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English152: Food and Health in America

Pre-Research

Sometimes, choosing a topic is the hardest part of the research process, especially with a broad topic like Food and Health in America. Many of our databases have tools that will let you browse lists of topics so you can find something that interests you.

Once you have a topic, gathering background information is an important next step. This is called pre-research. 

Pre-research will provide you with a good understanding of a broad topic so you can identify keywords, narrow down the topic, and form a thesis statement or research question.

Food and Health in America is a broad topic! Topics related to this can be very broad as well, like obesity or GMOs. You may choose to focus your research on something more specific like the health effects of genetically modified foods.

  • Try one of the eBooks listed below for background research on a broad topic, or search the library catalog.
  • Google can be a good tool -- you’re just looking for ideas and inspiration at this point, not sources.
  • As you do your pre-research, be sure to take notes! Seeing your keywords written down can help you make connections between keywords and ideas, which may then help you form a thesis statement and identify supporting arguments or evidence.

Opposing Viewpoints

Use their Browse Issues tool to access their full list of topics. Use the Topics drop-down menu to narrow the list by specific categories, like Health and Medicine or Society and Culture, which may be more helpful for your Food and Health in America research paper.

When you click on any of their topics, you'll see an overview. This is a good place to start your background research. The overview is also a good source of keywords to help you continue searching other databases.

Credo Reference

On Credo Reference's home page, they have a list of broad subjects you can browse. Try Food, Drink, and Nutrition for a list of topics that may be suitable for your Food and Health in America paper.

Once you have a topic, Credo Reference's Mind Map tool can also help you get started with background research and begin identifying keywords. Use the search box at the left to use their Mind Map tool.

Using eBooks

Online reference books (eBooks) are helpful for finding background information because they contain a lot of information about your topic all in one place. eBooks can be found in our library databases and are available at any time without a library card. Here are just a few of our eBook databases to get you started.

For more eBooks, please visit our A to Z Databases and sort the database Types by eBooks.