Evaluating your research process
Evaluating Your Research Process
Donna Bray
CMC/240
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Glenn Providence
Evaluating Your Research Process
The first process in the research that I undertook for this course was to choose my topic. I had a pre-determined list of subjects in which to choose from, and I chose the topic that I felt most connected to, which was the First Amendment. I had to decide, at that point, what angle on this topic I wanted to pursue. I wanted the angle to be something that was a current “hot topic” of conversation and debate. I also spent quite a bit of time reflecting on what bias I might have on this particular subject, and purposefully wrote down what preconceptions that I might have so that I could reflect throughout the process on whether or not I was letting my own beliefs affect the story I wanted to tell.
From this point, I conducted initial research into the stipulations and perceptions to the meaning of the First Amendment as it was written. I then looked for other articles on this subject to gain understanding of what has been written on this topic, what studies were done (if any), and what other researchers had concluded in their findings. I then considered my audience. Who will be my target audience? What would they likely be interested to hear about my topic? What don’t they know? I formulated what I perceived to be meaningful questions. From there, I set out to refine my chosen angle to this topic to qualify that this was the direction that I wanted the “story” to go and that it would be appropriate for my audience. I wrote a thesis statement that I felt was powerful and attention grabbing. I then created an outline. An outline has always helped me to organize my thoughts, guide my direction and keep me on track.
I then began seeking out credible sources. I wanted to be certain that the sources I used were reputable and that the data I was collecting was accurate. I verified that the sources/publications were reputable and
Donna Bray
CMC/240
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Glenn Providence
Evaluating Your Research Process
The first process in the research that I undertook for this course was to choose my topic. I had a pre-determined list of subjects in which to choose from, and I chose the topic that I felt most connected to, which was the First Amendment. I had to decide, at that point, what angle on this topic I wanted to pursue. I wanted the angle to be something that was a current “hot topic” of conversation and debate. I also spent quite a bit of time reflecting on what bias I might have on this particular subject, and purposefully wrote down what preconceptions that I might have so that I could reflect throughout the process on whether or not I was letting my own beliefs affect the story I wanted to tell.
From this point, I conducted initial research into the stipulations and perceptions to the meaning of the First Amendment as it was written. I then looked for other articles on this subject to gain understanding of what has been written on this topic, what studies were done (if any), and what other researchers had concluded in their findings. I then considered my audience. Who will be my target audience? What would they likely be interested to hear about my topic? What don’t they know? I formulated what I perceived to be meaningful questions. From there, I set out to refine my chosen angle to this topic to qualify that this was the direction that I wanted the “story” to go and that it would be appropriate for my audience. I wrote a thesis statement that I felt was powerful and attention grabbing. I then created an outline. An outline has always helped me to organize my thoughts, guide my direction and keep me on track.
I then began seeking out credible sources. I wanted to be certain that the sources I used were reputable and that the data I was collecting was accurate. I verified that the sources/publications were reputable and