How to Research on the Internet

Your guide to researching on the Internet.

The internet is the most commonly used source of information. It has many available topics. It can be fun and effective, but if you do not know how to research, then you will waste your time looking for something you cannot find.

To avoid this, first, find out if your subject matter is soft or hard research, or maybe both. Learning the nature of your topic will help you to design and produce reliable results.

• Hard research is a report in science and objective research. This needs figures, statistics, and proof. The resources must be dependable. You must search for publications with the right credentials
• Soft research has topics that are personal, opinion-based, and cultural. A lot of soft research authorities are writers who has the actual experience in their field.
  Here are the sources of soft research:
  • Consumer review sites.
  • Computer and technical sites.
  • Commercial sites that has advertisements.
  • Discussion forums and sites.
  • Personal opinion and business blogs.

The soft and hard research is difficult as it requires an extensive research. After putting together all your research materials, you need to have an opinion to pit against the powerful opinions of others. Topics like international economy and politics are an example of a hybrid research.

After identifying the type of research, the next step is to know what kind of information you need.

• Type a multiple-word search to find the pertinent information. For example, do not type “Beautiful Spots in Japan,” if what you want is “Beautiful Tourist Spots in Kyoto, Japan.” Be specific and use the keywords that are vital in your research.
• For lesser hits, use quotation marks. Example, instead of the fiercest animal, type “the fiercest animal”.
• The minus sign can screen the unwanted information. When looking for Hilton, type Hilton -Paris. If not, what you will get is all about Paris Hilton.
• Search engines provide a preview of the website’s content. A one or two-liner of information is available. Read the overview and if you do not need the information, disregard. Do not waste your time loading information you do not need.
• Place your search engine to a particular settings. Set a date. This is useful when you research for news articles. There is also an adult content filter for the videos and images. That will keep out explicit images from your research.
• Anybody could just write an information online, it does not mean that it is right. Look for the information about the author in the website. Also, observe for the grammar mistakes and spelling.
• Use your own language when researching. If your are a Korean, use Hanguk-eo; if you are from Paris, use French. This way, you will understand your research more.
• There are many sources of information like the books from your local library. It has reference resources that can also be from the websites.
• After you gather the information, list down the major details like the URLs as well as the titles of the web pages.