Discovery and Attribution: The Hunt Is On

Organizing the Discovery Process

As you travel down the road in the direction that discovery is taking you, it is important to have a destination in mind. One of the most wonderful things about the Internet is that the amount of information available on any given subject is as limitless as the ocean.The difficult thing about the internet is that the amount of information on any given subject is limitless.

Background Research; Research Question Drill Down

To keep your search focused and efficient, you should work toward "drilling down" to a focused and detailed set of questions that your presentation will answer. Remember you are writing a presentation, not a book, so keep your focus narrow.

Start with your main research question [Sample: Does playing violent video games lead to violent behavior?] Consider ways you can narrow your topic into three main sections, each with its own focused question. As you can see in the chart below, the student in the example chose to examine the methods and validity of the studies on violent games and aggression.
After you decide on three focused questions, you need to break each of those into even more specific questions. For each of the three focused questions, come up with two to four specific questions as shown in the chart below [The Discovery Question Drill Down Chart]. Also, determine one follow-up question on your topic that you can use to guide your presentation’s conclusion.

As part of the "A Spark" assignment at the end of this section, you will be completing the discovery question drill down chart.

Topic	Video Games
Main (General) Discovery Question	Does playing violent video games lead to violent behavior?
Focused Discovery Questions	Which video games are considered violent?		How do psychologists study the relationship between violent behavior and influences?		What is aggressive behavior?
Specific Discovery Questions	What kind of violence is portrayed in these games?	Which demographic purchases or plays this game?	What studies have been done on this subject?	How can psychologists be sure that violence they observe is actually caused by games?	Is the violent behavior anything to be concerned about, or is it minor violence?	Are the violent behaviors exhibited immediately, or are they long term?
Follow-up Question	What could/should be done about this if it really is a problem?

What is the value of drilling down your main question into focused and detailed discovery questions?

It makes your search more efficient, and it begins the planning process.

Why do you need a follow up question?

To set up the conclusion for your presentation.

As you continue your preliminary research, don’t forget to keep source cards.