INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH

Learning to become a researcher By the time you get to college, you will be expected to advance from: Information retrieval– collecting facts about what is already known to Scholarly research – adding new information and ideas to the body of information on a topic.

Research leads to Knowledge  Collecting facts.  Asking questions about what has happened or what exists.  Considering different perspectives and points of view.  Stating your own opinion based on information you have gathered.  Adding new information and conclusions based on study and factual information.

Plan your research.

1. Task Definition Define the information problem  Research begins with a question.  Instead of collecting facts, find out why.  What information do you need to answer the question?  What is important about this information, and how does it really help you understand the topic?

Develop a Question for Your Topic Example Topic: Film and Television of the 1960s Question 1:  What were some of the most popular TV shows and films of the 1960s? Question 2:  How did the TV shows and films reflect every day life and changes in society? Question 3:  How do they differ from current TV and films?

2. Information Seeking Strategies Determine all possible sources Select the best sources 3 or more sources  Print: monographs, reference books  Databases vs. Search Engines Databases vs. Search Engines  Websites – Web Path Express  What about wikis? How do you evaluate which is the BEST source?

Wikipedia  May be a good place to get general information about a topic and is frequently updated.  Look at References and External Links  See “About Wikipedia” and “Disclaimer”  Cannot verify authors  Example of misinformation: “War is over: Imaginary ‘Bicholim Conflict’ page removed from Wikipedia after five years”

3. Location and Access Locate sources (intellectually and physically) Find information within sources  What topics are related to your question?  What keywords will you use when looking for information?  Books – Title, Table of Contents, Index  Online – Search Box, Strategies (+, “_”)  Databases – Full text, images, related sites

Books  How do you select a book that will have information on your topic?  What if there is no book specifically about your topic?

Encyclopedias  Provide brief descriptions of many well-known topics.  If your topic is specific, you may have to look under a broader topic.  How are print encyclopedias organized?  How do you find information about a person?  What if the letter I am looking for is not on the book?

Online Resources  Databases  Search Engines  Evaluating web sites. Evaluating web sites.

4. Use of Information Engage (e.g., read, hear, view, touch) Extract relevant information  Scan to find information on your topic.  Read to get a general overview.  Look for images, videos, and links to more information.  If you find a good source, make a source card.  Start taking notes on a note card. Include source # and page numbers.

Note Taking  Note Cards  Source#  Topic  Paraphrase, summarize, use quotes

Citations  Citations  MLA format  Citation Machines  Source/Bibliography Cards – numbering  Works Cited Page

5. Synthesis Organize from multiple sources Present the information  Sort information by topic.  Create a thesis statement. Grab the reader with something interesting.  Organize supporting information.  Make a conclusion.  Include a Works Cited page.  How will you present the information? Paper, presentation; text, graphics & video.

6. Evaluation Judge the product (effectiveness) Judge the process (efficiency)  Did you answer the question?  Did you make your product interesting to the audience?  Did you give your work credence by using authoritative sources?  Is it technically sound? Spelling, punctuation, capitalization, format?  Compare to the rubric.  What could you do better next time?