How to do research work

Video: My Step by Step Guide to Writing a Research Paper

Content

Steps
Part 1 of 5: Defining the Project Scope
Part 2 of 5: Finding Sources
Part 3 of 5: Assessing Sources
Part 4 of 5: Keep a Log of Research Progress
Part 5 of 5: Overcoming Obstacles
What do you need

The researcher is characterized by curiosity, organization and pedantry. If you intend to do scientific work, you will need a methodical approach to finding, evaluating and documenting various sources. The work on the material can be expressed by the formula: determining the direction (source), developing and evaluating hypotheses, preparing conclusions. You will have to repeat this process over and over until you have gathered enough evidence to write a complete report. The tips below will make your project easier.

Steps

Part 1 of 5: Defining the Project Scope

1 Identify compelling reasons why this project needs to be done. Make it clear to whom it will be useful. The answer may be based on some academic, personal or professional need, but this should be your main motivation for doing research at all stages of work.
2 Formulate the research objectives. You need to shorten tasks within specific conditions, timelines, and disciplines.Write down the secondary questions that need to be addressed to accomplish the main objective.
3 Think about your research as a whole. Usually a project is carried out to answer a question or some topic. You should have a clear idea of what this work will be used for, although it may not be clear at the initial stage of the project.
4 Prepare a project proposal plan if required by your instructor, employer, or work group. Usually preparation of a research plan is required if the project takes several weeks or more.
- Reporting papers, graduate projects, and fieldwork require that the project plan identifies the problem you intend to solve in your research.
- First, indicate the task, and then justify how significant and significant the research problem is for the people to whom the results of the project will be sent.
- Include a description of the research methods that you plan to use in the course of the project: reading sources, surveys, collecting statistical information, working with specialists in a particular field, etc.
5 Define the research area and scope of the project. Before starting the study, you need to answer the following questions:
- Calendar plan. You will need a timetable to successfully complete all planned work.
- List of topics to be included in the reporting project. If you have a plan or a formal assignment, it should identify the issues that need to be addressed.
- Schedule to familiarize teachers or managers with the progress of the project. Interim results reviews are necessary to assess the progress of your project.
- Resources required. In most cases, the resources required are limited by the amount of paper required to print the project.
- Format of sources, citations and list of sources used.

Part 2 of 5: Finding Sources

1 Start with Internet search engines. Print the key terms of your research for general information on the topic of the project.
- Give preference to academic sources: websites of universities, scientists, journals, government research projects.
- List the best sources that seem most appropriate for citation.
- Use the + symbol to combine several things that are used together, such as Christmas + Boxing Day.
- Use the "-" symbol to exclude search phrases. For example "Christmas Sale".
- Include additional information from the website you are using: date of publication, author of the material, date of your visit to the site, and the exact URL.
2 Visit the library. If possible, use your college or university library. If you do not have access to a large library, you can submit a library request to your local library.
- In the department, ask the librarian what collections, journals, dictionaries, and other library resources are available. ...
- For a better understanding of the field of study, read several history books, look at photographs and dictionaries describing the meanings of the main terms.
- Use an electronic catalog of books that may be requested from other libraries.
- Use the library's computer room to access magazines and other media. Many scientific publications open electronic access to their materials only for library institutions.
- Please note that different media resources may be available in the library: microfiches, films, interview recordings, etc.
- To get the information you are interested in, make a request through your Internet account in the library, if it provides such a service.
3 Schedule meetings and interviews with people with direct experience in the field of interest. Interviews and polls can provide quotes, guidance, and statistics on a topic of interest.Interview experts, eyewitnesses, and those who have previously done professional research on the topic to improve your research.
4 Organize observational studies. A trip to the scene is not only needed to gather information. It will help you get a feel for the conditions and surroundings, historical and other characteristics of events, to make your assessment more solid. If you include other people's assessments in your work, you will see how the project expands with opinions that differ from your original assumptions as it progresses.
5 Process your search results according to your research topic. Having chosen a general direction of work, it should be divided into subsections so that research can be carried out using online search, library work, interviews, individual research and on-site observation. Remember that for the final report in your work you will need at least 6 quality sources for every 15 pages of the report.

Part 3 of 5: Assessing Sources

1 Identify primary and secondary sources. The primary sources are eyewitness testimony, artifacts or their descriptions from people who had direct contact with them or the situation. Secondary sources are those that discuss information obtained from primary sources.
- A secondary source can be an analysis of a historical document or one's own assessment of distant events. For example, the register of immigration services will be the primary source, and the newspaper publication about the family lineage will be the secondary one.
2 Prefer objective over subjective sources. If the people who are talking about the event are not personally interested in it, their assessment will be more objective.
3 Prefer printed sources. Web resources usually do not have such strict control over the accuracy of information as articles published in magazines or books.
4 Find opposite sources. Subjective sources of information that advocate opposing points of view can greatly expand the overall view of events. Find weak points in your arguments and write down possible solutions.
- It is easier to do research that supports your hypothesis. But it is also necessary to find such sources in which the opposite is affirmed. This will help you prepare to defend your project.
5 Assess how relevant and / or credible a source is before using it in your report. Until you decide which sources to include in your report, keep all materials separately. Some sources can be very useful for exploratory research, but will not be valuable enough to be included in the final report.

Part 4 of 5: Keep a Log of Research Progress

1 Get a notebook for your project. Write down the questions that are raised in the course of work and the answers to them, indicating the sources of information. Record page numbers, URLs, and names of sources containing the information you need.
2 Annotate all texts. Make photocopies of your printed sources, as well as transcripts of audio and video recordings. Mark in the margins which paragraphs are useful for defining terms related to the topic of your research, and also write down the sources cited by the authors of the materials.
- Use a marker and pencil to mark up the photocopies. It is better to make notes directly while reading materials, and not to postpone it for later.
- Annotating promotes active reading.
- Create a list of quotes that may be useful for your report.
3 Create a stream that will store all the materials for your research. Divide it into departments, according to different subsections. You can also use electronic file systems (such as Evernote) to store all scans, websites, and individual records in one place.
4 Create a plan and structure for the report as you work. Use numbering to highlight individual topics, and subsections can be represented by letters.

Part 5 of 5: Overcoming Obstacles

1 Explore, not copy.” You should not base your research on the generalizations contained in previous works on this issue. Try to free yourself from the idea that the opinions of previous studies are the only opinions on a topic.
- Stop at your work for a few days to get a fresh perspective. In the course of work, such stops should be done once a week.
2 Talk about your research with someone who is not familiar with the topic at all. Try to explain what you found. Ask the person to formulate the questions they have as they read this information. This approach really helps to look at research in a new way.
3 Try to find sources in different industries. If your research topic is anthropological, look for related publications in sociology, biology, or another field. Use library catalogs to expand the number of sources.
4 Start recording. Start filling out the content plan. As you work, you will be able to determine which sections need additional research.