Research Process
There are six steps to research:
1. Questioning
2. Planning
3. Gathering
4. Sorting/sifting
5. Synthesizing
6. Evaluating
There are six steps to research:
1. Questioning
2. Planning
3. Gathering
4. Sorting/sifting
5. Synthesizing
6. Evaluating
Questioning
Have a clear understanding of what you are supposed to research. You should ask one or more specific question to try and find answers for. List the inquiries that you have then search using keywords from those questions in a search engines.
Planning
Once you have the questions you need to answer, decide where/how you are going to acquire these answers. How many sources do you need? Where will you look for information? How long will the process take to gather all the important details?
Gathering
While it appear to be the easiest step of research, the specific task of using the Internet to find information, this is not always the best course of action. There are a great deal of misleading/erroneous websites on the internet. You must work to locate sources that are dependable and credible sources. Look for .gov, .net, .org, and .edu at the end of a web address before embarking on .com territory.
Primary sources are an important tool when doing research. These include diaries, journals, interviews, letters, autobiographies, etc… Some of these can even be found on the internet.
Sorting and Sifting
Once you have information from a variety of sources, you must begin arranging that information (Sound familiar? It’s the brainstorming/planning portion of the writing process). In this stage, get rid of information that is unnecessary, especially if it causes gaps in your research. Otherwise, go back and research more.
Synthesizing
Now that you have completed your research, it is time to start putting the information into sentence and paragraph format.
Evaluating
Once you have completed your first draft, make sure your essay satisfies the requirements of the assignment. If it does not, fix it; but be prepared to start all over again if you are too far off track.
Have a clear understanding of what you are supposed to research. You should ask one or more specific question to try and find answers for. List the inquiries that you have then search using keywords from those questions in a search engines.
Planning
Once you have the questions you need to answer, decide where/how you are going to acquire these answers. How many sources do you need? Where will you look for information? How long will the process take to gather all the important details?
Gathering
While it appear to be the easiest step of research, the specific task of using the Internet to find information, this is not always the best course of action. There are a great deal of misleading/erroneous websites on the internet. You must work to locate sources that are dependable and credible sources. Look for .gov, .net, .org, and .edu at the end of a web address before embarking on .com territory.
Primary sources are an important tool when doing research. These include diaries, journals, interviews, letters, autobiographies, etc… Some of these can even be found on the internet.
Sorting and Sifting
Once you have information from a variety of sources, you must begin arranging that information (Sound familiar? It’s the brainstorming/planning portion of the writing process). In this stage, get rid of information that is unnecessary, especially if it causes gaps in your research. Otherwise, go back and research more.
Synthesizing
Now that you have completed your research, it is time to start putting the information into sentence and paragraph format.
Evaluating
Once you have completed your first draft, make sure your essay satisfies the requirements of the assignment. If it does not, fix it; but be prepared to start all over again if you are too far off track.
How to Evaluate Websites
1. Accuracy
-Is the site well-written?
-Is the site free from spelling/grammatical errors?
-Is the information correct when compared with similar information in another source?
-Is the information clear and easy to understand?
2. Authority
-Is the publisher of the website listed?
-Is an author credited with writing the passage/article?
- What credentials are listed for the author and is he/she qualified to write this article?
3. Objectivity
-What goals/objectives does the site meet?
-How detailed is the information?
-Is there advertising?
-If there is a sponsor, is there any particular bias?
-What is the domain?
.gov…..stands for a government site
.edu…..stands for a educational site
.org…..stands for a non-profit organization
.net…..stands for a network
.com…..stands for a commercial site
4. Currency
-When was the site created?
-How often is the site updated?
-Is the information on the page outdated?
-Are there any dead links?
5. Coverage
-Is the information complete and comprehensive?
-Is the information factual or opinion?
-Is the information cited?
How to Avoid Plagiarism
1. Paraphrase- rewrite an idea found from a source in your own words
* Written in your words using your voice and writing style
* Translate the author’s words into your own
* Avoid plagiarism by citing the author/source of the material
2. Summarize- retell the main idea of a source in your own words
* Provides a brief, more condensed version of the source
* Includes key academic words but does NOT copy the author’s sentences
* Does not include your opinion
* Includes the main idea and key details featured in the source
* Avoid plagiarism by citing the author/source of the material
3. Quote- rewrite an idea exactly how it appears
* Copied directly from text, using an introductory tag then quotation marks to distinguish the source
* Avoid plagiarism by citing the author/source of the material
Examples Using Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Quoting
Original Excerpt (located from Prisms)-
In the Southwest during the early half of the 1800’s, cows were only worth two or three dollars each. They roamed wild, grazed off of the open range, and were abundant. Midway through the century though, railroads were built and the nation was connected. People could suddenly ship cows in freight trains to the Northeast, where the Yankees had a growing taste for beef. Out of the blue, the same cows that were once worth a couple of bucks were now worth between twenty and forty dollars each if you could get them to the train station. It became pretty lucrative to wrangle up a drove of cattle and herd them to the nearest train town, but it was at least as dangerous as it was profitable. Cowboys were threatened at every turn. They faced cattle rustlers, stampedes and extreme weather, but kept pushing those steers to the train station. By the turn of the century, barbed wire killed the open range and some may say the cowboy too, but it was the train that birthed him.
Paraphrase:
At the beginning of nineteenth century in the Southwest, cows roamed freely throughout the countryside. Also, because there were so many of them, it was relatively inexpensive to purchase a cow. They cost less than $5. This changed in the mid-1800’s because of the expansion of railroads. Now, cows could be shipped via trains to the northern part of the country where their meat was becoming more popular. A new job grew out of the necessity to detain cows. This new profession was called the cowboy. Now that the cost of a cow had risen almost 100%, cowboys could make a lot of money herding cows and shipping them to the Northeast. However, the job was not without drawbacks. It was a dangerous profession because of the harsh weather, bandits, and stampedes. The use of barbed wire all but eliminated free ranging animals, and it made the cowboy all but obsolete.
Summary:
Cows were not worth a lot of money until they could be easily transported to the East after the invention of the train. Many people then became cowboys despite the dangers they faced.
Quote:
According to the article, “In the Southwest during the early half of the 1800’s, cows were only worth two or three dollars each.”
In the Southwest during the early half of the 1800’s, cows were only worth two or three dollars each. They roamed wild, grazed off of the open range, and were abundant. Midway through the century though, railroads were built and the nation was connected. People could suddenly ship cows in freight trains to the Northeast, where the Yankees had a growing taste for beef. Out of the blue, the same cows that were once worth a couple of bucks were now worth between twenty and forty dollars each if you could get them to the train station. It became pretty lucrative to wrangle up a drove of cattle and herd them to the nearest train town, but it was at least as dangerous as it was profitable. Cowboys were threatened at every turn. They faced cattle rustlers, stampedes and extreme weather, but kept pushing those steers to the train station. By the turn of the century, barbed wire killed the open range and some may say the cowboy too, but it was the train that birthed him.
Paraphrase:
At the beginning of nineteenth century in the Southwest, cows roamed freely throughout the countryside. Also, because there were so many of them, it was relatively inexpensive to purchase a cow. They cost less than $5. This changed in the mid-1800’s because of the expansion of railroads. Now, cows could be shipped via trains to the northern part of the country where their meat was becoming more popular. A new job grew out of the necessity to detain cows. This new profession was called the cowboy. Now that the cost of a cow had risen almost 100%, cowboys could make a lot of money herding cows and shipping them to the Northeast. However, the job was not without drawbacks. It was a dangerous profession because of the harsh weather, bandits, and stampedes. The use of barbed wire all but eliminated free ranging animals, and it made the cowboy all but obsolete.
Summary:
Cows were not worth a lot of money until they could be easily transported to the East after the invention of the train. Many people then became cowboys despite the dangers they faced.
Quote:
According to the article, “In the Southwest during the early half of the 1800’s, cows were only worth two or three dollars each.”