Guidelines+of+the+Research+Process

Guidelines of the Research Process Identify Topic Determine Sources Ask Questions Gather Information & Cite Properly Sort Information Make Conclusions Present and Reflect Adapted from The College of William and Mary Center for Gifted Education and the Big6 Research Models Chandler, K.L. (2007). Research model. Retrieved from http://cfge.wm.edu/TeachingModels/ ResearchModel.pdf and Riedling, A. (2005). Reference skills for the school library media specialist: Tools and tips, 2nd edition. Worthington, Ohio: Linworth Publishing, Inc.

Guidelines of the Research Process Identify Topic 1.Identify your problem

a. What is the assignment asking? i. You must research any author, create a tri-fold poster, and present to the class. 2.Choose your topic

a. Brainstorm 3-5 ideas 1.S.E. Hinton, Jane Austen, Lois Lowry, J.K. Rowling, Anne Rice a. Evaluate each of your ideas by thinking about how easy or hard it would be to get information. b.Give your sheet to a partner and have them place a star next to 2-3 they would like to learn more about.

i. *S.E. Hinton, Jane Austen, Lois Lowry, *J.K. Rowling, *Anne Rice c. Choose your final topic i. J.K. Rowling Guidelines of the Research Process Determine Sources 1.What are your print sources?

a. Which books can you use to help you? i. A biography or autobiography of J.K. Rowling

ii. A journal article about her success or impact on children’s literature 2.What are your media sources?

a. Are there movies, interviews, documentaries that you could use? i. An interview with J.K. Rowling on a talk show or biography show 3.What are your people sources?

a. Could you interview someone about this topic? i. You could interview someone who read the Harry Potter series and was influenced as a result. More on how to find and determine the validity of a source later on in this handbook Guidelines of the Research Process Ask Questions 1. Event

a. When did this happen? Why did this happen?

Is this a one-time event?

What were the causes of this event?

What were the effects of this event?

What is the significance of this event?

Who was involved in this even?

What details can you share with us about the event? Shocking statistics?

Interesting facts that we may never have heard before? Were there customs developed because of this event? 2. Person *You would use these questions if your topic is J.K. Rowling a. Vital Statistics: Where were they born? Birth/Death? Upbringing? Education? Important background information? Detailed account: What made this person significant?

What impact did this person have on society?

What did this person affect?

How well known is this person? Guidelines of the Research Process Ask Questions (continued...) 3. Illness/Disease

a. Who can get it? What does it affect (body parts)?/What are the symptoms? How does it affect the body? Detailed description of what can happen once one has it. How harmful is it?

Is it contagious?

How many people are affected by it?

Can you share a personal story or a case study of an actual person who suffers from this? What are the treatments and how do the treatments possible affect the body?

Are there ways to avoid it?

Is it curable? How? Adapted from Lettiere, B. (2011, July 18). Questions to answer in the body of your speech. Retrieved from http://dukeofdefinition.com/SpeechQuestions.pdf

Guidelines of the Research Process Gather Information and Cite Properly The Son of Citation Machine website says it best. “Respect the time & creative effort of those whose information you use.” You must cite the information you use for a paper. Why? So people know what is your work and what belongs to someone else. If you do not cite your quotations and sources you are plagiarizing. It is best to cite as you research so that you do not have to go back and do it later. Later on in this handbook you will see a step-by-step guide on how to pull quotes from a variety of sources and how to cite them properly on source cards, fact cards, in your paper, and in a works cited page. At this stage of the research process, it is better to gather more information than you may actually end up using. You do not want to get to the synthesis and find you have to go back and do more research! Guidelines of the Research Process Gather Information and Cite Properly (continued...) > i. cannot check books out of the library > > ii. are working on your own at home with an electronic source iii. are coming back over a period of days to the LMC > b. Create a source card, or cite your sources on a sheet of paper. This will make your works cited page a breeze to finish! > i. Fraser, Lindsey. Conversations with J.K. Rowling. 1st Edition. New York, NY: Scholastic Books, 2001. 96. Print. > > > a. Some projects may have defined sections that you will talk > about, and many of your sub-topics can be determined by the questions you ask. > i. For a research project on J.K. Rowling your finished work may be divided into: Early Life, Struggles, Fame, Published Work, and Impact on Society. > > > 11  and less time consuming than reading through all of your sources.
 * 1)  Cite your sources right away so that you can find them again. a. This is especially important when you:
 * 1)  Decide on which subtopics you will use.
 * 1)  Get out index cards or a note taking graphic organizer (available on the wikispace under Downloads)
 * 1)  Go through each of your sources and look for information that will fit under each sub-topic. Doing this will be more beneficial

5. Take notes on index cards or a graphic organizer and cite as you go. Try to limit each card to one quotation unless it is crucial that they go together. a. “Another early memory is of having the measles--I must have been about four--and Dad reading The Wind in the Willows...both my parents loved reading” (Fraser 11-12). Guidelines of the Research Process Sort Information This is when you take all of your fact cards, or notes, and decide what you will use and what you won’t. A good guideline is to have 3-5 fact cards or quotes for each sub-topic. Spread out all of your fact cards and divide them by their sub-headings (which will be listed at the top of each card) This will give you a great visual of how much information you have and will help you to sort more easily. Remember: you will be inserting your own ideas in with the quotes, so you don’t want to have too little or there won’t be a lot to expand on in your project. Decide what is really relevant, and what might be fluff. Make sure you have answered the questions laid out earlier in the handbook, and then decide what will be most interesting and relevant for your assignment. Your peers may be more interested in hearing what influenced J.K. Rowling to write Harry Potter and less about what her favorite food is. Then you need to decide on an order for your cards or notes. If possible, go in chronological order (oldest to newest) You would tell the audience J.K. Rowling’s birthdate, childhood, etc... before talking about her fame and fortune as an author.

Guidelines of the Research Process Make Conclusions Here’s where you tie everything together.

You should already have everything organized at this point, and now you have to add something to it to make it your own. Tip: You should not have quotes back to back. Try to elaborate or give an opinion (if appropriate) on each quote in at least one sentence. For example: “She started writing the Harry Potter series during a delayed Manchester to London King’s Cross train journey, and during the next five years, outlined the plots for each book and began writing the first novel” (“Rowling”). Add your own ideas after this quote: “She started writing the Harry Potter series during a delayed Manchester to London King’s Cross train journey, and during the next five years, outlined the plots for each book and began writing the first novel” (“Rowling”). King’s Cross is the name of the train station in Harry Potter and it seems fitting that her journey writing the books started in the same place that Harry began his journey, boarding the train to Hogwarts.

Guidelines of the Research Process Present and Reflect Choose how you want to present your information. Your teacher may give you guidelines and requirements, or it may be open-ended. For your project on J.K. Rowling you were asked to create a tri-fold. This tri-fold should contain pictures and information that is clear and concise. You would also give a short presentation of the information you have gathered to the class. If you are writing a paper, congratulations! You are basically done if you have followed all of the steps in this handbook. If you are giving a speech, having your set of notecards or notes that clearly define the topics and sub-topics of your research will help you to organize your information effectively into a speech outline. The wikispace has outlines and samples for writing your speech. Your project should contain a Works Cited page listing all of the sources you gathered information from.