Tips for Online Research

One problem that I commonly encounter with researching is finding reliable and quality resources. I often find a source I like and start using the information for my reports, but later realize that it was outdated. For certain topics, the more current the information, the better the quality. For instance, I once researched about law suits against a company and how it had been effected by the charges. The long term effects in the public and in the company cannot surface until some years later. For this kind of topic, I often spent time researching and writing down information from websites, only to realize that the website was old.

Other times, it is difficult to tell whether or not a website can be relied on or not. There are many legitimate organizations and websites out there, but not all of them have the professionalism or objectivity to comment on the information that I am looking for. I once researched for consumer behaviors of the Chinese population, and I tried to rely on legitimate websites such as Bloomberg or New York Times. However, as I read the articles, I realize that some of the authors, as Americans, are not very familiar with Chinese culture.

In order to overcome these challenges, I used advanced search tools in Google and other databases. They can filter search result by date, and also by specifying keywords. Google Scholar also offers scholarly journals, where the information is relatively more reliable. The journals are peer reviewed, and so are more objective.