Concept Mapping

Once you have a tentative research question in mind, you can start planning your search process! One of the simplest ways to help your search is to construct a concept map.

A concept map is a visual representation of concepts and their relationships with each other. Some people may try to create a concept map first in order to help develop their key terms that will form their research questions, others may try a concept map just to get a preliminary understanding on where their knowledge is on the topics they are studying in class.

Remember, there’s no one way to conduct your research process. You might cycle and alternate between steps to effectively find what you need!