Debate Research Tactics and Resources Handbook

1. Research 101 The most basic, and often under utilized, way to win a debate.

2. The Basics • Google search (where most people stop, too) • Type in any part of the resolution you need clarification on or the whole resolution. • Wikipedia • Just for background knowledge. Never Cite! Take advantage of the citations at the bottom.

3. Periodicals • The Economist • Foreign Affairs • Foreign policy • Harvard International review • Brown Journal of Affairs • Policy review • Harvard Business Review • MIT Sloan Management Review • Time • Newsweek • US News and World Report • Business Week

4. Newspapers • The New York Times • The Washington Post • The Financial Times of London • The Wall Street Journal • The Guardian • The Boston Globe • The LA time • The San Francisco Chronicle • The Chicago Tribune • The Philadelphia Inquirer

5. Congressional Stuff • Roll Call • www.rollcall.com • National Journal • www.nationaljournal.com/njonline • American Spectator • www.spectator.org • American Prospect • www.prospect.org • Politico • www.politico.com

6. Government Organizations • Government Accountability Office • Congressional Budget Office • Any Other branch directly related to the topic • National Institutes of Health • EPA • Center for Disease Control and Prevention • Federal Reserve Board • CRS

7. Polls • Roper Center for Public Opinion • www.ropercenter.uconn.edu • Gallup • http://www.gallup.com/home.aspx • Harris Interactive • http://www.harrisinteractive.com/ • National Opinion Research Center • http://www.norc.org/homepage.htm • Pew Research Center • http://pewresearch.org/

8. Think Tanks • Hoover Institute • http://www.hoover.org/ • Economic Policy Institute • http://www.epi.org/ • The Urban Institute • http://www.urban.org/ • CATO • http://www.cato.org/ • The Heritage Foundation • http://www.heritage.org/ • The Brookings Institute • http://www.brookings.edu/ • American Enterprise Institute • The Center for Strategic and International Studies • http://csis.org/ • Peterson Institute for International Economics • http://www.iie.com/ • Center for American Progress • http://www.americanprogress.org/ • Center on Budget and Policy Priorities • http://www.cbpp.org/ • National Center for Policy Analysis • http://www.ncpa.org/ • Progressive Policy institute • http://progressivefix.com/ • Democratic Leadership Council • http://www.dlc.org/ • Public Agenda • http://www.publicagenda.org/ • American Center for Democracy • http://www.acdemocracy.org/ • Human Rights Watch • http://www.hrw.org/

9. Free Databases Berkeley Electronic Press www.bepress.com Social Sciences Research Network www.ssrn.com Econ Papers www.econpapers.repec.org Google Scholar scholar.google.com All Academic Incorporated www.allacademic.com

10. Libraries • Getting evidence from books is rarely done. Because of this, it can be very beneficial to cut from books. • Almost every Library offers unique online databases. • Chandler, Tempe, Scottsdale, and Phoenix Public Library all have great online resources and so chances are that your local library system has good online services, too!

11. Common Resources • Complete EBSCO Host database • Gale opposing viewpoints • CQ researcher

12. Using Universities • If you want to spend the money, you can get a library card. If you are cheap or live close to a university……. • Use the guest access Wi-Fi!

13. Friends in high places…. • Two types of friends… • Professors and College Students. • Don’t be afraid to email a professor if you cannot access an article that they wrote. If you explain yourself, they may send you the article. • College Students have access to a number of resources through their college. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

14. What to remember while researching….. • Sometimes, you might have to pound through an article to get the needed information. • Don’t be focused on cutting cards at first. Week one, you should still be finding out your arguments first. • Remember, the abstracts are helpful. • And CTRL+F is a beast.