The Research Process by Jason Russell

1. The Research Processby Jason Russell • Research is fundamental • Nothing will make you better, faster at debate than doing really good research • Research not only produces more evidence, but produces more ideas about debate, more innovative types of arguments, more familiarity with the language used in debates, and generally makes you rule. • Research is the thing about debate that will most benefit you outside of debate.

2. Where do I do research? • The GU Library • http://www.gonzaga.edu/Academics/Libraries/Foley-Library/ • Listed in the center of the page is Databases A-Z

3. Databases at GU • WorldCat – A database of databases • My favorite database – It’s literally a clearinghouse of most of the university databases • WorldCat sync’s to the entire Washington University library system, making finding everything at Foley easier • Books are where good cards live

4. WorldCat continued… • The arrival /Author: Tan, Shaun.Publication: New York : Arthur A. Levine Books, 2007 • Document: English : Book : Fiction : Juvenile audience • Libraries Worldwide: 2592    Foley Library • More Like This:Search for versions with same title and author | Advanced options ... •  See more details for locating this item

5. WorldCat continued… • FirstSearch indicates your institution owns the item. • Libraries worldwide that own item: 2592     Foley Library •  Search the catalog at your library • Borrow this item from another library (Interlibrary Loan) • LOCATIONCALL # STATUS • HAYDEN CURRICULUMFic T1536ar 2007   SHELF  • POLYTECH CURRICULUMFic T1536ar 2007   SHELF  • WEST JOURNALSFic T1536ar 2007   ON EXHIBIT

6. Databases at GU • Academic Search Complete • An EBSCO database • Contains tons of periodicals, a very useful resource

7. Academic Search Premier Cont’d • Search modes • Boolean/Phrase • Find all my search terms • Find any of my search terms • SmartText SearchingHint • Apply related words • Also search within the full text of the articles

8. Academic Search Premier Cont’d • Military Policy Options to Revise the French MilitaryPresence in the Horn of Africa.Full Text Available By: Liebl, Vernie. Comparative Strategy, Jan/Feb2008, Vol. 27 Issue 1, p79-87, 9p; DOI: 10.1080/01495930701839787; (AN 31168057) • Subjects: DJIBOUTI; FRANCE; DJIBOUTI -- Foreign relations; FRANCE -- Foreign relations -- 1995-; FRANCE -- Military relations • Database: Academic Search Complete • Add to folder Relevancy:  • PDF Full Text (54KB) • Full Text Options

9. JSTOR • JSTOR is a cool, full-text database that also allows you to search within the text of the articles contained. • The other primary benefit of JSTOR is that it contains only peer-reviewed (i.e. high quality, academic) research

10. Jstor Cont’d Advanced search allows you to specify the sources you’ll search, enables full-text searching, and allows more boolean modifiers. Advanced search must be enabled from the start page.

11. Lexis-Nexis • Lexis (legal) – Nexis (news) • Full text database, allows you to search within the text • Best for really current events (politics, econ, relations)

12. Project Muse • Sick K cardz • Full-text searches, full-text retrieval • Not at all for noobs

13. Think Tanks What is a think tank? Transportation Infrastructure Think Tanks: • Bureau of Transportation Statistics • Center for Transportation Studies • Minnesota Transportation Libraries • Transportation Research Board • Voorhees Transportation Center • Surface Transportation Policy Project • Transport Research Knowledge Centre (UK) • Transportation Research Board (TRB) • Urban Institute • Bipartisan Policy Center • Eno Transportation Foundation • Government Committee on Transportation Infrastructure • Victoria Transport Policy Institute (CA)

14. Think Tanks cont’d • Generally known and useful think tanks that speak to transportation policy: • The Heritage Foundation • The Brookings Institution • The CATO Institute • RAND • American Enterprise Institute • Hoover Institution

15. Sick Google Tips • Use the cache • Shows highlighting of search terms GU Libraries Library One Search retrieves many articles, books, and other resources from the GULibraries' collection. About the Library One Search ...lib.gu.edu/ - Cached - Similar

16. Sick Google Tips Cont’d Google Custom Search Allows a user to target specific sites to search for a particular issue Go to http://www.google.com/cse/ and click the blue button on top-right Name & describe it, enter the websites (make sure to use root sites, not a specific embedded page) Run a test to see if it works as designed

17. Sick Google Tips Cont’d • Do searches in quotations where applicable (i.e. “transportation infrastructure” not transportation infrastructure) • Use advanced search options to delimit your terms • Increase your results per page (to like a million) • Be persistent – Google is not the smartest search engine; it’s just the biggest. You’ll need to look through a lot of pages a lot of times.

18. Sick Google Tips Cont’d • Use Google News/Create Google alerts – Politics is a perfect example. You can tell Google to give you every article that says “political capital” and “Obama” in it. • Google books are cool – You can screen print the page and then scan it and OCR it, or you can stop whining and type the card. That’s about it though.

19. Citing Ev • Citations: • Russell 9 (Jason, Dir Forensics-OU, “How to be awesome”, Being Awesome Quarterly, 3(4), p. 15) JLR • Yes, the 9 represents 2009. Do not write that whole thing bc that’s lame. • Abbreviate where you can. See Dir above. • 3(4) is the volume(issue). • Include the URL for all electronic stuff. • Put your initials outside the parenthesis. See JLR. • Always include qualifications if citing an author. If you need to do secondary internet research, do so.

20. Tagging Ev • Tags are the connection between your reading of the evidence & the judge • They should be brief & cogent • Tags are an argument; evidence is support for an argument.

21. Underlining Ev • Why do we underline? • Think word economy • No cheating • You may not change the meaning of a sentence or the author(s) goals • You may not alter the evidence to make underlining more effective (this includes changing the tense of verbs or dropping plurality

22. Underlining Cont’d • Don’t underline in such a way that the card doesn’t make sense (subject/verb agreement) • Mahler 8 (Jonathan, NY Times Policy Analyst ,June 2008, NY Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2 008/06/15/weekinreview/15mahler.html)JRG And yet, long before the Bush administration’s recent string of defeats, at least one justice warned of the dangers of endorsing war policies that might, in retrospect, look draconian. A military order, however unconstitutional, is not likely to outlive a military emergency, but a Supreme Court decision will stand for generations to come. Justice Robert Jackson, who would later be chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals, spoke to this danger in a dissent in the 1944 Korematsu case, the Supreme Court ruling upholding the detention of Japanese-Americans in internment camps during World War II. Justice Jackson wrote that validating such an action was like leaving behind a “loaded weapon, ready for the hand of any authority that can bring forward a plausible claim of an urgent need.” In keeping with the court’s general reluctance to interfere with the president’s war-making powers, its rulings in the war on terror began relatively modestly. Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, in 2004, pertained only to United States citizens detained as enemy combatants on American soil; the court held that they must get a “meaningful opportunity” to challenge the factual basis for their detention. • Reduce the ununderlined portion, but never below 8 pt font.

23. Research Tips • Triangulate your research • Be exhaustive • Follow a research trail • Use your references • Read footnotes/endnotes • Take notes from the text. Look for key individuals, groups, & organizations quoted with opinions on the issue at hand.

24. Research Tips Cont’d • How do I start? • Have a specific question in mind (i.e. “transportation policy” “global warming”) • Assess where you’re at (do you have too many results? Too few?) • Make adjustments (add modifiers like “united states” or “highways” above, or remove modifiers like “policy” depending on how you feel; potentially search a more or less specific source)

25. Research Tips Cont’d What if I don’t find anything? -Keep a research journal that’s detailed (What did you search? What database?) -Review your steps and try new choices -Ask for help!

26. How to Read for Research • Learn to skim • Read the table of contents • Read the introductory chapter • Look for subject headings in text • Follow the author’s organizational pattern • Search the text for keywords

27. Template Questions • What do you need to know? • All research at GDI will be electronic text • NO IMAGES • Free OCR is available in many places online

28. Conclusion • Research is what we do; start to love it now. • Research is a process. Learning is inevitable but takes time. If you’re not great now, dedicate yourself to it.