Selected pages from The night before essay planner (Hall, 2007) - Research

7/30/2019 Selected pages from The night before essay planner (Hall, 2007) - Research

1/10

II Row to conduct a libraryliterature searchTAKE TH IS BOOK W ITH YOU TO TH E LIBRARY an d go s tr aig ht to the computer termina lsto begin your resea rch at the first point of attack: the libr ary cata logue. Your libr a ry ca ta log uewill a lso be avai labl e on li n e through the librar y website, so if you have In t ernet access, you canconduc t yo ur li terature sea rch at h ome. W he th er a t home or in the libr ary, get comforta ble,because yo u now n eed to searc h th e ca ta logue for an y books, journa ls, period ica ls, an dau d iov isual m a teria l o n th e topics you iden t ified in th e sect ion "Pu tting yo ur ideas in to groups';

page 30 . If your tutor gave you a s u ggested reading list, begin wit h it.At thi s sta ge o f th e planning pro cess you s hould exp lor e articles that loo k int eresti ng or

unique, sniff arou nd for n ew ideas and gather as mu ch materi a l relevant to your s ubj ec t as yo ucan . As you locate potential refere n ces o n the co mput er, write th em down in thi s section . Be sureto lis t a ll th e referen ce in f o rm at io n of the material s yo u loca te. When it comes to writ ing therefer ence lis t a t the end of your essay, you wi ll be very, very happ y th at yo u have a de t a iled list ingof th e books yo u co nsul t ed.

You wo n't find a ll the inform a tion you nee d the firs t tim e you go to the library. Get w hat youcan on th e first v is it , read it an d re turn wh en you h ave mor e foc us an d di r ec tio n fo r yo ur essay.

The fo llow in g sec tion shows yo u h ow to co nduct a lite ratur e sea rch in th e libr ary a nd prov idesth e fram ewo rk for co llect in g the bib liog raphic inform a tion r equ i red. Once you h ave wanderedaround the libr ar y a nd located so me relev a nt so urc es, you w ill probab ly be ready to get out ofth ere as fast as you can, so borrow o r p hotocopy as much in f orma tion as you need and run free.

3 8


2/10

Limit the amount of time you wasteHour s , even days, can disappear when you ar e search in g for source mate ri a l. Wh ile t hi s m ay he lpyou feel lik e you are doing something towards you r essay, it can also beco m e an in sidious fo rm o fpro cras t in ation . Befor e you beg in sea rchin g, you need to know no t only what yo u are sea rchi ngfor but a lso how you wi ll find it, ot he rwi se y ou w ill be stu ck in th e l ibra ry for much longer th anyou may have plann ed.

Techniques for searching the library catalogue1. SUBJECT, KEY WORD, AUTHOR, TITLE, CALL NUMBERYour libr ar y cata logue wi ll offer a numb er of options for yo u to sea rch fo r reference material. Yo uca n choo se to search by th e genera l subject area, a key wo rd , an aut h o r, th e ti tle of a boo k, orthe ca ll numb e r, depending on what in f ormation yo u a lready have. Unless yo u are loo k ing for a

specific book , you wi ll ge n erally sea rch by subject area and key words jus t as yo u wo uld o n anIn t ern et sea rch engine.

2. BOOLEAN OPERATORSBoolean op e rator s are command words that will res trict, expand, or clar ify your searc h. Th ey arean effec tive, s impl e way of refinin g your subj ec t and key word searc hes so yo u re tr ieve the mos trele va nt sources. Fo r exa mpl e, if you typ e "a nthropology" yo u will get tho u sa nd s of refe ren ces an dit wou ld take for eve r to wade throu g h th em a ll to find the mo st relevant resources for your essaytop ic. Thus, it i s ge ne rally adv isa ble to u se two or mo r e wo rd s so yo ur sea rch is more specific,

for exa mpl e "a nthropolo gy AND publi c hea lth ': To successf ull y searc h with two o r more wordsyou w ill need to u se Bool ean operators. Not e th a t Boo lea n operators are always capi talised or inquotation m ar ks. The Bool ea n ope rators an d their fu n c tion s are:

Boolean operator FunctionRestricts a search

Searches for both wordstogether in the same source

Expands search to includesources with words togetherand separately

Allowsyou to conduct a morespec ificsearch

Example"anthropology NOT public health" would retrieve allreferences on anthropology except those in relation topublic health

"anthropologyANDpublic health"would retrievereferences on both anthropologyand public health inthe same source

"anthropology OR public health " would retrievereferences that include both anthropology and publichealth and those with either anthropology or publichealth.

"anthropologyAND public health NO T Australia" wouldretrieve references on both anthropology and publichealth in the same source , excluding those fromAustralia

3 9


3/10

Browse the shelves

It's window shoppin g for researchers! This probably sounds li ke a vague way to search the library,bu t once you are familiar with your libr ary system, go to the sect ion that houses the referencematerial for your discipline and wander around. It's amazing what you can stumb le on when youa ll ow yourself some time to exp lor e. Of course, this technique is no t recommended if it's the nightbefore your essay is due.

REFERENCE DETAILS CALL NUMBER

Author I Year published I Full title I Cityof publication I Publisher (e.g. 1 04.7GRA)


4/10

Key websites

http://WWW.Date accessed:Notes:

http:/ www.Date accessed:Notes:

http://www.Date accessed:Notes:

http://www.Date accessed:

Notes:




4 6


5/10

Reading strategiesHow to make sense of what you read

BY THIS STAGE YOU SHOULD HAVE: thought about your essay question, identifi ed so me areasof in t erest, and co llec ted relev a nt informati o n from the libr ary. No w you are prob ab ly st a rin g ata pile of b ooks an d photocopied chap ters an d articles, del ay ing the inevitab le: read ing an d notetakin g.

Th i s is one of th e m os t im p o r t an t sta ges in wri ting an essa y. Yo u ne ed to read , and read,a nd rea d so m e more. You w ill bro ad en your base o f knowl edg e by re adi n g as mu ch as yo ucan s tomac h. The m ore inform ed you are , th e eas ier it i s to d eve lop an d w ri te an in s ig htful,considered essay with a so lid argume nt. Thi s is the key, th e big sec re t. Info rmatio n is powe r. Th emo r e you researc h, the eas ier it is to develop an op inio n and d efend it successf ull y in your essay.

Th ere are a numb er o f ways to m ake th is part o f th e process less torturo us, an d th is sect ionwill pr ov id e a s tru cture for yo u to d issec t th e ma sses of informat ion yo u h ave co llec ted into aser ies of mean in gfu l resea rch n otes.


6/10

Always have the essay quest ion in the back of your mindMany people get carried aw ay by what they r ea d a nd forget to s top an d co nsider it s relevanceto their essay question. Throughout your rea di n g you need to be on the lookout for thing s thatrelate to your qu e s tion. Th e re is no point in gett ing carr ied away by an inte res tin g a rticl e to ge tto it s e nd an d think "urn, what did th a t hav e to do with my qu es tion? " This ca n b e a n int eres tingdiver sion; you may even get lu cky and find so mething relevant to your topi c, but you ca n't affor dthat lu x ur y if time is short with an approaching d ea dlin e. Always keep your essay qu es tion in thebac k of your mind when reading potential so urce m a terial and have the topic areas you id ent ifiedin the beginning nearby to rem ind you of th e focu s of your resea rch .

Gather informationIn thi s sec tion , you are co llecting inform a tion and resea rch ing th e var iou s sides of a ny potentiala rgum ent s. You will prob ably gravitate to on e sid e of th e de b a te. Go with it and exp lore it. Use

your no te-t a king as a time to examine the iss ue . Th e mor e you rea d , th e mo re clearly defined youropinion will become . As you rea d , keep a n eye ou t fo r opinions th at ag ree (or disagree) with yo urown; pay a tt ention to t he applicat ion of th eo retical perspective s, an d note authors wh o ag ree ordi sag ree on th e topic . Academics a t eve r y leve l use publis hed writ ing to expand their kn ow ledg ean d d eve lop their opinions.

Use footnotes, endnotes , bibliographies and reference lists to generate ideasDon't forget, when you are reading a book or article, p ay attention to the ref ere nces the aut h oruses o r r eco mmends as thi s is an exce llent way to find add i tion a l relev ant material fo r your essay.

Respect your own opinionBecause most of us are no t pub lish ed a ut h o rs, a co mmon mi s tak e we make when rea dingso mething we find un settl ing or que s tionab le is to doubt ourselves a nd assu me that o ur ow n viewmu s t b e in co rr ec t. Remember that th ere will almost always be a pu b lished v iew in oppos ition toor s im p ly differing from the article you are reading. I f you find something you di sag ree with asyo u read, don't ignore your t hought, go o ut and find an author who support s your view, they w illexist. And th e re is no t hing wrong in d isag ree ing wit h majo ri ty opin ions. You ju s t h ave to back upyour view with spec ific quote s a nd a tight argument.

4 9


7/10

Taking notesN

otetaking and reference summariesNOTE-TAK ING IS NOT JUST WRITIN G DOWN points of intere s t, bu t a way of pr ocess ingthe information you rea d. I f you lea rn to ta ke accurate no t es, you are more likely to write aninformative an d or ig in a l essay. Co nsc io us note-taking is the foundation of a good essay.

Although it can see m m ore diffi cul t o r even a waste of time, write in your own wo rd s wh e nyo u tak e n o tes . Writ ing in your own words fo rces yo u to th ink about wha t you are read in g,turning readin g into an interactiv e act ivity in s tead o f a hypn o tic lull ab y. Try jo tt ing d own yo urthought s and fee ling s in the ma r g in s, crea te flow chart s o r draw pictur es an d always keep adi ct ionary hand y to loo k up any un f a mili ar words.

Even wh en you translate so m e thin g into yo ur own words (paraph rasing), yo u still need tore fere nce where yo u go t the ide a, so when yo u ta k e notes a lways w ri te do wn the page number.You w ill n eed th e page number to r efe rence th e in f o rm a tion if you do use the idea in yo ur finalessay, and it will a lso be very usef ul if you n eed to revisit th e refe renc e at any tim e. The am o u ntyou should read and the vo lu m e of no t es you shou ld ta k e is dictated by the leng th of your essay.C h eck th e Qu an t it y Gu id e (page 18) in thi s boo k for a rough indi cation of how much you sh ouldrea d and ho w m an y no tes you sh o uld h ave for yo ur essay.

Taki ng notes is a sk ill that yo u will need throu ghou t your s tudi es. This sect ion outlinesthree me thod s for taking notes from yo ur rea d in gs: referen ce s ummari es (a s tru c tu r e fo r yo u

to s ummari se an d br ea k down eac h reference in yo ur ow n words); n o tes by topic (b lan k spa ceso you ca n take note s from yo ur read in gs acco rdin g to th e themes you want to a d dr ess in youress ay); an d deve lop in g id eas (blank pages for yo u to p lay a ro und w ith concepts a nd theme s thatjump into yo ur mind as yo u read).

Keep a ph otocopy o f eac h a rti cle o r book chap ter with your no t es.

8 4 !Llliill


8/10

Reference summary

Reference (author/s, year of publication, title, publisher, city of publication)

How old is the publication? (Look at the year was it published) ___ ____ __ years old

Is the content of the pubication relevant to a particular country?

Is the publication written from a particular academic perspective?

What theoretical perspectives are addressed?

Summary/keypoints (identify page numbers)

88


9/10

Notes by topicAS YOU SUMMAR ISE EACH REFEREN CE, yo u can order your note s by topic area. Topic a reasar e th e broad iss u es yo u want to dev e lop or expl ore in your essay.

Sta te eac h topic as a titl e a t th e top of a se parat e page, and th en wr ite down all t he releva ntinformation on th at parti cul ar topi c from th e refere nces you hav e read. Eac h page of n o tes wi llbeco me a co llec tio n o f iss ue s, them es , id eas a nd perspective s o n th e b road topics you wa nt tocover in you r essa y f rom th e diff erent rea ding s you have d one.

Th is is a goo d way to organi se yo ur no tes beca use it a llow s you to eas ily see whe re th epo tenti a l ga ps are in yo ur researc h an d kn ow ledge .

A le tt er code is ass ig ned to each so ur ce you read (o r view or lis ten to) in the references um m ari es sec tio n : "Pl.;"B'; "C" etc . Thi s le tt er co d e sys tem is d esigne d to save yo u fro m having to

w rite o ut th e e ntir e b ibliograph ic in f o rm ation (i.e. a u thor, yea r of pu b licat ion , pub lisher) of eacharticle repeated ly as yo u br ea k th e articl e up by top ic a rea in thi s sec tio n .

If , for exa mpl e, your essay qu es tion was: "Discuss the impact of cla ss an d cu lt ur e in th eillega l orga n se lling tr ade'; you may want to loo k a t the broad topi c of po vert y. Thus, you wouldlabe l a page in th e following sec tion with "P overty'; an d und er thi s to pi c, wou ld ga th e r all th ein f o rm a tio n yo u h ave o n p ove rt y from th e va ri ou s so ur ces yo u hav e co nsu lted a nd summ ar ised inth e refe ren ce s ummarie s sec tio n. Fo r exa m ple:

TOPIC: POVERTY

"Lega lis in g th e o rga n se llin g tr ad e w ill s im ply in st ituti o nalise pov e rt y" (A: 16)Poverty is s tr uc tu r al disadva nt age (C:22)

So, (A :16) te lls yo u the in f or ma tion is fro m ref e rence A in yo ur refere nce s um m aries, an d th ein f or m at io n ca n be fou nd o n page 16 of th at so ur ce. S imil a rly (C:22) tells yo u the in f or ma tion isfrom reference C in your refere n ce s um m ari es , a nd the information ca n be fo un d on page 22 ofth a t so ur ce.

Th is will save yo u time a nd co n fus io n down th e ro ad. You ca n refe r back to th e fu ll re ferenced e ta ils in th e reference s ummari es sec tio n as yo u n eed th em. O rga n ise yo ur notes by top ic o n th efo llow in g pages .

7 8


10/10

Topic

Documents

Selected pages from The night before essay planner (Hall, 2007) - Research