how do you guys do research for debates?

i would do more debates but im trash at researching dont have the time. im interested in doing a debate about the death penalty

Depends on the topic. If you are really bad at finding sources, then perhaps try to find theoretical and philosophical debates, the ones that has relative little importance for resources.

I wouldn't recommend accepting any political debate if you don't want to research.

you guys are good at debating any tips?

Try to narrow things down in terms of scope, and have a discussion or two with people you know. It's also a great idea to try to understand where the other side comes from.

If you don't have time for research, you'll probably just have to stick to topics you know. I will often find things I can listen to (audiobooks and such) so I can multitask while still learning.

Google.

i actually just found this probably illegal site that lets you get scientific articles and book pdfs you would normally have to buy for free. https://www.libgen.is/ i like it better than google scholar

It 'is frustrating, when one can't access scientific articles, studies, statistics, and books, without shilling out some cash.

i  almost always start with wikipedia.  I click on  a lot of links to citations and other articles trying to get a sense of context, usually a couple of primary sources emerge.  I usually try to read as much of those primary sources as I can then begin to write and hunt for extra sources that give the research a sense of consensus and thoughtful opinion.  

Everything's behind a paywall these days.  I am constantly copy and pasting the NYT headline to google just to try to find a free version. I need a search engine that filter out paywalls better.  What's the point of lipping through 3 or 4 requests for a dollar a month before you get to something readable?

People 'do want better search engines, I'd say.

And will want such 'more as the internet continues to expand.

https://unpaywall.org/welcome Allow me to introduce you both to unpaywall! Possibly the best extension ever.

Oh, and I forgot to mention oromagi as well in the above post. It seems he could also use this.

I guess boiling it down would be the answer from me. Like, take your example of the death penalty.

What's an argument I intend to make if I'm against the death penalty? Maybe something about how it doesn't discourage crime. What do I need to find to prove that? Well, I'd need to find data on criminal trends across similar states where one has implemented the death penalty and the others haven't. I'd need to take the point when the death penalty was introduced and see how the trend of criminal activity is different from similar states that have not implemented the death penalty. Rinse and repeat a few times with different states.

An easy way to save time is just to, instead of googling blindly, just ask "What is it that I actually need to find?" and then looking for that exact info and that's it. At least, barring the times you have no choice but to analyze or make the data yourself (but out of over a hundred citations since I joined the site I've maybe only done that twice).

I listen to lectures and books while I work. I also do lots of cross referencing for a few hours if I'm cramming or I take a few days to put the debate together.

I'll give a guide shortly on how to get around paywalls. Research should be free. Promoting the freedom of ideals is beneficial for society.

actually nyxified gave a good suggestion.

when I used to perform well, I would spend every waking minute on podcasts, when at working, reading articles at every possible moment of downtime and responses to any arguments I have thought of, so I could anticipate responses. Also I did not start researching arguments until I came up with an interesting title to a debate. 

If you Don't want to spend a lot of time researching, start specializing in one subject that you enjoy. Start with a birds eye view generality of the subject. Then go into premises you struggle with.

Your strategy on debates should be to take subjects you feel like you will struggle hard to win, so that way you can focus on constant improvement. You can't control wins or losses, but you can control how well you debate.