TM225 Exercise 1

Name:_____________________________________________ Date:_________________

Yr./Crs./Sec.:__________________________

Beginning your research: Triangulation exercise

Work to develop your research topic by completing the following exercise:

Step 1: Write your general topic in the space below:

Step 2: Enter your topic into the general search bar on the library web page and scholar.google.com.
Look at the suggested subtopics Google suggests and scan the articles your search returns. Write down
at least 6 subtopics associated with your general topic. (Ex. General topic: Tourism Development
Subtopics: Sustainable tourism development, Rural tourism development, Factors for success in rural
tourism development, Resident support for tourism development, Tourism, development and growth:
the challenge of sustainability, Sustainable community tourism development revisited).

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Step 3: Narrow your research topic and your search. Write your general topic in the top box in the
pyramid below (Issue). Then use one or more of the subtopics you found in Step 2 to fill in the boxes at
the base of the pyramid (Clarifying aspect). Often, you will use one subtopic and then some additional
limiting factor, like location, to narrow your search further. (Ex. Issue: Impact of COVID-19 on the
Philippine Tourism industry; Clarifying aspect #1: Seasonality in tourism: Issues and implications;
Clarifying aspect #2: Healing Solutions for Tourism Challenge).

Step 4: The Issue and two Clarifying aspects you identified in Step 3 will be your search terms for further
research. Now write 3 synonyms for those search terms in the blanks provided inside the pyramid.

Step 5: Use those search terms to find at least 5 articles you think are useful enough to download, read
and include in your annotated bibliography. Refine your Issue and Clarifying aspects as you search if
needed. Also add more synonyms if needed.

Step 6: Now that you have done some preliminary research, write your Research Question in the box in
the center of the pyramid. (Ex. What strategies to recover from the effects of CoviD19 on the Tourism
industry are most effective?)

Step 7: Continue using the search terms developed in this exercise to research your topic.

Exercise adapted from: Michelle Hale Williams & Jocelyn Jones Evans (2008) Factors in Information Literacy Education, Journal
of Political Science Education, 4:1, 116-130, DOI: 10.1080/15512160701816234