Overall, I feel I have heard the bones and structure of this material a number of times throughout the years since my first research essay. However, as with everything, a slightly different use of words, angle of approach, or personal opinion might make it stick just that much more. Throughout reading this chapter, I was able to make a number of insights and ask a number of questions. The following include these connections.
Things To Remember (Insights):
- "Your curiosity must be the driving force behind your research paper."
- Picking a good topic is about finding the right question(s) to ask.
- Though using wikipedia as a source in one's paper is frowned upon, it is a great beginning point in the research process and even in searching for one's topic.
- The main purpose of a research paper is not to report, but rather to explore, argue, or analyze.
- Developing your reading skills are a key component of writing good research papers.
Questions:
- The book makes the point that the general research strategy is to "work from more generalized information to more specialized information." However, the book later goes on to say that "the challenge is not to find a unique topic but to find an angle on a familiar topic that helps readers to see what they probably haven't noticed before." In developing this new angle, wouldn't one have to venture into the specifics of the topic, ultimately going against the idea of working from generalized to specialized?
- William Badke defines 'working knowledge' as one's "ability to talk about it for one minute without repeating yourself." How soon upon beginning your research paper should one have developed a 'working knowledge'? Or should the topic one picks be one which he/she already has a 'working knowledge' of? What if you have a clear idea of what you want to focus on without having developed a 'working knowledge' of that topic?
Hi, Lianne. Good questions. Here are my answers:
ReplyDelete1. Some researchers think they need a topic that no one else is writing about. What they need is to take a familiar topic and narrow down to a very specific issue within it that needs addressing. Both a unique topic and a narrowed topic are narrow, but the former is almost impossible to find and even more difficult to research.
2. Getting a working knowledge should be the first task once you have decided on a topic. Check out reference sources and make sure you have at least a basic grasp of the topic before you begin working on a preliminary research question.
I hope this helps.