Academic Research

[hoosieranna]

[quote name='Archaeology cat' post='1875582' date='May 26 2009, 11:09 AM']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.[/quote]

Off topic: I dealt with word counts when I was in Bangor. I detested them. 2500 words is much longer than it sounds. Trying to write four 2500 word essays in about two days was not one of my better ideas. Hence the note about not procrastinating.

The particular paper I mentioned didn't have a page count. It was one of my two non-thesis papers so it ended up being about fifty pages. Figures were allowed because they furthered the analysis. I think references were counted because my prof was tired of reading the paper. I was too, by that point.

Okay, back on topic.

Edited May 26, 2009 by Nadezhda

[Archaeology cat]

Oh yeah, I think the word count thing was just when I was doing my MA at Liverpool, now that you mention it. In the US it was page count. OK, back on topic.

[scardella]

<peanut gallery>Here's some advice: DON'T DO IT! Research is overrated.</peanut gallery>

[hoosieranna]

[quote name='Archaeology cat' post='1875592' date='May 26 2009, 11:37 AM']Oh yeah, I think the word count thing was just when I was doing my MA at Liverpool, now that you mention it. In the US it was page count. OK, back on topic. [/quote]

Sorry, another hijack: You're so blithe. "When I was doing my MA..." I got my MS and can't be convinced to go back again for a Ph.D. I'm done done done. Did I mention I'm finished? Anyway, good luck on the doctorate. Don't let it make you fusty.

Okay, all done.

[Archaeology cat]

Oh, I stopped the PhD. Not planning on going back. I'm enjoying being a SAHM too much.

[Sojourner]

I had word counts for some grad papers and page counts for others. Sometimes profs would specify a font and font size as well. It depended on the prof.

[TeresaBenedicta]

I definitely prefer page numbers to word counts.

I'm not so worried about the paper itself, funny enough. I love writing papers, so I have feeling I might actually enjoy doing this one, even if it is long. But I suspect it will end being longer than 25 anyways.

My biggest fear is about doing the actual research for the paper. I don't have a very good system, or really any system, for doing big time research.

[Archaeology cat]

Ask your supervisor for some good starting resources, and then look at their bibliographies and such, too. Are there some primary sources you know off-hand?

Edited May 26, 2009 by Archaeology cat

[hoosieranna]

One of the best resources for sources I've ever encountered was a service called JSTOR. My university had a subscription to it. You can do a keyword search and bring up any and all articles in the database that have the keyword. You print them out and they have all the reference information already on the page. I got most of the sources for one of my big papers from either JSTOR or Academic Search Premier. The only issue with JSTOR is that it is meant to be an archive, so the latest and greatest bits of research haven't yet been entered. A librarian at your university should be able to show you how to access the electronic research resources.

I don't know that being up to date will really be an issue with your research project. There's also a publishing house called Cistercian Publications ([url="http://www.cistercianpublications.org/"]http://www.cistercianpublications.org/[/url]) that the Spring Bank nuns link to. I hope that means it is legit.

Print or check out everything that might remotely relate to your subject. That way you can guarantee you'll have sources at hand and won't have to wait for some goober freshman to return them. Skim, rather than pore over sources. You can usually get a good idea if the source will be useful by reading the abstract (summary) at the beginning. Use a highlighter. It makes it much easier to find important points that way.

Edited May 26, 2009 by Nadezhda

[the lords sheep]

[quote name='Nadezhda' post='1875788' date='May 26 2009, 10:03 PM']Print or check out everything that might remotely relate to your subject. That way you can guarantee you'll have sources at hand and won't have to wait for some goober freshman to return them. Skim, rather than pore over sources. You can usually get a good idea if the source will be useful by reading the abstract (summary) at the beginning. Use a highlighter. It makes it much easier to find important points that way.[/quote]

Highlighters are great. I always make small notes next to the paragraph to remind me why I highlighted it so that I can find things easily later. Basically sum up the highlighted stuff in 3 or 4 words...

To the OP- you'll get the hang of it! Don't worry too much about it. Just ask your advisor for help when you need it and enjoy your research! (<- it's statements like that that remind me what a nerd I am... )

God bless!

[puellapaschalis]

[quote name='Nadezhda' post='1875788' date='May 26 2009, 10:03 PM']I don't know that being up to date will really be an issue with your research project. There's also a publishing house called Cistercian Publications ([url="http://www.cistercianpublications.org/"]http://www.cistercianpublications.org/[/url]) that the Spring Bank nuns link to. I hope that means it is legit.[/quote]

Cistercian Publications is legit, afaik. They have a whole series of publications of otherwise hard to find texts, most by monastics. My copy of Aelred's [i]Spiritual Friendship[/i] is published by them.

[TeresaBenedicta]

[quote name='puellapaschalis' post='1875882' date='May 26 2009, 08:16 PM']Cistercian Publications is legit, afaik. They have a whole series of publications of otherwise hard to find texts, most by monastics. My copy of Aelred's [i]Spiritual Friendship[/i] is published by them.[/quote]

Yeah, they're legit. I've ordered and received three of my sources from them thus far.