I can spend hours looking for articles online. I love browsing around and searching on Google Scholar for articles to download and read. Unfortunately, once I have acquired a dozen or so articles I start to feel overwhelmed that I actually have to read these articles. It certainly takes a lot of time to do it right, even for faculty. In this chapter, we will learn how to understand and evaluate the sources you find. We will also review how your research questions might change as you start reading in your area of interest and learn more.

Chapter outline

• 3.1 Reading an empirical journal article
• 3.2 Evaluating sources
• 3.3 Refining your question

Content advisory

This chapter discusses or mentions the following topics: sexual harassment and gender-based violence, mental health, pregnancy, and obesity.