1.1 The orientational phase

Once you have chosen a subject, you should start by exploring it before you start searching for information, especially if the topic is new to you. This will give you a better understanding of your topic. During your orientation you will often find references to important literature regarding your topic.

Mind map
Making a mind map can be a good starting point for your orientation. You can also gain new insights by simply talking about your topic with fellow students, lecturers or internship supervisors.

Tips for creating a mind map:

• Making a mind map on paper helps to give free reign to your creativity, more so than when you create a mind map digitally.
• Place the topic in the centre of your sheet.
• Start with general associations and then work these out in more detail with sub-topics.
• Write down everything that comes to mind. Even something that doesn't seem useful now may prove to be very valuable later. By including all of this in a mind map, you put a subject into perspective. This gives you an overview of all the topics you may come across.
• Connect related subjects with lines.
• Always use one word per connecting line, not whole sentences.

Example: obesity among adolescents

Imagine you have been assigned a task to conduct research into obesity among adolescents.

What could you investigate?

What are the angles or aspects that make up the topic?

Below is an an example of a mind map. The topic is shown in the red circle. The light red ovals show the topics that are broadly related to the topic. The light red diamonds show the subtopics that arise from these topics. You can continue to develop the mind map from there with everything that comes to mind about the topic.

The mind map in this example is far from complete. Much more could be added. Consider, for example:

Weight loss, diets, fat shaming, depression, environmental factors, socio-economic factors, income, influencers, biological factors, sleep patterns, heredity, hormones, cortisol, joint problems, chronic diseases, medication, exercise, everyday physical activity, the Nutriction Centre, the Department of Health . . . etc.