How to Research

Essay Skills: How to research

A quick guide to research.Why research?How do I research effectively?Transferrable skills.Evidence.

Why should I research anyway?Without research your essay will most likely contain the following:Opinions / not facts (bad)No evidence to support your writing (worse)Plagiarism stealing or copying the work of others (really, really, really bad!)

76% of all essays are poorly researchedHow do I research effectively?Show both sidesFamiliarise yourself with both sides of the argument. Try to find research that agrees & disagrees with your own beliefs.The Internet A risky business!The Internet can be really useful; full of information & quick to search, but be careful! Sites such as Wikipedia are often full of errors, or are poorly researched themselves!Give yourself time!Leave yourself plenty of time to research good research takes time and effort.BrainstormWhat do you already know? What are you unsure about? What would you like to know more about?What do I read?Use the reading list, if one is provided.If not, search engines such as Google Scholar can be a useful starting point.Taking notes:You see a pile of unwanted notes that youve written over the year, I see a goldmine of first hand research!

This guy hasnt yet read this informative guide!Research Transferrable skillsBeing able to research for an essay shows that you have some really amazing skills especially for the workplace!

Research shows that you:Judgements - Have the ability to judge the value of different information.Multi-task using different sources & reading many texts at once.Understanding Research naturally improves your understanding.Better grades Better research will lead to better grades, which will improve your chances to get a better job!Next: What should I look for?

Help!Useful information can be found in the following places to help you with your research:

Oxford Royale Academy Research Guidehttp://tinyurl.com/pr8apzt

wikiHow how to research in 8 stepshttp://tinyurl.com/phtojza

Birmingham City University Guide to Researchhttp://tinyurl.com/p3envvf

Purdue University Really useful resourceshttp://tinyurl.com/olqc3jr