LibGuides: KAUST Advanced Academic Reading and Writing: Start Your Research

Choose a Controversy

Background Information

Explanation
Databases

What to know about choosing a controversy

Choosing a topic is research. A lot of times, you choose topics that are...

Too broad (ex: tech industry in Texas)
Too specific or obscure (i.e. something for which there is little written, such as, "is mixed martial arts an art form?")
Have a markedly unpopular opposing viewpoint not conducive to argument-based research (i.e., there is a lot written about why dog fighting is bad, but nothing written about why it is ok)

It's not a good idea to choose a topic 'out of the blue' - you can start broad in research inquiries and learn about what people are arguing about. Read encyclopedia or news articles and to ask yourself:

What are issues related to my broad issue? (ex. tech industry in Texas - jobs and income - gentrification)
Who cares about my topic? Who are the stakeholders?
What are the stakeholders arguing about? Why do they care? Why are they invested in this issue?

As you delve deeper into the topics, you can use background information to identify:

important events, dates, laws or legislation or court cases in the topics
bibliographies and works cited - students often don't know to 'follow the conversation'

Important: Early intervention with unresearchable or problematic topics is essential. A frustrated researcher begins to resent the process. Come to the library or to the library chat service at the earliest stages to get research help.

Databases:

CQ Researcher
Unlimited users.
Updated weekly. Explores a single "hot" issue in the news in depth each week. Topics range from social and teen issues to environment, health, education and science and technology. Every report is written by an experienced journalist and features comments from experts, lawmakers and citizens on all sides of every issue with numerous charts, graphs and sidebar articles.
Gale eBooks
Unlimited users.
Updated regularly. A database of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources. Fully searchable across all files.

For more information on ebooks see the Ebook Guide
Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints
Unlimited users.
Updated daily. Provides full text access to differing points of view on current social issues. Brings together viewpoint articles, contextual topic overviews, government and organizational statistics, biographies of social activists, court cases, profiles of government agencies and special interest groups, newspaper and magazine articles, as well as links to more than 1,800 reviewed and subject-indexed web sites.
SAGE Knowledge
Unlimited users.
Selected titles only. Platform for Sage book and reference content, including scholarly monographs, reference works, handbooks, series, professional development titles, and more. Only select book titles purchased by the UT Libraries are fully accessible.

For more information on ebooks see the Ebook Guide

Resources:

This may be the first time you have ever used a library database and it is important to know that you can access these databases from your dorm or from home with your EIDs.