Research Shortcuts

SHORTCUT 3. Isolate the Purpose of Your Research

SHORTCUT 3 Isolate the Purpose of Your Research Once you've followed Shortcut 2 to the correct topic, you may think you're ready to research it. But don't go tearing off to the library or your computer just yet. Research isn't just finding information. Our dictionary defines it as a search with a purpose. If you aren't clear about that purpose before you begin, you'll waste a lot of time aimlessly reading and copying. The following four purposes encompass almost every specific research project: 1. to find out how to do something or describe how it's done (whether it's tying a knot or handling your emotions), either for your own information or to offer directions to others 2. to discover what happened at a particular time or place (whether it's history or personal experience or news), perhaps so you can report it to others 3. to understand an idea well enough that you can explain it to others 4. to find enough evidence so that you're able to persuade on behalf of a viewpoint These four aims should sound familiar. They're also the four different kinds of research papers you're required to write in college: the one that offers directions, the report on events, the explanatory paper, and the persuasive one. As you move along in school, papers get longer and more complicated. Some may need to fulfill several purCopyrighted Material Isolate the Purpose of Your Research 7 poses at once. But one is always the main purpose; all others are secondary. If the major purpose isn't met, the secondary purposes will fail, too. So when you're preparing to research a topic, begin by isolating that main purpose. (See Shortcut 5 for more on isolating your paper's purpose .) Copyrighted Material ...