The Four Stages of Research cont'd Stage 2: Accessing Resources Because there are so many resources and information available today, it is important to choose sources that are reliable and up to date. When accessing resources, there are 4 tasks to complete: locating, selecting, gathering and collaborating

Locating Your goal at this stage Is to make a list of potential resources. Skim through the text to ensure that is contains the information that will answer your questions. Ask yourself: - Will I be able to find the info I need, using these resources? If not, I will need to return to the first atage and revise or change my topic - What sources of information should I use? - Are my sources appropriate for my audience and the form of my final product - How many sources should I use? Do they need to be different types?

Possible Sources The encyclopedia Subject-specific encyclopedias – dictionaries, almanacs, atlases, etc. Library books Newspapers Online databases Videos – news Internet sites – not always Having many a variety of sources means you will have a wide range of perspectives

Selecting Select the appropriate resources for your topic. This means you have to evalute your chosen resources to make sure that they are reliable and accurate. This is particularly important when you use the Internet, as many sites are unreliable. This includes Wikipedia!

Questions to Ask To evaluate whether or not a resource is appropriate, accurate, and reliable. Here are some questions to ask yourself: Can I trust the author? What are their credentials? Does the work give factual information? Or is it opinion? Are the author's facts correct? Is there support, by supporting data, evidence, etc? Does the soure contain the information I need? Is it relevant? Asking these questions will help you select the appropriate resource.

Gathering Now that you have selected a number of sources, it is now time to gather the information. The following are reminders you can use when you gathering information from the sources you have selected: - write down the title, and the publication information for each source - Include the page number where you located the information - Paraphrase the information or put it into your own words to prevent plagiarism

It is very important to keep track of what pages you get information from. Make note of page numbers and references so that you are not looking for it again later on.

Collaborating For this stage, you can review the information you have collected with the help of another person. This will help you look for gaps in your research. Your partner should be able to ask questions about the information you have collected and provide feedback on whether you have adequate information.

Stage 3: Processing Information This is where you begin to process the information you have collected, find its relevance, and answer your research questions. Here, you review what you have collected during the first two stages of research, reflect on this collected information and begin to make connections between the different sources that you have used. In this stage, there are four tasks: analyzing and evaluating, testing, sorting, and synthesizing.

1. Analyzing and Evaluating Analyze and evaluate the information that you have acquired to make sure it is accurate, current, and relevant. Be careful for biases, and seek reliability. It is important to spend some time to review your notes to make that it is indeed accurate, current, and relevant

2. Testing Ensure that the collected information relates to your topic, and your main ideas are supported. Ask yourself these questions: - does the information answer all my research questions thoroughly? - Do I have information from a wide array of sources? - Does my research give answers to questions I originally did not intend to ask? What will I do with this newfound information? I will not include it? Or change my questions in order to include it?

2. Testing cont'd - How did my findings surprise me? - Have I found anything that concerns me? - Am I satisfied with the collected information? - Have I looked into all possible viewpoints? - Do I have any new ideas? - What changes do I plan to make or what new information do I need to locate? Considering these questions will mean that you have a strong amount of information in order to achieve your assigned task.

3. Sorting During this stage, you review the information you have acquired so far, and begin to group similar pieces of information together. During this stage, your goal is to look for patterns and relationships between the facts and ideas that you have collected from your various sources. You need to rework, reorganize, reread and reflect on all the data collected. It often helps to use a graphic organizer to sort your information. Please click the Sorting link found on today's post, to view a variety of graphic organizers, and to understand which type is best your specific task.

4. Synthesizing This stage expects you to put several parts together as a whole. To put it together so that it makes sense. Here are some questions to ask yourself when synthesizing: - how does my information from different sources, fit together? - have I noticed trends and patterns in the info I collected? - Do I have information that conflicts? What do I do? - Do I have accurare current information? - Have I developed convincing arguments?

4. Synthesizing cont'd - What is the best way to present the information I have collected to my intended audience? - How am I going to use the format of my final product yo tell my audience about my findings? - What level of language should I use to tell my audience about my findings?

4. Synthesizing cont'd A final written product will most likely include quotations, internal citations in parentheses, and a Works cited page. When you write, it is important to record the sources you have based your research on. You do not want to be accused of plagiarism. To avoid plagiarism, you must show where you have used or made reference to others' work. You do this by using quotiations, which can be direct or indirect.

4. Synthesizing cont'd Direct quotation – a phrase, sentence, or section of text you have copied directly from the original text. If it is composed of fewer than four typed lines of prose in the original text, you enclose it quotation marks and insert it directly into your paragragh. You also need to include an internal citation by placing the author and the page number(s) of the reference inside closed brackets following the quotations. Here is an example: According from Morrie, “When you lean how to die, you learn how to live” (Albom 104).

4. Synthesizing cont'd Indirect quote – a phrase, sentence, or section of a text that you have paraphrased from another source. Even though you have changed the information and put it into your own words you still need to give credit to the writer of the text. Here is an example: After Mitch graduated from university and entered the real world, these experiences, along with the death of his uncle, caused him to forget those things that were once important to him (Albom 14- 17) This lets the reader know that you have borrowed and paraphrased this information.

4. Synthesizing cont'd Inserting quotations in your work is only part of the citing process. You must also create a Works Cited page. The information you provide in the internal quotation is limited, so it is important to give your reader more detail about the source of your quotation. This is what the Works Cited page does. Here is an example: Works Cited Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays with Morrie. New York: Broadway Books, 1997.

Assignment Take your research questions from the last slideshow and complete your assignment. A link on today's post, entitled “Research Assignment”.