CRITICAL RESEARCHING STRATEGIESTips and Tools for Avoiding the Pitfalls

Dr. Ryan AllenDirector, Writing CenterAssistant Professor of English & Writingryan.allen@briarcliff.edu712-279-5211

OVERVIEW• This resource is all about some strategies and

tools for effectively finding, reading, and then comprehending critical source material.

• It broadly covers some research strategies for finding credible academic sources in the BCU library, but it really targets what to do with the sources once you have them.

• Primarily, we’ll be zeroing-in on techniques for navigating complicated source material in order to effectively translate the research into meaningful content you can utilize in your essay.

Know What You’re Looking ForThesis-driven

* State methodology: "Research suggests..."* Make an assertion* Preview main points of support

* Avoids first person perspective or opinion* Speak through the research, and let it guide your work!

An Example• Topic: Environmental Impact of Oil Refinery

• Guided Research Question: What are the local environmental implications for a proposed new oil refinery being built near Sioux City, Iowa?

• Thesis derived from research: Although the oil refinery will bring a boon to the local economy in the short run, by providing jobs and infusing capital into the area, research shows how the long-term environmental impact of the refinery will be devastating because of the pollution to the air and groundwater, and its negative impact on local plant and animal species.

Knowing Where to Look•Determine scope of your issue (local, regional,

national, international)•Determine your purpose (analysis, information,

examination, evaluation, argumentation, etc.)•Determine who is impacted by your issue•Ask yourself who is interested in this issue, where

would they read, write, talk, or hear about it, and in what types of media?

•Determine what kinds of research you’ll need to do (primary/secondary)

• Try to do some journalistic questioning (who, what, when, where, why, how)

Resources Just a Click Away•Going to the library at BCU will be very helpful. You can

use great library databases like:▫Academic Search Complete▫LexisNexis▫ JSTOR

• Plus, you’ll have access to databases that target specific disciplines, like Psychology or Business, for example.

• You can also access materials through Interlibrary Loan•Also consider looking at Google Scholar (preliminary)•Avoid Wikipedia!!!

Hierarchy of Research Resources

Scholarly Article/BookPrimary Text

Sponsored WebsiteInterview/Survey

Experiment/Test/ObservationBiography/Autobiography

Trade BookEncyclopedia

Popular MagazineNewspaper

Depending on what type of research you’re doing, however, the ordering of this list may look a bit different

Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

•Examine author’s credibility▫Degrees held▫Professional affiliations▫Awards received▫Other publications▫Cited by others▫Worldview/Bias

•Examine publisher’s credibility▫Commercial/Academic▫General public/Specialized group

A few things to keep in mind…

•Online Credibility▫Look at:

.edu (college/univ.) .gov (government depts. & agencies) .org (professional/non-profits) .net (network site) .com (commercial/business)

•Relevance & Timeliness▫Check for:

Up-to-date info Focus (how will you use the source? Will you maintain

original intent or take words out of context?)

If at first you don't succeed...this is a good sign, not a bad one…so, we just have to try, try again.

• It’s important to remember that writing and researching is a process.

•Different strategies will work in different cases—there’s no silver bullet!

•Hitting a few snags or bumpsin the road is normal—think of any musician or writer or athlete for an example!

Some Searching Strategies• Start with an article search first. Articles will be shorter

than books and easier to skim for relevance to your project.• Use the “check box” system in databases to keep track of

articles you like while you are searching.• When you find an article you want to keep, save it to your

desktop. • Use the Boolean search terms AND, OR, NOT to help narrow

your search.• To search for a specific phrase, put it in “quotation marks”.• Remember the “Chat With a Librarian” feature on the home

page!  • Use the keywords from your thesis statement in the search

boxes.

Starting Your Search• Choose a Database to Search• Chose a database to search based on the descriptions

listed below them.A good place to start is Academic Search Complete.Click the title: Academic Search Complete.This is good general database to search for almost every topic.

Using EBSCO-HOST to Search Academic Search Complete

• Look closely at these search mode features: Boolean/Phrase, Find all my search terms, Find any of my search terms, and SmartText Searching. Select the one you want.

• Boolean/Phrase: Allows you to limit your search to keywords using the terms: and, or, not.

• Find all my search terms: Allows you to find exactly the search terms you type in, very specific.

• Find any of my search terms: Allows you to find any of your search terms, can be too general.

• SmartText Searching: Allows you to search for phrases or quotes in articles.

• Look closely at the limiting your results features: Full Text and Scholarly Journals. Select the ones you want.

• Full Text: Allows you to search for only full text articles in either PDF and/or HTML format.

• Scholarly Journals: Allows you to search only peer-reviewed journals, the most credible sources.

Here’s What It Will Look Like

Navigating the Results Page:Fishing in Muddy Waters

It’s All About Knowing How to Read the Tea Leaves

Look closely at these search results for: Sources, Subject Terms, Author Supplied Keywords, the Abstract, and Tools.

Sources: Allows you to cite the information as a periodical. Shows the journal name, year, volume, issue, and pages. You can click on the journal name as well to see the journal.

Subject Terms: Allows you to search for other related results by clicking on that word.

Author Supplied Keywords: Allows you to search for related results by clicking on that word.

Abstract: Allows you to preview the article.Tool: Allows you to save, print, cite, export, create a note,

permalink, and bookmark that source.

Look to Right Side of the Results Page for Your Tools Options

Tool Time!Look closely at these tools for: Add to folder, Print, E-mail, Save, Cite, Export,

Create note, Permalink, and Bookmark .Add to folder: Allows you to store the article in an Ebsco-Host folder – only for

that search session, not as long time storage .Print: Allows you to print your article off.E-mail: Allows you to email the article to your email account—recommended.Save: Allows you to save the article to your computer or other drive.Cite: Allows you to cite your source in multiple citation styles .Export: Allows you to export the article.Create note: Allows you to create a note about the article—only for that search

session.Permalink: Gives you the permanent web address for this article. Bookmark: Allows you to bookmark and share the source with Facebook, Twitter,

and other social networks.

 Just be mindful that there are errors in the generated citations, so you’ll need to double-check all of your citations before submitting.

Some Critical Reading Strategies

1. Read abstracts first. If material looks promising, then:

2. Open full-text and read introduction and conclusion: if relevant to your research, then:

3. Read the full article• Within the full article, remember each

paragraph should have a topic sentence and a conclusion

• Focus your attention to these places and if info pertains to your research keep on reading; if not, go to the next paragraph

The Key To It All• Just remember, the key to your whole

research project is the thesis statement. •Whenever you are in doubt about whether

something is relevant or useful to your essay, look at your thesis statement. ▫If material deals with some aspect of your

thesis, then you’re on the right track.▫If not, have the guts to cut or simply don’t

go down that road to begin with

GENERAL ESSAY FORMAT

TITLE PAGEINTRODUCTION (context + thesis)

POINT #1POINT #2 POINT #3

CONCLUSION (restate thesis & summary of 1-3)

REFERENCE LIST/WORKS CITED

QUESTIONS?COMMENTS?CONCERNS?

COMPLAINTS?CRITICISMS?

Now Get Into the Ring…Oh, Yeah!