AnIntroductiontoResearchTechniques

AnIntroductiontoResearchTechniquesAresearchpaperpresentstheresultsofyourinvestigationsonaselectedtopic.Basedonyourownthoughtsandthefactsandideasyouhavegatheredfromavarietyofsources,aresearchpaperisacreationthatisuniquelyyours.Theexperienceofgathering,interpreting,anddocumentinginformation,developingandorganizingideasandconclusions,andcommunicatingthemclearlywillprovetobeanimportantandsatisfyingpartofyoureducation.Therearemanyapproachestoresearch—anessentialpartofeverybusinessandprofession—andmanywaystodocumentfindings.Thelibraryhasbookswhichwillhelpyou,andmostEnglishcompositiontextbookscontainchaptersonresearchtechniquesandstyle.Itisimportanttofollowconsistentlyandaccuratelyarecommendedformatthatisclearandconciseandthathasbeenapprovedbyyourteacher.GATHERINGMATERIALSOnceyourtopichasbeenapproved,begintogatherinformationfromauthoritativereferencesources:pertinentbooks,encyclopedias,andarticlesinmagazines,journals,andmagazines.Librarianswillbehappytoshowyouhowtousethevariousresearchtoolswithinthelibraryandmaysuggestothersourcesofinformation.ImportantnewresourcesarenowavailabletoyouthroughelectronicserviceswhichprovidemanylearningandreferencetoolsaswellasaccesstotheInternet,whereyoucanoftendiscoveranabundanceofinformationTAKINGNOTESAsyouexamineeachsource,makeaseparatenoteofeachfactorquotationyoumightwanttouseinyourpaper.Unlessyouarereallygoodatmanipulatingtextwithyourcomputerorlaptop,itmightbewisetouseindexcardswhenpreparingnotes.Besuretoidentifythesourceoftheinformationonthelisting(includetheauthor'snameandpagenumberonwhichtheinformationappears).Trytosummarizetheinformationinyourownwords(paraphrasing);usequotationmarksifyoucopytheinformationexactly.(Thisruleshouldapplywhetheryouarecopyingagreatdealofmaterialoronlyaphrase.)Giveeachlistingasimpledescriptiveheading.PREPARINGANDUSINGOUTLINESUsinganoutlinecanhelpyouorganizeyourmaterialandcanalsohelpyoudiscoverconnectionsbetweenpiecesofinformationthatyouweren'tawareofwhenyoufirstconceivedtheplanofyourpaper.Itcanalsomakeyouawareofmaterialthatisnotreallyrelevanttothepurposesofyourpaperormaterialthatyouhavecoveredbeforeandshouldthereforeberemoved.AWorkingOutlinemightbeonlyaninformallistoftopicsandsubtopicswhichyouarethinkingofcoveringinyourpaper.Sometimes,however,aninstructormightrequirethataworkingoutlinebesubmittedatthebeginningofyourwork;thenyourinstructormightsuggestwaysinwhichtheworkneedstobefurtherdevelopedorcutback.Yourinstructormightalsoseethatyou'retryingtoaccomplishtoomuchortoolittleforthescopeoftheassignmentheorshehasinmind.Theworkingoutlinecanberevisedasyoudiscovernewmaterialandgetnewideasthatoughttogointoyourpaper.Mostwordprocessingprogramshaveoutliningfeatureswithautomaticformattingthatmakeiteasytocreateandreviseoutlines.Itisagoodideatokeepcopiesofoldoutlinesinacomputerfolderincasenewversionsoftheoutlineleadyouinfalsedirectionsthatyouwilllaterhavetoabandon.AFinalOutlineshouldenhancetheorganizationandcoherenceofyourresearchpaper.Instructorssometimesrequirethatafinaloutlinebesubmittedalongwiththefinalversionofyourpaper.Materialthatisnotrelevanttothepurposeofyourpaperasrevealedinyouroutlineshouldbeexcisedfromthepaper;ifportionsofyouroutlineseemweakincomparisontoothers,moreresearchmayberequiredtocreateasenseofbalanceinyourargumentandpresentation.Outlinescanbeorganizedaccordingtoyourpurposes.Areyouattemptingtoshowthechronologyofsomehistoricaldevelopment,thecause-and-effectrelationshipbetweenonephenomenonandanother,theprocessbywhichsomethingisaccomplished,orthelogicofsomeposition?Areyoudefiningoranalyzingsomething?Comparingorcontrastingonethingtoanother?Presentinganargument(onesideorboth)?Inanycase,trytobringrelatedmaterialtogetherundergeneralheadingsandarrangesectionssotheyrelatelogicallytoeachother.Aneffectiveintroductionwillmapoutthejourneyyourreaderisabouttotake,andasatisfactoryconclusionwillwrapupthesequenceofideasinanicepackage.Afinaloutlinecanbewrittenasatopicoutline,inwhichyouuseonlyshortphrasestosuggestideas,orasasentenceoutline,inwhichyouusefullsentences(evenverybriefparagraphs)toshowthedevelopmentofideasmorefully.Ifyourinstructorrequiresanoutline,followconsistentlywhicheverplanheorsheprefers.TheMLAHandbooksuggeststhefollowingdescendingpartsofanoutline:LogicrequiresthatifyouhaveanAinyourpaper,youneedtohaveaB;a1requiresa2,andsoforthWORKINGWITHQUOTATIONSQuotationsthatconstitutefewerthanfivelinesinyourpapershouldbesetoffwithquotationmarks[“”]andbeincorporatedwithinthenormalflowofyourtext.Formaterialexceedingthatlength,omitthequotationmarksandindentthequotedlanguageoneinchfromyourleft-handmargin.Ifanindentedquotationistakenentirelyfromoneparagraph,thefirstlineshouldbeevenwithalltheotherlinesinthatquotation;however,ifanindentedquotationcomesfromtwoormoreparagraphs,indentthefirstlineofeachparagraphanadditionalone-quarterinch.Ifquotationmarksappearwithinthetextofaquotationthatalreadyhastheusualdouble-quotemarks[“”]aroundit(aquote-within-a-quote),setoffthatinnerquotationwithsingle-quotemarks[‘’].Suchaquote-within-a-quotewithinanindentedquotationismarkedwithdou