CMST 240 Intercultural Communication

Browse broadly to understand the conversation around your topic

1. Perform simple, broad searches:

 

example: roller derby culture

example: roller derby feminism

 

example: haptics

example: Japanese haptics

 

NOT: "influence of masculinity on conversation hierarchy in Puerto Rican culture"
(later when you dig deeper for info, you can learn how to construct an advanced search around these more complex concepts)
 

2. Browse the list of results to see what the conversation is around the topic and glean new concepts and search words

Reading for Background Info: Understanding the Conversation

Background research might begin with a general feature article or information from a book or interview (popular culture). Or you can often find academic topic overviews in subject reference encyclopedias (scholarship).

These resources can help you gather together who might be involved in your topic, and specialized vocabulary that researchers (or others) use. If your overview mentions other studies, statistics, or research-- you can trace that information to find similar sources, too.