Decide on one or two questions that you want to answer, and make sure that literature on your specific focus actually exists—you don’t want to start from scratch. You should do this by looking at your library’s research guide for your subject, which will show you the best places to start your search, and you can always conduct a simple search of the library catalog with relevant keywords. Another good place to start is by looking at who the prominent scholars are citing in their literature reviews (generally the first part of an article). Most of your evidence will be based on what other scholars have found, in addition to the primary source evidence that exists. If you can't find evidence or literature for your topic then contact the library to get research help.
Borum, R. (2011). Radicalization into violent extremism: A review of social science theories. Journal of Strategic Security, 4(4), 7-36.
Bosi, L. (2012). Explaining pathways to armed activism in the Provisional Irish Republican Army, 1969-1972. Social Science History, 36(3), 347-390.
Coogan, T.P. (1994). The IRA: a history. Niwat, CO: Roberts Rinehart Publishing.
The following video explains how to critically evaluate any resource by using the C.R.A.A.P. test.
Western University. (2012, January). Evaluating Sources. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyMT08mD7Ds&feature=youtu.be
If the above video doesn't work, copy and paste the following into your browser: https://youtu.be/EyMT08mD7Ds
A common way to do this is to conduct the CRAAP test on each of your sources. CRAAP is an acronym for currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose. Identifying each element of the test for your sources will ensure that you use only “good” sources in your research. View the Evaluating Sources video on the bottom left of this page for help evaluating sources with the CRAAP test. See an example of the CRAAP test below.
Bosi, L. (2012). Explaining pathways to armed activism in the Provisional Irish Republican Army, 1969-1972. Social Science History, 36(3), 347-390.
Currency: This source is appropriately current; anything written after the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 would be considered "current," as there have not been many developments since then.
Relevance (to my topic): The title tells me that this article will explore reasons why certain members joined the IRA and turned to terrorism to achieve their goals. Because I seek to explain why someone might choose terror tactics rather than methods of conventional warfare through the lens of the IRA, this source looks fantastic.
Authority: The author has a Ph.D. in politics from a reputable institution, which is generally enough to establish credibility if they are writing about the topic in which they received their degree. Moreover, JSTOR (the database where I accessed the article) and the publisher (Cambridge University Press) are both perfectly credible sources.
Accuracy: All claims that Bosi makes are backed by evidence that he clearly cites, and credible journals such as Social Science History are generally peer reviewed, which confirms the accuracy of this source.
Purpose: Bosi's purpose in publishing this article is to advance the field of political science as it relates to the IRA and its members. Scholarly articles published in credible journals that have been peer reviewed are generally educational in purpose. One can also tell that Bosi keeps personal bias and opinions out of his article, which is what a good scholar with an educational purpose should do.