Research

DDIx 2015 MTJ Lab

Why Research?

• Good evidence wins debates• Topic knowledge• Short speech times in PF: evidence allows for

efficiency and specificity• Improves speaking and argumentation• It’s not just cutting cards: scouting, finding out

what arguments people read against your aff, what a team reads as common neg positions, being up to date with current arguments

Introduction to Research

Good Researchers:• Work ethically a. appropriate citations b. fairly and accurately representing an author’s

argument c. responsibly producing evidenced. ask for cites!• Work efficientlya. know what you’re looking forb. develop arguments/potential arguments as you

research

Introduction to Evidence

• Evidence should always be the foundation of your argument (claim, data, warrant)

• All arguments should be supported by evidence

Qualities of Good Evidence

• Lots of warrants• Comparative claims• Conclusive• Assumes the other team’s evidence• Scholarly • Predictive • Recency (this matters to the point where you can explain

why)• Examples, studies, statistics are good• Explains something complicated (a K or a nuanced

argument)

How to Successfully Research/Produce Evidence

Research Practices

• Broad investigatory work – assessing the literature• Figure out scope of the topic (aff/neg ground)• Figure out the “think tanks” of the topic

– Who the best authors are – What the best websites are – Civil unrest in the media

• Targeted and self-contained Research • Evidence against to specific affirmative cases, blocks

to typical neg arguments• Update files often• Being a research generalist vs. specialist

The Hierarchy

BooksScholarly Journals

Online JournalsGovernment Documents

Major PapersBlogs

News Aggregates

*Peer-reviewed sources make everything better*

7 Keys

1. Skim articles quickly2. Keep your ideas in one place3. Follow up on sources they cite 4. Read specific authors5. Find qualifications 6. Cite stuff as you go7. Know preferred search engine

Search Terms

• No key: start broad and narrow down• Change them• Develop list of search terms • Find those used by experts in the lit i.e. “terms of art” in

the relevant lit base – Find out who’s talking about your topic

• The Public Sector• Private Sector Databases • Non-profit sector/”think tanks”

– “.org” – Ex – pew research

• Universities and academia**• Blogs/Rest of Internet

-very questionable and depends on the qualifications of the author

Google Search Terms

Use Boolean search terms1.AND, OR, W/, NOT2.“quotations”3. filetype:pdf

Resources

• Ebsco• Galileo• LexisNexis• Google/Google Scholars/Google News• Project Muse• Jstor• Pen Scanner-Scan books and journals from paper in

the Dartmouth library• ABBYY Screenshot Reader – OCR • One Tab

To Keep Up-to-Date

• Google Alerts• Follow social media (twitter)• Huffpost• CNN• Yahoo News Digest

How to Cut a Card

Citations

• Full author names • Qualifications

– Most of the time if you just google the name, their qualifications should come up

– Can find faculty pages of what the author teachers if he/she is a professor

– Bloggers can be qualified • Date of publication• Name of article/source• Name of journal or periodical • Full URL or name of database • Date accessed

Writing Good Tags• Content – Briefly summarize the arg

• If it makes multiple args then you should split it up or maybe it’s not just a good card

– Must contain a warrant • Keep the warrants in your tags

• Length – Don’t want too long or too short – Label upfront can help you

• You should tag your cards as you work • Never tag a card – “more ev” – Cards should be distinguished – multiple different

warrants, sources

Underlining/Highlighting

• Underline complete paragraphs relevant to your argument

• Highlight warrants • Highlight in complete thoughts but efficiently• Time yourself, rehighlight as needed

How to Successfully Put Together a File/Complete an Assignment

• Follow up on cited sources• Cut different cards for the same argument:

multiple different warrants, sources • Think about the final product and the

components necessary• Don’t be afraid to research tangentially if you

see potential

Wikirace!

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page