RESEARC RESEARCHING FOR A PRESENTATION G FOR A PRESENTATION Researching is the process that we undertake to collect pieces of evidence. Evidence refers to all the pieces of information that we use to determine whether or not something is true. You've likely heard of "evidence" in a courtroom trial. Information in different forms (physical, testimonial, and so on) is collected in order to find out if someone is guilty or not. Just like it is important for our court system to have plenty of reliable pieces of evidence, it is also extremely important to conduct good research before you begin to write a paper or a speech. Why is research necessary? Thorough researching is critical to constructing a well informed, accurate, and fair presentation. Have you ever heard one of your friends make a strange claim or tell you a story that you were skeptical of or didn't believe? There are many myths that we hear all the time, and it is important to be able to find out if there is any truth behind such myths. For example, there are many Internet scams out there now. If a friend told you that you could make money just by surfing the Internet but first you had to send her or him 20 dollars, you would probably want to know if such a money making plan was legitimate. How would you find out the truth of your friend's story or the facts that he or she told you? Without verifying what others tell you, you may not be able to know if what they told you is true. Most often, this is exactly how stereotypes and other myths begin and are spread until many people believe they are true. Acting on myths and stereotypes can be very harmful to everyone involved. Gaining knowledge through research can help sort out fact from fiction. Research and the Internet Although the Internet is probably the first place we now think to go to find information, we must remember that much of the material in cyberspace is there for a very specific reason: to make money. The ".com" in most Internet addresses is short for commerce. The Internet can be a powerful researching tool, but only if it is used properly. Below are some Internet researching tips that will allow you to use the Internet beneficially. 1) Do not use "popular" search engines such as Yahoo! or Excite. Instead, use academic search engines, such as ProQuest Direct, or Lexis-Nexis, if your library has access to them. Using popular engines may turn up biased and unreliable information. 2) In general, try to avoid ".com" addresses. (There are exceptions to this; some ".com" sites are specifically set up for researchers to use, such as Lexis-Nexis.) 3) Never use an Internet site as reliable research unless its author is identified on the page. Then, make sure the author is an expert on the topic he or she has written about. 4) Look for "last updated" date somewhere on the website. If a website does not tell you how often it is updated, it is probably not a reliable source.
5) Determine the purpose of the website. Is it trying to sell you something (including an idea!)? If it is, you might assume the information contained in it is biased in some way. Avoid websites that are trying to sell something. Go to the Library! Even the best technology cannot replace browsing around on the shelves in the library. Many students think that if it doesn't appear on an electronic search, it doesn't exist. Not true! Search engines and other electronic means are far from perfect, and the best way to do research remains an actual browsing of the shelves in the library. Find out the location on the shelves that your topic is most likely to be. Then, look at the books that are near that location. Chances are you'll find more books on your subject than your initial electronic search told you were there. When in doubt, ask someone for help. That is why librarians are there and they are always more than willing to help someone out! Interview "experts" A great resource for information is other people. Perhaps someone you know is an "expert" on a topic you are researching. Set up an interview with them. A few helpful pointers for interviewing: 1) Make certain the person you are interviewing will be perceived as an expert by your audience. 2) Plan out your questions in advance. Do not waste the person's time by being unprepared. What kinds of research do I need? The best presentations use a wide variety of research. A combination of books, newspaper articles, news magazine articles (like Time and Newsweek), and reliable Internet sources makes the best presentations. Only using the same source over and over again does not show your audience that you know what you are talking about and that you have been responsible in your evidence gathering. The best research is recent. Our knowledge changes rapidly. The best research is based upon our newest knowledge. In general, avoid materials more than a few years old, unless nothing newer can be found.
Use unbiased research. Although sometimes it can be difficult to determine, avoid research that has a clear agenda. If you were researching the topic of gun control, for example, you would need to be careful about using the National Rifle Association as a source because it is the NRA's goal to protect the right to bear arms. Problems when researching. 1) I can't find any materials on my topic! --Try using different words that mean the same thing, or try using different forms of the word or phrase. Be creative in your searching! For example, if you are researching the origin of blue jeans, you might also type in "denim" when searching. --Learn the "rules" of the search engine you are using. For example, most search engines support finding various forms of a word. You can use an asterisk (*) to find the singular or plural instance of a word. If you were researching crocodiles, you would get more hits by searching for crocodile*. --Go to the library and look on the shelves. Electronic searches miss many pieces of research! 2) People say things that disagree with each other; how do I know who to believe? --This is a tricky one. A problem like this is why it is important to have more research than you think you might need. What does MOST of the research say? If 20 people say the sky is blue, and one says it is green, you can safely agree with the 20 in most instances. But if 10 people say the sky is blue, and 10 say the sky is green, then you need to tell your audience that different opinions exist on your topic, and you cannot prove anything with the research you have. 3) How do I know if a source is biased? -- This could require further research. Try to find out a little bit about the person or organization that wrote the research. Try to determine if they have a particular reason for writing what they wrote. VE. Sp Special tha ecial thanks to to Jody R Jody Roy, Ph.D. for y, Ph.D. for pr provi oviding th g these ese ma materi terial als to S s to SAVE.
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