is recommended that college students and employees always use private browsing to access library electronic content. Using a browser other than Chrome may also prevent this error from occuring. You may also fix this problem by going to your browser settings to the search history and clear/delete the data from websites you have visited and clear the cookies saved in the history. Then, close the browser and reopen it.