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Real Estate Overview

Guide created to support research in real estate at TCC

Choosing Quality Sources

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Evaluate Your Sources! 

Remember to always evaluate all your sources! You want to make sure you are picking high quality, credible sources. Reviewing your sources using the C.A.A.R.P. guidelines will help you evaluate the currency, authority, accuracy, relevance, and purpose of the information you find.  

C.A.A.R.P. TEST
DOES THIS RESOURCE SMELL A LITTLE FISHY?

Picking the right sources is a key step to creating a high-quality research paper or presentation. Choosing resources is easier when you evaluate them with the C.A.A.R.P. guidelines.

Currency:
Currency guidelines vary depending on the topic. A literary analysis from five years ago may still be relevant, but a science research article published at the same time may be out of date.
  • When was the information written or posted?
  • Has the information been revised or reposted?
  • Is this resource timely for your topic?
  • Are there newer resources that are more appropriate?
Authority:
Authority is contextual. A good author for one topic may not be an expert in a different topic.
  • Who is responsible for this information? Is there an identified person or organization?
  • Is the author an expert on this particular topic?
  • What are the author’s qualifications and affiliations?
  • Can you independently verify (e.g., do an internet search) the author’s credentials?
Accuracy:
The information should be correct and verifiable.
  • Does the resource provide citations?
  • Can you verify the information in the resource from the citations or other sources?
  • Is the resource peer-reviewed?
  • Do the information and tone seem unbiased and free from emotion?
Relevance:
The resource fits your topic and is written to the right audience.
  • Is the information about your topic? Does it support your thesis?
  • Have you looked at a variety of other resources before deciding which ones are the best fit?
  • Who is the intended audience for this resource?
  • Is the resource written at the right level (e.g., the coverage is not too shallow or too in-depth)?
Purpose:
The purpose is the reason the information exists.
  • Is the purpose of the information to inform, teach, entertain, persuade, or sell?
  • Is the information fact, opinion, or propaganda?
  • Is the information objective or biased?
These guidelines have been adapted from the Meriam Library at California State University.

Start Here

Create a Plan

Read over your assignment. Do you understand what you need to do? Having a clear understanding of your task will help you develop a successful plan to get it done. 

See if you can answer the following questions:

  • What is your assignment? (a presentation, paper, annotated bibliography, etc.)   
  • Do you have to come up with a topic, or was one given to you? (If you have to come up with your own, are there any limits given regarding what your topic can be?)
  • What types of works can you use as sources? (Journal articles, books, websites, etc.) 
  • How many sources do you need? 
  • What citation style does your instructor want you to use to cite your sources? (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.)
  • When is your assignment due?

Sometimes one of the hardest things about getting started is just figuring out what you are going to write about. 

If you have to come up with your own topic there are lots of places that you can get ideas from: 

  • Think about recent class discussions or coursework. Were there any topics of discussion that you found interesting? 
  • What about current events? Is there anything in the news lately that you want to learn more about? 
  • If you have to write about topics specific to the subject area that you are studying, what are the current conversations happening in the field? 

Once you have a general topic in mind, you will need to figure out what aspect of that topic you want to focus on. For example, affordable housing is a very broad topic. How might you be able to focus this topic? What about affordable housing are you interested in (for example, specific policies and/or programs, impacts or influence of certain events or factors, etc.)? 

The library has access to many different newspapers, news databases, and general reference databases. Some of the library databases offer the option to browse issues. These databases can be helpful for exploring possible topic ideas and gathering background information to help you come up with a focused research topic. 

If you have questions about whether a specific topic/research question is acceptable for your assignment, check your assignment instructions and/or check with your instructor.  

Identify the main ideas of your topic and the key words used to describe these ideas. After you identify your key concepts, see if you can think of any other related words that might be used to talk about these same ideas.  

Example:

How does gentrification impact the mental health of residents in the affected communities?

Keywords:

  • gentrification
  • mental health
  • communities

Related words:

  • residential displacement
  • psychological health, well-being
  • neighborhoods, areas 

As you start searching and find information on your topic, you may come across additional words that would be useful for your search. Different words will pull different results. As you work your way through the searching process, revise your search strategy and search again as needed. 

Remember to check your assignment to know what types of sources you can use. For example, do they need to be peer-reviewed? Are you looking for primary sources? Do they need to be published within a certain period of time (the last 5 years, the last 10 years, etc.)? Knowing what types of sources you are looking for can help guide your decisions about where and how to search for them.

Databases offer different options for limiting or filtering your results. You may have the option to limit your results to peer-reviewed journals or by the type of source or document. You usually have an option to limit by publication date (and/or you may be able to change how your results are sorted to have the more current information show first). 

General Search Strategies

Venn diagram showing only the intersecting part of two overlapping circles shaded in

Results only include those with both of your keywords.

Example: mortgage AND income

Venn diagram showing the intersecting part and non-intersecting parts of two overlapping circles shaded in

Results include those with either one or both of your keywords.

Example: communities OR neighborhoods

quotation marks

Put quotation marks around your keywords to search them as a phrase.

Example: "Fair Housing Act"

asterisk

Known as truncation, using an asterisk at the end of part of your search word will pull different endings, searching for many different keywords at one time.

Example: afford* retrieves results containing afford, affordable, affordability, etc.

Library Resources

  • Click on the tab for additional library resources.
  • To access library resources, use your TCC email and password if prompted to log in.

Reference - Databases

Reference - eBooks / Print Books

These are just a few of the available titles. Search the library catalog to find more.

Topics, News, and Current Events

If you have not yet decided on a topic or just want to explore the issues, you may find the databases listed below particularly helpful. Each of these databases offer options for Browsing the Issues, so you don't necessarily have to have a topic in mind yet. Instead, browse through the listed issues to find topics that interest you. 
(database links open in a new tab)

These are just a few of the resources available to you. Check the Databases by Subject list to find more.