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Beginning Research

Where do I even start?!

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Step 1: Pick a Topic

Your teacher should have given you some basic parameters for your assignment.

  • If you have NO IDEA what you want to research, you can do something I like to call “presearch” and begin looking for topics within the guidelines your teacher set until you find one that sparks your interest.
    • This is one of the few times that Wikipedia is acceptable because you will not be using the source in your paper.
  • If you already chose your topic, you can move on to the next step!

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Step 2: Create a Research Question

Based on you initial research, you can create a question that you’d like to be able to answer after you’ve conducted your research. Sometimes they’re very simple like, “What are the long-term effects of steroid use?” or “What is the process to become a cardiothoracic surgeon?”

  • Your question should have an answer that can be discovered through research.
  • There should be information available that answers the question.
  • Can be arguable… “who is to blame for the January 6 insurrection?”

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How to write a “Good” research question and avoid a “Bad” one.

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Let’s Practice Recognizing Good Research Questions!

Good Question

Bad Question

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Good Or Bad?

  • Does owning a pet improve quality of life for older people?
    • BAD! This is a yes/no question
    • Better: In what ways does owning a pet improve quality of life for older people?
      • This opens up to so much more research and evidence and makes a claim that owning a pet improves quality of life.

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Good Or Bad?

  • How does aspartame (artificial sweetener) affect women who suffer from migraines?
    • GOOD! Specific (aspartame, women, migraines)
    • Lots of scientific data to use, but might be difficult to weed through.

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Good Or Bad?

  • Is there a higher power in the universe?
    • BAD! There is no way to answer this question!
    • Better: What factors affect people's belief in a higher power?
    • This gives you a focus as a writer and can also be open to many different forms of research (memoirs, interviews with ministers/clergy, interviews with believers/non believers, etc.)

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Good Or Bad?

  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of cell phone use in schools?
    • Yawn. We know these. There’s tons of information out there. Plus, it’s not really picking a side.
    • Better: What are the positive social implications of prohibiting the use of cellphones in school?
    • Allows you to pick a side and focus on a specific area of research.

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Okay, I created my Research Question… Now what?

Yay! You have the focus for your paper, now it is time to start compiling your evidence.

Where to start?

  • MDHS Library Website
  • Google Scholar
  • Wikipedia (stay with me here, you cannot use ALL of wikipedia)
  • Your Teacher Librarian (Me. You’re looking at her).

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BUT HOW DO I KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THIS INFORMATION?!?!

Calm down. It will be okay.

  • Are you a paper person or a digital person?
  • This organizer can be used on paper or digitally
  • You absolutely should do this AS YOU GO, at the very least, copy and paste the link to the specific page you’re using.
  • Anything you access that is on paper or non-traditional (video, personal interview, social media, etc.) still must be cited!!

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I don’t want to use your silly organizer!

Ok, then don’t!

  • Let’s say you just want to create your reference page as you go to make it easier for you in the long run.
  • Open a new google doc, write References at the top, and begin citing your sources.
  • It will look like this.
  • Get ready for some magic… when you’re in the doc, click Tools, then click Citations and ba-da-bing, easy citations!

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Some Important things to remember

  • Any time you use a source that is not your own brain or common knowledge, you MUST cite it! (It’s plagiarism if you do not).
  • Not all sources are created equal. Discoverychannel.com is superior to Danny’s Sea Urchin Adventure Prezi. FILTER OUT NON-REPUTABLE SOURCES.
    • Think of the “rule of 3”: can you find this same information at three RELIABLE sources? You should be in the clear if you can!

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Types of Research

Quote Marks?

Citation after ( )

Length

Whose Words

When to Use

“Direct Quote”

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This is the most effective! “The truth is in the text!”

YES! Put all of what you take from the original in quote marks

“ “

YES!

This research, this idea, this knowledge, does not belong to you. It is the intellectual property of someone else, so you must provide the citation after it.

The same length as the original, since you are copying it exactly as is. If you are quoting 2 sentences, the length will be two sentences. Nothing will change.

The original author’s. These are not your words at all. This is why it is so important to remember to put quote marks around them, so that you don’t get busted for plagiarism.

When something is stated so perfectly, so beautifully, it would be very difficult to change it around in your own words and still have it make sense

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*1-2 sentences*

Summary

NO! These are now your words, so no need for quote marks.

YES!

This research, this idea, this knowledge, does not belong to you. It is the intellectual property of someone else, so you must provide the citation after it.

A summary takes a larger amount of original info from the source and makes it shorter. So maybe condensing a paragraph of info into one sentence. Of an entire website page into 2 sentences.

YOURS. So you MUST make sure to pretty much change every word in the original as you summarize it so that you don’t get busted for plagiarism. Names, key terms, will not be able to be changed though. You should also work on changing the structure/order of the info you are sharing.

When you have read through a large chunk of information and know that you certainly can’t use it all in your tiny 4 page research paper. So you shorten it to fit your need.

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*more than 3 sentences*

Paraphrase

NO! These are now your words, so no need for quote marks.

YES!

This research, this idea, this knowledge, does not belong to you. It is the intellectual property of someone else, so you must provide the citation after it.

A paraphrase will keep it in roughly the same length as the original. You are not shortening the original information, you’re just rephrasing it, so it should be in about the same length as the original source had it. If it is 2 sentences in the source it will be two sentences in the paraphrase. If it is a short little phrase in the original, it will be a short little phrase in a paraphrase.

YOURS. So you MUST make sure to pretty much change every word in the original as you paraphrase it so that you don’t get busted for plagiarism. Names, key terms, will not be able to be changed though. You should also work on changing the structure/order of the info you are sharing.

When you have a small-ish amount of info (no more than 2-3 sentences) that you can rewrite using your own words but still clearly hit on the idea that was being expressed in the original.

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*2 sentences*

Remember: ( ) = someone else’s ideas “ ” = someone else’s words