Writing Reference: A Historical Menu

Writing Notes: The Research Process

Research is an essential process to keep yourself informed on any topic with reliable sources of information.

Research - the process by which you gather reliable information on a specific topic, typically to answer a particular question, form an opinion, or make a decision.

Academics often separate research into 2 distinct types:

primary research (in which the researcher acquires firsthand experience with the topic) and

secondary research (in which the researcher looks at research others have done on the topic).

There are many different research methods, including:

internet research (using search engines, webpages, and other online resources),

scientific research (using the scientific method to test hypotheses),

local and university library research (using books, encyclopedias, newspaper articles, peer-reviewed journal articles, catalogs, and academic databases and directories), and

interviews (using questionnaires and discussions with subjects).

How to Research

The research process can apply to everything from a scientific research paper to a personal question; each type of research has different expectations and processes. In general, here’s a step-by-step tutorial:

Start with a question. The first step of the research process is to have a question. In the case of academic research, your research question might be on a broad conversation in your field. For example, in humanities, a research question might be: “How did feminism affect American literature in the 1970s?” In the case of personal research, your question might be smaller and more specific: “How do I wake up feeling more rested?” If your research is for a high school or college paper, you might need to brainstorm to come up with a question or move on to the research phase to see what kinds of questions and broad topics interest you.

Search broadly. Your preliminary research on a topic is likely to be general—this search strategy enables you to gather as much general information surrounding the topic as possible. This helps you develop a clearer sense of the scope of your question. In the case of academic research, you might read widely (in topics like feminism, the 1970s, and American literature). In the case of personal research, you might conduct general internet searches for secondary sources that discuss related topics (like alarm clocks, pillows, and meditation techniques).

Narrow your focus. As you conduct research, pay attention to the moments that pique your interest—use them to determine where to conduct more in-depth research. Perhaps a specific novelist seems especially interesting, or you find yourself more drawn to alarm clocks than memory-foam pillows. It is at this stage you should also take time to evaluate the information sources you’ve found to make sure they’re reliable and unbiased.

Conduct specific research. Once your question begins to narrow, you might need to do additional research to hone in on your particular topic. Look around to see if other researchers have had similar questions and published or posted their findings. Alternatively, you might do some primary research and begin testing particular hypotheses. For an academic research paper, it is at this stage you likely have enough information to begin crafting your thesis statement or central claim.

Complete the project. The final stage of the research process is to complete your research project—this might mean writing a final paper, forming a particular opinion, or purchasing a specific solution for your problem. For research that involves writing and publishing a paper, the researcher must also abide by rules of plagiarism, citation information and formats—such as the Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA), Chicago, and so forth. Even though this is the final step of the research process, it doesn’t mean the project is closed forever—you might find later you need or want to do follow-up research as the topic or your interests change.

Research is a vital process that increases your knowledge and understanding around a topic, rather than forcing you to rely on simply your own background information. Good research allows you to become more informed before you answer a question, to consider all angles before you form an opinion, and to use the experience of others before you make a decision.

Source ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

How to Read

some references for the writing tip: "read a lot" / "read widely"

Active Reading ⚜ Tips for Active Reading

Critical Reading ⚜ Identifying Character Descriptions

Evaluating Sources ⚜ Primary Sources ⚜ Source Integration

Narrative Elements ⚜ Note Taking ⚜ Read like a Writer

Scientific Article ⚜ Your Reading Journal

More: Writing Tips & Advice ⚜ Editing ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

Writing Prompt #2949

"We...we survived?"

"What the fuck do we do now? I really thought we were going to end up in the die trying part."

This is random but I like how the edit turned out hehe

The Shards of Childhood

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The city I knew, the one my children chased pigeons in and learned to ride bikes on, is gone. War, a cruel sculptor, has reshaped its once vibrant streets into a desolate landscape of twisted metal and shattered dreams.exclamation Buildings that held laughter and the scent of baking bread now stand as hollow shells, their windows vacant eyes staring back at a ravaged sky. Memories, too, lie fractured beneath the rubble. Gone are the echoes of children's games played in sun-dappled courtyards, replaced by the relentless thud of shelling. The familiar scent of jasmine, once a signature note in the summer air, is now tainted by the acrid tang of destruction. Each corner used to hold a story - the bakery where my daughter devoured warm croissants, the park bench where my son scraped his knee for the first time. Now, these fragments of our lives exist only in the fragile museum of my mind, a place where the war cannot reach, but still manages to cast a long shadow. Yet, amidst the wreckage, a flicker of hope remains. Like fragile wildflowers pushing through cracked concrete, the resilience of the human spirit endures. We, the survivors, carry the weight of this loss, but also the fierce love for our children and the yearning to rebuild. We will gather the shards of our memories, piece by broken piece, and weave them into a tapestry of a new future, one where laughter finds its voice again and our children can dream safe dreams, free from the haunting echoes of war

reminder: it’s okay to be here only for fandom things

you don’t have to reblog all the posts about politics, the election, the coronavirus outbreak, or really anything else. it’s okay to preserve your fandom spaces for fandom only things. you’re not apathetic or cruel to separate out your spaces. if you find yourself stressing out about what tumblr has to say about these things, get your news from news sources and stick to reblogging beautiful gifs and contributing to meta and recommending mutual pining / fake relationship fics here. it’s okay. it’s natural to need some space to just focus on happiness for a moment. it’s okay. take care of yourselves out there <3

🎶 哏德全(GenDeQuan) 葫蘆絲(HuLuSi) 阿佤人民唱新歌(AWaRenMinChangXinGe)

📸 Taobao

So the backstory of Princess Wanning is absolutely devastating. It’s not justification for her to continue the cycle of murder and abuse once she returns home but it definitely makes sense.

She must hate her brother and pretty much everyone who got to stay home in return for her being a hostage and I completely get her gut reaction to Xiang Fang Fei. It’s easier to be a good person when you’ve never had to suffer hell.

From her perspective, a man she is drawn to for his goodness has chosen an innocent girl who has never had to go through what she did. It must have been like torture.

Fang Fei is the mirror to this. She *does* go through hell thanks to Wanning but it didn’t make her lash out at innocent bystanders. Of course, we have no idea how long Wanning was in this situation for. How young was she?

We normally get this amount of depth and backstory for male villains so interesting we got it for the female villain here too. I find Wanning far more sympathetic than Shen Yurong (who I love) who did all this shit for greed and cowardice

Wherever the fate calls us next, I know everything will be just fine. Because you and Mother Nature got my back. You're both my home, because home can be a person ...or a cat

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