Research Project Ballenger, Bruce P. The Curious Researcher: a Guide to Writing Research Papers. New York: Longman, 2009. Print

Research Project

Ballenger, Bruce P. The Curious Researcher: a Guide to Writing Research Papers. New York: Longman, 2009. Print.


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WHAT’S THE POINT? WHAT IS RESEARCH?

• The purpose of research is to LEARN or CONFIRM• Research must involve MULTIPLE AUTHORITIES• Research should begin with something YOU already KNOW

• You must be able to ask questions on the topic

• Research is finding the ANSWERS to QUESTIONS• Research is REPORTING OUT your findings• Research is a LIFE SKILL NOT JUST AN ENGLISH

ASSIGNMENT


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SKILLS Reading

comprehension Finding answers to

questions Summarizing Paraphrasing Comparison of facts

Analysis of new material

Evaluation of authorities

Writing skills Organization of ideas Development of ideas Tying together ideas


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Where to begin? Informational reading

assignments on content

Questioning activities on informational reading

Confirming information with multiple sources

Summarizing informational reading in own words

Paraphrasing informational reading in own words

Compiling facts from multiple informational readings on same topic


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Practical Application

Have students write questions on topic every day

Have students evaluate questions from worksheets text books

Teach students good questioning Model good questioning


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Practical Application

Have students read informational text regularly and frequently (newspaper articles, online articles, textbook, journals, websites)

Use Active Reading Guide for non fiction Use It Says I Say worksheet Use Magazine/NEWS worksheets


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THE RESEARCH PROJECT SHOULD BE AN EXTENSION

OF GOOD READING/WRITING PRACTICE THAT IS ALREADY

BEING DONE IN CLASS REGULARLY


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Question: It Says: I Say: So:Develop questions to ask about your topic that your article answers.

Find information from the text to answer the question. You may use direct quotes, paraphrasing or summarizing. Be sure to record the page number where the information was found.

Write a complete sentence using the information from the text to answer the question.

Where do I go from here?What other questions do I need to ask?What other information do I need to know?What more can I learn about this fact?

NAME: _______________________________________________________________Copy citation from article: ( ) {Author, page)


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Active Reading – NonFictionName __________________________________Title __________________ by____________________Predict: Make educated guesses about what you are reading. Preview the topic and the type of nonfiction. You can do this by making inferences from the title and skimming the text. Then try to figure out the author’s main idea by looking for a thesis statement in the introductory paragraph. Also, think about the facts, reasons, and details the author may use to support the main ideas.

What will this selection be about?What main idea will the writer have about the topic?What evidence might the writer use to back up his or her ideas?

Connect: Consider what you already know about the topic. Compare people and events with those in your own life. Reflect on any experiences you have had that relate to the topic. Read with the purpose of getting information or a new point of view on the topic.

What have I heard or read about this topic?Whom or what does this selection remind me of?When have I been in a situation like the one described here?

Question: As you read, pause occasionally to question anything you do not understand. Reread any section that seems unclear to you. Read on to find answers to your questions. Discuss lingering questions with other readers.

What is the writer’s point here?Why is the writer giving me these facts?What does this point have to do with the writer’s main idea?


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Steps to Research Step One – Topic

Discover your subject Develop “working knowledge” of subject Narrow your subject by finding your focusing question

Step Two – preliminary research Plan a research strategy Fine tune search terms Develop “focused knowledge” Plan interviews or surveys

Step Three – Refining Research Completing fact sheets Midway Research Prompt Advanced search techniques Interviews and surveys

Step Four - Writing Fact sheets to body paragraphs

Step Five – Final publishing Clarify Purpose and hone in thesis Writing introduction and conclusions Revise Draft Edit, proofread and finalize citations Final Draft Evaluation


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Get Curious!Get Curious!

Controversies

Places

Places

Jobs hobbies

history

TechnologiesThings Trends

People


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Choose three titlesChoose three titles

Controversies

Places

Places

Jobshobbies

history


PeopleMake 3 columns, make these the Make 3 columns, make these the titlestitles of your columns of your columns


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BRAINSTORM!BRAINSTORM!

ControversiesPlaces

PlacesJobs

hobbies

history


PeopleWhat comes to mind when you What comes to mind when you think about what you know or think about what you know or what you might want to know what you might want to know about this category?about this category?

5 minutes


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Out of Ideas?Out of Ideas?

ControversiesPlaces

PlacesJobs

hobbies

history


PeopleStart a new column with a new Start a new column with a new topic!topic!

5 minutes


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Review your lists

Is there something on these lists that raises questions that research can help answer?

Are they potentially interesting questions? Does this item get at something I’ve always wondered

about? Might it open doors to knowledge that I think is

fascinating or relevant to my life? CIRCLE THEM!


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Is this a good topic? Does it raise questions I’d love to learn answers to? Does

it raise a lot of them? Do I feel strongly about it? Do I already have some ideas

about the topic that I’d like to explore? Can I find authoritative information to answer my

questions? Could I conduct an interview? An informal survey? Internet research?

Will it be an intellectual challenge? Will it force me to reflect on what I think?

Are a lot of people researching this topic or a similar one? Will I have a hard time finding sources in the library?


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EXERCISE 1.4

On a large piece of paper write the title of your possible topic

Take a few minutes to describe why you choose this topic

Spend 5 minutes briefly listing what you know about your topic already

5 minutes


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EXERCISE 1.4 cont

Spend 10 minutes brainstorming a list of questions about your topic

Make this list as long as possible Try to see your topic in as many ways as

possible Push yourself it’s the most important step

10 minutes


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EXERCISE 1.4 cont

Put your paper on the desk Move around the room reviewing the topics and

questions other students came up with On each paper add a question you would like

answered about the topic that is not on the list On each paper put a next to the ONE

question you find most interesting

3 minutes


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Exercise 1.5

Write the one question that you think would be most interesting on the top of a clean piece of paper

Build a new list of questions under that questionYou may be able to use some of the

questions from your classmates


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“Researchable” questions Not too big or too small Focuses on some aspect of a topic about which

something has been said Interests the researcher People have a stake in the answer; it has

something to do with how we live or might live, what we care about, or what might be important for people to know

Implies an approach or different way of answering it

Raises more questions, the answer shouldn’t be simple


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Interesting Angles to Explore a Topic People Who has been influential in shaping the ideas in this topic

area? Do any have views that are intriguing to you? Could you profile the person or his contributions?

Trends What are the recent developments in this topic? Are any significant? Why?

Controversies What do experts in the field argue about? What aspect of the topic seems to generate the most heat? Which is most interesting to you? Why?

Impact What about your topic currently has the most effect on the most people? What may in the future? How? Why?

Relationships Can you put one thing in relationship to another? What is the relationship between your topic and _____?


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Exercise 1.6

What is the relationship

between ____________

and ____________

?

??

??

??

??

TopicTopic


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Other ways to narrow your subject

Time Limit the time frame of your project (month, year, decade, era)

Place Anchor a larger subject to a particular location (state, city, continent, etc.)

Person Use the particulars of a person to reveal generalities about the group

Story Ground a larger story in the specifics of a “smaller” one


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Decide on a Purpose

To Explore (if you don’t know the answer) Write what you found in your research Best and truest answers to your questions

To Argue (if you think you know the answer) State a central claim and make it convincing

To Analyze (test a theory) Collect data, examine it closely, see how closely it

conforms to what you initially thought to be true


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Step 2 Developing a Research Strategy

Cyber Sources•General search engines

•Online data bases •Subscription sites

•Specialized search engines

Living Sources•Interviews•Surveys

Print Sources•Books

•Magazines & Newspapers•Government documents

•Pamphlets


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Research Strategy

Find ENOUGH information Find VARIED sources Find QUALITY information

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Research StrategyCyber Sources General search engines

Google: To eliminate .coms, .nets

search term site:gov, edu, org To find definitions

Define:search term Yahoo Bing Dogpile

Online data bases Infoohio: ebscohost: select databases, click full text, enter search

term, refine if necessary Subscription sites Specialized search engines


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Research StrategyWorking Bibliography Store information from EVERY source

consulted during search process Use www.easybib.com for easy

autocitations Cut and paste citations


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Research Strategy: Defining Search Terms SEARS book for topic headings Boolean searching : AND, OR, NOT, Advance searches


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Research Strategy: Evaluating sources Primary vs. Secondary Objective vs. Subjective Stable or Unstable Timely (When was it published?) Journal articles vs. Magazine articles Often-cited Authors


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Research Strategy: Developing focused knowledge

1. Does this information help create a context for the question I’m posing?

Can it provide background on what has already been said about it and who has said it?

Can it provide background on what is already known and when it was discovered?

Can it provide background on why this is a question worth asking?


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2. Does the information support or develop an idea or claim I’m making?

Is it evidence that what I’m saying might be true?

Does it help refine or qualify an idea I have about my topic?


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3. Does the information challenge or complicate what I’ve been thinking about my topic?

Does it raise new questions I hadn’t thought of?

Is it a point of view that is opposed to mine? If so, what do I think about it?

Does this change my thinking in some way?


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Research Strategy: Exercise 2.1 Press ConferencePrepare a 5 – 7 minute talk on your topic to your class who

will then follow up with questions Focus on what you’ve learned so far that most

surprised you, or the most common misconceptions, or give background to explain why your topic is important, tell some personal stories

Don’t read a speech; you can have notes, but avoid reading them

Consider visuals: power point? pictures? Graphs? charts? Maps?

Begin by stating your focusing question


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Research Strategy: Working Bibliography

Books

Magazine and Journals

Newspaper

MetaSearch Engines

Single Search Engines

Specialized Search Engines


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Step Three: Refining Research

Completing the fact sheets


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Subtopic: I II III IV V

A B CD E

Question:

Each fact needs to be a complete sentence, in your own words. No “things” “stuff” “you” “get” “a lot” (or variations of those words). Each fact needs to have a page number or “ws” for

website. You must have information from at least 3 sources.

Source# ____

Fact 1

Fact 3

Fact 2

Fact 4

Source# ____

Fact 1

Fact 3

Fact 2

Fact 4

Source# ____

Fact 1

Fact 3

Fact 2

Fact 4

Source# ____

Fact 1

Fact 3

Fact 2

Fact 4


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Step Four: DraftingWriting Leads

Anecdote: Think of a little story that nicely frames what your paper is about. Scene: Begin by giving your readers a look at some revealing aspect of your topic. A paper on the

destruction of tropical rain forests might begin with a description of what the land looks like after loggers have left.

Profile: Try a lead that introduces someone who is important to your topic, a case study for example. Background: Maybe you could begin by providing important and possibly surprising background

information on your topic. A paper on steroid use might start by citing the explosive growth in use by high school athletes in the last ten years. A paper on a novel or an author might begin with a review of what critics have had to say.

Quotation: Sometimes, you encounter a great quote that beautifully captures the question your paper will explore or the direction it wil take.

Dialogue: Open with dialogue between people involved in your topic. A paper on the connection between spouse abuse and alcoholism could begin with a conversation between the writer and a woman who had been abused by her husband.

Question: Pointedly ask your readers the questions you asked that launched your research or the questions your readers might raise about your topic.

Contrast: Try a lead that compares two apparently unlike things that highlight the problem or dilemma the paper will explore.

Announcement: Sometimes the most appropriate beginning is one which announces what the paper is about. Though such openings are sometimes not particularly compelling, they are direct. A paper with a complex topic or focus may be well served by simply stating in the beginning the main idea you’ll explore and what play you’ll follow


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Step Five: Revision and Refinement

Documents

Research Project Ballenger, Bruce P. The Curious Researcher: a Guide to Writing Research Papers. New York: Longman, 2009. Print