Research How-To's for the College Level Student
UNDERSTANDING
THE INFO-WORLD AND ITS ORGANIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE
This page is designed to
facilitate the college and/or adult learner in the organization and collation
of research using six simple steps. It wasn’t that long ago when doing research
meant long hours of tedious and sometimes unproductive hours in libraries or
archives. Today the Internet is a global resource connecting millions of users
to an innumerable amount of information resources. It is my hope that these six
simple steps will assist educators and students of education in conducting and
writing research by using the Internet and web research tools.
- LOCATING
MATERIALS
- DEVELOPING
A RESEARCH STRATEGY
- SELECTING
AND EVALUATING MATERIALS
- LEARNING
BIBLIOGRAPHIC FORMS
- PARAPHRASING
AND QUOTING SOURCES BY NOTETAKING
- WRITING THE
PAPER
This site's links are based
on the needs I discovered as a graduate student and through my work experience
as an educator. Your university library may have paid subscriptions to a
variety of useful databases, be sure to ask one of the library staff members
for help whenever you visit the university library. Also, check out resources at other
universities nearby. Listed below are the sites I would recommend as a good
starting point.
National
Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS)
Educational Psychology Interactive
DEVELOPING A RESEARCH STRATEGY
The purpose of writing is
to communicate. Every research study has a thesis or point of view. The
writer must make sure that the thesis is supported by the research. Experienced
writers prepare for the task of writing. They gather information, outline and
organize their facts and ideas. Some theorists insist that learning takes place
by organizing one's perceptions in certain useful ways.
Cognitive psychology
applies to the study of thinking, concept formation, and problem solving.
Others theories, in my theoretical perspective, include Mastery
Learning, Active Learning , Discovery Learning
and/or Problem-based
Learning.
SELECTING AND EVALUATING MATERIALS
Begin with general sources,
such as journal databases (like Carl Uncover),
and libraries like OCLC
and the Library of Congress ,
and other national libraries on-line all over the world .
Of course be sure to do a “google” search
using keywords related to your topic; locate key organizations related to your
topic; and/or see if you can locate other bibliographies related to your topic.
Most people get to this
point and break out the notecards and start
writing---BUT DON’T MAKE THIS MISTAKE! When selecting
and evaluating materials, begin with some exploratory reading—that is
sort of skimming…or reading abstracts and/or summaries of research.
Exploratory reading is intended to provide a broad review of a subject before
you select a narrow aspect for research. Done properly, exploratory reading can
help you frame your hypothesis or thesis statement.
Don't begin taking notes until
you have narrowed your topic sufficiently or determined an "angle"
for your research. Generally, research is done to support a point-of-view, so
make sure your hypothesis is narrow enough to be specific—but general
enough to be supported by research. Another significant step at this time is to
evaluate the source material on things such as:
·
The
author's objectivity in presenting the material,
·
Author's
qualifications to speak on the subject,
·
Title
of the work,
·
Date
of publication,
·
Table
of contents and index,
·
The
author's use of primary and secondary source material
In the process of
exploratory reading, you will become aware of two types of sources primary and
secondary. Primary sources can indicate that the materials are…original
documents, letters, diaries, manuscripts, or copies of original work. Secondary
sources are materials which are written by other people about your subject.
After you have selected
your topic and have limited it to some specific purpose through a clear thesis
statement, you are ready to begin the initial step of research work by
compiling a "working bibliography." After you have acquired a
number of sources, the next will be to closely examine them for possible
usefulness.
For each source that you
examine, you should make a bibliography card. Bibliography cards will make it
easier for you when you return to gather your materials and begin taking
(research) notes. After a working preliminary bibliography has been compiled purposive
reading can begin—this is intensive reading on your own
chosen, narrowed topic to collect pertinent data. Even a narrowed topic can
require extensive research.
Get some good advice on how
your paper should be set up (from your instructor, especially), there are sites
on line to help with bibliographic
form of Internet sources and you'll probably also want to get one of the
manuals listed below:
Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association, (FAQ for APA Manual)
Turabian , Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.
PARAPHRASING AND QUOTING SOURCES BY NOTETAKING
Notetaking has several purposes
·
Saves
time...
·
Saves
memory...
·
Organizes
thoughts...
Some suggestions to follow
when taking notes are:
·
Skim
the selection.
·
Each
card should contain only one note and writing on one side.
·
Number
your bibliography cards with source numbers.
·
Note
the topic (of the card) in the upper left hand corner.
·
Use
your own shorthand... paraphrase or summarize
·
Jot
down facts and ideas, not the author's words. If you wish to
quote directly, enclose the passage in prominent quotations marks.
Grinding out a report at
the last minute is nobody's idea of a good time. That is why it is so important
to plan and organize. First, make sure you understand the project. What exactly
does your university instructor expect? If you’re not sure—ASK!
Work with him/her on the format of your paper and setting and meeting the
deadlines. If you can be patient and get organized, with a little help from
your instructor, you can learn to write a far more effective and original
(!) paper. Synthesizing information for your paper is one of the most important
facets of research. Writing the paper is where synthesis takes place.
Synthesizing simply means sorting out and organizing your research, and
determining what is logically important for your paper. Good synthesis through
writing requires these steps which should be monitored by you and your
instructor:
·
You
arrange your research notes into a logical order that reflects and/or supports
your thesis statement
·
You
write the final outline and share it with one other person (instructor if
possible)
·
Write
the first draft (and share it with one other person who will give you honest
feedback)
·
Edit
the first draft (this is polishing the apple…and it’s worth the
trouble!)
·
Write
the revised, final draft with footnotes, bibliography, and title page
·
Assemble
the completed paper
This is not necessarily the
only way synthesis can occur. The point is to be organized and
methodical. Your paper will require editing and re-working before it is finally
complete.
Best of Luck! Let me know
how things turn out!