As you start to find things, you will have to:
- Evaluate them to see if they will help answer your research question
- Make sure they are saved so you can refer to them later
- Take notes on them so you know how to use them to move toward writing
Evaluation
Make sure you check out this page on evaluating sources from Learning Module 7, the reading from the textbook on evaluating sources, this page on using targeted questions to evaluate sources from Learning Module 7, and this short reading for the flow chart on those targeted questions.
Saving Sources
If you found a journal article, make sure you save it as a PDF file to your computer so you can look at it later.
If you found a book that is online, make sure you have either a link to it saved in a separate document or you write down the full name and author of the book so you can find it again. If the link is through Baruch’s library, make sure you do both (the link might not work, so you’ll want the author and title so you can find it again).
If you found a journal article or another webpage that is only available as a webpage, make sure you have the link saved in a separate document.
Finally: a good idea is to create a folder on your computer (or somewhere else, like Google Drive) and label it by the name of the assignment (e.g., “ENG 2100 Research Paper”). That way you can always find a document with saved links or PDFs of articles or whatever. You can also save different versions of your Research Writing Project there, as well.
Taking Notes and Moving Toward Synthesis
So you have some sources and you have some writing to do. Naturally, you will toggle back and forth here a bit (you might have some sources, then you do some writing, then you find a need for more sources, and then you do more writing).
Now what? Get organized.
First, you have to keep your research question at the forefront of what you want to do here. Let it manage your attention and keep your focus on what you want to prioritize in reading through sources.
Second, you will want to immerse yourself in your sources so you know them really well. It will be clear in your writing if you have not done this, because you will just drop a quote here or there and write in a way that would leave an impression that you did not need the source at all. Don’t do that! Getting really deep into the sources you have will help you learn in impactful ways and it will help produce better writing.
Lean on your reading annotation skills! Take notes on things that jump out to you, note where you pause, look over your notes and compare notes against notes on other sources. What patterns or themes do you see? What are the connections among your sources? Mark those connections.
Third, evaluate the sources you have (another layer of evaluation after evaluating to include them in your project to begin with). Page 169 in our textbook has some great questions to ask to start doing this.
Doing this work will help you move toward integrating your writing in relation to the sources you find with the larger argument of your research paper (one that will be developed by engaging with these sources and not *before* you ever encounter sources!).
Task
Do one of the following in a comment below:
- Find a source that is potentially relevant (use previous page to help) and talk about why it could be helpful in no more than 100 words.
- Share a note you took on a source you have already started to read through. Explain what the note is in reference to.
After commenting below, click on the button to continue:
Analysis of Finnish Education System to question the reasons behind Finnish success in PISA by Ulas Ustun, Ali Eryilmaz.
I can use this article to provide evidence to my claim when I am comparing foreign education systems to United States.
The source article called “Weekend sleep intervention for workers with habitually short sleep periods” might be potentially helpful for my research question. The article is based off research and study conducted to determine if extended sleep can benefit those who habitually sleep less. This might be able to support my reasonings for the effects of sufficient sleep.
“Social Consequences of Grindr Use: Extending the Internet-Enhanced Self-Disclosure Hypothesis” by Samuel Hardman Taylor, Jevan Hutson, and Tyler Richard Alicea can be helpful for my paper since it specifically zooms in on a popular gay dating app associated with hookup culture that can answer my question to an extent.
A note I took on the source was how “sexual minorities experience unique, chronic stressors as a result of their stigmatized identities” since it shows an impact on mental health and it’s something I have experienced personally. I may be able to input some anecdotal evidence to further my argument with this quote and how Grindr affects a gay individual’s mental health.
1. The source article called “How To Make A Video Game From Scratch” is potentially helpful for my research question. This article is specifically based of my research question which is what is the best way to start creating a video game. This article gives step by step instructions on how to start creating video games and would be very helpful to my research.
The source article named “How Your Environment Affects Productivity And Learning” seems to be helpful for my paper for quite a few reasons. So far what I have read has been pretty helpful in finding the answers I need on the effect of learning due to the work environment. Also, this article gives me straight-up bullet points and is well organized, and tells me all the important things right away.
A note from the article is “Technology can be wonderful when we need it, but it’s also one of the biggest distractions facing students and adults, alike.” This here helps me explain my argument further and I can apply this to my paper
Source Article: “Verbal communication about sex in marriage: Patterns of language use and its connection with relational outcomes.” I’m interested in how language influences women’s experience of sexual pleasure so this source can help me identify gender differences and pleasure outcomes regarding language.
A note I took was “Men use more action/ slang/ words & women use more innuendo/ clinical/ relational terms” I am going to use this as background info on how language is inherently different in usage and therefor in perception between sexes
One source i have for my research question an interview from my mentor. It is helpful because he provides insight that can back up my claim.
a note I took is my mentor has thirty-year-old skills he developed in terms of management, negotiation, customer service
Source article: businessinsider.com/technology
This article will help me elaborate upon the reasons that technology is bad for mankind, as there are many points suggesting the idea that technology increases unhealthy lifestyles.