To begin with, we need to have a bit of information about you.

Have you had training in how to do research?  select one of the options  Yes, in high school  Yes, in college  No, I've learned on my own  No, this is new to me 

Would you consider yourself computer literate?  select one of the options Yes, I'm pretty comfortable with computers I am moderately comfortable with computers I haven't learned enough about computers as I should 

1. Forming a research question from a broad topic
Let's say that you wanted to research the topic computer and Internet crimes. Given that broad area of interest,
what might be a research question to investigate -- for example, "Should governments get involved in regulating
use of the Internet?"

2. Identifying keywords
Using the research question you drafted above, what keywords might be good to use in the first
stages of research? (If you didn't write your own research question, use the question given in the example)

3. Thinking about resources
Using the research question you wrote above, what kinds of resources do you think you would use to find
answers to your question? (If you didn't write a research question, use the question given as the example.)

Scholarly periodicals (like American Sociological Review or Journal of Social Psychology) are written
to appeal to researchers and students in the field of study. What are some of their other characteristics?

An example of a secondary resource would be

7. Evaluating Web sites
How do you know whether a site you have found on the World Wide Web includes
information that is reliable and appropriate for academic research?

8. Plagiarism
Plagiarism is presenting the work of others as though it were your own; it is a form of theft.
Which of the following is an example of plagiarism? (check all that apply)

Using phrases and sentences of others as if they were your own without giving credit

Using ideas of others as if they were your own without giving credit

Copying text written by someone else and using it with no quotation marks

Rewording someone else's information and using it without giving credit

Using copyrighted images from the Web without giving credit

9. Using different types of resources
Information you find on a research topic may come from:

(1) Printed materials and electronic resources made available through libraries (for example,
databases that provide fulltext copies of periodical articles) OR

(2) Materials you find using Web search engines

10. Organizing your information
Once you start researching a topic, how do you keep the information you gather organized? For example,
do you take notes by hand, using paper (or cards)? Or, do you take notes using a computer (switching
back and forth between wordprocessing software and the Internet)? Or? We'd appreciate a brief description.

Now that you are finished, click on Submit (see below).

NOTE: I use this assessment tool with Cabrillo College (CA) students and others in this area. If you are
from somewhere else, and would like a response from me, please tell me how you found this assessment tool,
what grade level you are (if you are in school ), and give me your email address. I'll be in touch. Thanks!
If you're not a Cabrillo College student or from this area...