Developing your topic
Research proposal assignment
Your research proposal is an important step toward writing your final research essay. Your proposal should:
- introduce your expected area of research and topic
- identify some kind of research question
- show a working bibliography, including both primary and secondary sources
Four steps to choosing your topic and research question
- Choose a general topic or area that interests you. (Important!)
- Do some preliminary or background research to see how others have discussed that topic.
- Ask questions related to your topic. Then ask whether those questions make sense, and if they are worth trying to answer.
- Chose one of those questions, refine it, make it clear, focused, and reasonable.
Primary sources
Primary sources usually give us a first-hand account or description of an event witnessed. Primary sources are not just for studying the past; they also help us understand and make meaning from current events.
Common examples of primary sources include: photographs; newspapers; audio recordings (e.g., radio broadcasts); video recordings (e.g., newsreels, films, bystanders); diaries and letters; government or legal records; speeches; autobiographies and memoirs; creative works; and more.
Before you start your search for primary sources check out the following resource.
- Guide for primary sources in history.
Examples of Tools to Find Primary Sources on History of Hindu Community in Canada
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Canadiana OnlineVirtual full-text historical primary source content about Canada, including books, magazines and government documents published from the time of the first European settlers to the first half of the 20th century.
Search tip: You can specify where you would like your search words to appear using field codes
ti:Hindu - finds word in title
tx:Hindu - finds word in scanned full text of document
su:Canada - finds word in subject heading
You can combine search words using AND e.g.
tx:Hindu AND su:Canada -
Globe and Mail (1844-2021)Archive of the Globe and Mail newspaper dating back to the pre-Confederation era.
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Calgary Herald (1883-2010)Cover to cover access of international, national, provincial, and local events from 125 years of the Calgary Herald, the largest and oldest daily newspaper in Alberta. This resource is available freely to all Albertans.
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Peel's Prairie ProvincesA collection of text and images documenting the settlement and development of the Canadian West and dating back to the earliest days of exploration in the region. Includes historical newspapers.
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University of Calgary Digital Collections (includes Glenbow Collection)A collection of Albertan historical resources, including provincial and municipal laws and other legal documents, local histories, historical newspapers, image collections, Calgary Stampede documents, Canadian medical heritage, and more.
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Library and Archives CanadaTo limit your search to digitized items, select Collection Search and Advanced Search. Documents include military heritage, vital statistics, census records, immigration and citizenship.
Secondary sources
Using these sample searches as a starting place, but adapt them for your topic and research needs:
- search for other types of resources, not just articles or books
- add words that describe your specific topic in more detail
- limit the date range if you want newer (or older) sources
- add words that define a geography or population (e.g. Alberta, Canadians), or a particular group (e.g., women, men, children, the elderly)
| Original search string | Peer-reviewed articles | Books/ebooks |
| hindu* AND transnationalism | link | link |
| hindu* AND (diaspora OR migration) | link | link |
| hindu* AND (hybridity OR identity) | link | link |
| hindu* AND multicultural* | link | link |
| hindu* AND generation* | link | link |
| hindu* AND adaptat* AND (cultur* OR relig*) | link | link |
| hindu* AND gender | link | link |
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Atla Religion Database with AtlaSerialsA full-text collection of major religion and theology journals combined with three print indexes published annually by the American Theological Library Association. Coverage is 1949 to date.
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SocINDEX with Full TextSocINDEX offers comprehensive coverage of sociology, encompassing sociology sub-disciplines and closely related areas of study.
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PsycInfoContains citations and summaries of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations in psychology and related disciplines.
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Education Research Complete (EBSCOhost)Offers indexes and abstracts and select full text access for journals and books.
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Project MUSE Premium CollectionProvides full text of a growing number of scholarly journals in the arts and humanities.
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JSTOR Collection
Digital library of academic journals, ebooks and primary sources. Includes content across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
You can also check the Resources by Religion: Hinduism section for specific types of resources..
We tend to trust websites published by universities, research groups, governments, and non-profits, but it's always important to evaluate your sources. You can then power up your Google searches with these search tips:
- site:gc.ca = limits your searches to Government of Canada web domain (example)
- site:edu = limits your searches to most US universities and colleges (example)
- allintitle:hindu diaspora canada = words after allintitle: must appear in the title of the page (example)
- allintext:hinduism practice canada = words after allintext: must appear in the page text (example)
Librarian
Email: cmerkley@mtroyal.ca
Phone: 403.440.5068