Starting Your Research - Astronomy - General (UNH - Durham)

Starting Your Research - Picking a Topic

Whether you've written a research paper before or not, the first step toward a successful outcome is to... BREATHE!!!

One of our favorite sayings is, "Information is useless unless you know how to use it!"

The first step toward being able to use information you'll be gathering, is to be interested in the information. For many of you, that might not come as easily as it does for others. So, how can you get interested?

Our suggestion is to select a topic based on your own interests. Perhaps astronomy is a hobby for you, so most topics are interesting. Or, it's usually hard for you to find science interesting, and that's why your major is Music. Either way, choosing a topic does not need to be difficult - it's simply a matter of finding a place where astronomy and your regular interests collide. If you can find that place, then doing the research won't seem tedious - it'll be fun! And, you'll be surprised at what you find!

To help you select a topic, some quick searches on the internet will help you. For example, a quick Google search of the terms "music" and "stars" gives us several links to research being conducted in the field of stellar seismology (the literal recording of the sounds stars are making). For a music major, this topic should be interesting, and therefore not so tedious to learn and report about.

Once you've chosen a broad topic, it's time to narrow it down a bit - copious amounts of material exist on nearly any broad topic you may choose, but you only need to produce about 10 pages of your own writing. So, if your topic is stellar seismology, then what about stellar seismology interests you - development of the technique? Current or future applications? Impacts of research? Once you've narrowed down your topic to something more manageable for your term paper, the search for sources begins!

Across the top of this guide, use the tabs to help you through each stage of your research and writing.

Defining Types of Sources

Knowing what type of material you're looking for will be key in your research. To help you determine which sources are best for your research at the moment, please consider the following definitions.

Primary Source - original material/research. Typically, this material represents the first formal appearance of results.

EXAMPLES: research articles in journals or conference proceedings; research reports; original books or treatises

Secondary Source - once-removed from primary sources. Typically, this material summarizes and interprets the results presented in primary materials. Secondary sources may provide examples of results or evidence, but their main role is to bring together and discuss evidence presented in primary sources.

EXAMPLES: textbooks, magazine articles, review articles in journals, encyclopedias

Tertiary Source - material that collects and distills information from primary and secondary sources.

EXAMPLES: index/abstract databases, guidebooks, collections of data, chronologies, directories

While the research you'll conduct later in your academic career will require you to rely on primary source material, for the purposes of this assignment, you'll find that the best sources for you to use are technically considered to be secondary sources. THIS IS OK!!! The best way to get them is to utilize databases, or secondary source books, through the UNH Library Catalog. However, you still can't cite tertiary sources!.

Primary Sources

For the most part, primary and secondary sources in the sciences exist in article form. Books are great, and we've got lots of those to help you out, but it's a lot less reading to find a handful of great articles. There are multiple ways of going about the task of finding these sources, but the best way is to use DATABASES. UNH subscribes to many databases, so it's really just a matter of selecting one or two to work with. For this particular research paper, your best first database to try is called Ebscohost.

EBSCOhost databases This link opens in a new window
Ebscohost is an Aggregator Database. An Aggregator searches across multiple databases and disciplines so that you don't have to search through individual databases. The first page you'll come to after you click into Ebscohost asks you to choose databases/disciplines to search through. While selecting only databases that may have the information you're looking for is the better technique, choosing to "select all" could also return surprising results for you.

You can also use online journals to which UNH subscribes. It's just a matter of figuring out which journals (out of the thousands we subscribe to) are the right fit for the level of research you're doing. You'll want to use online journals like Astronomy or Sky & Telescope (though these specific magazines are primarily full of secondary sources).

Other Astronomy-related Databases via UNH

UNH Astronomy Databases
We've supplied a description of what is contained within each of these databases. Please select a database based on what it can do for you.

Other Select Electronic Resources

Search Tips

Tips for Creating the Best Search
Sometimes, simply entering a keyword or two in a search box doesn't get you the best result - you get too many hits, too few, or just not the right stuff at all. Use the search tips in this document to help refine and clarify your search for sources!

Tertiary Sources

Style Manuals

A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Kate L. Turabian; Wayne C. Booth (Revised by); Gregory G. Colomb (Revised by); Joseph M. Williams (Revised by); University of Chicago Press Staff (Revised by)
Call Number: Physics Reference LB 2369 .T8 2007
ISBN: 9780226823362
Publication Date: 2007-04-15
Dewey. Bellow. Strauss. Friedman. The University of Chicago has been the home of some of the most important thinkers of the modern age. But perhaps no name has been spoken with more respect than Turabian. The dissertation secretary at Chicago for decades, Kate Turabian literally wrote the book on the successful completion and submission of the student paper. Her Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, created from her years of experience with research projects across all fields, has sold more than seven million copies since it was first published in 1937. Now, with this seventh edition, Turabian’s Manual has undergone its most extensive revision, ensuring that it will remain the most valuable handbook for writers at every level—from first-year undergraduates, to dissertation writers apprehensively submitting final manuscripts, to senior scholars who may be old hands at research and writing but less familiar with new media citation styles. Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, and the late Wayne C. Booth—the gifted team behind The Craft of Research—and the University of Chicago Press Editorial Staff combined their wide-ranging expertise to remake this classic resource. They preserve Turabian’s clear and practical advice while fully embracing the new modes of research, writing, and source citation brought about by the age of the Internet. Booth, Colomb, and Williams significantly expand the scope of previous editions by creating a guide, generous in length and tone, to the art of research and writing. Growing out of the authors’ best-selling Craft of Research, this new section provides students with an overview of every step of the research and writing process, from formulating the right questions to reading critically to building arguments and revising drafts. This leads naturally to the second part of the Manual for Writers, which offers an authoritative overview of citation practices in scholarly writing, as well as detailed information on the two main citation styles (“notes-bibliography” and “author-date”). This section has been fully revised to reflect the recommendations of the fifteenth edition of The Chicago Manual of Style and to present an expanded array of source types and updated examples, including guidance on citing electronic sources. The final section of the book treats issues of style—the details that go into making a strong paper. Here writers will find advice on a wide range of topics, including punctuation, table formatting, and use of quotations. The appendix draws together everything writers need to know about formatting research papers, theses, and dissertations and preparing them for submission. This material has been thoroughly vetted by dissertation officials at colleges and universities across the country. This seventh edition of Turabian’s Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations is a classic reference revised for a new age. It is tailored to a new generation of writers using tools its original author could not have imagined—while retaining the clarity and authority that generations of scholars have come to associate with the name Turabian.
The Chicago Manual of Style by University of Chicago Staff (Editor)
Call Number: Dimond Reference Z 253 .U69 2010
ISBN: 9780226104201
Publication Date: 2010-08-01
The Sixteenth Edition is available in book form and as a subscription website. The same content from The Chicago Manual of Style is in both versions. While digital technologies have revolutionized the publishing world in the twenty-first century, one thing still remains true: The Chicago Manual of Style is the authoritative, trusted source that writers, editors, and publishers turn to for guidance on style and process. For the sixteenth edition, every aspect of coverage has been reconsidered to reflect how publishing professionals work today. Though processes may change, the Manual continues to offer the clear, well-considered style and usage advice it has for more than a century. The sixteenth edition offers expanded information on producing electronic publications, including web-based content and e-books. An updated appendix on production and digital technology demystifies the process of electronic workflow and offers a primer on the use of XML markup, and a revised glossary includes a host of terms associated with electronic as well as print publishing. The Chicago system of documentation has been streamlined and adapted for a variety of online and digital sources. Figures and tables are updated throughout the book—including a return to the Manual’s popular hyphenation table and new, comprehensive listings of Unicode numbers for special characters. With the wisdom of a hundred years of editorial practice and a wealth of industry expertise from both Chicago’s staff and an advisory board of publishing professionals, The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition, is an invaluable resource in this rapidly changing world. If you work with words—no matter what the delivery medium—this is the one reference you simply must have.

Chicago Manual of Style - ONLINE