“Though this be madness, yet there is method in ‘t.” – Polonius in Hamlet This blog is for the reflections, thoughts, rants, and discussions of Mrs. Caldwell’s Senior English classes at Mountain Brook High School. Come and check out the madness. There is method to all of it, I assure you!
This is the place for research paper tips. Offer three good tips on research in general or research on your topic. Include internet advanced search tips, text searches, best books on reserve, organization tips, etc. Good luck!
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Hosted by Edublogs.
The organizational skill that works best for me is numbering coherent sources. I number a source and that source is number 1(for example) for the rest of the researching process. I match quotes through colums. I also group sources in folderes that have to do with the same topic. It takes me a lot of grouping and numbering inorder to stay organized.
The best organizationil skill that i have is making notecards for that correlate between my sources and the responding information. I gather my information that way and then group them in to different stacks. What stack it is in is determined by what point that supports in my thesis.
One thing that really helped me write my research paper last year was making quote pairs. My teacher required us to do it and it helped a lot. All you do is find two quotes that go together and then you write about how they compare/contrast each other as well as how they work with your thesis. I would recommend it because we have to use a certain amount of quotes.
The research paper is the easiest paper i’ve ever had to write. Once you figure out your topic you are basically done. All you have to do is find books or internet sources and make sure they are relevant to your topic…some don’t even have to be relevant, they can just sound good. Taking down notes on book sources or internet sources makes the process simple. Once you find enough information just start to write and it will be over before you know it. I wish the deadlines were sooner because i’m almost done.
I suggest finding 2-3 book and/or database (avl, ebsco, etc.) sources first. These are generally the most difficult to locate. Once these 3 sources have been obtained the rest (besides your primary) can be internet sources, which most prefer to work with. Also when it comes to looking at internet sites, there is a tool you can use where you type in a word and it will search the entire website and show where ever that word is found. this is a big help in locating relevent information. Also, Grouping your sources is really important once you have a few. This will give you an accurate idea of what you need more information on.
In beginning my research I decided to use colored notecards, so as to separate different kinds of sources (books, internet, etc). On notecards, I normally write a couple of notes but mostly full quotes. The full quotes may be possible quotes I could integrate into my paper. I also always make sure to cite all of my sources immediately after I print them out or copy them. This is to ensure that I don’t have to do it later on when I’m organizing my bibliography. Another tip I have is that the AVL and database information is actually really helpful. Normally I focus more on google and other internet search engines, but I decided to use AVL and it really helped.
I am organized when I am able to spread out and use a whole table to lay out my ideas. Certain papers in this area, qutoes in another. I can visually see where my ideas are and coming from. With this I can easily organized them to make sense with each other. This does take a certain discipline and time to decide to do this with no one around to bother you. Once I do this I organize the different ideas into different sections of my accordian folder to be easily available when I want to bring the information back out on the table.
Hey Mrs. Caldwell,
I research as much as possible on my topic before I try to find a direction. I also base my thesis and direct on what has the most secondary sources. Writing a good outline makes all the difference for me. Don’t lose your sources and keep them organized. It helps to photocopy the front of the book and all the copyright information and attach them to each of your sources. Good luck everybody!
My best tips for research paper is probably the two things that i am worst at: do not procrastinate and staying organinzed. The way that I have found that is easiest for me to stay organized is after reading and highlighting all my sources to go back and sort through them putting all the best and relating quotes on a notecard. Then those notecard can help put into paragraphs. The main issue with the research paper is just having the discipline to stay focused and do the work that is required.
Whenever I ask for help from the libarians , I make sure to write down all the call numbers for all the books that they suggest and pull. I have all of the numbers on a sheet in my folder and therefore know what books might help me and not always be looking. I also copy everything with the copy machine and read it when I’m alone in a quiet place and highlight are relavent matters. On the back of every copy I also go and cite the book so that I don’t have to go back and search for it, I’ll just have it when I’m writing and be able to include it.
The hardest part for me in doing a research paper is actually finding the right research. You have to be so careful where you get your info from on the internet. The best thing I have learned to do is go to educational websites, or websites that have been wellput together by scholors. I think that highlighting and laying out ideas on paper is the next best thing to putting all your information together. You have to make sure that you cite EVERYTHING! It is the worst feeling in the world to lose cites of something that is very informative.
The best organizational skill that I have come accross is using different colored pens for each source that I use. The different colored pens help differentiate each source from the other. The numbering system works, although I am very OCD and like all of them the same color.
For my topic (Frankenstein) AVL has been a very helpful source. The advanced search really allows you to pull up specific topics that are beneficial to your paper in particular. Also, even though we can’t use spark notes as a source, I have used their analysis and essay answers as ideas for new concepts to look up on the internet.
Time, Reading, and Focus!!! If you have those three things and do them good you will do oh so well on your research paper.
One tip of writing a successful research paper is ORGANIZATION! One way to organize is having an accordion folder like Ms. C asked us to get. If you have one that you can label, label the sections into Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Note cards, Drafts, and then miscellaneous. This is a good way to keep you organized. Another tip is to use note cards even when your teacher says that you don’t have to. I like using note cards because they are easier to keep organized and they are small and handy. The last tip is write down the sources before you write any notes down or print the source off. That way in case you loose it or dont remember what the book looks like, you will always have the title and the writter of the book. Also, don’t forget to write the page down if you are using a book!
This paper is an easy one to write. However, it takes a lot of concentration. You must be able to find sources and quotes. The easiest way I have found to gather information is by using the AVL. The Alabama Virtual Library is filled with great sources that will create strong supports to your topic. Another thing that this is good for is to make sure that all of your sources are infact credible. This speeds up the proccess because you do not have to filter through such things as wiki-peadia and other things like that. That is all.
I am best organized by making notecards and source cards that correspond with my source. I number the notecards and source cards and the source and keep all of that together. Also, I go through and highlight the important-key- points and write them on the notecards. For me this is the easiest way to stay organized because you can find everything quickly and its all right there together.
I started my reasearch by checking through the databases provided by AVL. I could only find two good sources of information, but it was very easy to access. Also i found a few book sources that are relevant to my topic and made souce cards for each of them. I then go through my information and highlight what i think is most important. This makes my notetaking step go by a lot smoother….Once i group together my secondary source notes, i can match them up with relevant quotes from my primary source. This paper is going to be really interesting and I cannot wait until it is finished.
Organization is definately the key in research papers. I group all of my things according to the points/paragraphs I have. I use notecards but I also have to have a notebook to list everything out. I dont have an internet tip but I did find a perfect article for my paper on AVL, which is nice beacause I dont have to cite it.
My suggestions will not be normal. I have no idea as to how to work AVL so I will not pretend to give tips on something that is very confusing to me. The only real suggestions that I can offer in all sincerity are these: 1) Ask lots of questions, whether you are asking the teacher or students you will almost always find an answer if you annoy people enough; 2) Don’t get bogged down, when you find sources or papers and begin to read them do not get in a panic if you can not follow what it is saying, notice that most of the people around are far worse off then you are; and 3) Always keep an open mind, when you have no idea where to turn to just start searching your topic from odd angles and topics are bound to come up. Good luck!
Probably the most important thing you have to remember when going through the research process is to keep yourself organized. When collecting imformation from books, copy the pages you need, staple them together, and write the citation information, in proper format, on the first page. Do the same thing with printed internet sources. Then highlight the important and relevant information. Then transfer this imformation to notecards, which can be easily organized. Assign each source a number, writing that number on both the copies and their corresponding cards. Then organize your cards to fit into your three main points of your thesis. Once you have done this, writing the paper will come naturally.
My folder has man different dividers in it. My main 3 topics are organized in three different divided sections. This way all my papers are kept separate from each other. Second, you must just make yourself do it. Yeah research papers stink, but there is no way around them so you just have to sit down and start researching…the librarians helped me a lot this time…Finally, though we have not gotten there yet, writing a well-developed outline is key. Once this is done the first draft is nothing more than adding intro and concluding sentences to each paragraph! Well, got to get back to Lady Macbeth!
To easily write a research paper, it is important is stay organized. The notecard method seemed to help last year. It is also very important not to procrastinate. It never works to write the entire paper the day before. As far as sources, I try to find three book sources and a couple of criticism essays and the rest internet sources. Even though the internet sources are the easiest to find, they do not always have the best information. I have found the information is often over simplified and not applicable.
I tend to focus my searches not around that which summarizes or offers analysis but instead that which provides actionable data. For example, I like to research the historical background and elements of a topic (literature especially) and see how it relates to the topic that the paper is actually on.
Everytime I find a source I think I could use somewhere in my paper, I write down everything that I might have to put in the bibliography, but not in MLA format. I also do this on a notecard. Then I staple that notecard to the copy of the source that I have. This seems to help and it helps me make sure I have everything to complete my works cited page. The literary reference center on avl was a good source. And lastly, turn stuff in on time.
I think staying organized and not waiting the the last minute will help everyone the most. Also make sure to do make a good thesis and spend alot of time making it just right because the whole paper has to revolve around that. Your not going to have much luck getting the required amount of pages if you don’t have something good to write about. Go through alot of sources and learn all you can about your topic and don’t forget to cite!
I use the copier instead of notecards so I have all the important informaiton right there in front of me. I always copy the cover and the information needed for sourcing. Also, once you have read your information you should highlight and keep track of what information is good for what part on your paper. Another tip would be just spend maybe 30min to a hour a day and he wont feel like so much work. The worst thing to do is to wait until the day before and spend all your time that night doing it.
Some suggestions I have for writing the research paper is going to the library or a place where there are no distractions. I am able to concentrate better when I can focus on researching for the paper. I also think organization is a key factor in developing a good paper. I use different color notecards for different sources. This way I am able to distinguish where the information came from better. I also like to ask the librarians for suggestions on where I should look for information. They are almost always happy to help you and do a good job of showing you different resources.
Once you find your information from books and the internet, the easiest way to keep it all organized is by notcards. Organize your notecards by topic sentence or paragraph and you should be able to classify all your information for each of your paragraphs of your paper.
i cant offer to many tips because i am the one who should be taking the tips. But anyways, i think that keeping your research separated with the different sources really helps. For when you are writing the paper, the best advice i have is to put on a good album and let your brain flow freely. I always like to keep my quotes well organized by seperating them away from the rest of the paper and then integrating them in later.