PLI Research Manual

How to Choose a Topic, Research it, Think Critically and Write your Paper

Table of Contents

Picking a Topic

Getting an Overview

Focusing a Research Topic

Writing a Statement of Purpose

Research Questions

Grouping/Categorizing Questions

Making a List of Possible Sources
Research

Picking a Topic

Before you start brainstorming or anything – start thinking early.

Has anything caught your interest from previous research or from a classroom discussion?

If nothing works, trying looking through an index of topics, such as one provided by a library.

After going through an index, or something similar and you are still unsure of what you might want to do, there are some invention techniques, which you can do to help.

Invention Techniques

FREEWRITE:

1) Set a time-limit of five to ten minutes (you can always keep going after the beeper’s gone off but an initial time limit is great for keeping you focused).

2) Look at a potential topic and mull it over, roll it over your tongue, inhale it, let it bounce around the pathways of your brain for a second or two. Now ready? Set?

3) Write! And don’t stop! Keep your fingers typing or your pen moving on paper for the entire duration. Get it all out; a sort of intellectual diarrhea or stream-of-consciousness writing where you write what you think as you’re thinking it. Don’t worry about grammar, spelling, or forming sentences. Some of it won’t make sense and that’s okay.

4) If you find yourself drawing a blank at some point, then just write, “I’m drawing a blank” to keep the flow going or try and articulate why you think you can’t get very far with the subject. No rules for this idea-generation technique except that

5) BZZZZTTTT! Time’s up: now you can finally look over your stuff. Free-writing is great because sometimes you’ll find you’ll be able to lift off entire sections and use them in your first draft.

BRAINSTORMING:

This is actually quite similar to free-writing in how to treat your thought processes (remember, still no censoring) but the organization—the way you jot down ideas—is a bit different.

1) Set a time limit, take a deep breath, and go crazy. Instead of an endless, non-punctuated, free-flowing paragraph, you only note down key words or short phrases in list-form under your subject or broad topic.

2) If you get stuck, look at one of the list words and see if that doesn’t trigger something new or if there’s a general term (words full of meaning like “power,” “education,” “culture,” or “knowledge” are good examples) that keeps popping up and needs some fleshing out or isn’t self-containing or self-explanatory.

3) Assume nothing is self-explanatory—at this stage stating the obvious is the best way to tap into original territory.

4) When you’re done, use your word processor’s cut and paste features (or arrows or color coding for you paper planners out there) to re-organize your terms and find relationships and common threads that might form subheadings.

CLUSTERING/WEBBING/MAPPING:

Basically the same as brainstorming but for more visually-oriented students.

1) Rather than a list of concepts, you start with a central word written in the middle of an unlined piece of paper.

2) As related concepts pop in your head, you indicate them as branches, arrows, in bubbles, or however you like to cluster.

3) Some branches will lead to dead ends, others will flourish.

4) At the end of a successful cluster session, you’ll focus on the blossoming areas and will even be able to draw arrows between concepts to show their relationships. Again, no self-censorship allowed but don’t beat a dead horse either. If one spark dies, return to the central or other provocative point you have scribbled in the lower right hand corner and try again.

Getting an Overview of a Topic:

What is it?

Getting an overview is finding a source of information that gives you a simple understanding about a topic without telling you all about it in great detail. An overview should have some basic facts and be in clear enough language for you to understand. It should answer the questions; “who”, “what”, “when” and “where”, and only briefly some of the “why” and “how” questions. Think of an overview as a picture taken from a distance where all of the details are not in focus. Your later research will bring those details into focus.

Why do it?

Getting an overview will help you:

How do I find one?

Encyclopedias are one of the best sources of overviews. They organize information into subtopics and don’t go into too much detail.

Encyclopedias are available in print and on the computer. Some articles are very long, so if you are using one on the computer, don’t just print the whole article. Select the sections that you need and just print those.

What do I look for in an Overview?

Notice the way the information has been organized within the overview. Take notes on the headings and subheadings that are used to subdivide the information. These can give you some possible ways to help focus the topic of your paper.

Focusing a Research Topic:

What is it?

Focusing a research topic is narrowing (or sometimes broadening) a topic so that you can demonstrate a good understanding of it, including enough examples and important details, within the size limits of the project you are required to produce.

Why should I do it?

This is the #1 biggest pitfall in the research process. If you pick a topic that is too big, you will not only have trouble selecting what to include from a huge selection of material available, you will probably leave out some critical information that will make it apparent (especially to your teacher) that you don’t really know what you are talking about.

If, on the other hand, you pick a topic that is too narrow, you won’t find enough to write about and end up repeating yourself to fill 6 pages (which doesn’t go over very well with teachers either, by the way).

NARROWING YOUR TOPIC

If your topic consists of a single word it’s probably a sign you need to narrow your topic (ex: Cloning, War, Fashion).

1) Try changing your topic into an adjective (a word that describes)
So now we have: Cloning Animals, Effects of War, Women’s Fashion

2) Then ask one of the 5 W’s (Who, What, When, Where, and Why), or a combination
So now we have: Why are we cloning animals? Who is affected by war? What were women’s fashions like in the 1940’s?

Another method is simply to pick a general sub-topic from which to focus your topic on. You can develop these subtopic words yourself. You can also combine these general subtopics.
You could choose to focus a topic by one, or even more than one, limiting subtopic.

Ex: World War II is a big topic that needs focusing. We could limit this topic by choosing one or a combination of the following adjectives: chronological, geographical, biographical, event-based and technological. You may think of others that could apply to your topic.

Writing a Statement of Purpose

What is it?

A Statement of Purpose is a sentence that you write, which states, in some detail, what you want to learn about in your research project. The statement guides you as you work so that you will read and take notes only on what’s needed for your project.

Why do I need to do it?

Writing a statement of purpose will do 4 things to help you:
1) You will get more interested in your project.
2) It will keep you from getting overwhelmed and panicky at all the information you may find.
3) It will help you develop a Thesis Statement , which comes later on in the research process.
4) It saves you valuable time and effort.

When and How to do it:

After you focus your topic, after some overview reading, write a sentence that says what you want to learn about. Don’t worry if you’re not totally sure, your Statement of Purpose may change 3 or 4 times before you’re done. To write the sentence, first answer these questions for yourself as best as you can:

1) What is my real personal interest in the topic?

2) What do I specifically want to learn about my topic?

Start your Statement of Purpose with words like “I want to learn about…”

For example:

One person was very concerned about air pollution and wanted to know if the government is doing anything to stop it.

Her Statement of Purpose was this: I want to learn about what is being done by our government to stop air pollution.

This Statement of Purpose will lead her to eventually write a Thesis Statement in which she will be able to make an assertion (a statement she can defend) and support it with the evidence she has gathered in her research.

Her Thesis Statement may sound something like this: “In the United States, government regulation plays an important role in the fight against air pollution.” Or, conversely, “United States government regulation has little effect in the fight against air pollution.”

Whichever the case, she will use the evidence she has gathered in her research to prove her Thesis Statement.

Make sure your Statement of Purpose is specific enough.

More Examples:

I think you probably get the idea by now. It may take a while to write your statement.

If you are having trouble, ask your Advisor for help.

Research Questions

What is it?

It is the process of thinking up and writing down a set of questions that you want to answer about the research topic you have selected.

Why should I do it?

It will keep you from getting lost or off-track when looking for information. You will try to find the answers to these questions when you do your research.

When do I do it?

After you have written your Statement of Purpose, when you will have a focused topic to ask questions about.

How do I do it?

You will be making two kinds of questions: “factual” questions and “interpretive” questions. The answers to factual questions will give your reader the basic background information they need to understand your topic. The answers to interpretive questions show your creative thinking in your project and can become the basis for your Thesis Statement.

Asking factual questions:
Assume your reader knows nothing about your subject. Make an effort to tell them everything they need to know to understand what you will say in your project.

Make a list of specific questions that ask: Who? What? When? Where?
Example: For a report about President Abraham Lincoln’s attitude and policies towards slavery, people will have to know; Who was Abraham Lincoln? Where and when was he born? What political party did he belong to? When was he elected resident? What were the attitudes and laws about slavery during his lifetime? How did his actions affect slavery?

Asking Interpretive Questions:
These kinds of questions are the result of your own original thinking. They can be based on the preliminary research you have done on your chosen topic. Select one or two to answer in your presentation. They can be the basis of forming a Thesis Statement.

A) Hypothetical: How would things be different today if something in the past had been different?

B) Prediction: How will something look or be in the future, based on the way it is now?

C) Solution: What solutions can be offered to a problem that exists today?

D) Comparison or Analogy: Find the similarities and differences between your main subject and a similar subject, or with another subject in the same time period or place.

E) Judgment: Based on the information you find, what can you say as your informed opinion about the subject?

As a writer, you can begin by asking yourself questions and then answering them. Your answers will bring your subject into focus and provide you with the material to develop your topic.

Other ways to approach questioning

Here are twenty questions or “thought starters” that present ways of observing or thinking about your topic. Each question generates the type of essay listed in parentheses after the question.

1. What does X mean? (Definition)

2. What are the various features of X? (Description)

3. What are the component parts of X? (Simple Analysis)

4. How is X made or done? (Process Analysis)

5. How should X be made or done? (Directional Analysis)

6. What is the essential function of X? (Functional Analysis)

7. What are the causes of X? (Causal Analysis)

8. What are the consequences of X? (Causal Analysis)

9. What are the types of X? (Classification)

10. How is X like or unlike Y? (Comparison)

11. What is the present status of X? (Comparison)

12. What is the significance of X? (Interpretation)

13. What are the facts about X? (Reportage)

14. How did X happen? (Narration)

15. What kind of person is X? (Characterization/Profile)

16. What is my personal response to X? (Reflection)

17. What is my memory of X? (Reminiscence)

18. What is the value of X? (Evaluation)

19. What are the essential major points or features of X? (Summary)

20. What case can be made for or against X? (Persuasion)

Grouping/Categorizing your Questions

Why do it?

This step will help you organize your paper, write an outline and take notes.

What are they?

Subtopic headings are phrases that identify the sections of your paper or project. They come from the words you select to label and then group your own questions.

How to do it

1) Look over your research questions.
2) Decide on some words or phrases that are common to groups of questions.
3) Turn those words or phrases into specific subtopic headings.
4) On a sheet of notebook paper (or cut and paste if using a word processor) write each subtopic heading and rewrite under it the questions that go with it.
5) Now add any other new questions that come to mind under any of the headings.

What do I do now?

Now you can get an idea if you have enough subtopic headings (there should be at least 3), or if you need more or have too many. You can add or subtract headings now.

Example: Say you have to do a project about local water pollution and you pick the Charles River as a body of water to research. Your general topic in this case is “Charles River Pollution”.

First, you may have brain stormed some questions like the following:

Next, you can identify and choose some categories these questions fit into, and select words that label those categories. It helps to think of these words as part of a phrase that includes your general topic. Keep reading and this will become more clear:

Now, turn those categorizing words into subtopic headings by linking them to your general topic which is Charles River Pollution.

How? Write your subtopic headings like this, leaving space under them for your questions:

Now, you can rewrite your questions under these subtopic headings like this:

Now you can add any new questions you can think of under the subtopic headings. You are now on your way to making an outline.

Making a List of Possible Sources

Once you have an overview, selected a more specific topic, and now have particular questions you want to ask, you have to find the best sources of information to help you answer your questions.

What kind of information do you need? That should be the first question you should ask yourself. Do you need quotations, maps, diary entries, political cartoons, song lyrics, diagrams, narratives, statistics? Once you know the information you need, you can make a list of all the possible sources in which you think you might find that information.

These could include any of the following:

Which sources would be best? Give a priority to the sources you will look for first.

Once you do this you are ready to go out and start researching!

Research

With your Statement of Purpose, you now have a focus, a goal, a purpose – you have the bones of your project, but now you need the meat.

You are going to find information to help answer your research questions, to eventually form your educated opinion on this topic – your Thesis Statement. By finding a wealth of outside information, and integrating with your own ideas.

You might be asking yourself, “Why not do an outline first?” But you have to remember, you probably only have very vague ideas about what they might possibly come across in the information that they will find. So it makes much more sense to make an outline after you do research. You don’t want to narrow yourself too much at this point. The clear Statement of Purpose that we created will give you enough direction to keep you on task, but leaves enough room to open new angles on the topic.

What Types of Resources are there?

Your project cannot live without resources. It is important to enter the research process with the positive attitude that resources are there to flesh out your paper, and open you up to the “collective wealth” of knowledge. They are not there to just add requirements to your project.

Resources are there to “support” your project.

The Two Main Types of Resources

There are two types of support: primary and secondary.

A Primary Resource is an original document or account, that is not about another document or account – it stands on its own. Kinds of resources that are primary are novels, poems, plays, diaries, letters or other creative works. Data from scientific studies are primary resources. Interviews of people actually witnessing something “on the scene,” are also primary sources. Photographs, film, video and audio of events as they happened are primary. Many government documents are primary as well. Autobiographies (a biography written about the author).

Secondary Resources are ones that interpret primary sources, or are otherwise a step removed. A journal article or book about any primary documents are secondary automatically. News reports if they are not eyewitnesses are secondary (otherwise, they are primary). Most books, periodicals (magazines, journals, etc.). Video documentaries are secondary.

So How Do I Research Primary Resources?

You can find primary resources in three different locations: the Library, the Internet and in People themselves.

Primary Source Gateway Sites

American Memory http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/
From the Library of Congress, the American Memory project is a collection of digitized documents, photographs, recorded sound, moving pictures and text from the Library of Congress Americana collections. There are over 70 collections included in the project. Go the the American Memory website and search a particular topic or browse through the collections.

American Studies Web: Historical and Archival Resources
http://www.georgetown.edu/crossroads/asw/archives.html
An extensive list of links to historical studies, archival resources and general history resources in the field of American history.

Edsitement http://edsitement.neh.gov/websites.html?all
The National Endowment for the Humanities maintains this site with links to best history, language arts and social sciences sites. In addition to primary sources, there are online lesson plans and other digital learning materials.

Primary Source Collections

Ad*Access http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu:80/adaccess/
A collection of images from over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines from 1911 through 1955. Subject areas include: radio, television, transportation, beauty and hygiene and World War II.

The American Civil War Homepage http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war
A general site on the American Civil War that includes links to images and photographs from the Civil War as well as links to important Civil War documents.

American Radicalism http://digital.lib.msu.edu/onlinecolls/collection.cfm?CID=1
An online collection of digital texts and images from the American Radicalism collection at Michigan State University. Among the many subject areas included are the Hollywood Ten, Black Panthers, Birth Control, I.W.W., Wounded Knee and Students for a Democratic Society.

Documenting the American South http://docsouth.unc.edu/
Sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, this is an electronic collecion that provides access to digitized primary materials that offer Southern perspectives on American history and culture. Five different projects make up the site: Southern literature; first-person narratives; slave narratives; the Southern Homefront, 1861–1865; the church in the Southern Black Community.

History Matters http://historymatters.gmu.edu/home.html
More than 144 first person narratives of average Americans in extraordinary times. Strong in the WWI period. A project of the Center for Social History and the New Media, and George Mason University.

Making of America http://moa.umdl.umich.edu/index.html
A collection of approximately 1,600 full-text books and 50,000 journal articles from the antebellum period through reconstruction.

National Archives and Records Administrtation (NARA)
http://www.nara.gov/nara/searchnail.html
Do a “NAIL digital copies search” to find online images of many NARA documents. Very strong in 20th century pictures and documents on US themes.

US Historical Documents Online http://w3.one.net/%7Emweiler/ushda/list.htm
Primary source documents from American history starting with Columbus and going through to the Civil Rights Act of 1991. While this is a private webpage, the quality is high.

The Valley of the Shadow: Living the Civil War in Pennsylvania and Virginia
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/vshadow/vshadow.html
A project that interweaves the histories of two communities on either side of the Mason-Dixon line during the era of the American Civil War. It incorporates a narrative and electronic archive of the sources on which the narrative is based.

World War II Resources http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/
Primary source materials on all aspects of the war.
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