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Once the topic has been identified, it is time to develop and implement a research strategy. This web site will emphasize library research and not research involving data collection and analysis. A simple, yet effective, plan for conducting library research on a topic is to
use on-line, computer-based, and bibliographic guides searching for references with the keywords identified in step one, prioritize the identified references as they pertain to your topic discarding those that do not apply, read the references starting with the most important taking notes, and organize the notes into meaningful groups for presentation in your paper. and redo the bibliographic search of step two. Keywords are selected to represent a topic. Identify broad-based terms first and add qualifiers to more accurately describe the exact topic. For instance, in a study of the adolescent changing voice, the keywords "adolescent" and "voice" would be extremely broad. The following table gives some ideas of appropriate keywords for particular topics.
The most efficient method for identifying references for your topic is to use the keywords with available on-line bibliographic databases. Quite a few of these exist. They all work in a similar manner: enter a keyword such as "changing voice" and the system will return references for the keyword if they exist. The references produced by the on-line database should be saved electronically. The procedure varies for this depending on the system, but for a web-based system it is usually easiest to simply highlight the references by dragging the mouse, copying the selected references, and pasting them into a word processor. Another simple method for a web-based system is to perform a "Save as..." from under the file menu. Save the page as text. Here are links to web-based bibliographic databases.
Recommended because it contains 13,000+ references of only journals published in the United States so they are usually more readily available.
Not all the references will be relevant to your needs. Use your word processors delete capabilities to remove any inappropriate references. Don't forget to save your modified reference file to a new file name so that you can always go back to your original list if you need to. Sort the relevant references in order from most important to least important. This can be done by most word processor's drag and drop feature where you highlight a reference and then drag it to its appropriate position in the list. You can also do this by using your word processor's cut and paste capabilities.
Take your prioritized reference list to the library. Identify all the references that the library has and make arrangements through inter library loan to obtain those references that the library does not have. You can check a libraries holdings before going to the library by searching the library's on-line card catalog. The following links provide access to on-line card catalogs. It is important to develop good note taking habits. You can take notes on either 5x7 note cards or with a computer. In either case, the first thing you should do is to enter the full reference citation for the particular reading using the format of the particular writing style required for the course. Examples for references in the American Psychological Style (APA Style) are located on this web site. Begin reading the material making appropriate thorough notes. Paraphrase the author. Try not to write down exactly what the author has said. This way you can directly write your paper from your notes. A paper that is nothing but author quotes is difficult to read and usually boring. When you do identify a quote that you want to include in your paper or use at some future time, make sure to copy it exactly and to include the page numbers where you obtained the quote. This is important for proper citation of the quotation in your paper.The previous paragraph contains very important note taking concepts. Failure to follow these concepts could result in having to reread the reference to obtain citation information or will slow the writing process down. Electronic Database. If you are using a computer for note taking, the development of a database for entry and manipulation of the notes is suggested. When creating such a database, create three text fields. The first text field is for the full bibliographic citation using the format of the writing style required for the course. The second text field is for the actual notes. The third field is for the entry of keywords that you can use to later extract and organize the notes in your database.
When you have completed your reading and note taking, it is time to organize your notes into meaningful groupings for the actual writing of the paper. This step will make it very easy to develop an outline and to write the paper. Usually you will find that all your notes can be grouped into two or three major concepts. Organize your notes into these conceptual groups. Then, organize your notes within each group so you can present the concept in the most logical and insightful manner possible. As you progress in the ordering process within a conceptual group, you may find that the material within the group can itself be organized into two or three subgroups. If this is the case, organize your notes using the subgroups. You might find it necessary to insert "place holders" for your notes in some of the groups or subgroups. Because many of your references may contain information that applies in a number of your groups or subgroups, a place holder provides a notation to yourself of where more reference information is located.
Copyright © 1999 by Edward
P. Asmus, Ph.D.
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