For our project (wireless router options), we have decided that we’d like to research three or four routers in a relatively narrow price range. These routers will probably be designed for home use. The intent of the research is to document the advertised features of each product, but also find the strengths and weaknesses. My plan is to check the manufacturer’s website for specs on my assigned router, as well as find related reviews and benchmark reports via various search engines.
According to TH, there are several ways to improve one’s research methods. I was surprised to see, however, that English departments still promote the use of index cards. We’ve been using these since middle school, and I think it’s about time to switch over to an electronic equivalent. Using hand-written note cards means that you have to re-type everything you write down, and you also risk running out of space on a single note card. For this project, I plan to use Microsoft Word to organize my research data into a rough outline. Each section will mimic a note card, which can later be rearranged later for my rough draft.
I did like the idea of adding a short summary after finding a useful source. That way you don’t have to guess where you saw an important piece of information and waste time re-reading pages. I also liked the section on internet searches. I’ll be using the internet to find most of my information about wireless routers, and I’m looking forward to using the Boolean operators and the Advanced Search Methods (e.g. date, usage rights, etc). I was really surprised to see that 95% of online researchers don’t use the strategies from the reading. They must be wasting a lot of time.
It was also interesting to see that including quotes in a paper can improve a writer’s credibility, as long as the sources are reliable. During my research, I plan to take note of any quotes that may reinforce my main points, but I also want to draft a minimum of a sentence to explain the quotation to the audience. TH said that this will make it easier to integrate source material into my writing, but also keep the reader focused.
TCT?
I think you mean TH (Thomson Handbook) instead of TCT (Technical Communication Today).
TH!
Oops! Good catch. The TCT acronym has been ingrained into my mind from writing about it so many time...
I like your topic, it seems
I like your topic, it seems to be different than most of the other groups, which is good. I think that it is important thought for you to specify and exact primary group of readers rather than just state that the audience is the public, because that is a little bit too broad. The manufacturers websites will be a good source for finding facts about the product but make sure you also go to websites that give the disadvantages of the product so that you have a very unbiased report of the products. I agree with your idea of creating a summary from each source that way you have a nice collection of information paired with the source it came from.
Notecards
I definitely agree with your point that using notecards in research is outdated. Especially when your researching digital data, it makes sense to take digital notes. However, you may want to think about using Google Docs instead of a Word document to take your notes. This way you can easily share all of your research with your group. If all of your group members do this, you can share all of your sources and it may help them find sites that contain information that they are also looking for. It will also come in handy at the end of this project when we do reviews and you need to see what everyone else has accomplished throughout the project. Of course if you wanted to use Word, you could always just upload the document to Google Docs, but this may become a pain when you have to keep uploading as your research grows.
Note Cards?
That is a good point about the note cards. They really serve no functionality in this application. Which I was surprised to see in this section of The Thompson Handbook because the author seems so electronically educated. He is pressing a lot of computer related information on the readers. I cannot remember a time when I used note cards other than giving a speech. It is probably wise to stick with another alternative. Like yourself and most others, I will probably doing the majority of my research online which is why I think that the advice on online research was very helpful. Because it is such a commonly used resource, I think a lot of students will benefit from the author’s advice.
WTH TTH
I was a little surprised to see the TH suggest note cards as well, especially, as you said, all the electronic hype the book pushes. Honestly, I think the only way I would use note cards was to rip them up into small bookmarks to save certain pages. I'd ad like a page number, paragraph number and possibly one note on the note card for the time being. If possible, I would just take a photocopy of the bookmarked page and then type it into a text file later. Otherwise, I would just take a piece of paper and make a list of notes from each bookmarked page and copy the source down at the top. Note cards seem to get lost pretty easily and what happens if you need more space?
Note Taking
I am also in agreement with you about the use of note cards. Even though they are an incredibly outdated resource for taking notes for research, there are many other, better, ways of taking notes while using digital media. I believe the reason for people still using note cards would have to be the comfort level people have while conducting research. people have their set ways of doing research so they may tend to keep with the old ways. Once people start to look and start implementing other styles they may restructure their way of doing research and use more feasible and quicker styles in their research.
When it comes down to increasing credibility I am also going to have to agree with what you said. Using quotations in research projects, dramatically increases credibility as long as they are referenced in a way people can verify the information. Any one can throw a quote out there and to try and get someone's attention, but without their being a proper reference, I think it would be hard to get someone to believe what is being said.
Summarizing Research
I'm personally planning on summarizing all of my research. I thought this would be the best way to organize my research and my sources. I'll second your thoughts on note cards. There are so many better ways of doing this. A little outdated, but the concept is the same with what you've discussed here. Also, if you are still planning on using Microsoft Word, although you really should use Google Docs, at least plan on using change tracking so your group members can coordinate your revisions. Quotes will greatly improve your credibility, as long as your source is credible of course. Use these strategically to improve your paper. There are certain places where quotes will enhance your credibility better than others and ultimately better your chances of persuasion.
Notecard Alternative
In theory, note cards are a good idea. However as many have pointed out, it is a slightly outdated one. One thing that I have found that is a great a alternative if Google Notebook. I mentioned this in my own response. You can basically "clip" paragraphs and pictures from a website and save them for later. The URL for the website is also saved so that you can go back if you need more information or forget something. There is even an extension for FF/IE so that whenever you find something interesting you can easily grab it. It also supports multiple "notebooks" so you can easily organize multiple research projects.
*I have no affiliation with Google. It's just a great product that makes gathering research in one place super easy.
Andy
Great Find
I like your idea of using Google Notebook. I have never used it before and fairly new to all of the services that Google has to offer. I love finding free things like that which help with doing research or anything else for that matter. The one thing that I will miss by doing this is the reinforcement that I get from writing down my notes. I personally do better when I write things out and will be able to remember what research I have found if I write it. I will definitely have to check out the Google Notebook.
-Chris