Transcript PROFESSIONAL WRITING NOTES TO ANDERSON, CHAPTERS 6 & 7 CONDUCTING RESEARCH • What is reader-centered research? • Complete—Readers will want all the information.

PROFESSIONAL WRITING
NOTES TO ANDERSON, CHAPTERS 6 & 7
CONDUCTING RESEARCH
• What is reader-centered research?
• Complete—Readers will want all the information needed to
understand an issue and make a good decision
• Unbiased—Readers will want you to be objective about the
information and will want the sources of your information to
be unbiased (or will want you to recognize and adjust for
the bias)
• Credible—Readers will want your information to be from
credible sources
• Divisible—Readers will want the information not simply
summarized but broken into its constituent pieces so that
they can evaluate it as well
THE RESEARCH PROCESS
• Define your research objectives
• Identify the full range of sources that might have
helpful information
• Gather information that can be analyzed in
subgroups
• Create an efficient and productive research plan
• Carefully evaluate what you find
• Take careful notes
• Observe intellectual property law and document
your sources
THE RESEARCH PROCESS
• Define your research objectives
• Main research objective—to learn as much as
possible (or as much as necessary) to respond
effectively to the following questions:
What questions might readers ask about the topic or issue?
What kinds of answers might readers want you to provide?
How much detail will be necessary?
What kinds of arguments and information might be
persuasive to my readers?
• What counterarguments can I identify and what
information is available to respond to them?
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THE RESEARCH PROCESS
• Identify the full range of sources that might have
helpful information
• Some common sources of perspectives about an
issue:
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Persons affected
Persons involved
Other organizations or groups involved in similar efforts
Professional publications
Academic publications
• Research widely enough to learn about
disagreements and controversies or to satisfy
yourself that none exist
THE RESEARCH PROCESS
• Gather information that can be analyzed in
subgroups
• When gathering information try to break it down into
subgroups
• What different groups can you identify?
• Are different groups subject to different influences, rules,
experiences?
• Are different groups affected differently?
• Do different groups respond differently?
• While you will ask these kinds of questions later,
thinking about the existence of different groups will
help your research
THE RESEARCH PROCESS
• Create an efficient and productive research plan
• Consult general sources first—encyclopedias, review
articles, articles in popular magazines and newspapers
• Focus on sources that will be most persuasive to your
readers—peer-reviewed journals for academics, reputable
sources of data (i.e. government, think-tanks, etc.)
• Conduct preliminary research when appropriate
• Make a schedule—establish deadlines for research
• Study the research methods you are going to use—if you
plan to use new research methods (interviews, surveys, etc.)
build in time to learn about these methods
THE RESEARCH PROCESS
• Carefully evaluate what you find—is the source of your
information credible, trustworthy, unbiased?
• Questions to ask:
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Is it relevant to my readers’ needs?
Will it be credible in my readers’ eyes?
Is it accurate?
Is it complete?
Is it current and up to date?
Is it unbiased?
• Evaluating accuracy, completeness, currency, bias
• Compare sources
• Analyze the conclusions drawn by others
• Identify possible benefits (and therefore possible bias)
THE RESEARCH PROCESS
• Take careful notes
• Accuracy and reliability important
• Acknowledging sources (citation)
• What to record about sources:
• Books
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Author’s or editor’s full name
Exact title
City of publication
Year of publication
Edition
Page numbers
• Articles
Author’s or editor’s full name
Exact title
Journal title
Volume (and issue unless pages
are numbered consecutively
throughout the volume)
• Year of publication
• Page numbers
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THE RESEARCH PROCESS
• Observe intellectual property law and document your
sources
• Do I need permission to use this material?
• Do I need to document this source in my communication?
• Generally you need permission unless
• You created the materials yourself
• Someone else at your employer’s created it
• Copyright or other protection has expired (i.e. the material has
entered the “public domain” and is no longer protected by
copyright)
• The material is specifically identified by its creator(s) as “open
source” and therefore not subject to copyright
• Your use of the material is consistent with “fair use”
THE RESEARCH PROCESS
• “Fair use”
• Purpose of use: educational use is considered fair use; commercial
uses are not
• Proportion of the work used: a quotation of a few hundred words from
a long book is consistent with fair use; the same length quotation from
a short pamphlet is not
• Publication status: published works are subject to “fair use”;
unpublished works are not
• Economic impact: if your use of the material will decrease the
creator’s profits, such use is not fair use
• Graphics
• Are not subject to fair use; always seek permission unless you or your
company created or the image is in the public domain or is part of a
school project that will not be published
• Websites
• Treat the same as graphics
THE RESEARCH PROCESS
• Do I need to document my sources?
• Yes
• If you obtained permission from the copyright owner
• If the information was derived from the source and is not
common knowledge
• If the information effectively duplicates information from the
source (specific data, actual words, etc.)
ANALYZING YOUR RESEARCH
Review your research objectives
Arrange your information in an analyzable form
Look for meaningful relationships in the information
Interpret each relationship for your readers
Explain why each relationship is important to your
readers
• Recommend actions based on your analysis
• Think critically throughout your analysis
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ANALYZING YOUR RESEARCH
• The number one rule—Think Critically
• Here’s how Robert Ennis defines a critical thinker
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Is open-minded and mindful of alternatives
Tries to be well-informed
Judges well the credibility of sources
Identifies conclusions, reasons, and assumptions
Judges well the quality of an argument, including the
acceptability of its reasons, assumptions, and evidence
6. Can well develop and defend a reasonable position
7. Asks appropriate clarifying questions
8. Formulates plausible hypotheses; plans experiments well
9. Defines terms in a way appropriate for the context
10. Draws conclusions when warranted, but with caution
11. Integrates all items in this list when deciding what to believe
or do
ANALYZING YOUR RESEARCH
• Review your research objectives
• Remember why you are conducting research—to help
readers understand something and make decisions
• Stay focused on how your research can help readers
• Avoid irrelevant discussions of side issues
ANALYZING YOUR RESEARCH
• Arrange your information in an analyzable form
• Put your information in other forms to help you “see”
relationships
• Tables—can show relationships between categories
• Line charts—can show relationships over time
• Bar charts—can show proportional relationships
• Flow charts—can show relationships between groups or
steps in a process
• Hierarchical outlines—can show relationships of
subordination or coordination
• In short, make a picture of your information—try
different a variety of representation; remember you
don’t know what the relationship is yet
ANALYZING YOUR RESEARCH
• Look for meaningful relationships in the information
• Some strategies for looking:
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Compare related outcomes
Compare different steps in a process
Compare the same topic from different sources
Consider possible cause-and-effect relationships
Consider possible correlations
• Consider looking for relationships between subgroups
• Do different subgroups respond differently?
• Are different subgroups treated differently?
• Do different subgroups have different levels of success?
ANALYZING YOUR RESEARCH
• Interpret each relationship for your readers
• Consider all of the possible explanations
• Narrow down the set of all possible explanations to those
that are most likely
• If is impossible to settle on a “most likely” explanation,
acknowledge the uncertainty and if possible devise
research that will help you lessen the uncertainty
• While some uncertainty will always exist, try to avoid hiding
behind the uncertainty—in virtually all writing that requires
research you will be expected to draw conclusions (if only
provisional ones) from what you find
ANALYZING YOUR RESEARCH
• Explain why each relationship is important to your
readers
• Don’t assume that your readers will see how your
explanations fit the data—be explicit about what that
relationship is and how it was derived from the data
• Don’t assume that your readers will see how your
explanations lead to your recommendations—again be
explicit
ANALYZING YOUR RESEARCH
• Recommend actions based on your analysis
• In virtually all writing that requires research you will be
expected to draw conclusions (if only provisional ones) from
what you find
• Don’t assume your recommendations are obvious
• Be explicit about how the recommendations follow from the
evidence
• Be explicit about how the recommendations will address
concerns raised by the evidence
ANALYZING YOUR RESEARCH
• Think critically throughout your analysis—to reiterate, a
critical thinker
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Is open-minded and mindful of alternatives
Tries to be well-informed
Judges well the credibility of sources
Identifies conclusions, reasons, and assumptions
Judges well the quality of an argument, including the
acceptability of its reasons, assumptions, and evidence
6. Can well develop and defend a reasonable position
7. Asks appropriate clarifying questions
8. Formulates plausible hypotheses; plans experiments well
9. Defines terms in a way appropriate for the context
10. Draws conclusions when warranted, but with caution
11. Integrates all items in this list when deciding what to believe
or do