What is research?
Its about collecting information
It tells us about something and it helps us make informed decisions
Most of our everyday life processes involve “subconscious” research
Methodology
Specific subjects
Set of questions or ideas in a structured way
Informed conclusions
Methodologies differ depending on the type of research
Examples
– Market research
– Economic research
– Scientific Research
– Media Research
– Social Research
Basic Research Methods
Quantitative
It involves information or data in the form of numbers, this allows us to measure or to quantify a whole range of things. For example: the number of people that live below the poverty line. The most common way of conducting quantitative research is through surveys (questionnaires).
Qualitative research
The aim of it is to deepen our understanding about something, and usually this means going beyond the statistics. It is often contrasted to quantitative research and they are very often used together to get the “bigger picture” of what we are trying to find out. Some ways of conducting this type of research include: case studies, observations, interviews, literature search etc
Planning your research
Narrow down your subject Theoretical or Practical?
Theory oriented
– Theory development
– Theory Testing
Practice oriented
– Problem finding
– Diagnosis
– Design
– Implementation
– Evaluation
Planning your research
Decide on your methodology
Plan your research materials, e.g.: documents, articles, observations, media and visual content
Research strategy, e.g.: case study, survey etc
Time planning: prioritise your tasks and try to estimate the time needed in order to complete them.
Where to find resources
– Internet (general searching/specific websites)
– Pamphlets/promotional material
– Conferences
– Library
– Magazines
– E-newsletters
How to justify your claims?
Careful reasoning
Examples
Delimitation
Be clear about the status of your claim
Practical Criticism
What is practical Criticism?
The exercise in which you are given a subject that you have not seen before and are asked to write a critical analysis of it.
Mainly used in literature studies but can be applied on to many different disciplines.
It helps to create an objective and detached opinion/analysis.
How to be critical
Investigate your subject without prejudice
Don’t make assumptions
Be objective and consider the nature of your subject
Compare and Contrast
The Internet and Research
How to use the internet effectively
Web sites can be:
– Unstable
– Unreliable
– Unscholarly
Defining Scholarly
– Showing much knowledge
– Accurate
– Showing critical ability
– Devoted to learning
Should Scholars Use The Internet?
Yes (of course)
With care
Caution
Awareness
With a critical eye
How Does Google Work?
Google ranks pages
Google displays the results in order of relevance to your search query
Google ranks pages according to their content and the content of pages that link to it
Google ranks according to the number of links to a page
Google ranks according to the ‘importance’ of those links
Are The ‘Best’ Sites Always Linked First?
Not necessarily
Scholarly sites are not always the most popular
There may be relatively few links to scholarly sites
Top Google Search Tips
– Avoid adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions
– When did Todd Rundgren play in London
– Todd Rundgren London
– Know your Boolean basics
– AND, OR, NOT
– Google automatically assumes AND
– OR must be uppercase
– NOT does not work – use a minus sign “-” in front of each word you want to exclude
– Google is not case sensitive
CRAZY CLOWN TOWN – Crazy Clown Town – Crazy clown town = All produce the same results
– Use quotes
Using quotes forces Google to search for an exact match of words in an exact order – “Climate change over the years”
– Restrict the domain – You can search only on one website:
Buzz Aldrin site:www.nasa.gov/ – You can restrict your research to domain types: – Buzz Aldrin site: edu
– Don’t assume that singular and plurals will be included:
Telescope – Telescopes – Telescope OR Telescopes
– Use Google advanced search
Use Google Scholar
Designed for searching scholarly literature
Covers:
– Books
– Theses
– Technical reports
– Papers
– Abstracts
Use Google Books
Searches the full text of books
Allows us to read selections from the text
Allows us to read the full text
Links to where the book can be bought
If you have a Google account you can build a virtual library of books
The Harvard system of referencing – An Overview
Introduction
When writing a piece of work you should provide references to the sources used.
A reference is the detailed bibliographic description of the item from which you gained your information.
References are briefly cited within the text, and then given in full at the end of your work in a reference list.
Any other items read for background information but not referred to in the text should be given in full at the end of your work in a bibliography.
References are used to:
– Enable the reader to locate the sources you have used;
– Help support your arguments and provide your work with credibility;
– Show the scope and breadth of your research;
– Acknowledge the source of an argument or idea.
Failure to do so could result in a charge of plagiarism.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined as The significant use by a student of other peoples work and the submission of it as though it were his or her own.
You need to keep track of your sources and references in order to avoid commiting plagiarism.
Citation styles
Various citation styles exist.
They convey the same information, only the presentation of that information differs.
Two commonly used systems:
– Author-date system (e.g. Harvard);
– onumeric system (e.g. Vancouver, MLA).
Collecting and organising references
It is often not easy (or possible) to retrieve sources after you have written your text.
Keep a good record of everything that you use.
Have a word file in which you copy and paste you references
If no date can be established you can use n.d. e.g. Webb (n.d.)
If the date can be established but only approximately you should use Webb (c.2001)
Citations in the text
All ideas taken from another source need to be referenced in the text of your assignment.
To link the information you use to its source put the: authors name and year of publication at appropriate points.
If the authors name does not naturally occur in your writing, put the authors surname and date in brackets.
e.g. There is some evidence (Jones, 1992) that these figures are incorrect.
e.g. Jones (1992) has provided evidence that these figures are incorrect.
If there are two authors, give both
If there are more than two, cite only the first followed by et al.
If you wish to cite a work described in another work, you must acknowledge both sources in the text, but only include the item you actually read in your reference list.
e.g. If Jones discusses the work of Smith you could use: Smith (2005) as cited by Jones (2008) Or Smiths 2005 study (cited in Jones 2008, p.156) shows that..
Citing web resources
Author, but if not available then organisation as the author.
Title of site, only use if there is no author or organisation.
If there is no author, organisation or title, use truncated web address
Information found in more than one source
If you find information in more than one source, you may want to include all the references to strengthen your argument. Cite all sources in the same brackets, placing them in order of publication date (earliest first).
Separate the references using a semicolon (;).
Reference List/Bibliography
Full references of sources used should be listed at the end of your work as a reference list.
Arrange it in alphabetical order.
Elements of a bibliographical reference should be taken from the title page of the publication.
Authors should always be in capitals.
The date in brackets after the author.
The source (e.g. title) should be italicised; you can also emphasise the source by underlining or typing in bold.
References
– Books
AUTHOR(S) (Year) Title. Edition – if not the 1st. Place of publication: Publisher.
e.g. KADOLPH, S.J. (2007) Textiles. 10th ed. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
– Journal articles
AUTHOR(S) (Year) Title of article. Title of journal, Vol. no. (Part no./Issue/Month), Pages, use p. or pp.
e.g. LU, H. and MIETHE, T.D. (2002) Legal representation and criminal processing in China. British Journal of Criminology, 42 (2), pp. 267-280.
If you are referencing an electronic journal article, use the standard referencing format.
– Newspaper articles
AUTHOR(S) (Year) Article title. Newspaper title, Day and Month (abbreviated), Pages, use p. or pp.
e.g. BROWN, P. (2002) New foot and mouth outbreak suspected. Guardian, 27th Feb, p. 1.
If you are referencing an electronic Newspaper article, use the standard referencing format.
– Papers in conference proceedings
AUTHOR(S) (Year) Title. In: EDITOR(S) Title of conference proceedings. Place and date of conference (unless included in title). Place of publication: Publisher, Pages, use p. or pp.
e.g. GIBSON, E.J. (1977) The performance concept in building. In: Proceedings of the7th CIB Triennial Congress, Edinburgh, September 1977. London: Construction Research International, pp. 129-136.
– Publications from a corporate body
NAME OF ISSUING BODY (Year) Title. Place of publication: Publisher, Report no. (where relevant), Pages, use p. or pp.
e.g. GREAT BRITAIN. DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT, DEVELOPMENTCOMMISSION (1980) 38th Report, 1st April 1979 to 31st March 1980. London: HMSO, 197980 HC. 798, pp. 70-81.
Note that where the author is a government body, the country becomes the author.
– Theses and dissertations
AUTHOR (Year) Title. Designation (Level, e.g. MSc, PhD.), Institution.
e.g. MARSHALL, J. (2002) The Manuscript tradition of Brunetto Latini’s Tresor. Unpublished thesis (PhD), University of London.
– Web Pages, emails and CD-Roms
AUTHOR(S) (Year) Title of document [Type of resource, e.g. CDROM, email, WWW] Organisation responsible (optional). Available from: web address [Date accessed].
e.g. UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD LIBRARY (2001) Citing electronic sources of information [WWW] University of Sheffield. Available from: http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/libdocs/hsldvc1.pdf [Accessed 23/02/07].
Essay Writing at BA Level
Why essays?
Provides an opportunity to think about different viewpoints or perspectives;
helps you come to a better, personal understanding of important theories and concepts; to internalise knowledge and ideas, making them your own;
builds on your ability to analyse and apply new ideas;
allows you to obtain feedback from my tutor and advice on how to improve;
helps pull the course together and enables you to check your progress.
Before you begin
Make sure that you understand the task before you start! To try out or test a proposition or ideas in the context of other thinkers and in the light of personal experience and judgement.
Stages of Essay Writing
– Preparation
– Planning
– Writing
– Editing
– Submission
Stages of essay writing
– Preparation
– Planning
– Writing
– Editing
– Submission
Preparation
This stage consists of:
– estimating the time available for the task
– identifying what the question is asking of you
– taking note of the guidance you have been given
– researching or carrying out an experiment or collecting data
– making notes
– thinking over your ideas.
Planning
Planning your assignment involves:
working out an appropriate and logical structure
identifying what is relevant and what is not
taking account of the word limit
refining your ideas
selecting appropriate evidence or quotations.
The Question
Formulate a question before you start writing
Keep the question in sight at all times
Examples of Titles
Outline the Marxist model of class divisions.
How does the growth of the middle class affect the model?
Compare and contrast the differences in state development of any two nineteenth century European countries or empires.
In general, Victorian culture was activated by a dislike of industrialisation and urbanisation: the country was seen as a repository of enduring values. Do you agree?
Describe and contrast two African poems and either one African story or piece of African music, which you have studied in the course so far. Relate this to the economics and politics of contemporary development.
What are the similarities and differences between the mineralogical compositions of the basalt, S3, and the meteorite, EETA 79001?
Introductions
Set out the aims of the assignment and signpost how your argument will unfold
introduce the issue and give any essential background information including a brief description of the major debates that lie behind the question
define the key words and terms
be between 5% and 10% of the total word count.
Edit & Format
Editing your assignment means:
– reviewing what you have written and making changes
– checking your spelling and grammar
– making sure your references are correct
– checking the word count.
Format:
– Minimum size 11 font
– 1.5 line spacing