Keenan Hammer

Research Strategy

-research writing gives you the chance to explore your question through resources

Planning Your Work

-plan out goals on certain dates to spread out work evenly

- remember that writing is a process

-many drafts, etc.

Research Journal

-record your activities and work prgress

-helps clarify thinking

-write down sources, ideas, leads, anything thats important

Working Bib

-keep a journal with your sources in it that also has annotations to refer back to

-source information

-cite sources properly in APA,MLA or other format

Annotations

-these things ad to your basic sources to make them more helpfull

-what you know

-what you thinkn may be helpful in your research

Synthesizing

-using the research journal can show if sources clash or are too similar

-essential part of research writing where you can begin to see connections between two sources

- becomes more complex as you move on

Respond/Connect to Sources

-let source prompt questions within you

-let yourself see connections between sources

keep a record of your own thoughts and ideas prompted by your sources

Gathering Info from your Sources

-let sources support your own ideas

-keep accurate records of what sources say

-keep accurate records of how to find the sources

-synthesize sources

Finding a Research Subject/Question

-seek inspiration fmor various places

-choose an appropriate subject

-research question

-consider what intrigues you about the subject

-narrow it down so it fits your requirements

Setting Goals for Sources

-consider what you already know and what you need to find out

-make a list of what you do know and what questions you do still have

-choose your sources carefully and consider different ones

-use a promary source whenever possible

-seconday sources arent bad but try to avoid them

Scholarly and Popular Sources

-essential for a good paper

-check articles

-title, publisher, length, author, etc.

Finding Sources

-dont look for sources that will write your paper for you, look for supports to YOUR ideas

finding background info

-use encyclopedias and dictionaries to see if youre interested in your subject

-also lead to more detailed resources

FInding Books

-many books are held in the library

-if its not there, they can borrow it from another library

FInding Articles

-find articles anywhere: online or library

Find Sources on the Web

-be diligent about credibility of sources

-web is always changing, an article can dissapear at any time

-a lot of articles going back before 1980 are not online

Other Online Sources

-e-mail: communicate with people who might know about your topic

-blogs: biased

-discussion lists: uses email to connect people with a common question to find an answer

Using Gov't Publications

-go to msu lib website

-use advanced catalog search

Images, Audio, Video

-use them, but ensure they are credible

Images

-use images form articles that help prove point

-create your own images

-use an image search engine

Audio and Video

-audio files are available on the web and the MSU library on CD

-video files are available on the web and the MSU library on DVD

Generating Your Own Sources

-interview

-survey

Observation

-such as a focus group or simply sitting and observing a situation

-make sure it's relevant to your prompt or subject

Personal Interview

-call or write for an interview

-keep notes

-possibly audio record

-send a thank you note after

Survey

-define population

-write your questions

-tally results

-analyze for patterns

Working with Sources

-Before gather info, scan them to see what they can offer

-view sources as someone elses writing

Relevance and Reliability

-not all sources you find prove worthwhile

Questions for Evaluating Sources

-relevance

-up to date?

-relilability

-wheres the source come from?

Evaluating Library Sources

-dates, titles, summaries, introductions, headings, author biographies

Identifying Origin of Source

-check whether a library source is popular or scholarly

-more reliable

Indentify Author Bias

-every author has a point of view

-look at source

-how does the authors ideas relate to those in other sources?

Questions for Evaluating Web Sites

-what type of site are you viewing?

-who is the author or sponser? 

-etc.

Determine Type of Site

-Scholarly Sites

-knowledge building interest and inclue research reports with supporting data

-informational site

-advocacy site

-present views of organizations that promote certain policies

-commercial

-present views promoting the company

-personal

-range from diaries of a family's travels to opinions on political issues to reports on evolving scholarship

Identify the Author and Sponser

-reputable site will list its authors

Consider and Anayze Context

-follow links to analyze credibility

-are ideas current?

-are views authoritative?

-claims supported by reliable sources?

Avoiding Plagarism and Documenting Sources

-plagarism is bad

-it's the presentation of other's work as your own