Doing Research: Working with Resources
Source: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Topics: How to Have a Successful Sophomore Year, How to Have a Successful Freshman Year, Study Skills, Success in College, Writing
Tracking down the resources you need is probably the most difficult process of the research assignment. You often feel like you are on a scavenger hunt. In your search, you may hit some dead ends: Either the information is not available (for whatever reason) or the information isn’t pertinent to your plans for the research assignment.
After you’ve collected all of the information, though, you can start reviewing it, taking notes, and figuring out the best way to incorporate it into your research assignment. This article covers how to do these things, as well as how to handle citing information from your source.
Deciding What to Include
When you review the various information you have collected, your first decision is what’s worth including and what’s not. Deciding what to include varies depending on what plan you use to create the research assignment.
Some people like to come up with an outline of the project. Usually, they list the main points they want to make (as well as any subpoints, depending on the detail of the outline). They then match the information they’ve found to the predefined outline. If the outline has gaps, the researcher can go back and find information to fill in the holes, or he may choose to adapt the outline.
Both methods for deciding how to organize the material require some compromises. For a preset outline, the researcher, for example, may find that she needs to rearrange the order of her points. She may find other relevant points that she uncovered in her research and that fit in the assignment (but weren’t in the outline). Another researcher may delete outline topics he planned on including, deciding that they really weren’t relevant.
The other method to approach selecting and organizing content is to see what the research itself contains. With this approach, you find the facts and details that are most interesting, and then build your paper about what you find in your research. You may list the main ideas, and then use this list to plan the order of how you present the material. You may create an organized outline about what order you want to present this information.
Like the first method, expect to make compromises. When you arrange the content as determined by what you found, you may find there are gaps. For example, suppose you have facts only about one side of a controversial issue. You should cover both to present a balanced view. Also, you may find information that you really, really like, but doesn’t really fit with the goals or requirements of the assignment. You may have to leave out information, even if you like it, if it doesn’t serve the purpose of the assignment.
Taking Notes
When you review your materials, you can take notes of the most important points. Use this article for a practical and organized approach to note usage.
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