RESEARCH METHODOLOGY & REFERENCE MATERIAL

When researching for an IR Conference, you should think about five different types of research:

• Country Profile Or Company Profile

• Topic Background
• Past International Action
• Country Policy Or Sector Guidelines
• Possible Solutions

Country Profile
To get started with research, its important to understand the country you’re representing- where it
is, who lives there, who your allies are, what type of government your country has, and more.
Together, the answers to these countries comprise your “Country Profile”. Here are some guiding
questions to get you started:

Physical Geography

What is your country’s official name?

What region of the world is your country located in?
How big is your country? (square miles)
Who are your country’s neighbors?
How would you describe your country’s physical features and climate?

Politics and Government

When was your country founded?

What type of government does your country have?
Who are some of your country’s leaders?
How many people serve in your country’s military?
Who are your country’s allies? Enemies?
What is your country’s capital?

Culture

What is your country’s population?

What is your country’s ethnic composition?
What is your country’s official language?
What other languages are spoken?
What are some of the major cities?

Economy

How would you describe the quality of life in your country?

What is your country’s total Gross Domestic Product?
What are some of your country’s natural resources?
What is your country’s currency?
What are your country’s major imports and exports?
What are your country’s biggest trading partners?
Company Profile (For Company Portfolio):

Brief history
Type of Company
Board & Management
Market share
Industry Demand & Supply
Scope for Innovation
Product / Service Description
Geographical Scope of Operations
Annual Revenue & Growth %
PESTLE Factors affecting Company operations
Regulatory industry standards
Stakeholders involved: Internal & External

Topic Background
Some of the best resources for your topic background will be specific to your topic- websites about
your issue in particular, or books about the topic for your committee! To properly research your
topic background, make sure you can fulfill three key steps:

Clearly define what the topic is.

Identify the key terms related to the topic, and answer key questions about the topic such as “What
causes this issue?”, “Who is impacted by this issue?”, and “Where is this issue most prevalent?”.
Make sure you’re using credible sources of information to understand your topic- don’t just use
Wikipedia, the news, or blogs!

Past International Action

One of the most important things to understand when discussing any topic in Model UN is what the
United Nations and international community has already done about the topic. You don’t want your
solutions to be redundant, and you want to make sure you’re aware what the world already has,
and hasn’t done. Past international action can come in the form of UN resolutions, international
conventions and treaties, or actions by NGOs and international organizations. Here are some
resources to help you find the past international actions related to your topic, or you can check out
our article about using UN sources to research your topic!

Past UN Resolutions
International Conventions and Treaties
Reports of the Secretary General
Reports of the Economic and Social Council

Country Policy
Once you have a decent understanding of the topic and your country, you take this knowledge
together and learn what your “Country Policy” is on your topic. Your Country Policy is what your
country thinks should be done, or not done, about the issue, and how this topic impacts your
country. This means determining if your country is in favor of solutions that have been proposed or
resolutions that have been passed, or if your country has been advocating at the UN for policies.

A good starting place to learn your country policy is to research what your country’s government,
foreign ministry, or UN mission have said about the topic on their website. Other resources to use
from the UN include the following:

Member States on the Record: Speeches at the United Nations

Member State Votes on Resolutions
Signature/Ratification Status for Each Country of Important Conventions and Treaties

Possible Solutions
The most important part of researching for a Model UN conference, and often the most forgotten, is
to research Possible Solutions to help resolve the issue your committee is discussing. The
solutions aren’t what your country wants to do for itself- that would never need to be discussed at
the UN. Instead, you should consider what your country wants the United Nations to do about the
issue worldwide. Feel free to use your own creativity to think of ideas, and find reasons why they
would work that you can use in speeches, and later in your resolutions in committee.

All resolutions should be realistic, and can even build on past solutions the UN has tried- maybe
you want to expand a program worldwide that was previously local. Maybe you think that a specific
solution needs more support or funding. Feel free to include existing UN action in your solutions,
but new and creative ideas are always welcome as well! Aside from the United Nations and
Member States, other good places to look for solutions are in the existing work of NGOs (check out
our NGO Guide here), through various Think Tanks worldwide, and in university publications.

COUNTRY PROFILE LINKS

General Research on Countries

Country Policy Profile and Policy Map

CIA World Factbook
US State Department Background Notes
List of Governmental Websites
List of International Governmental Organizations
Foreign Governments Comprehensive Web Site Listings
Library of Congress Country Studies
The Lincoln Library
The Electronic Embassy
Country Watch
The Economist Country Briefings
Government and Legal Structure by Country
UN Maps
Atlapedia
InfoNation
BBC Country Profiles
Group of 20
World Bank Data and Statistics
NGO Global Network

NEWS SOURCES
UN News
Google Scholar
Google News
Google News Alerts
Al-Jazeera
BBC
CNN
Financial Times
International Herald Tribune
Le Monde Diplomatique
New York Times
The Economist
The Times of London
The Wall Street Journal
Washington Post
WWW Virtual Library: News Sources
WWW Virtual Library: International Radio and Television
WWW Virtual Library: International Relations Journals and Magazines

THINK TANKS & POLICY GROUPS

WWW Virtual Library: Research Institutes
9/11 Commission
American Progress
Asia Society
Aspen Institute

Brookings
Carnegie Endowment
CATO Institute
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Chatham House
Council of the Americas
Council on Foreign Relations
Crisis Group
Council on Foreign Affairs
European Council on Foreign Relations
Federation of American Scientists
For the Record
Foreign Affairs
Foreign Policy Association
Foreign Policy in Focus
Gallup WorldView
Global News Bank
Heritage Foundation
Institute for Global Communications
Institute for Policy Studies
International Institute for Strategic Studies
One World
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Transparency International
UNA-USA
UN Democracy
UN Foundation