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UNI 110: Critical Thinking and Inquiry

Find Background Information

1. Start by Exploring Your Topic
Before you dive into searching for sources, start by exploring some background information about your topic. Reading general articles or encyclopedia entries can help you understand the big picture, spot important ideas, and discover useful keywords. Keywords are single words or short phrases that represent the main concepts in the topic you're exploring. They can be combined in various ways to generate different search results. 

2. Keep Notes as You Explore Your Topic and Throughout the Research Process
As you learn, keep a simple research notebook. This could be a Google Doc, a Word file, a notes app, or even a piece of paper in a notebook. The goal is to jot down important events, key figures, useful terms, and any questions or ideas you come across. These notes will help you build strong search terms/keywords and enhance your understanding of the topic.

3. Use Bibliographies for More Ideas
You can learn more about your topic by reading articles or encyclopedia entries. In addition, note suggested sources listed at the end of articles (these are often called bibliographies) to find even more ideas and keywords to explore.

4. Why This Matters
Building this background knowledge will help you ask stronger research questions and find better sources later.

Complete our ASU Library tutorial "Choosing a Topic with Background Research" to get more information on finding background information and narrowing down a topic.

Online Reference Collections

Here is a list of some of the more useful collections of encyclopedias and background sources from the ASU Library.

Statistics

1. Explore Statistics About Your Topic
As you start learning about your topic, it can be helpful to look at statistics. Statistics can show how big an issue is, who it affects, and where it happens. They can also reveal patterns, trends, and surprising details that can help you think more critically about your topic.

2. Where to Look
You can find useful statistics in news articles, government reports, research studies, data websites, and library databases. As you review statistics, notice how the information was collected and what it shows about your topic.

Here are some useful resources from the ASU Library for finding statistics:

  • U. S. Census Information
    A collection of statistics on all kinds of things from the U.S. Census. This resource is suitable for finding sources that bolster your argument.
  • ProQuest Statistical Insight 
    A database of statistics gathered from national and international sources that is searchable and very complete.
  • Statista
    A statistics portal that integrates data on markets, industries, media, business, finance, politics, population, opinion, lifestyles and a wide variety of other areas of interest. 
A web search can also retrieve reliable statistics. For example, in a Google search using your topic, the operator "site:.gov" and the keyword "statistics" will return statistics from all kinds of government sources, from the federal government down to cities and towns. For example:  Immigration United States site:.gov statistics.
3. Why This Matters
Exploring statistics early will help you focus your research question, discover new keywords, and better understand the broader context of your topic.

Searching for Datasets

In recent months, the U.S. federal government has removed thousands of publicly funded datasets and web pages from official websites. This includes information on climate change, public health, education, and LGBTQ+ issues. If you cannot locate government data or reports that you believe exist, it's possible that they have been taken offline. Fortunately, librarians, archivists, researchers, and others across the nation have been working diligently to try to preserve this information.

If you're searching for government information that seems to have disappeared, please reach out to Ask a Librarian. We will try to guide you to alternative sources and help you access archived data.