Introduction to Research

1. Introduction to Research

2. “Basic research is what I am doing when I don’t know what I am doing.” • Werner von Braun • Father of the United States space program

3. What is Research? • Research is the systematic study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions. • “We undertake research when we wish to explore an idea, probe an issue, solve a problem, or make an argument that compels us to turn to outside help.”

4. Types of Research • Primary Research • Generating original information • Secondary Research • Gathering information that has already been generated

5. Primary Research • Original research • Generates current information • Includes methods such as observation, experiments, surveys, and interviews • Analyzes, synthesizes, and evaluates all information and data

6. Primary Research • Advantages: • Is directly applicable to the need • Can result in extremely detailed, accurate, and relevant information or data • Can result in new information that cannot be found in secondary sources • Results in expert knowledge

7. Primary Research • Disadvantages: • Time consuming • Requires extensive planning • Can be expensive • May depend on the participation of unreliable sources for results

8. Secondary Research • Look to see what has been written/done before on a topic • Includes: • Published works: books, journals, magazines, newspapers • Unpublished works: business reports, operating manuals, master’s theses, doctoral dissertations, web pages • Is the most commonly conducted type of research

9. Secondary Research • Advantages: • Requires less time and little to no cost in comparison to primary research • Helps the researcher to either focus or expand his/her scope • Elicits a sense of credibility and authority in that it shows others that the researcher has done his/her homework

10. Secondary Research • Disadvantages: • Researcher may have to sift through a tremendous amount of information • Sources may not be authoritative or reliable

11. Secondary Research Sources • Research Libraries • Support researchers, particularly faculty and students, in their work • Have extensive collections of books, journals, and other sources of information such as theses, dissertations, and other useful unpublished works

12. Sources of Information • Books • Encyclopedias, dictionaries, and atlases • Books on specific subjects • Newspapers • Magazines • Scholarly Journals (like a magazine, but with a more rigorous review process for quality control)

13. Sources of Information • Conference Presentations (referred to as “proceedings”) • Statistical data sources, such as the U.S. Census • Multimedia such as videos and audio sources • Web pages

14. Finding Books • Look at your local library (public, school, or university) to see what they have. Reference librarians can be very helpful to ask for guidance on doing research • If the library does not have a book you want, then they can usually get it for you using a document delivery service (public library or school library)

15. Finding Newspaper, Magazine & Scholarly Journal Articles • Search a database that focuses in the subject area of interest - a database is just a searchable collection of research resources Google Scholar http://scholar.google.com/ ProQuest eLibrary MasterFILE Premier Academic Complete

16. Research Process • Define your topic, project, or problem • Identify key words for the topic – try a thesaurus for synonyms • Identify all resources with which you are familiar that may provide information • Use what you’ve learned thus far to search for books, articles, web sites and other resources

17. Research Process • Contact schools, companies, and organizations in your local area to identify persons who are knowledgeable in your research topic • Assemble your list of resources, and begin systematically exploring them

18. Evaluating Information • The quality of any source should be evaluated before using and citing its information • It is up to the researcher to differentiate between fact, opinion, and propaganda Reliability Authority Bias Currency

19. Citing Research Sources • All information that you find has some person or entity that created it • You must give that person credit for the information that they created when you do research • Plagiarism is when you use someone else’s creation and pretend it was your own

20. Citing Research Sources • To give someone credit for their work in your own research, you need to cite the information in a specific format • The most common formats include: Chicago Turabian MLA APA

21. References • Garibaldi, J. (2003). Mla handbook for writers of research papers. (6 ed.). • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). (1960). Wernher von braun. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wernher_von_Braun_crop.jpg