Research Process Part 1

What is research? Why do we do it? While we all know we need it—for papers, to win arguments, to be better people—how to do it, and where to even start, is often difficult.

The problem is so often we are just told, “do research.” We know there’s a library and some fancy databases, but that doesn’t always help us. For most us, we don’t sit down with a thesis statement ready to go, we just have a vague idea of something we are interested in (which is why we do research to begin with).

The first goal of any researcher is to become familiar with the topic. This means doing background research and building our expertise on the subject. We may not know what we want to write about, but we are interested in food production. Our background research will help define what under the subject of food production we are interested in. The following is more of a guide than a science, but here are some ideas on process:

Step 1:

Find a good, meaty topic. You need something you can sink your teeth into, but this is easier said than done. There are plenty of places to turn for ideas. Check out:
• Speakout.com
• Google, “controversial topics” see what turns up
• Nytimes.com—op eds, et.
• Procon.org
• Dir.yahoo.com/society_and_culture/issues_and_culture
• Where are some places you turn to find topics?


Step 2:
Turn your topic into a question. For example, if you are interested in finding out about food production, pose the question, “What are the effects of food production?” However, just these questions won’t suffice. What are some other questions you need to ask? “What effect do food additives have on nutrition?” “How is food produced and delivered to consumers?” Already, we are spinning our wheels. Depending on your topic, you may need to develop a list of questions you want answered. Just by doing this we are getting into the topic further. As you look around, more questions will pop up.

Develop some questions based on your own topic.

Step 3:

Find background info. Develop your expertise on the topic. You will never write a good paper if you don’t know what you are writing about (just like you will never speak beautifully in Korean if you don’t first learn the Korean language).

Places to go for background info:
• Reference works. Encyclopedias. Online—Wikipedia (keeping in mind it can be biased), encyclopedia.com, etc—or the good old fashioned kind. Dictionaries. Overviews of topics, people, places, events.
• Subject encyclopedias. Ency. on specific subjects. Ie: Ency of Bioethics, Ency. of Sociology, Int. Ency. of Higher Ed.
• Current Issues research. Look in newspapers (nytimes.com), procon.org, yahoo. Etc.
• Heck, google.com. But be weary, just because it’s on the internet doesn’t mean it is any good.

Now what:

You have already done a lot, but you are just starting. Now you should know enough to start focusing your topic. New questions have emerged.

Important—start keeping track of your information. Print it out. Start a word document and paste all your sources in there with a summary of what they are good for. Do what you need to do to help yourself remember this stuff later (to save you time).

Remember:

Research is pealing potatoes, not garnishing a Coq Au Vin. (If you want to see what Coq Au Vin looks like, click here and while you are there, epicurious.com is a good place to figure out what to make for dinner). There are many steps, some will not be productive, some will. But you have to do it or you will suffer later. So get to the computers, go to the library and research!