CHEM 4689 - Capstone Project

General information​

• When an event occurs, reports will first appear on the internet, in newspapers, or magazines.
• These reports usually provide factual information only.

Scholarly information

• Scientific research reports might first appear in unpublished papers or be presented at conferences.
• It takes years for the research report to be published as an article in a journal or as a paper in the conference proceedings.

To summarize, the purpose of a literature review is to:

• Report the research of others to gain clarity on your research topic
• Provide a background on the new research you are conducting
• Establish connections or identify the gaps between your research and previous studies
• Identify effective practices and methodologies used by successful researchers
• Identify keywords related to your research topic
• Transform your research topic into a question and evaluate its importance

The first challenge in research is deciding what to study. While some new researchers have many ideas from their experiences, others struggle to choose a starting point. The key is to start with a general research area and gradually narrow it down until you arrive at a specific research question (click here to view an example).

Here are some steps to help define your research question:

• Stage 1: what type of question do you want to answer?
• Stage 2: establishing the context for your research
• Stage 3: testing your research question

Seery, M. K. (2020). A guide to research question writing for undergraduate chemistry education research students. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 21(4), 12–127. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0rp90010a

Useful tips on searching databases effectively to find more precise and relevant results.