This research guide is intended to support students in the Portland State University online COMM 220 - Speech Communication course especially when working on the Informative and Persuasive speeches which call for credible, academic and relevant sources.
Use the tabs above to navigate to the following pages:
Analyze Your Topic - Save time: sources and strategies for approaching the research for your topic
Search Strategy - How to translate ideas and keywords into a search engine strategy.
Articles & Databases- Use search engines (general and specific subject area) to get links to article citations and full text scholarly articles.
Books - How to find scholarly books and book chapters online and in print.
Pro and Con - Resources that expose content on both sides of issues.
Statistical Sources - Resources to help you find some data to further explain or backup your issue.
Understanding Citations - Resources on how to read and interpret citations, the bibliographic information needed to navigate to a resource and to cite it properly.
Citing Sources - Find links to help you properly cite your sources.
Evaluating Sources - Maybe the most important page; steps and resources to help you think through whether your resource is credible and relevant. Includes the ever popular C.R.A.A.P. test.
Analyze
your topic to discover keywords, related terms, synonyms. Use scholarly subject encyclopedias for background information.
Search
for articles, books, and documentaries. List relevant databases.
Evaluate
the resources....Are they relevant? Are they current? Peer reviewed? Scholarly or popular?
