RESEARCH FUNDAMENTALS Selecting & Evaluating Resources

Zora Neale Hurston, Writer/Anthropologist/Adventurer

Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.

Research: What It Is

Strategic exploring Discovery Questioning Logical organization of findings

Research: More On What It Is

Brick:It includes your thoughts, questions, observations about the primary source material.

Mortar/Cement:It consists of prior inquiry and findings by veteran scholars that supports, answers some or all of your questions. It can also refute (can still be helpful).

Research: What It Is Not

Random accumulation of

assorted thoughts Other people’s

opinions minus your own observations and interpretation

Never-ending exploration

of a topic

Jean-Jacques Annaud, Filmmaker

To do the writing, I have to have time to do research.

Two Simple Questions When deciding whether a source is useful

to your project, ask yourself:

Does the book or article directly address my thesis statement or offer some background information/contextual framework that can be worked into my introduction?

Is it printed in a publication respected in academic circles?

Strategy Suggestions

If possible, pick a topic that you are interested in, or modify the generic topic that you have been assigned.

Do you have a complex question? Break it into parts.

Use sources such as encyclopedias to get an overview of your topic.

Write out a list of related and alternate terms based on what you learn from the above step.

Another Strategy Suggestion: Follow Bibliographic TrailsIn The Craft of Research, Booth, Colomb and

Williams remind usthat :

[Research is] a profoundly social activity that connects you to both those who will use your research and… [also] connects you and your readers to everyone whose research you used (273).

You can view research as a network of connected ideas. You are actually expected to build upon inquiry already made into the subject. Its just important to give credit to those who pointed the way.

It may be a useful source if it…

has notes and a bibliography. is printed by a scholarly or otherwise

respected publisher. is posted on a respected, reputable

website. is peer reviewed. is written by an authority in the field (do

background check). was recently written.

If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?

Albert Einstein, Physicist/Inventor/Writer

What are the origins of the “shotgun”

house, and why did it become a popular architectural style in the

southern U. S.?

Imaginary Research Topic

Types of Sources

Primary Sources • Are original documents or works of art • Supply raw data used to test hypothesis

Selected example: Blue print of a shotgun home

More Types of Sources

Secondary sources •Analyze primary sources• Help professionals to stay current (Chapter in this text)

The Shotgun House: An African Architectural Legacy 58John Michael Vlach

Selected example: Book chapter placing shotgun homes in historical context

More Types of Sources

Tertiary sources• Compile and analyze secondary sources

• Are usually reference books such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, almanacs, etc.

Also see: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/vernacular.html

More on Types of Sources

http://library.uwsp.edu/guides/webtutorials/primary.htm

Quiz: What Type? Built to Meet Needs: Cultural Issues in V

ernacular Architecture (click on “Contents”)

A Field Guide to American Houses

Map of southern neighborhood containing shotgun homes

Photographs of shotgun homes

Magazines Versus Journals

Architectural Digest (Popular )

Art & Architecture Journal (Trade) (Scholarly)

Checklist: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/guides/spmaterials/

Buildings & Landscapes: Journal of the

Vernacular Architecture Forum

In the Olden Days

GIL & Previewing a Book

More Previewing a Book

Even before you have the book in hand you can do a basic evaluation by paying attention to the:

author’s credentials (may have to use internet) date of publication (older books are not necessarily bad) number of editions published reputation/standing of the publisher

Note: These earmarks work for web pages too.

More GIL

More Previewing a Book

More Previewing a Book

When you have the book in hand, and

to help you decide if the content matches your purpose, take a look at the: book jacket table of contents preface and/or intro illustrations appendices bibliography

GALILEO

More GALILEO

Henry David Thoreau,Writer/Philosopher/Activist

Simplify. Simplify.

Simplicity

Step back and observe what you have.

Do you need to do a better job of responding to your thesis? Or will what you have sufficiently do the job?

By Pete McKee From Cartoonstock.com

Happy hunting

Works Cited Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of

Research. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008. 68-101. Print.

“Evaluating Sources of Information.” Purdue Online Writing Lab. Purdue University, 2010. Web. 12 April 2010.

Georgia Perimeter College. RSCH 1203: Research Skills and Technology. Georgia Perimeter College, 2008. 78-86. Print.

“Guide to Library Research at Cornell: Seven Steps to Effective Library Research.” Olin and Uris Libraries , Cornell University. Cornell University, 2010. Web. 28 April 2010.

“Learn to Find, Access and Manage Information.” University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2010. Web. 26 April 2010.

Copywriting, additional content & presentation design by

Jené Watson

Georgia Perimeter College-DecaturLearning & Tutoring Center

Spring/Summer 2010