The Research Process and Information Literacy

 In our textbook, Writing Today, authors Richard Johnson-Sheehan and Charles Paine say“(r)esearch requires more than simply finding books or articles that agree with your preexisting opinion or using the first page of hits from an Internet search engine like Google. Instead research is about pursing truth and developing knowledge” (466).

 Just like writing, research is a circular process. You may start out with a good thesis, but find research that challenges your assumptions. You may have to rewrite your thesis in order to incorporate the new findings, or do more research in order to defend your own idea against the new findings.

 Information literacy is knowledge of how the research process works and how to use it effectively. Information literacy includes knowing what information is needed, how that to locate that information, how to identify the best sources of information, how to evaluate those sources critically and how to share that information legitimately.

 Define Your Research Question ◦ Your research question names your topic and exactly what you want to find out about that topic. ◦ The best research questions are short and simple and narrow down your research to a workable level. Topic: The NMLLS Research Question: Will the NMLLS be around for future generations of New Mexico college students? Narrow the Question: Why are state legislators predicting that funding for NMLLS will run out by 2014?

 Develop a Working Thesis ◦ Your working thesis, or hypothesis, is your best answer to the research question. ◦ The working thesis is ONE sentence long. If you require more than one sentence to state your working thesis, your topic may be too broad. Research Question: Why are state legislators predicting that funding for NMLLS will run out by 2014? Working Thesis: If lottery ticket sales do not increase, the NMLLS will run out before some students can graduate.

 Design a Research Plan ◦ A research plan should describe:  What kinds of sources you will need to collect  How you are going to collect those sources  Your time schedule for conducting research as well as completing your assignment  How you will organize your bibliography file  You may not have access to all the sources you planned or cannot find certain data that you want. Don’t let searching for the “perfect” information delay your research plan. Find different sources to back up your idea or rewrite your thesis. Don’t fight the facts!

 Collect Sources ◦ Electronic and Online  Web sites, television, radio, podcasts, videos and blogs, documentaries, film ◦ Print  Magazines, newspapers, books, journals, anything that can be found at the library, basically.  Articles found using an online database such as EBSCOHost or Lexis Nexis count as print sources even though you found them online. This is because the articles were published originally, but then uploaded to the online database. ◦ Empirical  Personal experience, observations, interviews, surveys, studies and experiments.

 Primary Sources ◦ Artifacts such as photos, artwork, letters, memoirs, and other materials that are important to your topic of research. Primary sources contain original information that appears unbiased and uninterpreted.  For example, the Declaration of Independence is an historical artifact that is a primary source for experts studying the American Revolution.  A painting by Van Gogh is a primary research source for a report about the artist’s style and technique. ◦ Data collected from surveys and observations.  Interviews with experts in the subject you are researching  Results from informal surveys you conduct, or results from surveys conducted by other groups.

 Secondary Sources ◦ Writing and research that is produced by people that are knowledgeable about your topic of research. Secondary sources summarize, analyze or interpret information for you.  A documentary about the American Revolution written by The History Channel  A book about Van Gogh written by an art history scholar.  A blog post about Lady Gaga written on the official fan club website  An article about President Obama in The New York Times ◦ For most projects you will rely on secondary research found at the library and online, but whenever possible collect primary sources. Primary sources help you gain a clearer understanding of your topic. Primary sources such as interviews and surveys you conduct also allow you to compare your own observations to expert opinion.

 Assessing Credibility Before You Read A Source: ◦ Is the source up to date?  When was the material published?  When was the last time the website was updated? ◦ Where did you find it?  What is the title of the website that contains this source?  What is the title of the journal/newspaper/magazine that the article is published in? ◦ Does the author use a variety of sources?  Scan the works cited page for the book or article (you might also find good sources to read there). ◦ How useful is the information to your research?  Online databases contain summary citations for most articles that briefly describe what the article is about.  Scan the table of contents and the index of books for keywords/ideas. ◦ Can you verify the information in the source?  Do multiple sources offer the same information? If there is only one source offering a certain perspective, treat the source suspiciously. Don’t let your argument be based on findings from an unreliable source!

 Assessing Credibility While Reading A Source: ◦ Is the source fact, fiction, or propaganda?  What is the tone of the language? Objective or emotional? ◦ Who is the author?  Is the author noticeably biased towards the subject? ◦ Who publishes it?  Is the publisher a person, a government organization, a religiously-affiliated organization, or a privately owned organization? ◦ Does the author acknowledge other viewpoints or attempt to offer both sides of the argument?  What evidence does the author use to defend his/her argument?

 Triangulate Your Facts ◦ If you collect similar facts using sources from all three points of the triangle, the more reliable the information is. ◦ If your sources are from only one point on the triangle, your evidence is probably not strong enough to support your argument. Find sources from different points on the triangle. ◦ Remember when exploring the other side of the issue to triangulate as well. Try to find multiple sources that challenge your thesis. Even if you don’t agree with a source you will still enhance your overall understanding of the issue. Print Sources Electronic/Online Sources Empirical Sources

 Determine Whether Facts Verify Working Thesis ◦ Yes = Accept your thesis! ◦ No = Modify Your Thesis and return to Step 4 in the research process!  How does this step reflect the textbook’s definition of research as “…pursing truth and developing knowledge?”  How does the practice of information literacy define the research process we just discussed?