Writing deliverables

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Technical Communication Fourteenth Edition John M. Lannon Laura J. Gurak

Chapter 7
Thinking Critically about the Research Process

Chapter 7 presents an overview of critical thinking in designing a legitimate inquiry: asking the right questions, focusing on essential sources, and evaluating and interpreting findings. Additionally, the chapter discusses secondary and primary sources and offers guidelines for finding and using them. This chapter (along with Chapters 8 and 9) can serve as the basis for the semester’s major writing assignment, either the formal analytical report discussed in Chapter 21 or the proposal discussed in Chapter 22.

“The Purpose of Research” is especially important to lower-level students, who too often equate research with high-school papers about life on Mars or the Bermuda Triangle. Students need to understand that research is not just an academic exercise, but that it is done for a purpose and the information uncovered will be put to practical use.

For any research project, students should follow a well-defined schedule for completing the various. If students work collaboratively to write a document, direct them to create a timeline that includes both individual and team deadlines. Planning helps avoid the last-minute all-nighter, and the poor writing that inevitably results.

An early orientation to the electronic information services offered in your library will also help students avoid costly mistakes, both in the quality of their work and the time they must spend searching for information. Librarians are experts in how information is created, vetted, and made available online and in print; they can teach your students not only about how to find and evaluate information, but also how scholarly publication and the peer process review work. Arrange for a library session to teach your students how to use search tools such as the library catalog, article databases and indexes, and online and print reference resources to find books and journal articles. If your campus library has access to web conferencing tools such as Adobe Connect or Blackboard Collaborate, a library session can be offered to your online class. Librarians are also available to meet with students for one-on-one or small group consultations. Software programs will never replace these information professionals, and forging a strong relationship with one of the librarians in your campus library will prove beneficial for both your students and you.

Your students will already be familiar with the advantages of electronic searches. Ten or fifteen years of an index can be reviewed in minutes. Searches can be customized: for example, narrowed to specific dates or topics. They can also be broadened: a keyword search can uncover material that a hard copy search might overlook; Web pages can link to all sorts of material—much of which exists in no hard copy form.

Take a few minutes of class time to ask students about the drawbacks of electronic sources, a topic they may not have considered before. These include the fact that databases rarely contain entries published before the mid-1960s and that material, especially on the Internet, can change or disappear overnight or be highly unreliable. Also, given the researcher’s potential for getting lost in cyberspace, a thorough electronic search calls for a preliminary conference with a trained librarian.

You might mention that even the best trial lawyers (or their assistants) spend a good deal of time in the library or on the Internet doing homework before presenting data to the jury. Emphasize the importance of knowing where and how to find the information one needs when one needs it.

Finally, students should be encouraged (or required) to compose questionnaires or plan interviews as part of their research for long reports. Your advice about the rough drafts of interview questions or sample questionnaires will be helpful. This is a good occasion to hold individual conferences. Peer review of questions or questionnaires can also be a powerful way to help students see alternative strategies.

Learning Objectives

Define and refine a research question to guide your work

Approach your research topic from a variety of angles

Explore your research topic in sufficient depth

Evaluate and interpret your sources

Differentiate between primary and secondary research

Learning Objectives (continued)

Conduct secondary research using online and traditional sources

Perform primary research using interviews, surveys, and other techniques

The Research Process

Major decisions in the workplace are based on careful research, with the findings recorded in a written report.

These decisions require you to think critically about each step of the process and about the information you gather for your research.

The Research Process (continued)

Following are the procedural stages in the research process:

The Research Process (continued)

Following are the critical thinking stages in the research process:

Asking the Right Questions

The answers you uncover will only be as good as the questions you ask:

Exploring a Balance of Views

Instead of settling for the most comforting or convenient answer, pursue the best answer. Consider a balance of perspectives from
up-to-date and reputable sources:

Achieving Adequate
Depth in Your Search

Balanced research examines a broad range
of evidence; thorough research, however, examines that evidence in sufficient depth. There are three levels of information:

At the surface level are publications from the popular media, designed for general readers.

At the moderate level are trade, business, and technical publications, designed for moderately informed to specialized readers.

At the deepest level is specialized literature, designed for practicing professionals.

Achieving Adequate Depth in
Your Search (continued)

Do research at all three levels to achieve adequate depth:

Evaluating Your Findings

Not all findings have equal value. Some information might be distorted, incomplete, misleading, or biased. Ask yourself these questions as you evaluate your sources:

Is this information accurate, reliable, and relatively unbiased?

Do the facts verify the claim?

How much of the information is useful?

Is this the whole or the real story?

Do I need more information?

Interpreting Your Findings

Once you have decided which of your findings seem legitimate, you need to decide what they all mean by asking these questions:

What are my conclusions and do they address my original research question?

Do any findings conflict?

Are other interpretations possible?

Should I reconsider the evidence?

What, if anything, should be done?

Primary versus
Secondary Sources

Primary research means getting information directly from the source by conducting interviews and surveys and by observing people, events, or processes in action.

Secondary research is information obtained second hand by reading what other researchers have compiled in books and articles in print or online.

Primary versus
Secondary Sources (continued)

Combine primary and secondary research. Start with secondary research, but expand on what others have already learned and add credibility to your research by conducting primary research.

Exploring Secondary Sources

Secondary sources include:

Web sites

Online news outlets and magazines

Blogs and wikis

Books in the library

Journal, magazine, and newspaper articles

Government publications

Other public records

Online Secondary Sources

To find various sites on the Web, use two basic tools: subject directories and search engines.

* Subject directories are indexes compiled by editors and others who sift through Web sites and compile the most useful links.

* Search engines, such as Yahoo! and Google, scan for Web sites containing key words. When using search engines, be sure to adequately refine your search to avoid too many results.

Online Secondary Sources (continued)

Google. It’s fine to start with a Google search just to brainstorm ideas and develop approaches to get started. But you quickly will need to narrow down your findings and do some deeper digging.

Wikipedia. Although Wikipedia pages can provide a good starting point, the content may not be completely accurate. Use a Wikipedia entry to get an overview of the topic, and to help you locate other sources.

Online Secondary Sources (continued)

Other online secondary sources include:

General, commercial, and academic Web sites

Government Web sites

Online news outlets and magazines

Blogs

Wikis

Facebook, Twitter, and online groups

Digital libraries

Periodical databases

Guidelines for Researching
on the Internet

Expect limited results from any one search engine or subject directory.

When using a search engine, select keywords or search phrases that are varied and technical rather than general.

When using Wikipedia or other online encyclopedias, check out the footnotes and other citations.

Guidelines for Online Research (continued)

Consider the domain type (where the site originates).

Identify the site’s purpose and sponsor.

Look beyond the style of a site.

Assess the currency of a site’s materials.

Save or print what you need before it changes or disappears.

Assess the author’s credentials and assertions.

Guidelines for Online Research (continued)

Use bookmarks and hotlists for quick access to favorite Web sites.

Save or print what you need before it changes or disappears.

Download only what you need; use it ethically; obtain permission; and credit your sources.

Traditional Secondary Sources

Traditional secondary research tools are still
of great value. Most hard-copy secondary sources are carefully reviewed and edited before they are published.

Locate hard-copy sources by using your library’s online public access catalog (OPAC) or other search tool. This catalog can be accessed through the Internet or at workstations in the library.

Traditional Secondary Sources (continued)

Traditional secondary sources include:

Books and periodicals

Reference works (bibliographies, indexes, encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, almanacs, directories, and abstracts)

Access tools for government publications

Gray literature (pamphlets, brochures, and other documents not found at the library, but which may be useful).

Exploring Primary Sources

Primary sources include unsolicited inquiries, informational interviews, surveys, and observations or experiments:

Unsolicited inquiries include letters, phone calls, or email inquiries to experts or others who can clarify or supplement information you already have.

Informational interviews allow you to uncover highly original information by spending time with an expert and asking pertinent questions. But be careful that expert opinion can be biased or inaccurate too.

Exploring Primary Sources (continued)

Surveys help you form impressions of the concerns, preferences, attitudes, beliefs, or perceptions of a large, identifiable group (a target population) by studying representatives of that group (a sample).

Observations and experiments offer proof to back up assumptions about a topic. They should be your final step, because you now know exactly what to look for.

Guidelines for Informational Interviews

Planning the interview

Know exactly what you’re looking for from whom.

Do your homework.

Make arrangements by phone, letter, or email.

Preparing the questions

Make each question clear and specific.

Avoid loaded questions.

Save the most difficult, complex, or sensitive questions for last.

Write out each question on a separate notecard.

Guidelines for Informational Interviews (continued)

Conducting the interview

Make a courteous start.

Respect cultural differences.

Let the respondent do most of the talking.

Be a good listener.

Stick to the interview plan.

Ask for clarification if needed.

Repeat major points in your own words and ask if your interpretation is correct.

Be ready with follow-up questions.

Keep note-taking to a minimum.

Guidelines for Informational Interviews (continued)

Concluding the interview

Ask for closing comments.

Request permission to contact your respondent again, if new questions arise.

Invite the respondent to review your version for accuracy.

Thank your respondent and leave promptly.

As soon as possible, write a complete summary (or record one verbally).

Guidelines for Surveys

Define the survey’s purpose and target population.

Identify the sample group.

Define the survey method.

Decide on the types of questions.

Develop an engaging introduction and provide appropriate information.

Make each question unambiguous.

Avoid biased questions.

Guidelines for Surveys (continued)

Make it brief, simple, and inviting.

Have an expert review your questionnaire before use, whenever possible.

Review Questions

1. What are the four procedural stages of the research process?

2. What are the five critical thinking stages in the research process?

3. What are the three levels of depth in the research process?

4. What is the difference between evaluating findings and interpreting findings?

5. What are primary and secondary research?

Answers

1. Searching for information, recording your findings, documenting your sources, and writing the document.

2. Asking the right questions, exploring a balance of views, achieving adequate depth in your search, evaluating your findings, and interpreting your findings.

3. Surface level (publications from the popular media, designed for general readers), moderate level (trade, business, and technical publications, designed for moderately informed to specialized readers), deepest level (specialized literature, designed for practicing professionals).

4. Evaluating is deciding which sources are good to use in your research; interpreting is figuring out what the sources you choose mean.

5. Primary research means getting information directly from the source by conducting interviews and surveys and by observing people, events, or processes in action. Secondary research is information obtained second hand by reading what other researchers have compiled in books and articles in print or online.

Review Questions (continued)

6. What are the two ways of locating online secondary sources?

7. What cautions should you observe when using Google and Wikipedia?

8. What are five other online secondary sources?

9. What tool should you use to locate traditional secondary sources at the library?

10. What are the four types of primary sources?

Answers (continued)

6. Subject directories and search engines.

7. When using Google, make sure you narrow your search sufficiently; when using Wikipedia, use it only as a jumping-off point.

8. Any five of the following: General, commercial, and academic Web sites; Government Web sites; Online news outlets and magazines; Blogs; Wikis; Facebook, Twitter, and online groups; Digital libraries; Periodical databases.

9. Your library’s online public access catalog (OPAC) or other search tool.

10. Unsolicited inquiries, informational interviews, surveys, and observations and experiments.