Academic Research

[TeresaBenedicta]

Alright, I'm ashamed to admit it, but... I'm entering my senior year of college and have never done a substantial research project. I mean, I've done little research papers and what not, but nothing like I'll be doing for senior honors thesis. And I'm not going to lie, I'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed already. My advisor is an Oxford grad and is expecting a lot from me.

So, for all of you academics out there... Any tips for academic research? What are the general steps to follow?

It might help to know a little bit about my project: It's a written thesis of at least 25 pages with a final presentation to the public at its conclusion. I'm looking into the philosophical underpinnings of the 12th Century Cistercian philosophy and theology of love.

Now, I have a very basic list of sources and I've begun some background reading in the subject. But I really have no idea of what I'm doing. How do I do good and effective research?

[rachael]

don't ever get too broad of a topic. you may think it will help, but in the long run it will present you with too much information.

[CatherineM]

What works for me is to write paragraphs as I go. I worry about making them fit together later. I'm always afraid of forgetting something or leaving something out. It is easier to edit down than to find more stuff to add later.

Also, don't make wikipedia your primary source.

[BG45]

[quote name='CatherineM' post='1874638' date='May 25 2009, 12:18 AM']What works for me is to write paragraphs as I go. I worry about making them fit together later. I'm always afraid of forgetting something or leaving something out. It is easier to edit down than to find more stuff to add later.

Also, don't make wikipedia your primary source.[/quote]

Or any source. I know in both undergrad and grad programs my professors have made stringently clear that if we use Wikipedia in a course, we automatically fail that course. That said, when I was at the MIT Press Store during my conference trip to Boston, there was a book on how to properly source Wikipedia; so perhaps the Ivy League has lower standards than I was always lead to believe?

Edited May 25, 2009 by BG45

[hoosieranna]

My graduate committee suggested I "saturate" my sources. That is, go through the bibliographies of your current sources and look up the references. Find those and locate [i]their[/i] sources. You keep going until you start turning up the references you began with. It's a way of making sure you've gotten all the major works/studies on a subject. Profs don't like it when you miss a seminal work. I'd be careful about citing your advisor's own work.

Another suggestion was to hammer down my thesis statement before I did anything else. The topic sentence of every paragraph had to relate back to that statement. Knowing exactly what you are trying to support or disprove helps keep you from wandering, and reinforces your argument.

Don't freak about the length. It will come. It is infinitely better to be a little short, but with good substance, than long on fluff. Don't procrastinate. Ever. Use your advisor as a resource. Advisors are good sounding boards and can suggest analytical frameworks you never would have used. Mine did.

[Old_Joe]

"Borrowing from one author is plagiarism. Borrowing from many is research."

[Sojourner]

[quote name='Nadezhda' post='1874699' date='May 24 2009, 11:51 PM']My graduate committee suggested I "saturate" my sources. That is, go through the bibliographies of your current sources and look up the references. Find those and locate [i]their[/i] sources. You keep going until you start turning up the references you began with. It's a way of making sure you've gotten all the major works/studies on a subject. Profs don't like it when you miss a seminal work. I'd be careful about citing your advisor's own work.

Another suggestion was to hammer down my thesis statement before I did anything else. The topic sentence of every paragraph had to relate back to that statement. Knowing exactly what you are trying to support or disprove helps keep you from wandering, and reinforces your argument.

Don't freak about the length. It will come. It is infinitely better to be a little short, but with good substance, than long on fluff. Don't procrastinate. Ever. Use your advisor as a resource. Advisors are good sounding boards and can suggest analytical frameworks you never would have used. Mine did.[/quote]
Yes to all the above.

I have to have my first page written before I can write anything else, just so I know where I'm going and what I'm trying to say.

I find it easiest to break it into definable chunks. You outline the chunks in the beginning, then go into detail about them, and then recap the outline at the end.

Re: Wikipedia: I never use Wikipedia as a source, because it can be edited by anyone and you have to check the veracity of the information anyway. But, if you are clueless about where to start digging, Wikipedia articles can sometimes have good resources to start with in the citations.

Edited May 25, 2009 by Terra Firma

[TeresaBenedicta]

[quote name='Nadezhda' post='1874699' date='May 25 2009, 01:51 AM']My graduate committee suggested I "saturate" my sources. That is, go through the bibliographies of your current sources and look up the references. Find those and locate [i]their[/i] sources. You keep going until you start turning up the references you began with. It's a way of making sure you've gotten all the major works/studies on a subject. Profs don't like it when you miss a seminal work. I'd be careful about citing your advisor's own work.

Another suggestion was to hammer down my thesis statement before I did anything else. The topic sentence of every paragraph had to relate back to that statement. Knowing exactly what you are trying to support or disprove helps keep you from wandering, and reinforces your argument.

Don't freak about the length. It will come. It is infinitely better to be a little short, but with good substance, than long on fluff. Don't procrastinate. Ever. Use your advisor as a resource. Advisors are good sounding boards and can suggest analytical frameworks you never would have used. Mine did.[/quote]

Thank-you, very very helpful. Especially the saturating of sources.

[the lords sheep]

In writing larger papers, I found it helpful to create definable chunks. Pay attention to your research: often it will naturally lend itself to some form (usually multiple forms, really) of division. Use these forms that naturally exist rather than try to create something of your own. For example, as its philosophical research, it could be divided into trends formed following certain specific works, certain philosophers, or even specific time periods. Just remember to be coherent in your division choices: ie, you want to have a paper that is organized into "I am trying to prove THESIS X by examining A, B, C, and D".
Once you've figured out how to organize the greater thing, you basically have to write a series of smaller papers that each support your thesis, followed by a conclusion that synthesizes all of your ideas.

Also, don't be afraid to be honest with your advisor: he/she may have high expectations of you, but[i] they know that you're a student[/i], and you don't know everything yet- that's why you're there! If you're really struggling with research methodology, be honest. I know my professors would think more of me in admitting that I need more help rather than pretending I knew what was going on and not being able to complete the research well.

Don't let it all discourage you! It will get written, and you'll be so proud of yourself when it's done! And you'll learn soooo much! I loved writing my senior thesis for this reason: I really learned a ton in a field that greatly interested me.

God bless your studies! (Don't forget to ask the Holy Spirit for help when you get stuck!)

In Christ,
Lauren

[Hassan]

Interesting. I have to have an outline. I read eberything, think about it for a bit, and then try to work out an hand drawn little sketh essay.

Once I get the outline the substance is easy.

[Brother Vinny]

Eberything?

[loveletslive]

check out data bases like academic search premier and ebsco host. you should have access to these online via your college.

[Archaeology cat]

As my supervisor informed me, the sources should present a question that arises. What question can the info answer? He got cross with me if I tried to come up with a question and then find sources, instead of the other way around.

Also, I second what Nadezha said about saturating the sources.

And while 25 pages may seem insurmountable now, once you get all the sources together it won't. In fact, I usually have to pare down my papers, instead of worrying about them being long enough.

[hoosieranna]

You might also find out whether that 25 pages includes figures and references or should be text only. One of my papers had 5 pages of figures and about 4 pages of references. That was 9 less pages I had to fill. I'll admit this leans toward slacking. I REALLY don't like papers. Including figures and references allowed me to finish the thing that much faster. Just a thought.

[Archaeology cat]

Wow, your profs allowed figures & references to count towards the page count? Of course, my profs generally put a word count on the paper instead of a page count. Sneaky.