ACADEMIC IMPROVEMENT AND RESEARCH (AIR): RESEARCH PROCESS
PURPOSE:
• To connect the research process to your field of study and to language learning/study skills and strategies.
• To explore different aspects of academic research, including topic determination, as well as the process of searching for, choosing and evaluating a variety of information sources.
• To analyze and critically evaluate the process of academic research and the materials used in such research.
REQUIREMENTS:
1. You will need to create a focused topic for research. The topic must:
• make a connection between your major and food, colour, time or globalization or be within your major, related to food, colour, time or globalization.
• be a NEW topic, that is, one which you have never used before in any other course.
• be argumentative or analytical (not just descriptive)
2. If you are a special student, or your area of study is undecided, then you should choose the academic or professional field that you are most likely to concentrate on in the future.
3. To create a focused topic you must consider the "size" (also known as "scope") of the topic. For this assignment, create a focused topic suitable for an essay/report 10-20 pages (double-spaced) in length. Note that you will NOT be writing a research essay/report. You will only be completing the preliminary steps for research.
FORMAT: Academic report, following the specific format provided below. Use the subtitles written in bold. The information written in italics is explanation about what to include. Delete the information in italics and write your own information after each subtitle.
RESEARCH PROCESS
General Topic: Create a topic (as explained in the requirements). Write your topic as a noun phrase.
Topic Origin: This means, what is your topic based on? Is it based on your major (field of study), a course you are currently taking within your major requirements, something (what?) you have recently read related to your major, or what? Be specific and remember to state your major. Write this section in sentence/ paragraph form.
Topic Reason: In a paragraph, explain the reason for your topic choice.
Focus: Write the focus of your topic. This is an expanded noun phrase that provides your focused or narrow topic.Focus Reason: In a paragraph, explain the reason for your focus choice.
Focus Significance: Explain the "so what" of your focused topic. This means, in one or two sentences, provide the type of information you would include in an essay introduction to let the reader know WHY this focused topic is worth researching/ writing about. This is not necessarily why you chose this topic focus, but rather, what might be new/ useful/ important for a reader.)
Advantages and disadvantages of the focus for a research essay or report: Explain what makes this a "good" topic focus for a research paper, as well as any limitations the topic focus may have.
Research Question: Based on your focus, this will be written as a question.
Thesis Statement: Change your research question into a thesis. Reminder: a focused topic plus an assertion about it is required to create a thesis statement. It will be written in sentence form.
Keywords: Based on your thesis statement, make a list of keywords/phrases to use when searching for information
• Synonyms: For each of the keywords/phrases, provide a list of possible synonyms
• Search Statement: Join selected keywords/synonyms with Boolean Operators (and/or/not) to create at least 2 advanced research statements. Remember that it is important to use a wide variety of keywords and synonyms to complete an efficient search for a topic. Write enough search statements to show that you can create a narrowed search or a broadened search.
Annotated Bibliography: Create a bibliography (list of sources including 1 book or book chapter on the focused topic, 1 academic journal article on the focused topic and 1 website article on the focused topic) organized in standard APA format (alphabetically by author). This will be an annotated bibliography. 'Annotated' means that additional information will be provided about each item in the bibliography. Write the annotated bibliography as shown below.
1. Write the complete reference for the first item in the bibliography in standard APA format. Then add the information noted below.
• Connection to topic: Explain how the item you found relates to your focused topic. Is it exactly on the same topic, or is it one aspect of the topic? Does it provide additional details, background information, theoretical information, or what?
• Search details: Explain exactly how you searched for and found the item (search process). Be specific about all parts of the search process. For the book, identify the catalogue/source used for searching as well as the keywords/Boolean statement(s) used. For the academic journal article write the name of the database(s) you used and the keywords/Boolean search statement(s) used. For the website article, write the name of the search engine(s) and the search keywords you used.
• Usefulness for an academic research paper: Write an evaluation (in paragraph form) of the item for an academic research essay/report. To determine usefulness, complete a standard academic evaluation of the item, considering such elements as authority, date, coverage, bibliography, objectivity, type of item, publisher/sponsor, etc., explaining how all items included in the evaluation affect academic usefulness (positively/negatively and why).
2. The same as for 1, but with information about the second source.
3. The same as for 1, but with information about the third source.
DISCUSSION ESSAY: Write an essay in which you analytically discuss the process of preparing to write a research essay. You should include consideration of the complete process in which you were involved, including topic determination, finding, evaluating and choosing appropriate information. Some of the questions you should consider are:
• Is the research process easy or difficult? Explain why.
• Are some parts of the process more time consuming than others? Explain.
• Which methods of searching are most useful and why?
• Are some types of sources better than others? Which ones, how, and why?
• What, if anything, have you learned from this assignment?
This essay will be written ACADEMICALLY but may include personal pronouns when referring to your own experiences.
There is no minimum or maximum length to this essay, but consider your overall purpose within the specific topic, that is, to show:
• your academic language proficiency at the end of this course of study
• your understanding of the academic research process
• your ability to analyze your own work
• what you have learnt through this assignment