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ENG 104 Composition II
The Research Process:
An Overview
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Contents
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It is important to understand that research is a cumulative process: it progresses gradually over time, and it must unfold in necessary stages. To begin to understand this process, you must first understand what a college research paper really is.
2. Unsubstantiated personal opinion.
3. A cut-and-paste series of quotations (no matter how authoritative or well documented).
4. A summary of the findings of a single source.
5. A Report: the ideas of others (no matter how many others) repeated uncritically.
6. Plagiarism: the ideas of others passed off as one's own.
STEP 2: Select a General Subject Area.
B. Pick an area that will hold your interest for the whole project.
STEP 3: Begin Preliminary Reading in General Subject Area.
A. Begin exploring the library, reading and skimming printed sources, checking the ProQuest Data Base, talking to teachers and others who know the subject,watching and listening to television and radio news, public affairs, and talk shows. (See Flow Chart, p. 5, and "Constructing...", p. 6).
B. Explore without preconceptions or prejudgments. Do not set out to "prove" anything.
C. Aim to learn the scope of your subject, what research has been done, what is ongoing.
D. Consult frequently with your instructor(s) for guidance.
STEP 4: Create a Topic by Framing a Research Question.
B. Try to frame the narrowest possible workable question.
C. Take extra care when framing questions involving large, abstract, challenging concepts--right, wrong, truth, justice, honor.
D. Avoid over-worked topics and questions.
E. Avoid subjects where sources are too limited (this is rare).
B. Build a working bibliography.
C. Read your print sources intensively.
D. Do focused interviews (where possible) of people whose views are authoritative.
E. Order transcripts of useful television and radio programs.
F. Conduct opinion surveys (where appropriate), and tabulate the results.
G. Take systematic notes (and lots of them) on large note cards.
H. Continuously evaluate, judge, and question your data. (See: Evaluating Source Materials).
I. Continually reassess your topic and your Research Question.
STEP 6: Formulate a Research Hypothesis--a Preliminary Answer to Your Research Question.
A. The hypothesis should be in the form of a declarative statement: your best guess, based on the data so far collected, as to the probable thesis of the finished research paper.
B. Note: the hypothesis must be an arguable proposition, one on which reasonable people might disagree.
What a Research Paper is Not
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1. An exercise in confirming your prejudices.
What a Research Paper Is
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An original synthesis which presents your discoveries about a topic, and your judgment, your interpretation, your evaluation of those discoveries.
The Process
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STEP 1: Decide to Write a GOOD Paper.
STEP 7: Continually Reassess All of the Above Steps.
A. Pick a subject area that interests you intensely.
A. Write down your subject, plus a question about it that your research seeks to answer.
STEP 5: Start Collecting Data.
A. Begin as soon as you settle upon a question.
Have a question about the research process? Send me an e-mail.
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