Think of research as an interaction among people’s ideas rather than choosing a particular source, such as a textbook, blog post, or article.
Shift away from seeking discrete answers. Remember that any given source may not represent the only or even the majority perspective on the issue.
At some point during your education at Chapman University, a professor is going to give you a syllabus that contains the word: RESEARCH
Students in every major or discipline conduct research, from Biology to Graphic Design to Marketing, Political Science to Strategic Communications. Artists like poets and photographers use research to enhance their understanding.
Research is a fundamental part of learning.
How did you choose your last pair of jeans?
Jeans: "Denim Jeans" by Carl Campbell is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
How did you choose which phone to get?
iPhones; "Comparison" by Kawa0310 is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
In this video, you will discover more helpful tips, strategies, and concepts to better understand the research process.
Video transcription:
[Title: Inform Your Thinking.]
Questions drive a lot of what we do every day. Sometimes they're simple and
can be dealt with easily by searching for an answer online, calling a friend or
grabbing a book on the topic. At other times our experiences or research paper
assignments lead us to ask more complicated questions that can't be answered so
easily and require more in-depth research.
So how do you begin to develop and explore these more complicated questions
in a world where answers and quick facts are just a click away?
*music*
First of all a good research question is tough to answer. It won't be answered
with a simple yes or no.
For example "should marijuana be legalized?" is not a great research
question.
It's too broad and since there are many issues to consider your research will be
all over the place. When you're getting started investigated topic a bit and try
to focus in on an aspect you're really interested in or that needs to be addressed.
After some investigation you get a better question like "How does the legalization
of marijuana affect the violent crime rate?"
The question is more focused, clear and get you started off faster. A good research
question won't lead to an absolute final answer.
People will disagree and respond to your work and that's a good thing! Think of
research as an endless flow of questions and answers. Your attempt to answer a
question will lead to others asking questions.
It goes on and on and the scholarly conversation takes shape thanks to a variety
of voices. And that is the beauty of sharing research. It encourages others to question
and build on what came before and hopefully leads to progress in society. Research
takes time and it will take you in many different directions.
You'll use Google, Wikipedia, academic databases, e-books, and more. There are many
paths to discovery so don't limit yourself to the easiest. It's not something you can
knock out the night before papers due. What you get would be superficial and wouldn't
address the question in any meaningful way.
Research isn't straightforward. It's very active and requires you to constantly think
about and react to your discoveries adjusting your question and planning as you go
along. For example maybe you build a question using google to help you lay
the groundwork and provide background information. You end up discovering a new
aspect of the topic you want to explore so you go in slightly new direction and have
to build your foundation again.
There are all kinds of issues that will force you to revamp your approach as you gain
and incorporate all this new knowledge into your research. Be curious! Explore areas
that have yet to be explored. Be open-minded and expect the unexpected.
Find a variety of sources and challenge your ideas with other perspectives. Try to break
your question. Disagreement, debate and dialogue increase the depth of a conversation
and help you to see the full picture. When you're doing research it's easy to get stuck.
That's why it's important to think about different approaches to answer your question.
Talk to your friends and professors. They all have experiences that you don't and can
help you look at your question in a new way.
It's really important to take the time to step back and actually think about your own
research process and any obstacles that you're facing. You might discover gaps in your
knowledge that need to be fixed or potential solutions that you didn't see before.
When you research always think about why you're doing what you're doing. Research
requires you to make judgment calls on how all of the information you find fits together
and what story tells. It becomes your take on the question which isn't necessarily right
or wrong. It's more about thoroughness, covering your bases, acknowledging the work
of others, adding your own voice and shaping it into something cool here and that's
how you inform your thinking.
Note: if you prefer to read the text from the infographic in plain text, go to the bottom of the page.
WRITING A RESEARCH QUESTION
A good research question is thought-provoking and
requires investigation. Here's how to make one.
Choose a Topic:
Do some preliminary research in encyclopedias or online
Find an interesting aspect of the topic:
Perhaps related to the people involved (“who?”)
…or the context of the time period (“when?”
…or the context of the place (“where?”)
Ask a Question about that aspect.
Use How and Why questions.
How do wind turbines in the Midwest United Stales affect bat populations?
How are researchers attempting to determine the role that genetics plays in depression?
How does severe weather affect the Caribbean economy?
Why are rates of childhood obesity climbing in rural U.S. communities?
Why is Shakespeare's Iago considered his vilest villain?
Why do researchers use animals in experiments and aren’t there any alternatives?
Think of a question that will take more than one sentence to answer.
Is your questions Focused and Complex?
Include specifics in your question. If your scope is too broad, you'll have to write a ton.
If you can answer your question with a single Google search, it is not effective. Good questions are multi-faceted and require investigation and evaluation.
Now, Evaluate your question.
Are you still interested? You'll be spending time on this question, so make sure you're not already bored.
Is the question researchable? Some questions can’t be answered. "Who made the first cave painting?" for example). Don't choose a question that will only frustrate you.
What information will you need to answer the question? Types of information
might include: research findings, statistics, survey results, personal accounts, news stories, opinions, scholarly interpretations, etc.
Congratulations! You have a research question.
Your Library can help you find the information you need to answer it.
Brought to you by the Electronic Library for Minnesota (ELM) and Minitex
2014 M
Questions or comments? mtxref@umn.edu
When beginning to search for information to answer your research question, you may encounter different findings or perspectives from experts and scholars. This is due to specific research topics not having discrete answers, resulting in scholars, researchers, or professionals engaging in sustained communication with new insights and discoveries occurring over time due to varied perspectives and interpretations. The sustained communication between scholars over time is what we refer to as a Scholarly Conversation.
Please either watch this video or read the video transcription below.
Video transcription:
[Title: What is a Scholarly Conversation?]
It’s this idea that when a person writes, they’re actually whether or not they know it or whether or not they mean to there are actually entering into a conversation with other writers that have also written on this topic.
Different scholars will write you know about the same topic, but they’ll come up with slightly different findings. You know, one person might say “x” about something a person might say “y,” and a scholarly conversation is kind of about what those two scholars have in common, where they differ, and putting that together in a way that makes sense for different readers, so that they can hear, “well, this is the point that this scholar makes,” “this is a point that another scholar makes,” and even though they might seem really different at first they’re not because of this [reason].
When you’re engaging with all these sources, you know, you are another voice, and you know, maybe your voice is, like, I’m just talking about something else, or maybe your voice is saying, like, I’m going to pull all these people together, and you make a new meaning out of that.
The conversation occurs when you try to start reconciling the different, um, the different views that different sources may or may not have.
One of the really fun things as a researcher is to go through and really find the different ways people have talked about this particular topic and sort of try to figure out where they intersect, where do they not intersect, where how are they looking at it differently, and what can we learn from them?
You may also open the contents of the timeline as a Google Sheet here: History of Banjo Timeline
References
• Allen, G. (2011, August 23). The Banjo’s Roots, Reconsidered. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2011/08/23/139880625/the-banjos-roots-reconsidered
• Brown, J. (2020). Leading the Conversation on the Significance of Race: An Introduction to the Tangled Histories of the Banjo. Chapman University
• Linn, K. E. (1990). The ‘Elevation’ of the Banjo in late Nineteenth-Century America. American Music, 8(4), 441-464.
• Pestcoe, S., & Adams, G. C. (2018). Banjo Roots Research: Changing Perspectives on the Banjo’s African American Origins and West African Heritage. In R. B. Winans (Ed.) Banjo Roots and Branches, (pp. 3-18). University of Illinois Press.
• Winans, R. B. (2018). Banjo Roots and Branches. University of Illinois Press.
Check your understanding of Research by completing the practice quiz below.
You may also open the quiz in a new tab or window using this link: Research - FFC Practice Quiz