Friday, August 28, 2009

Craft of Research, pp. 3-27

Have you ever thought of research the way the writers of The Craft of Research are describing it in these pages? What have been some of your myths/misconceptions about research in the past? Why do you think you held those myths/misconceptions? After reading these pages, how do you think of research now? Are your opinions the same or are they changed? Why or why not?

22 comments:

  1. After reading the first two chapters I can honestly say I never looked at research like the writers do. I always figured the teacher knew more than me, so it wasn't like I would be teaching them anything new. However, the writers have already made me realize I am the expert on the matter, and I am helping the teacher and my audience better understand it. Also, I never took my audience into mind. I just wanted to get the paper done with and didn't care about what they thought. Now that I have read these first two chapters I will take more authority and confidence in delivering the evidence. Also, I will keep my audience in mind because I know when I read a paper that isn't aimed towards me I don't even pay attention.

    -Nicholas Roger

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would have to say that I haven't ever looked at researching a project like they do. But it is very interesting to read about their ideas and methods. I found the division of the audiences into three groups particularly interesting and I can see where that would be extremely helpful when writing a paper. And I guess the only misconception i had with research is that it was really boring, but after reading this I am going to do my best to get into it more and really pick a topic that interests me. It would seen that my opinions on research have changed a little after reading this. So hopefully this paper wont be too bad after all. haha

    ReplyDelete
  3. The writers have shown research in a light that I have never seen before. I never realized the importance and role research plays in everyday scenarios, much less in papers. Whenever I thought of research in the past, I considered it boring, dull work. I never looked at the idea that my research was to be used to teach someone or solve a problem. Typically my research would just be used to write a paper for a teacher. The importance of the reader was never truly on my mind. Now I realize that there are different types of readers, not just one general audience to consider. In the past, my teachers would tell us to write to an audience who had no knowledge of the topic. I see now that more consideration must be made to the audience in order for them to want to read my work.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The way the authors present researching definitely makes it more interesting than I have ever thought it was. I've always viewed researching as a hassle and the moment I read we had a research paper in this class, I was preparing myself to be miserable this semester. However, reading this book makes me feel much better about the process of researching. In the introduction, the authors state that research is always a part of life and pretty much every career researches for some reason or another. I never really thought of it this way. They also talk about how research should be a conversation with those who have written the information you're researching as well as those who will read or listen to your final product. This definitely seems to take out some of the stress for me. I feel much better about research knowing that I can present the information in the way the I, myself, see best fit depending on my audience. That makes me feel much less formal about it and my paper now seems much less intimidating.

    -Amanda Meyer

    ReplyDelete
  5. The idea of research and writing this paper has intimidated me from the first time I read the syllabus. Before reading, I never really realized that googling a topic I had a question about is in fact research. This made me realize that an assigned research can actually be interesting and fun to write about. Even if I love the topic I’m writing about, I’ve never really fully thought about what readers will think. The closest I’ve come to getting inside of my readers’ heads is “I hope my teacher likes the way I’ve written this.” I now realize that this research paper will not be just throwing out information I found, but actually explaining why it is helpful to know.

    Erin King

    ReplyDelete
  6. I definitely haven't thought of research in the way presented in the readings. I always did my research writing without thinking about who was reading it, or that I had to change the way I was writing depending on who was reading it. Also, I never realized how often I do my own little research throughout the day, whether it's a google question, or looking something up for a bet with a friend. Research papers have always been intimidating projects, band after reading the first two chapters of the book, I can't say that research seems much easier, but it definitely made me think about different ways to approach it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have to say that I never even imagined thinking about research the way the authors present it to us in the early chapters of the book. I always considered research papers as just another long boring paper where I have to read a bunch of sources and ramble on with information until the requirements were met. In the past it always seemed to be a hassle to find a topic, research it, then write an interesting paper on it, but after reading I realize the vast amount of topics to choose from. My opinions have definitely changed because research papers don't have to be on boring topics, but ones I am actually interested in. After reading the first two chapters I feel much better about our research paper due at the end of the semester.
    -Kevin Plath

    ReplyDelete
  8. After reading these chapters of Booth I can honestly say I see the light at the end of the tunnel for my final research paper. I have never imagined writing a research paper with such joy as they describe it. I have always dreaded writing a dull and boring research paper; however, after reading some Booth I see that it can be enjoying.

    Most interesting to me is that I have always found that teachers emphasize finding the sources require for the research paper and then quoting the information found. However, these three authors make more sense saying it is important to find information, but also evaluate and report the information clearly and accurately. I am some what embarrassed to admit that I have never actively analyzed the sources I have used for research. Instead, I normally find good quotes and information to summarize to meet the requirement of using so many sources. Luckily, after reading some of Booth I understand the difference.

    Now, I understand that I must create a flexible plan that will help me write my paper and help my readers read my paper. Also, I am less anxious about my final paper knowing that this book it is going to help me breakdown writing my paper.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I want to echo everything that you guys said about the writers in "The Craft of Research" showing research in a new light. After reading, I honestly got more excited about doing this research paper than I ever thought I would be.

    Most of my misconceptions of research are ones I wouldn't have recognized without reading this book. I realized that usually when I write a research paper, I assume I am writing to readers that are just like me. And like Erin said, I am concerned mainly with what the teacher thinks of my research.

    I am usually bad at getting my thoughts into words. Booth mentioned on page 12 three reasons to write up our research: to remember it, to understand it, and to test our thinking. I think this part of the research is going to be the most challenging for me. Booth suggests that once we start writing the research down and writing our OWN thoughts down, we start coming up with new ideas on the researched topic. I think this process will definitely help me evaluate the researched information.

    Assured from the words of Booth, I am less anxious about researching/writing. Like Amanda said, it seems less intimidating now. I'm looking forward to really stretching my mind through this research project.

    ReplyDelete
  10. After the readings I'm actually pretty excited about finding a topic and finding questions to answers I have about it. I was really concerned about the 10-13 pages initially when I saw it on the syllabus because every research paper I have done in the past has been pretty boring to do; we would just find as much information as we could and compile it all into a paper. Now, after the readings I see that we should write down questions that we want to answer, questions that our readers probably have about the subject. Also, their suggestions on how to pick a topic that interests you then narrowing it down to something that can be easily be researched but not too broad that your reader loses interest was very helpful. I liked their idea of maybe working in groups for our paper; having them review your paper throughout the semester and being held accountable to them could probably help a few people including myself… Just an idea! I'm excited to find a subject, "become the expert" on it, and teaching the reader something new in an interesting way.

    ReplyDelete
  11. After reading the first two chapters, it showed research in a way that I had never thought about it in, it made research papers look a lot less intimidating and made it seem actually pretty interesting. The ideas they gave for stating papers and finding topics and looking at things more proactively, and using everything you see as something that could be a topic or an idea that could go towards the topic. Also, the things they said about what to do while writing a research paper like keeping it flexible will make the whole process a lot less stressful and making changes on the fly will be easier
    -Erik Ross

    ReplyDelete
  12. I have always dreaded research. I never thought to look at it the way the writers do in the book. They make it sound exiting and have so much passion to speak when talking about it. I makes you exited to want to write. It also gives you a different perspective on how to look at research. The chapters make you think. That was the most joy I received when reading them. They made you think. The chapters drew up feelings and challenged you to the occasion. It clearly let you know how important the reader is and how you are the expert. Like I stated before, picking an interesting subject and sticking with it will be the number one challenge. It needs to be something that I feel very passionately about that I will not get bored with easily.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The authors of this book have managed to explain how to conduct research in a way that is easily grasped. They make the reader feel as though each step of the research process is more important than the previous one. I found the most helpful parts were when they talked about connecting with your reader. They stressed the importance of having a role as an author and what your reader's role will be. It is important to know who will be reading the report and how much they should know about the topic already. I think that if I look at the whole research paper in the way they have presented it, then it will be much less stressful and more interesting for me.

    -Andrew Hubert

    ReplyDelete
  14. These writers seem to really care about research. I never realized how important research is to our society. I liked how they described research and writing as joining a conversation that has been going on for centuries. I found that really interesting. My former misconceptions about research was that its boring and only important enough to pass a class. Although I will probably never find a great interest in research, I now understand its importance. I never thought about the different kinds of readers that would be reading my essays. It makes a lot of sense though. I wouldn't care about an essay about advanced biology because I wouldn't be able to understand it. I think my essays in the future will be better because I'll have the reader in mind.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Research papers have always scared me. I had to do one my senior year of high school and it was awful. However, the way the authors have presented it may give it new hope in my book. The authors make research seem more of like an exploration rather than finding facts and regurgitating them onto a ten page paper. For me the hardest part of a research paper has always been picking a topic. What could i possibly write about for 10 pages? After reading the first few chapters this idea isn't as daunting as it used to be. The idea of exploring a topic is a lot more interesting and exciting than the idea of finding pointless facts about a topic.

    -Jordan Crawford

    ReplyDelete
  16. I have often thought of research in the way described, but rarely to I partake in the enthusiasm and complexity of research that the authors speak of. I have always felt that research was a learning tool that my teacher's used to prove that I indeed know the material that they already knew. What's worse is that often my teachers would do just that, grade the opinions in the article rather than the gathering of information associated with it.

    After reading, I'm not sure my opinions have changed but I do feel that I'll be more open to an investigative attitude in regards to this paper. Feeling like I'm learning for my own sake seems more intriguing than hoping to have enough words to fill up 10 pages worth of report. I think this report will be done with a much different state of mind than my last, and that makes me eager to begin.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hopefully I can now have a new take and a new attitude about our final research paper. In high school, English teachers often use a reaserach paper as an intimidation advice or a way to put fear in their students. They give strict guidlines, specefic specifications, and often choose the topic for the individual students. This leads most students to have a negative outlook on research papers coming in to college. Craft of research makes the argument that research in general is not just to type a paper for the teacher to read. It is more effective to remember your audience when researching and writing a paper, and to realize that the person grading the paper, usually the teacher, is not all-knowing. There is something new that the teacher can always learn. If the paper is viewed as a project that will teach the class about a subject we like, rather than just words that the teacher will read and spit out a grade on, I believe we will all find it easier and do a better job.

    - George Bursavich

    ReplyDelete
  18. I had never thought of research in the way the writers of "The Craft of Research" do. I was always scared stupid when research papers came around because we had strict deadlines and very little creative wiggle room to work with.
    I now see that research can be a little unstructured but can still get the job done in a timely fashion. But only time will tell if my views will be changed since I tend to procrastinate and sometimes strict deadlines are the only way for me to get things done.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I'm not a big fan of research papers myself, but I don't really mind researching things. I like to debate a lot so the one thing I want to have down is my research. I really like how the authors brought up the fact that, although it is their job, researchers don't like doing research either. I think that was a way to get the readers to just relax and realize that as much as we don't like doing it they hate doing it too.
    This book brings up a lot of things that I've never really paid attention to when doing research. Although I knew some of the points they brought up existed, I never really took them into consideration. After truly reading them and grasping what the authors were telling me I feel like their tips could be the difference in my future papers form my past.

    ReplyDelete
  20. oh and that above is by JOEY BUSBICE

    ReplyDelete
  21. I have done at least 2 research papers before, so I do have a bit of experience. Though I have thought of a lot of the same questions and performed the same planning process, the perspective they take on research is interesting - a discussion with the sources. When I did my first research (a paper on Percy Julian), I thought that I had a pretty good idea of the subject matter before writing. This lead me to be close-minded when initially researching, but I later found out that I had many misconceptions. Now I know better than to have strong presumptions without strong evidence. I think the reason I was close-minded because I was very naive and I was not willing to believe I was wrong, at first. Though my general opinions about research have not changed after this reading (because of previous experience), I'm sure with further reading and research experience I'll find more skills, I need to improve on.

    ReplyDelete
  22. My own feelings about research prior to reading these two sections pretty much coincide with the authors'. Diligent, careful research obviously plays a very important role in nearly every aspect of our lives. I think my ability to best convey what I have learned in my research to my readers is somewhat lacking, so I'm looking forward to reading this book to help me improve that. I would say my opinion has not changed much due to this reading – I already held science and research in the highest regard. I do hope, though, that this book will ultimately help improve my understanding of applying my research and conveying it in my writing.

    – Brandon Ross

    ReplyDelete