Thursday, March 15, 2007

Ten Hacks to Raise Your Research Paper Grade

1. What's Your question?
The most important step you make is defining what you are trying to find out, or in other words what question will your research answer. This is called Task Definition. An example of poor Task Definition would be "I need some information on drugs". The question needs to be more specific to focus your research and keep it manageable. An example of good Task Definition would be "What are the health risks of steroid use by high school athletes?" It is clear what question you are going to answer and this will help make it clear what sources you need to get. Next take the main concepts of your question and use them to make a list of keywords for your searches.
  1. health risks or: side effects, dangers, complications, consequences
  2. steroids or: performance enhancing drugs, illegal drugs, banned substances
  3. high school athletes or: amateur athletes, young athletes, school sports, football, basketball

2. Favorite Article,
Once you find some sources, you can take the best source and search the library catalog, article databases and Google Scholar for other sources by the same author. You can also look at the bibliography or sources cited and use some of the sources the author used.

3. Do not cite encyclopedias,
As Jimmy Wales the founder of Wikipedia said "For God sake, you're in college; don't cite the encyclopedia,". Encyclopedias are useful as a general guide to familiarize yourself with a topic but it is not a research destination. You can familiarize yourself with anew topic, and use the bibliography and look for other sources by the article's author but do not use it as a source. If you do use an encyclopedia use the Encyclopedia Brittanica on Steen library's web site. It is a more authoritative source than Wikipedia which has at least a 42% error rate. To get an idea of the problems Wikipedia is facing go to their "Community Portal and look at their Help section. It lists thousands of errors, corrections and changes that Wikepedia community itself knows needs to be addressed.

5. Specialized Encyclopedias,
Sometimes you can use a specialized encyclopedia as a source. Some examples would be the Encyclopedia of New Media: An Essential Reference to Communication and Technology, or Environment Encyclopedia and Directory 2007, these are sometimes the best and most efficient sources for Specialized information.

6. Gov. Docs.,
Government Documents are a goldmine of information. Unfortunately finding anything in them and then accessing them can be as hard as mining for gold. However, if you locate a government document in the library catalog that is relevant, then ask a librarian to help you locate the document. Quote a piece of it in your paper and cite it correctly. You will have to use the style manual to find out how. Online citation web sites for the most part do not cover such esoteric sources. A correctly cited quote from a piece of government microfiche makes any bibliography look good. It also makes the researcher appear to have left no stone unturned.

7. Primary Sources, including interviews, personal conversations, correspondence and emails,
Primary sources are an excellent way to improve your bibliography and your grade. It is getting the information straight from the horse's mouth. Often we think of primary sources as old documents or diaries in the archives, but depending on your topic many things can be considered a primary source. If you are writing about the Great Depression or WWII and you talk with an older relative about their experiences and memories during those events, that conversation is a primary source. If you quote and then cite the conversation correctly, it shows initiative and attention to detail. If you have an email or snail mail correspondence with a witness or participant in an event, the originator of an idea, or the author of the book you are reviewing, those are also considered primary sources. However, you will have to check your style manual and cite it correctly or you will loose all your brownie points.

8. Spell Check Grammar Check, even if you have to cut and paste from different program,
Use the spell checker and grammar checker in Word or some other program. There is no point in losing points for something the computer can do for you. If these checkers are not turned on you can usually activate them with an option under the Tools menu.

9. Let your Mac, or MS Word or Adobe PDF read your paper to you,
Avoid typos and grammatical mistakes by listening to your writing
reported in Lifehacker Listen to your writing. That's right you can get your computer to read your paper back to you. This is extremely helpful because after you have proofread a paper several times you start seeing things that aren't there. Often you mind will fill in a word that you meant to include but you never typed. It also helps to identify awkward phrases and wording. The links above can show how it is done.

10. Visit the AARC Writing Desk
Finally visit the AARC writing desk. You can always use a fresh set of eyes to look over your paper. Especially if those eyes have a brain behind them that got an "A" in English. The desk is free, you don't need an appointment, and all it can do is improve your grade. Take the time, make the time, and take your draft to the writing desk.

Putting off doing the work till the night before or even a couple of days before the deadline does not leave much of a chance of any of these suggestions making a difference. Your best options in that case are to ask for more time, ask a librarian for help, and visit the AARC desk. Obviously there is more to writing a research paper than these ten hacks. However, these hacks can improve your grade if you have not neglected the other work.