So far you have written down what you can think of. This may be a good start but it is almost certain that you need a lot more material and a lot more ideas.
The research lets you use the work of people who are experts in the subject you are studying – without their insights your essay will be very poor at best.
The research needs certain elements: arguments, facts, experts, arguments. Research will provide some of these directly and give you inspiration for the rest.
Remember as you are doing your research you should add to your list of ideas and points that you created in your writing exercises.
You are looking for material based on the following:
references that show you have engaged with the ideas presented on the course
references that help you engage with the question
theories that you agree with (that support your view)
theories that you disagree with
arguments or points that you agree with (that support your view)
arguments or points that you disagree with
key facts on the subject
good quotes that relate to your subject
good examples that relate to the subject
But you are also looking understand the theories being used and to come to a conclusion about the question
Research: juggle and save
While researching you should alternate between reading your existing resources and finding new resources.
You usually cannot wait until you collect all your research resources before you start reading.
You cannot stop everything to keep reading and then find a great resource right at the end.
You will have to “skim read” some resources quickly to find out whether they are useful (one way that works for well written material is to read the first paragraph of each chapter and the first sentence of each paragraph and if the first sentence is useful then keep reading the paragraph)
You will pick up new resources that are referenced in the ones you are using.
Save each reference in a Word document with a little note – even if good or bad.
Research: start with your course materials
Start with what your lecturer gave you and work outwards: your essay must use the academic ideas discussed in your lectures and on the reading list. If it does not it will be marked down.
Do not start with Google because then your research material will be poor, you will get a poor grade and you will not get a good foundation of ideas that you have to use in following years, leading to poor work etc. etc.
Use Wikipedia only to quickly look up a point to aid your reading. Do not reference or quote Wikipedia it has the same unknown background as a piece of paper that you might find on the street and it has variable quality
Lecture notes and PowerPoint slides
Read these for an overview and to jog your memory.
They will suggest ideas to look for in your reading.
They may contain references that you want to look up.
Do not quote the lecture or the slides in your essay – the essay is dealing with the material not with what your lecturer said.
Module guide reading list
Here you will find key ideas and theories that will be used in your essay
It should be in one place and there should be some very good material here
They are not always available: even if there are multiple copies in the library they may be all out
Problems getting the reading:
- a) A chapter may be in the reading pack or on blackboard
b) BUT If you can get the physical book still get it because it may have other relevant material
c) Be prepared to work on it fast and make copies of a relevant chapter because others may reserve it
d) If it is on loan then reserve it
e) Look out for a library e-book version
f) A Google book search may give a preview that you can read online immediately
g) Consider buying the book as a worthwhile investment (you could sell it later)
h) Look for buying an e-book if you are in a rush
i) Text books often have a free chapter online – do a Google search for the book on the publisher’s website
j) Still can’t get it? Then find out what other people have written about the book. Do a Google scholar search and look for reviews of the book or people who have cited the book
h) Strike out from the book:
Use the Dewey number e.g. 315.12457 and directly browse nearby library books
Research: keywords
In addition to using your reading list you should start a search using “keywords”.
Keywords will help in a search to target the information. In our public sphere example we might have “public sphere”, “habermas”, “journalism”, “public”, “leveson”, “free speech”
Your librarian will be glad to help you with this.
Library catalogue
Because the catalogue will not have that many results search broadly and be prepared to scroll through screens without relevant answers for the one that has
Here you might search individually for “public sphere”, “habermas”, “free speech”
You might combine “journalism” and “public” with the terms shown above e.g. “journalism AND habermas” etc. etc.
The “leveson” search might be too recent so try journals
Some of the books might be very relevant indeed
A day spent in the library looking these books up and checking the indexes and the contents pages is invaluable.
Get help from your librarian with your search.
Google scholar
Your second search might be in “scholar.google.com”
Here you will have many results so use several combinations in a sensible way such as, e.g. “public sphere AND free speech”, “habermas AND journalism”
Look for results you get back to books, html or to pdfs – avoid citation only results
Also, if you are on campus, the Google scholar results will show journals that your university has access to (i.e. Available at LSBU)
Save relevant PDFs and links
Google books
Your third search might be in “books.google.com”
Again use several combinations in a sensible way such as, e.g. “public sphere AND free speech”, “habermas AND journalism”
Look for results which have a “Preview” click on the page for the contents
Save relevant links. See if these books are available in the library.
Research: Ask for help
Your tutors, lecturers and librarians are happy to help you find and to an extent evaluate resources
Always try to do something first and when you get stuck ask for help – that way the advice will make sense