Research Made Simple: Steps for Middle and High School Students
Research is a key skill that helps you explore new ideas, answer questions, and develop critical thinking. It’s more than just finding information—it’s about asking the right questions, evaluating sources, and creating something meaningful from what you learn.
As you begin the research process, you may feel overwhelmed by the amount of information you have to sort through, a lack of information, or a topic that is too broad or too specific. Research can be enjoyable if you plan out the process and allocate sufficient time.
Here are some guidelines for the research process for middle and high school students.:
DEFINE YOUR RESEARCH PURPOSE
- What is my research question or purpose?
- What are the key questions I need to answer? There may be more than one.
- How can I clearly define the topic statement?
- Who is my audience? What will they need to know?
- What do I know? What do I still need to learn? Conduct some initial research on the broader topic if you are unfamiliar with it.
- What will my final product be? A research paper? A project? Statistical analysis or something handmade?
- How will I plan my time? Break your process into steps.
FIND RESOURCES IN THE LEARNING COMMONS
Explore a variety of resources:
- Books (you also have access to a collection of eBooks via the Sora app)
- Magazines, journals, newspapers – (See Research Using HCOS Subscriptions)
- Internet search using Advanced Google
- Use your list of keywords in your searches
- Choose the best and most reliable sources
- Ask your school teacher librarian, Pippa Davies, for support pdavies@onlineschool.ca
WORK WITH THE INFORMATION
- Read, review, listen.
- Interpret, record, and organize your ideas.
- Collect Works Cited information and quotations as you go.
- Look for patterns. Make connections.
- Check for understanding.
- Review, revise, reorganize, and edit.
COMMUNICATE
- Prepare final results.
- Prepare Works Cited list. (Most teachers at HCOS use MLA, though some may request ALA or APA format.)
- Share your ideas, findings, or product.
- Act on your findings.
REFLECT
- What did I learn about the topic?
- How does this new knowledge fit into a wider context?
- What worked well in my research process?
- What would we do differently next time?
- What did we learn about how to conduct research?
Explore additional research information on SOPHIE, including copyright, citations, and research templates.
The above information was taken from “Research Quest: A Student Guide,” developed by the British Columbia Teacher-Librarians’ Association (BCTLA) and Teacher-Librarians in British Columbia. Adopted by the British Columbia Ministry of Education, January 2001.