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HELP! How do I start a research project? The BIG6 steps will help you stay organized during the researching process.
The first step is to indentify the task definition. What is it that you want to research? You will have several task definitions during your research process. The BIG task is the overall subject of your research; the smaller tasks are the questions that you will answer that will help answer the BIG question. For example, if your assignment is to research an author, your task definition would not just be the author's name; it would be the information about the author that you need to find to write your paper. Hint: Writing down questions is a good way to identify the information that you need to find. Your teacher may give you specific things to include in your research paper. Your teacher may require information about an author's life, writings, impact on literary world and reviews. Below is an example on how you could break each part of the requirements into manageable smaller sections...small task definitions. Example Big Task: research an author: Mark Twain Small Tasks: Biography: birthplace & early childhood; teenage years; schooling; young adult; major influence in life; career highlights; personal life; etc. Synopsis of famous writings: titles of most notable books/poems; information about the book; brief description Impact on literary world: influence on other writers; awards won; peer recognition; Reviews: what do the critics say about the author 2. Information Seeking Strategies Now that you know what information you need to find, how are you going to find it? Organizing your information seeking strategies will help you identify possible resources to use. Resources include: web sites, magazines and journals, books, encyclopedias, and online databases. Simply saying that you are going to Google Mark Twain is not an effective information seeking strategy. If you were to Google Mr. Twain, you would retrieve almost 11 million web sites! There is not enough time to search through 11 million web sites to find the best ones to use. Also, you must remember that some web sites pay a fee to have their web site pop up at the top or near the top. This does NOT mean that their web site is the most accurate. Identify information seeking strategies to use will help narrow down your searches and will ultimately help you find the best resources. Example Identify resources to use: Mark Twain biographies, online databases available to me (Encyclopedia Britannica), literary critic books Who can I ask for help: my teacher, school librarian, public librarian The next step is locating your sources. In the previous step, you brainstormed to identify possible sources of information. Now you need to find them. Your school library is a great place to start, but keep in mind that it is a small library, and you may have to go to the public library also. If you have a public library card, you can search their databases for books and information from the school's library. You need your library card and your PIN number to access their databases. (Please see your school librarian for help with this.) In this step, also identify people who might be able to help you gather information. This step is about finding the resources you came up with in step 2. Example school library, public library, online databases (with my public library card and PIN), my teacher, school librarian, public librarian Let's recap what you have already accomplished: you have identified the tasks that you need to complete; you have brainstormed sources of information, and you have identified where to locate those resources. The next step is using the sources of information to complete your tasks...to answer your questions. It is important to remember that sometimes sources of information that you previously identified may not answer your questions and/or complete your tasks. For example, let's say you want to make a vegetarian lasagna for dinner. Your task is finding a recipe for vegetarian lasagna. You brainstormed possible sources of information and have identified that Italian cookbooks would be great to use. You have located an Italian cookbook at your local library and you are about to find your recipe. However, when you look at the index (the alphabetical listing of all of the recipes located at the back of the cookbook), you do NOT see vegetarian lasagna. This particular cookbook does NOT help you complete your task. You would need to try another cookbook. Hopefully the sources of information that you have selected will all be helpful, but it is important to understand that some may not. Be sure to have your list of questions and small tasks with you when you are using your sources of information. It will help you stay focused on your task. You could also take small notes on your task sheet. Please remember to write down the citation information for each source you are using. It is your responsibility to properly cite all of your information. (For information on MLA citation click here.) Remember to use the parts of the book/web site to help you locate the information you need. Use the table of contents, the index, appendixes, and glossaries to help locate information in books. Use the table of contents, menu bars and searchable boxes when using web sites. You will have to read information during this step. The information that you are seeking will not miraculously jump out at you and onto your paper. You will need to read to locate the information. Using the parts of a book and/or web site will help reduce the time spent searching for the information. Work smarter, not harder!!! If you do not find the information you are seeking, move onto the next source of information. What does "synthesis" mean? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines synthesis as deductive reasoning. This is the part of the research process where you use all of the information you have gathered and create your paper. Create a paper, power point, or speech based on the information you have collected. Synthesizing is a higher level of thinking. It is not restating the information you have. Questions that can be answered are: What would you predict from...; What ideas can you add to...; How would you create a new...; what might happen if you combined...? Some verbs that are associated with synthesizing are: adapt, collaborate, invent, compare, compile, produce, design, create and incorporate. As you progress through your academic career, your level of synthesizing should also progress. Be sure to verify with your teacher what level of knowledge they are seeking. Example typed rough/final draft of research paper; power point presentation; oral speech; poster board display You are almost there! The final step is about reflecting on the research process. Are you happy with your final product? Do you need to revise any part of it? Did you discover a research method or source that you found especially helpful? Did you successfully complete the assignment? What could I improve? If you have yet to hand in your final product, this is the time proofread your project. Be sure to check your citations, spelling/grammar, and MLA formatting.
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Task Definition
Information Seeking Strategies
Location and Access
Use of Information
Synthesis
Evaluation