• StyleWriter
•
Electronic Writing
Course
• StyleEase
APA Style Format
MLA Style Format
Chicago Style Format
•
4001 Business Letters
and Sales Letters
•
ReadabilityPLUS
• ReadabilityCALC
•
SITE LICENSES
|
 |
EXTREME RESEARCH:
10 SNAPPY RULES FOR SUCCESS by Christopher Brown
| Readability
Formulas ~ Find the
reading levels of your
materials with these popular
reading assessment
formulas. |
| StyleWriter - the world's
largest style and usage checker, makes it easy to write error-free,
plain English copy. |
|
Writing
Careers - Learn how to become a
successful writer at
WritingCareer.com. |
| Book Writing -
BookCatcher.com teaches writers how to write a book and how to get a book published. |
|
So you want to learn to research
well, and not waste any time. Let's do it. Here are a few NECESSARY preliminary
points.
1. First, adopt an aggressive
I-am-taking-over-this-place mindset.
2. Develop a system for
executing the research process. By creating your own rules to follow
systematically, you really speed things up. Don't have one? No worries. You can
use mine. I happen to have "research animal" stamped on my forehead.
3. Follow the rules. You can tweek them to suit your own style after
a couple of runs with this method. But these make for great training wheels.
4. Before going into battle, always ready your weapons.
Do not go near a library or desk to start research unless and until
everything you will need sits neatly arranged all about you for quick access.
This one is your call. I use 2 or 3 pens and a pad of paper to scratch out
notes and thoughts, and a pack of index cards for especially important notes.
Then come the highlighters. In college, I used to work the highlighters until
they overheated.
Some people like sticky notes (post-its). You can
stick 'em all around you as you work. You will want a rolodex and a phone
nearby in case you have to call someone you know to ask questions. For
instance, if you have a specially-gifted techie friend in your inner circle, or
know a professor, you may want to put him on speed dial. Think a bit about
anything else you might need. Some folks study and research well to music, so
get your headphones if you need them. Okay, here we have the system lined up
for you.
PART #1: Begin Reconnaissance. You're going in.
A. Get an overview and "contextualize" your topic. Learn its
timeline of events and the major historical factors associated with it. When
did it happen? What did it do? Why do people care about it at all? Find a short
article that outlines the history of, or at least offers a timeline for, your
topic. Everything has a history, and gaining a quick overview of your topic's
chronology will give you the context into which all your other sources will
fit.
B. Next, ride the wave. This is the surfing and browsing
stage. Start with what you know. Pick out words associated with your topic or
subject and Google them. When you land a starting topic (you can change this as
you go, no worries. Just start somewhere.), use online encyclopedias and other
resources to get a "quick snapshot" of the general views on the subject that
exist out there already. Try to see your subject from as many angles as
possible, as it were, "walking all the way round it," inspecting as you go. Ask
questions in your head, or even out loud like I do (caution: this may scare
people), and put them down on paper in a special spot. Slap a sticky note on it
that reads "QUESTIONS I HAVE."
To aid and abet developing a "snapshot
overview," start looking up books on the topic. Find 10 of them. Note the
titles on maybe 50 books -- if you can find that many -- about your subject or
topic. Note the overlap in words used in the titles about your topic. This will
give you a quick idea about who or what this topic means to others who have
already studied it.
Next, read the bibliographies of books. One good
book can give you 5-10 great leads you might never have found otherwise. Note
the titles that show up repeatedly in different bibliographies. In research
geekspeak this is "bibbo," bibliographic overlap. Bibbo identifies your IRT's
-- Initial Research Targets. Photocopy or print out from your IRT's: the table
of contents; the first chapter; a middle chapter that looks interesting or
helpful; and the final chapter. Then read these and highlight the Dickens out
of them. This gives you a snapshot, and a working knowledge, of the entire book
extremely fast. It works too. Use your scribbled out question set as a filter
for "what to look for" -- and highlight or take notes on -- when reading your
IRT's. Write down any further questions that develop. These can be as simple as
"Who is that guy?" Let your curiosity guide you, and let the sticky notes FLY!!
Next, read journal and magazine articles. How do you find these? Try
checking your Bibbo. Or just follow any that you think might land you somewhere
interesting. Play the detective. Follow your nose if you smell a good lead.
PART #2: Compile and organize your sources.
Use the
old-fashioned vanilla file folders and mark them up, so you know which is what.
Then get a file box to keep them handy.
PART #3: Determine
which are the most relevant features of your topic from its effects or
imlplications in 3 different areas of study. For instance, if your topic reads,
"Interesting stuff about World War II," then you will need to ask and study
questions like, "Who did it cost, and how much did it cost them, to have this
war?" Follow the money (economics). Then, you might ask "How did this war
change the mindset or values of American society" (sociology or philosophy).
Finally, ask maybe, "What inventions did Europeans develop to fight this war?"
(technology).
By looking at your topic from at least three
disciplinary viewpoints, you will gain a broad understanding of it, and find
yourself -- somewhat suddenly -- asking GREAT questions about it.
PART #4: Find and choose a controversial feature of topic, and
choose a side of the issue.
Write down your viewpoint in one sentence.
This we call your "thesis." Arguing this point well now constitutes your
"objective." Ask the question of your thesis, "How do you know this is the
case?" Ask this three times. Each time you ask it, give a brief answer in
writing from one of your three areas you chose. Each answer must reflect views
formed from a different area.
PART #5: Next, Re-read or skim
your sources to develop an outline (in order to support your three points
offered in defense of your thesis). Now pull out the photocopied (or printed
out) chapters from your IRT's and highlight and scribble all over them -- but
keep it legible. Argue your case vigorously with your imaginary critic who
knows what you know. Take his side and argue against your thesis the best you
can. Shoot it down, developing three criticisms. Some of these will already
have circulated in print in your sources. Line them up. Then answer the critic.
Refute his three points. Your outline is nearly finished.
PART
#6: Organize your notes into subgroups listed under the branches of your
outline. Draw a picture of the flow of your argument and objections as though
it were a tree, and label the parts. Modify the outline as needed. Add relevant
subheadings (you will come across new info in your scribbling) under the
branches of the outline. Fill out relevant details from your notes to form the
arguments for each section and subsection. Your rough draft is now complete.
PART #7: Rewrite your rough draft 5 times using our rules of
good writing.
PART #8: Study the cleaned-up draft for logical
errors in arguments. See our "Blogic For Writers" website for this; modify and
strenghten your case. Use T Edward Damer's "Attacking Faulty Reasoning" for
this too.
PART #9: Write your conclusion. This final paragraph
spells out "what important point or points you have learned from doing all this
hard work (e-search). Here, you make the case for why your research has value.
Also, here either write or rewrite your introductory paragraph to "hint at"
(anticipate) the concluding paragraph. Most of the time it actually makes the
best sense to write your introduction LAST, since this way you write with a
view of the WHOLE work, which you did not have at the beginning.
In
the introduction, hint at your conclusion, but don't give away the whole story.
This makes for a smooth and logical flow from start to finish, giving your work
a stylish symmetry, where the first part foresees the end, and the end reflects
on the beginning. All good stories have this symmetry.
PART #10:
Do the footnoting (or endnoting) and contstruct an extensive bibliography.
Add title page and Table of Contents. See Kate Turabian's or an MLA manual
online for this, and for grammar and style. You can also use the resources we
list in our sidebar.
You are DONE. Your paper or article "so
totally rocks," and you get an "A." Your readers love you, and you then become
wealthy and famous. Your actual mileage may vary, batteries not included, offer
void where prohibited.
About the Author:
Christopher Brown
escaped with a degree in history from the California State University
(Hayward), but did hard time in seminary. In March, 2004, he founded Ophir Gold
Corp., and runs its sites:
http://scriberight.blogspot.com or "OGC's Free Web
Traffic:" http://ophirgoldcorp.blogspot.com or "Extreme Profit:"
http://extremeprofit.blogspot.com
|
 |
 |
|
About some of our products:
To learn more, go to our online store. |
StyleWriter / Style Writer / StyleWriter software / Grammar Checker / Style Checker / Spell Checker / Plain English / Plain English Editor / Editor Software / Readability Software / Readability
Formulas / Plain English Writing / Writing Plain English, APA Style, MLA Style, Chicago Style
StyleWriter-USA.com (URL: www.StyleWriter-USA.com)
StyleWriter / Style Writer / StyleWriter Software / Electronic Writing Course /
StyleEase
Web site for Plain English Editing Software and Plain English Software
|
