introduction to research © 2012 project lead the way, inc.introduction to engineering design

Introduction to Research

© 2012 Project Lead The Way, Inc.Introduction to Engineering Design

“Basic research is what I am doing when I don’t know what I am doing.”

- Werner von Braun Father of the United States space program

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• Research is the systematic study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.

• “We undertake research when we wish to explore an idea, probe an issue, solve a problem, or make an argument that compels us to turn to outside help.”

What is Research?

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• Primary Research– Generating original information

• Secondary Research– Gathering information that has already been

generated

Types of Research

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• Original research

• Generates current information

• Includes methods such as observation, experiments, surveys, and interviews

• Analyzes, synthesizes, and evaluates all information and data

Primary Research

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• Advantages:– Is directly applicable to the need– Can result in extremely detailed, accurate,

and relevant information or data– Can result in new information that cannot be

found in secondary sources– Results in expert knowledge

Primary Research

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• Disadvantages:– Time consuming– Requires extensive planning– Can be expensive– May depend on the participation of unreliable

sources for results

Primary Research

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• Look to see what has been written/done before on a topic

• Includes:– Published works: books, journals, magazines,

newspapers– Unpublished works: business reports,

operating manuals, master’s theses, doctoral dissertations, web pages

• Is the most commonly conducted type of research

Secondary Research

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• Advantages:– Requires less time and little to no cost in

comparison to primary research– Helps the researcher to either focus or

expand his/her scope– Elicits a sense of credibility and authority in

that it shows others that the researcher has done his/her homework

Secondary Research

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• Disadvantages:– Researcher may have to sift through a

tremendous amount of information– Sources may not be authoritative or reliable

Secondary Research

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• Research Libraries– Support researchers, particularly faculty and

students, in their work– Have extensive collections of books, journals,

and other sources of information such as theses, dissertations, and other useful unpublished works

Secondary Research Sources

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• Books– Encyclopedias, dictionaries, and atlases– Books on specific subjects

• Newspapers• Magazines• Scholarly Journals (like a magazine, but

with a more rigorous review process for quality control)

Sources of Information

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• Conference Presentations (referred to as “proceedings”)

• Statistical data sources, such as the U.S. Census

• Multimedia such as videos and audio sources

• Web pages

Sources of Information

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• Look at your local library (public, school, or university) to see what they have. Reference librarians can be very helpful to ask for guidance on doing research

• If the library does not have a book you want, then they can usually get it for you using a document delivery service (public library or school library)

Finding Books

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• Search a database that focuses in the subject area of interest - a database is just a searchable collection of research resources

Finding Newspaper, Magazine & Scholarly Journal Articles

Google Scholarhttp://scholar.google.com/

ProQuest eLibrary

Academic Complete MasterFILE Premier

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• Define your topic, project, or problem• Identify key words for the topic – try a

thesaurus for synonyms• Identify all resources with which you are

familiar that may provide information• Use what you’ve learned thus far to

search for books, articles, web sites and other resources

Research Process

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• Contact schools, companies, and organizations in your local area to identify persons who are knowledgeable in your research topic

• Assemble your list of resources, and begin systematically exploring them

Research Process

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• The quality of any source should be evaluated before using and citing its information

• It is up to the researcher to differentiate between fact, opinion, and propaganda

Evaluating Information

Authority Reliability

Bias Currency

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Citing Research Sources

• All information that you find has some person or entity that created it

• You must give that person credit for the information that they created when you do research

• Plagiarism is when you use someone else’s creation and pretend it was your own

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Citing Research Sources

• To give someone credit for their work in your own research, you need to cite the information in a specific format

• The most common formats include:

MLA APA Chicago Turabian

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References

• Garibaldi, J. (2003). Mla handbook for writers of research papers. (6 ed.).

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). (1960). Wernher von braun. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wernher_von_Braun_crop.jpg

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