Recommended Research Resources
Your thesis isn't set in stone (yet)
During the course of your research, you may find information that contradicts your research statement. When this happens, you will want to try to find more information that confirms or denies the contradictory information.
You may also determine that your original research question needs to be revised. That is ok! Finding new information can always reshape your opinion on a topic. If this happens, it can be worthwhile to examine the relationship between the concepts, and revise your outline to incorporate these new concepts.
Once you have answered your initial research question, you should not stop your research before determining if the original information need has been satisfied or if additional information is needed.
Research Tips
Preview the Text
- Read subject headings, the first and last paragraph. Get an idea on what the paper is about.
- Look at illustrations or graphs. What are they trying to tell you?
- Make notes of unfamiliar words but don’t look them up just yet.
- Thesis – What is the paper going to tell you?
Active Reading
- Active reading – Helps you understand and remember the content you are reading. As you read the text make notes around sections that you will want to include in your paper.
- Use any method to take notes: highlight, underline, color coordinate, etc.
- Use your own language. This includes checkmarks, arrows, brackets, emoticons, i.e. your own shorthand. No one else will see these but you and so long as it makes sense to you, you will be able to read the work faster and reference it easier later on.
Summarizing
- Summarizing the text can help your comprehension. Summarize the entire text or by section for longer works.
- Keep your summaries short and to the point. Focus on main points and ideas. Use quotes sparingly. You are trying to work the ideas down to the most basic points of the text.
- Remember to consider:
- Purpose—What is the author’s intent? Entertain? Persuade?
- Audience—Who is the intended audience? Colleagues? Experts? Casual readers?
- Genre—What is its genre? Argument? Analysis?
- Stance—What is the author’s stance? Knowing stance can help you detect biases, if it should be taken seriously, and how you understand the text in general.
- Design—What format is the work in? Is it a trustworthy source of information? Who published the information?
Below is a Rhetorical Analysis Worksheet that can be used to help you take notes or evaluate difficult to understand sources. This worksheet was created by Susan Cowart for her ENGL 1301 class.