Finding the Perfect Source: Home

It would be great if you were guaranteed to find multiple sources on your exact topic, but that may not always be possible.  Be prepared to look for different sources that address different parts of your research question.

Take a look at this video from the NC State University Libraries to understand how and why:

You're not alone!  Many students struggle with finding the perfect source for their projects.  Often the project guidelines make it sound simple -- you may have been told something like, "This project requires five sources.  Three must be articles, one must be a book, and one is your choice."  (Sound familiar?)

That doesn't sound too hard, until you realize that you've been searching for hours and only found one article on your exact topic.  In some ways that's a good thing, because it means you're asking a complex research question that no one has answered yet.  You might be the first person ever to write on this topic!  But all that prestige comes with a little more work.

To start, think about your research question or thesis.  For example, let's say that I'm researching how well students with learning disabilities from different socioeconomic classes do on standardized testing in elementary school.  I have several concepts already:

Plus, I probably remember from the Building Your Search tutorial that I can brainstorm some synonyms or related keywords for each of these concepts:

It's good that I have all these options for my search, but I'm not likely to find one article -- let alone three -- that addresses all of the keywords from the second table.  Instead, I should consider trying to mix and match.  I might look for sources that cover two or three topics at a time, then synthesize the information.  For example, let's say I find:

• An article on second-graders with dyslexia who have struggled on the PARCC in recent years
• A book chapter about whether elementary school students in different zones of the same county-wide school system are more or less likely to receive the learning support they need
• An article in which high school students with learning disabilities discuss their experiences with standardized testing
• An online forum where teachers are debating whether kids from all socioeconomic backgrounds will be able to succeed on the new MCAP test
• A study comparing two elementary schools, one in which 90% of the students were eligible for free lunches and one in which only 15% of the students were eligible, and evaluating the quality of their learning support programs

Although none of these sources tick all the columns, I can still synthesize the information from all of them and use them to build one argument on my topic.

Transferability of Information

But wait!  Before I get started finding a dozen articles and pulling one sentence out of each one, I need to remember that the information I synthesize needs to be transferable.  That is, it needs to be related enough to my topic that it contributes to my thesis or argument.  The examples above are all similar enough to my topic that I think I can use them.

On the other hand, can you think of a reason why I wouldn't want to use the sources listed below?

• An article about whether dogs with learning disabilities living in different zip codes struggle on agility courses
• A book about elementary school students with dysgraphia and their success on standardized tests.  The author compares students from the US and India.
• An online forum for adults with learning disabilities.  These adults, who represent a socioeconomic cross-section of the population, discuss their memories of taking standardized tests in elementary school and high school.