Doing Exploratory Research and Formulating a Research Question

Starting a Research Notebook

Choosing a Topic

Once you understand the requirements and scope of your assignment, you need to decide on a topic. In many cases, your instructor will help you choose a topic, either by providing a list of suitable topics or by suggesting a general subject area—for example, a famous trial, an event that happened on the day you were born, a problem on college cam­puses. Keep in mind, though, that you may still need to narrow your topic to one you can write about: one trial, one event, one problem.

If your instructor prefers that you select a topic on your own, you should consider a number of possible topics and weigh both their suitability for research and your interest in them. You decide on a topic for your research paper in much the same way you decide on a topic for a short essay: you read, brainstorm, talk to people, and ask questions. Specifically, you talk to friends and family, coworkers, and perhaps your instructor; read magazines and newspapers; take stock of your interests; consider possible topics suggested by your other courses (historical events, scientific developments, and so on); and, of course, browse the Internet.

Task 1

Answer the questions:

How is the process of choosing a topic described in this paragraph?

Who/what can help you in choosing a topic?

What is the topic of your research?

Task 2

Describe a process of choosing the topic for your research.

Keeping a research notebook, a combination journal of your reac­tions and log of your progress, is an important part of the research process. A research notebook maps out your direction and keeps you on track; throughout the research process, it helps you define and redefine the boundaries of your assignment.

In your research notebook you can record lists of things to do, sources to check, leads to follow up on, questions to which you would like to find answers, ideas, possi­ble statements and so on. (Be sure to date your entries and to check off and date work completed.)

Task 1

Answer the questions:

How do you understand the term ‘a research notebook’?

What information is recorded in it?

What is the aim of a research notebook?

Have you ever kept a research notebook?

During exploratory research, you develop an overview of your topic, searching the Internet and looking through general reference works such as encyclopedias, bibliographies, and specialized dictio­naries (either in print or online). Your goal at this stage is to formu­late a research question that you want your research paper to answer. A research question helps you to decide which sources to seek out, which to examine first, which to examine in depth, and which to skip entirely. (The answer to your research question will be your paper's thesis statement.)

Task 1

Answer the questions:

What does ‘exploratory research’ mean?

What are its goals?

How should a student formulate a research question?

Task 2

Formulate the research question of tour research work.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-16