Writing 3

OK I have been asked to provide examples of the ‘Literature Survey’ section and the ‘Methodology’ section for your research essays. Here are examples. Note that these are examples. They are examples of what I expect to read. I do not want you to copy these slavishly. Read them and then think about what you want to say about YOUR literature survey and YOUR methodology. If these examples throw you into a flat tail-spin then ask during class or send me an e-mail.

[this is now 904 words so almost half one of your essays….]

Literature Survey

My first source (citation) sets out some of the fundamental information that is required to understand my research topic. For the most part, it explains the concepts central to my research in simple layman’s terms which was exceptionally useful for me as I delved deeper into the topic. With some of the basic terminology and basic evidence in hand, I was than able to review and take notes from my second source (citation) which was more of a challenge for me. The author of this source writes from a perspective expecting the reader to be knowledgeable about the subject and so he does not always explain every new term when it is first introduced. This meant I had to read some paragraphs several times to really understand that the development of the thesis statement was really about. However, on the other hand this article provided me with some very clear examples – clear data really – that were very useful in constructing my own argument as I got to grips with actually answering my research question. The third source (citation) was hard; it is full of evidence that I wanted to use – numbers, graphs and citations to other experts – but this meant that it is very dense as a source: there is just so much in there was it was very slow going trying to read it, understand it and then to get all the information I needed from the source but turned into paraphrases so that I was not copying word for word. The title of my fourth source (citation) got me all excited when I found it; I thought this was going to be the answer to all my prayers as the title suggested that it was everything I wanted and needed. In this however, I was severely disappointed. The references in this source were very few in number and when I tried to follow one of them up, I could not find from where the author had taken his information. On account of this, I have restricted my use of this source severely. The fifth source (citation) I used at the start of my research is one which is ‘light’ on ‘hard data’ but it provides interesting opinions supported with ‘soft evidence’ about my topic and the author’s take on the subject. I do not always agree with him, but reading this source has made me think about my research and has developed what I think about it. It has helped me reach my own conclusions.

Methodology

My research is library-based; it does not involve fieldwork, nor questionnaires. This means that the first step was to enter the basic search term ‘Byzantine outsider’ into the google search engine to see what would appear. I was surprised that what I thought was rather an obscure term, produced a number of ‘hits’. I was able to access these articles and sources through PMU Library and digital search facilities. Having read some of the materials, I then was able to follow up the search using Saudi Digital Library. This allowed me to construct a ‘paper trail’ (though electronically of course) which meant I was able to access a variety of different types of sources, with a range of different opinions and conclusions – at times difficult to put into some kind of order. This meant that I had different sources, data and opinions to use to draw my own conclusion in my research. [152 words]