Technology and the Research Process

Introduction

The research process

Talk About It

Your Turn

Tech Tools in this presentation

• Google Reader

• Wikispaces

Introduction

Although plants in the wild grow without a plan or guidance, a gardener plans the placement of each plant in a garden and helps it grow to its potential.

Introduction

Like a gardener, you can plan your research project and get the best results by using the research process.

You also can use a variety of technology tools to help your research project reach its potential.

how stress affects teens’ health

teen emotional health issues

The research process

The first step in the research process is finding a topic. If you choose a broad topic, you will need to narrow it to a size appropriate for a research project.

teen health issues

Tech Tool: Google Reader

Google Reader collects information from Web pages that you choose and then displays that information all in one place. You can set Google Reader’s search function to search for a topic and then use the information to narrow that topic to a suitable focus.

The research process

When you begin a research project, think about your purpose and your audience.

The purpose of a research project is to inform an audience about a topic. You shouldn’t present just a collection of facts, though; you need to synthesize information drawn from sources with information from your own experiences and knowledge.

The audience for your research project will be any person or group to which you make your research available. If you can identify characteristics of your audience, you can tailor your approach successfully.

The research process

An appropriate tone is also important to a research project. Tone is the attitude that you convey to your audience through your writing.

Typically, academic reports are formal in tone.

• Use more formal language. (Avoid slang, colloquial expressions, and contractions.)

• Use a third-person point of view. (Avoid the pronoun I.)

The research process

An important initial step in a research project is formulating research questions. Quality research questions help you decide what kind of information you are seeking.

A good way to consider all the directions your research could take is to use the 5W-How? questions.

Who?What?

Where?

When? Why?

How?

The research process

Good research questions help you focus and clarify the goal of your research. Here are some questions on the topic of stress and teen health.

What are some sources of stress for teens?

How does stress affect a teen’s body?

How do poor coping skills aggravate stress in teens?

What dangerous behaviors can teen stress lead to?

How can parents help their children identify and deal with stress?

What strategies can teens use to deal with their own stress?

The research process

Once you’ve written your research questions, search for sources of information that can answer those questions. There are two main categories of sources.

A primary source is firsthand, original information such as a letter, journal, historical document, work of literature or art, autobiography, or an interview with someone who has personal experience with the research topic.

A secondary source is information based on or about primary sources or even other secondary sources. Examples include newspaper and magazine articles, encyclopedia entries, documentaries, and biographies.

The research process

Search a variety of sources for information, including print sources such as books, scholarly journals, and newspapers and digital sources such as online databases, online museums, and Web sites.

The research process

Keep track of your sources with a source list. Record the full bibliographic information for each source and assign the source a number. When you take notes from a source, include the source number.

3 Seaward, Brian, and Linda Bartlett. Hot Stones and Funny Bones: Teens Helping Teens Cope with Stress and Anger. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, 2002. Print.

3 One of the biggest causes of stress to teenagers is that they have many of the responsibilities of adults, but they don’t have many adult freedoms.

The research process

Taking notes from your sources is the most essential part of research. Read each source and find information that answers your research questions.

Summarize or paraphrase to put an author’s ideas and facts into your own words.

Use direct quotations when you need to keep the exact words used in a source.

The research process

Once you’ve completed your research, re-read your notes and think critically about the information they contain. Decide how your sources fit together and what larger point they all support.

Then write a working thesis statement to express both your topic and the conclusions you have drawn about it.

Stress can damage teens’ health in many ways, but teens can learn to manage their stress and decrease its effects on their health.

The research process

Next, create an organizational plan for your notes. You might create a mind map to show how the information and ideas relate to each other.

can weaken your immune

system

can leadto poor nutrition

can cause you to choose unhealthy behaviors

can make you more likely to have an eating

disorder How stress affects teens’health

The research process

Another way to organize the concepts you will write about is in an outline. You can start with a working outline and revise and refine it into a formal outline.

Thesis: Stress can damage teens’ health in many ways, but teens can learn to manage their stress and decrease its effect on their health.

I. The effects of stress on teen health

A. Eating disorders

B. Weakened immune system

C. Poor nutrition

D. Unhealthy behaviors

The research process

Now it is time to write a draft of your research project. You will use your mind map or outline to write the draft.

In the drafting stage, you will

• weave together the information from your formal outline

• create a coherent argument that supports the conclusion stated in your thesis statement

The research process

Drafts require revision and editing to make the work suitable for an audience. When you revise, you should:

• Read your draft twice. On the first read-through, focus on content and organization. On the second read-through, focus on style.

• Evaluate your draft and then revise it accordingly.

• Seek feedback from your teacher, classmates, or others.

The research process

Once you have written the final draft of your research project, publish your work in a format that fits your intended audience and purpose. Options include

• a traditional research paper

• a multimodal text

• a Web site

• a podcast

• a wiki

Tech Tool: Wikispaces

Wikispaces is a free wiki host. A wiki allows readers to collaborate by adding to and revising a text to improve the original publication. On Wikispaces, you can create a wiki to publish your research project.

Tech Tool: Wikispaces

You can choose who is allowed to view and edit your wiki. Monitoring the changes to your wiki will help you continue to learn about your chosen topic and will challenge you to think about your topic from different perspectives.

If unacceptable changes are made to your work, you can revert to previous versions of your wiki.

The research process

Once you have finished your research project and have published it, get feedback on it. Receiving feedback on your work is an important part of your development as a researcher and writer.

You can seek feedback in various ways. For instance, you can ask questions of those who have read your research project or who have heard your presentation of it.

The research process

Another way to get feedback on your research project is to read others’ responses to a project you have published on a wiki.

After you receive feedback, reflect on your project. Use the feedback and reflection to think about how to improve your research in the future.

Conclusion

Just as a gardener plans the placement of plants in a garden and helps them grow, you can plan a successful research project by following the steps of the research process.

Tech tools such as Google Reader and Wikispaces can help you throughout the research process.

Talk About It

Discuss these questions with your classmates.

1. What advantages do you see in following the steps of the research process?

2. Do you think Google Reader could help in narrowing a broad topic? Why or why not?

3. How is publishing a paper on a wiki different from simply having people read it and give feedback?

Your Turn

1. Work with a partner to brainstorm how technology can be incorporated into each step of the research process. Consider both technology introduced in this presentation (Google Reader and Wikispaces) and other technology about which you are knowledgeable.

2. Create a short presentation to share your ideas with your teacher and your classmates.

The End