RESEARCH WORKSHOP: ENGLISH COMPOSITION SCOTT COWAN SCOWAN@UWINDSOR.CA LEDDY LIBRARY, 2014.

RESEARCH WORKSHOP:ENGLISH COMPOSITION

SCOTT COWANSCOWAN@UWINDSOR.CA

LEDDY LIBRARY, 2014

AGENDA

• Think about the research process

• Talk about the resources that might be useful for you

• Walk through a trend/search together

LET’S TALK ABOUT RESEARCH….

THE RESEARCH PROCESS

• Background Information• Form Question• Gather Information• Take Notes• Cite Sources• Organize Information• Write• Review

Repeat as needed

RESEARCH IS RARELY LINEAR. TRY TO STAY OPEN FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF

CHANGE

LET’S START AT THE VERY BEGINNING…

FORMING A RESEARCH QUESTION

• Skinny Questions• Have simple answers• Can be answered in one word or sentence• Often begin with: When? How many? Who? Where?

• Fat Questions• Cannot be answered in one sentence• Make you think of other questions• Often begin with: Why? Which? How?

BUT….

Sometimes the answer to a skinny question, can lead to a fat question

E.g. What state in the United Sates has the largest population? (California)

But…

WHY does California have the largest population?

AVOID

• Unanswerable questions (who wrote the first cave painting?)

• Opinion questions

GROUP WORK:

IN GROUPS OF 3, PICK A TOPIC AND WORK ON QUESTIONS 1 AND 2

IN ORDER TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, WHAT DO YOU NEED

TO KNOW?

SCHOLARLY VS. NON-SCHOLARLY

IDENTIFY INFORMATION NEEDS

• Facts?• Statistics?• General overview?• Scholarly or scientific studies?• Historical context?• Scholarly analysis?

What will best answer your question?

MATCHING AN INFORMATION NEED WITH AN INFORMATION SOURCE:

WHAT IS OUT THERE??

SOME RESOURCES

• Articles: Peer reviewed and scholarly

• Scholarly books/monographs

• Reference works• Magazines and

Newspapers

• General Websites• Market or Business

Information• Government

Documents• Government

Statistics

REFERENCE WORKS

A REFERENCE WORK IS:

“A book [or electronic resource] designed to be consulted when authoritative information is needed, rather than read cover to cover.” (ODLIS)

REFERENCE WORKS

• Excellent for context

• Excellent for tiny details

• Basic factual information

• Often written by top scholars in the field

• Almost always have suggested readings

• Incredibly useful• Often provide

excellent starting or middle places

ENCYCLOPEDIAS/DICTIONARIES

ENCYCLOPEDIAS/DICTIONARIES

• Some are brief, others very detailed

• Excellent overviews

• Wide range of topics

• Provide further readings

MONOGRAPHS

“A scholarly book or treatise on a single subject, complete in one physical piece, usually written by a specialist in the field.”

SAMPLE BOOKS & MONOGRAPHS

SCHOLARLY ARTICLES

A self-contained nonfiction prose composition on a fairly narrow topic or subject, written by one or more scholars and published under a separate title in a collection or periodical containing other works of the same form.

SCHOLARLY ARTICLES

Uses and advantages

•Written by and for experts and scholars

•Often very specific and detailed

Disadvantages

•Sometimes too specific for an overall picture of a particular topic

OTHER KINDS OF RESOURCES

• Government Documents• Government Statistics• Market information• Newspapers and Magazines• General Websites

MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS

Examples of Periodicals and Magazines:•Time, Macleans, Nature, Sports Illustrated, The New Yorker, Wired, Rolling Stone

•Either in print or online

• Often very current and immediate

• Offers a wide range of perspectives

• Appeals to a broad readership

• Usually not peer-reviewed or “scholarly”

GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

• Excellent sources of facts, statistics, findings, studies, results

• Useful for overviews and summaries

• Usually very accessible

• Examples:• Gambling in Canada: Final Report and Recommendations

• Gambling and Governments in Canada, 1969-1998: How Much? Who Plays? What Payoff?

GENERAL WEBSITES

Advantages

• Immediate and fast• Readily searchable• Multiple points of view

available• Vast amounts of

information available almost anywhere 24/7

Disadvantages

• Quality and reliability of information frequently questionable

• Information can be very general

• Finding information can be difficult

• Sites or information can disappear over night

GOVERNMENT STATISTICS

• Authoritative• Detailed• Up to date• Comprehensive• Good for health, economic, population trends• Often just raw data, no analysis

Check out the Academic Data Center at Leddy!!

MARKET INFORMATION

• Authoritative

• Detailed Up to Date

• Specific to particular markets or areas

• Excellent for consumer or industry trends

• Often just raw data, no analysis

EVALUATING INFORMATION SOURCES

ACCURACY: What is the source? Is it reliable? Are the links accurate? Believable? Cited?

AUTHORITY: Who is the author? Qulaifications? Is it sponsored by an organization?

CONTEXT: Does the content help with my research? Biased? Is it trying to sway you?

CURRENCY: When was it written/published? Kept up to day?

COVERAGE : Do I understand it? How is it presented? Use of graphics, text, stats? In-depth?

HOW TO FIND SOURCES

• Use Leddy Library databases- search by subject or title if you do not

know the name of the journal- Browse journals is you know the name of

the journal the article is in• Use Google Scholar

- In Google, type Google Scholar and then click on advanced search

• Other Search Engines?

DAY 2SEARCHING!

AGENDA

• How to find what you’re looking for

• Hands on work time for your projects

FINDING WHAT YOU NEED

• Where do we go to find:• Books?• Reference works ?• Scholarly articles?• General periodicals, magazines, newspapers?• Data and statistics?

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SEARCH TERMS

• Words are how we find information

• Different resources use different words

• Have an arsenal of search terms at your disposal

Names

Other Spellings

Dates

Places

Synonyms

Vocabulary

Concepts

Descriptions

FROM QUESTION TO CONCEPTS

Is incarcerating male perpetrators of violence against women an effective response to the problem?

•Key Concepts:IncarcerationMalesViolence against womenEffective Solutions

Prison, mass incarceration, prison abolitionDemographicsDomestic violence, batterPrevention, interventoin

*Finding good information can take patience and thoughtful planning*

SEARCH HINTS

AND OR NOT

* finds all forms of a word Example: econom* will find economy, economics, economical,

etc.

Truncations Wom?n will find woman, women

Phrase Searches Use with two or more words in an exact order Example: “World Series,” “Civil War”

DEAD ENDS?

• Difference resources?• Different approach?• Reword question?• Broaden question?• Narrow focus?• Different source?• Different database?

FINAL HINTS:

• Be open, flexible, and responsive• Trial and error is the secret• Use found resources as a spring board• Copy vocabulary

• ASK QUESTIONS!!

LET’S PRACTICE!!