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Quick Start to Research. Here are some helpful ideas to build your research skills. Topic Soft Skills Product. Research is a process.
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Quick Start to Research Here are some helpful ideas to build your research skills
Topic • Soft Skills Product Research is a process
The product is a 4000 word, essay that analyzes an issue and argues a position statement, thesis or hypothesis using the highest quality of evidence in a logical manner using the language and methods of research of the field of study. The Product
The Research Question generates the thesis. • The question needs to: • Be limited in scope and sufficiently narrow to allow 4000 words to argue a position in depth • Relate two things (variables) • Be answerable (evidence can be found) • Arguable by a reasonable person • Involve investigation or analysis and be ethical • Use evidence to support claims made; Point, Proof, Explanation • Use only quality scholarly sources • Meet the requirements of the specific subject guide • Must conform to all requirements of academic honesty The key is the RQ
Develop the thesis from the RQ • http://tommarch.com/electraguide Thesis building
Without a claim… Evidence is Not Persuasive. • E.g. A new study appears, “Teens who multi-task while doing homework perform less well on tests.” • Without evidence… A claim is NOT persuasive • E.g. Teens success in high school is linked to multi-tasking. • Without quality evidence… A claim is NOT AS persuasive as it could be. • E.g. The first study may be useful as evidence, depending on? Using evidence
Primary vs. Secondary Sources • Facts vs. Opinions • Scholarly vs. Popular Types of Information/Evidence
Why use primary sources? • Useful in history to write about the past, "as it really happened." If the sources were done by people who really lived during a period or event, they are more valuable than those written by people later. • Need to evaluate primary sources as to their legitimacy
What: • What is the primary source? Does the type of source match the time period? If so, is it in black and white or colour? Is it a letter? If so, is it typed, or handwritten? Who: • Who wrote the letter, took the photo or painted the painting? Can you be sure it was really that person who made it? Did they live during the time period? When: • When was the primary source created? How can you tell its age? Where: • Can you tell where the primary source was created? Why: • Why was the primary source created? Does it tell a story? Is it a love letter? Is it an order from an officer to a soldier? Is it a picture of the Rocky Mountains? Does the primary source tell you why it was created? Can you guess why it was created? Checking for authenticity
Secondary sources are useful sources for expert opinion on issues and events. • Need to evaluate secondary sources as to the author and their credentials to determine whether to rely on their opinion (Use book reviews)
Something that is true about a subject and can be tested or proven • It has happened, is real or exists • Beliefs held by the majority of people in a field What is a fact?
Something that someone thinks about a subject • A thing that is believed to exist, to have happened, or is believed to be true • May not be the prevailing theory or overwhelming statistically (63% of people in a study did something) What is an opinion?
Use facts only after checking that other sources say they are true as well. • Use only opinions from experts that you have determined are the experts in the field. Facts and Opinions
Scholarly: • Written by academics, professors studying/researching in the field or other experts on the topic you are studying. • Academic writing is considered to be of higher quality since they write using the language of the field. Have high reading levels and deal with specific topics. • Popular: • Written by professional writers or journalists who research the topic in order to write for a publication. Or written by the a regular citizen with no particular training. These are usually written at a lower reading level than scholarly articles. Scholarly vs. Popular
Found in Journals which are periodicals that summarize new work done in specific fields • Written at a high level • Peer-reviewed by others in the field before publication • No advertising; not for profit • Written by experts; professors • Include references • Heavy reading; very specific Scholarly Articles
Intended for a general audience/population • Written by journalists, writers, or people who may or may not have special training in the field they are writing about • Few to no citations, references • Usually for profit/full of advertising • Not peer-reviewed, but edited Magazines or Popular Media
Levels of editing • Fact checking in newspapers • Editors vs. authors • Peer review • Still no guarantee as to correctness; but better than no editing • Some sources are never edited: • E.g. Personal websites; some organizational websites; blogs; social media etc. Edited Sources
Credentials of authors? • (degrees, publications in the field, books written, book reviews) • Google them! • In what type of source did you find it? • Peer-reviewed or personal blog? • Newspaper vs. Historical book How do you judge the quality of opinions?
Written by Stacy Schiff • Who is she? • What has been said about this book? Should you use this book?
http://www.stacyschiff.com/about-stacy-schiff.html • http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/books/review/Harrison-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Author: Frank Dikötter • http://frankdikotter.com/ • Book review: Robert Bickers, University of Bristol • http://www.historyextra.com/book-review/book-review-%E2%80%93%C2%A0-tragedy-liberation-history-chinese-revolution-1945%E2%80%9357 • Take away 3 Should you use this one?
BIAS IS NEITHER GOOD NOR BAD, IT JUST IS. Non-fiction is just someone’s idea of the truth • You need to delve deeper before using the information: • Who is this author? • Is there an underlying reason for this person’s opinion? • Why should I believe what they say? • What does the author want me to think? • What does the author want me to know? • What does the author want me to feel? How to identify bias
Use biased evidence wisely by choosing only the most credible authors • Using evidence from these authors to support your points and also to present counterpoints • Counterpoints should be raised and argued against. You must address the important points someone arguing against your thesis would use. Using evidence
THE ABCD approach • Authorship –experts, scholarly • Bias – identify it • Content – accuracy and appropriateness; good quality sources; edited, published • Date – current resources; decide whether anything may have changed since the publication of your source that makes it out-of-date • If you do find information on the Web and want to use it…evaluate it first. CRAAP test Evaluating Sources
One easy way to evaluate a website is to look at the URL or web address Evaluating Sources
Databases and Search Engines • The Invisible Web Search strategies…How to find quality sources
Search engines or Databases • The Web is the swimming pool full of water that is the material on the Internet. • Different tools search different parts of the pool • Different search engines give preference to different sites • Databases search materials that have been pre-selected and hidden behind a partition Search tools
Material in published books is not found on the web unless the books have been digitized. • Find these in the school library using eMax, the Library Catalogue. • http://hwdsb.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/506 • Information on the “Invisible Web” • The material that is not searchable by search engines or databases. • Special tools help you. Special databases; search tools like Infomine; http://infomine.ucr.edu/ What’s left?
Portals or doorways to sets of resources purchased by companies and sold to us. • Contain published works that have been chosen by the company for inclusion, so are generally of better quality. • Include periodical articles (journals, magazines, newspapers) but also have media and ebooks. Databases
HWDSB’s Virtual Library • http://www.hwdsb.on.ca/llrc/virtual-library • secondary • library • Questiaschool • ID: FC email PW: Ancaster Where do I find databases to use?
