Don’t just COLLECT the dots – CONNECT the dots.
THE RESEARCH PROCESS
Connecting dots, solving the problem that hasn’t been solved before, seeing the pattern before it is made obvious, is more essential than ever before.
Why then, do we spend so much time collecting dots instead? More facts, more tests, more need for data, even when we have no clue (and no practice) in doing anything with it.
Seth Godin
QUICK SEARCHES
1
Search the following term in Google:
science fiction
Do you get the same results if you search with and without quote marks?
Why do you think you got the results you did?
Using double quote marks in a search returns results that include the exact phrase. This stategy also works in most library databases.
2
Search the following term in Google:
sceince fiction
Why do you think you got the results you did?
Why do you think you got the results you did?
You’ll notice that you don’t get any results containing the correct spelling. Knowing that, if your search doesn’t produce any results, always check your spelling.
THE RESEARCH PROCESS
The research process rarely proceeds linearly. It twists and turns, loops back and forth, taking you back two steps before you move forward again. This can be frustrating, but it also be exciting. With each challenge, you deepen your understanding. You can discover something new and know something no one else knows.
But first, you need a plan. A plan provides direction to your search. It also helps to identify what kinds of evidence and tools you need to accomplish your goals.
There’s not one right way to plan, but the following template, adapted from The Craft of Research, 3rd edition, can be a useful place to start.
1
Name Your Topic
It may seem obvious but begin by naming your topic. Try to be specific enough so you can find, read, and synthesize the information in the time you have.
Topic: I am studying ______________
2
Add an Indirect Question
Find questions that you find interesting. You can do this by finding background information on your topic.
- What is its history?
- How does it fit within a larger context?
- How is it categorized?
- What are points of agreement or disagreement?
- Where is the research on this topic heading?
Question: Because I want to find out what/why/how ______________________
3
Motivate Your Question
You’ve named a topic and asked a question. So what? This part of the planning process argues why a reader should care about your research. And it’s the most challenging step to articulate. You may not have a conclusive answer until you’ve completed a first draft, but it’s necessary if you wish to engage in conversation with a community of scholars.
Significance: In order to help my reader understand
_______________________
TWO QUESTIONS
DO YOU?
think today feels like a Tuesday?
worry too much?
hate the sound of fingernails scraping a chalkboard?
get enough sleep?
remember playing the telephone game (or “whisper down the lane”)?
have a pet?
like to listen to music?
watch SpongeBob SquarePants?
love chocolate?
think men are funnier than women?
remember the game Tetris?
procrastinate?
eat fruits and vegetables?
have a cell phone?
read a newspaper?
watch the Super Bowl?
think opposites attract?
have a happy spouse?
remember faces, but are terrible with names?
prefer spending money on experiences or on things?
drive a motorcycle?
think about dying?
worry about first impressions?
have implicit bias?
HOW TO USE THE SPARK COLLECTION
Pick up a magazine or newspaper
Magazine
June 22, 2013
The cover story in this issue (which you can read online in the Academic Search Complete database) is titled “Nudge in the Right Direction.” It discusses the interesting concept of nudging, which proposes that our decisions can be manipulated, without us even realizing, by the way choices are presented to us. You’ll also learn a bit about choice architecture and cognitive biases.
Interesting concepts, theories, and phenomena are often the subject of magazine articles, but they’re difficult to discover in an online library database, unless you know what you’re looking for.
That’s why picking up a magazine can be a good place to get ideas.
Book
HB74.P8T53 2008
Like this idea and want to learn more? The magazine articles talks about the work of Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler in their book Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness.
Journal articles
Library databases
Now that you have some terms to use for searching library databases, try using the FIND box on the Penn State University Libraries’ homepage:
Searching nudges, you’ll find JOURNAL ARTICLES such as the following:
“Freshman year financial aid nudges: An experiment to increase FAFSA renewal and college persistence”
The Journal of Human Resources, 2016
“Beyond nudges: Tools of a choice architecture”
Marketing Letters, 2012
“American attitudes toward nudges”
Judgment and Decision Making, 2016
Connecting the Dots
What makes you curious? What makes you angry? What makes you laugh? Starting with something you are interested in makes the research process easier. Take a look at the examples below.
Example 1
"You done messed up, A-A-Ron!"
If you ever saw Key & Peele’s “Substitute Teacher” * comedy sketch on YouTube, you’ll recognize the iconic line “You done messed up, A-A-Ron.” In the sketch, Keegan-Michael Key (who happens to be a Penn State alumnus), plays substitute teacher Mr. Garvey, who is convinced students in the class are intentionally mispronouncing their names to mess with him. It makes me laugh every time I watch it. While you might not think something like this could be a research topic, there are aspects of the sketch that are worth investigating. Take a look at the article “The Incorrigible Mr. Garvey: “Substitute Teacher” and the Farce of Educational Inequality” and you’ll see what I mean.
Barb Eshbach, Head Librarian
Lee R. Glatfelter Library
Penn State York
*Video contains strong language
Possible Research Question
“How do differences in funding, resources, and community support impact academic outcomes and student well-being in inner-city versus suburban schools?”
This question allows you to explore various dimensions of the disparities:
- Funding: Investigate how differences in financial resources between inner-city and suburban schools affect their ability to provide quality education, facilities, and extracurricular opportunities.
- Resources: Examine the availability and quality of educational resources such as textbooks, technology, and specialized programs.
- Community Support: Consider how parental involvement, local community organizations, and social services contribute to or mitigate educational disparities.
- Academic Outcomes: Analyze differences in student performance metrics such as test scores, graduation rates, and college readiness.
- Student Well-being: Explore how factors like school environment, access to counseling, and extracurricular activities impact students’ mental health and overall development.
This question offers a comprehensive approach to understanding the multifaceted nature of educational disparities and can guide a thorough and impactful investigation.
Example 2
You may not even be consciously looking for an idea.
You happen to come across something that interests you.
In the course of reading about that, you become curious.
Has something like this ever happened to you?
You find a book and decide to explore the idea further.
Deb Martin, Lee R. Glatfelter Library Associate, loves basketball. Even though the Boston Celtics are her favorite team, she admires Steph Curry, so the cover of the March 2024 issue of Inc. caught her eye.
Deb came across a column entitled “It’s Time to Embrace the Chaos” as she paged through the magazine on her way to the cover story about Steph Curry.
Rohit Bhargava, the author of this column and the founder of the Non-Obvious Company, and his team have formed a partnership with Inc. magazine to review nonfiction books published all throughout the year and select the best of the best for the annual Inc. Non-Obvious Book Awards.
This month’s column reviewed the book Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters and Deb thought this would be a good addition to the Spark Collection.
As she read about a man’s life being saved because he chose a green shirt on the morning of 9/11, she started to wonder about flukes that she may have experienced in her life.
The book covers ideas that could easily become the focus for a research assignment exploring concepts such as coincidences, time travel, chaos theory, uncertainty, and wonder.
