There is a tendency for people to type general questions into a database and hope for the best. While this barely works for Google, it definitely doesn't work well with the databases. By identifying the more narrow parts of your initial question you will get more meaningful results. Here is an example of how you can break down a general question into it's narrower concepts.
I am not a bee expert, so there are multiple places I can look for answers. If I choose AccessScience (because bees are related to a science) and type in bees disappearing, I find this article titled "Colony Collapse Disorder"
From this article, I can answer some questions I didn't even know I had.
| General Term | What I didn't know before | Better Choice |
|---|---|---|
| bees | What kind of bees? | adult honeybees |
| disappearing | Is there a term scientists use for this? | "Colony Collapse Disorder" |
| why | What explanations exist? | pesticides |
From here I can adjust my original question about why bees are disappearing (the result) to identify a cause and use more narrow language.
Example that is too broad: North American Tree Squirrels.
Example that is too narrow: Squirrel response to student presence on the community college campus in North America.
Example that is just right: Different responses to human presence among rural and urban squirrels.
For your research assignments, your team will need to select two business events involving communication ethics. If you don't have a topic in mind, try browsing through some business case studies for ideas. Here are a few places to start.
Focused EBook
Case Studies in Organizational Communication: Ethical Perspectives and Practices
This ebook includes 23 case studies, including well-known and lesser-known cases, and is an excellent starting point, since all of the cases were identified by the editor as having an ethical communication aspect.
Journals--General Business Cases
These journals collect business cases on various themes. You will need to use your judgment to identify cases that involve communication ethics. You can browse issues by date or search using the "search within this publication" box.
Journal of Business Case Studies
