Ch. 7: Thinking Critically about the Research Process

• Think critically about the research process
• Ask the right questions to define a research problem
• Explore a balance of views
• Go as far in depth as you need to (depth determines quality)
• Evaluate your findings
• Interpret those findings- Remember that complex issues require more than a simplistic conclusion. Sometimes an indefinite conclusion is the best thing.
• Differentiate between procedural stages and inquiry stages of research
• Procedural Stages:
• search for information
• record findings
• document sources
• write the document
• Differentiate between primary and secondary research
• Primary research comes directly from the source
• Secondary research is information obtained second hand
• It's best to combine primary and secondary research.
• Start with secondary sources and back them up with primary sources
• Always evaluate your sources for reliability
• Explore online secondary sources using various search technologies
• Subject directories
• Search engines
• Wikipedia (strictly evaluate this source; good for a jumping-off point)
• Commercial, organizational, academic websites
• Government websites
• Online news outlets and magazines
• Blogs
• Wikis
• Internet forums and electronic mailing lists
• E-libraries
• Periodical Databases
• Explore traditional secondary sources (books, periodicals, reference works)
• Books and Periodicals
• Reference Works
• Bibliographies
• Indexes (Books, newspapers, periodicals, citations, patents)
• Encyclopedias
• Dictionaries
• Handbooks
• Almanacs
• Directories
• Abstracts
• Access Tools for Government Publications
• Monthly Catalog of the United States Government
• Government Reports and Announcements
• Statistical Abstract of the United States
• Gray Literature
• Materials that are unpublished or not typically cataloged
• Obtained by contacting people who produce the literature
• Explore primary sources (inquiries, interviews, surveys)
• Unsolicited Inquires
• uncover basic, but necessary information
• can be intrusive- ask few questions that require little though
• Informational Interviews
• Experts can't publish every single thing they know. Ask for an interview-Ask important questions
• Opinions (even from experts) are always that- Opinions. Never take anything at face value and always do your own follow-up research
• Surveys
• provide multiple viewpoints on a topic
• inexpensive way to get the views of a large group
• can be anonymous and private- produces more candid responses
• use questionnaires
• Observations and Experiments
• Final step
• Offer proof to back up assumptions about a topic
• Observations require a plan- know how, where, and when to look
• Things are not always what they seem in an observation- not foolproof
• Understand copyright in relation to research practices
• Copyright protections are limited- Exact wording is protected but not the ideas or information conveyed
• They last a lifetime (protected during the author's life +70 years), but not forever
• Works are protected once they are created- without being officially registered
• There is no such thing as international copyright