ORNS 106 SCMNS Freshmen Orientation

This page outlines the different steps in research.  Read more below to find out how each steps takes you from question to new knowledge:

• 1. Identify and Define the Problem or Question
• 2. Review the Literature
• 3. Design the Research
• 4. Collect Data
• 5. Analyze and Interpret
• 6. Draw Conclusions
• 7. Communicate Results
   

1. Formulate the Question (Inquiry)

Identify a topic or problem of interest.

Narrow it to a specific, researchable question or hypothesis.

Examples:

• How does gender influence spatial mobility in 19th-century Baltimore?
• What rhetorical patterns appear in Frederick Douglass’s speeches?
• How do soil heavy-metal levels vary across neighborhoods?

Purpose: Define what you want to understand, explain, or interpret.

Examine what other scholars, researchers, or practitioners have already discovered about your topic.

This helps you:

• Avoid duplicating existing work.
• Identify gaps in knowledge or unanswered questions.
• Refine your own focus or hypotheses.

Sources include books, journal articles, datasets, reports, and credible online publications.

Decide how you will answer your question:

• What data will you need?
• How will you collect or obtain it? (fieldwork, surveys, remote sensing, archival sources, databases, etc.)
• What methods or tools will you use? (statistical tests, GIS analysis, interviews, models)
• This is your research design, balancing rigor, feasibility, and ethics.

Implement your research plan and gather information systematically.

Examples:

• In Humanities : identify texts, or other media like visual, audio etc.
• In social sciences: conduct surveys or interviews.
• In lab sciences: record experimental measurements.

Ensure that data collection is consistent and well-documented for reproducibility.

Process your data using appropriate tools and methods:

• Quantitative: statistical or spatial analysis, charts, regression, or modeling.
• Qualitative: coding, pattern identification, or narrative interpretation.
• Interpret what the results mean relative to your hypothesis or research question.

Ask: Do the results support my expectations? What patterns or relationships do I see?

Summarize what you discovered, explaining how your findings address the research question.

Discuss implications, limitations, and possible explanations for unexpected results.

Suggest future research directions or applications of your findings.

Present your findings through:

• Written reports, academic papers, or theses.
• Maps, visualizations, or dashboards.
• Presentations, posters, or public engagement.

Use clear structure: introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusion.