Reading Research Literature
Citation Williams, S. (2005). Guiding students through the jungle of research-based literature. College Teaching, 53(4), 137-139. Retrieved April 17, 2007, from the ProQuest database.
How do you read research literature? Williams (2005) offers a systematic guide for reading research literature based on various older guides such as Survey, question, read, recall, review (SQ3R) Preview, question, read, reflect, recite, review (PQ4R) scan for Facts, Ask questions, Identify details are major or minor, Read the work as a whole, Evaluate comprehension, Review by summarizing subheadings (FAIRER) Williams (2005)
Williams’ Guide (SQ6R) Survey Question Read Reflect Review Rehash Rethink Reevaluate Williams (2005)
Before you start to read Survey List the title of the article Read the summary or abstract near the title ( if available) Scan the headings Question Write one sentence identifying what you think the article will be about Why is this topic important? How or when might you personally use this information? Williams (2005)
Reading the article Read Read the article Create a summary using bullets under each heading (note: PowerPoint is good for this!) Write a one sentence summary of each section Make a vocabulary list of unknown terms and look up their definitions Summarize any supplemental text (e.g. graphs, tables, sidebar, appendix, etc.) Williams (2005)
The Five Re’s Reflect Review Stop analyzing for now Think about the topic as a whole for at least 24 hours Review Review the headings, bullet summary, and section summaries Take another look at the tables and diagrams. How significant are they? Williams (2005)
The Five Re’s (2) Rehash Rethink Reevaluate Share your interpretations, summaries, and opinions with a learning team Actively listen to peer opinions Rethink Ponder others’ points of view. Do a one page reflection on this. Reevaluate Edit your headings, bullet points, one sentence summaries as needed Develop a “plan of action” for using the information Williams (2005)
A picture of SQ6R Survey Reflect Rehash The Article Read My summaries Rethink ?? Question ? Review Reevaluate My Plan Williams (2005)