A Better Way to Approach a Research Project

by Timothy Howe

Create a plan
A builder does not just pick up a hammer, some boards and nails and begin construction. A builder first looks at a blueprint. The blue print functions as a guide to how the structure will look in the end. With its direction, lines on a paper soon become a foundation, walls, and a roof. In the same way, a research project must not be a shot in the dark. It requires rigorous planning. The more detailed the plan is, the more likely it will cause the project to arrive at its intended goal. 


Create a timetable
Most research projects have a termination point. A paper is due, a presentation is expected or a book is submitted. If this endpoint alone serves as a time reference there is a strong likelihood that procrastination will result in the vast majority of the work taking place at the latter stages. This can lead to hurried and careless work. The researcher will find it much better to set aside a timetable for each stage of the project and then check later to see if he or she is ahead or behind of schedule. 




Create a thesis
The thesis is a GPS. A good thesis drives research not the other way around. A researcher who begins researching a topic without knowing precisely what he or she is looking for will waste a lot of time doing inconsequential research. That same researcher may even be tempted to stick some of those results in the project just because of the work it caused regardless of whether or not it is connected to the topic. Let the thesis drive the research not some interesting discovery that can derail the project. 



Create an outline
If the thesis is the GPS, then the outline is the roadway. A good outline escorts the researcher by the hand to the results of the project. Following an outline during the research phase as well as the writing phase keeps the researcher on target. Of course, the outline will be inexact at the beginning since the point of research is to determine something as of yet unknown, but a good outline is easily adjustable along the way.  


Create an end vision

Do not be tempted to leave the end research open-ended. A good researcher will usually be able to plan ahead regarding a specific research target and will stop when that target is reached. Again, this remains flexible as new findings adjust it. It is critical to know when enough research has been gathered to produce conclusive results or argumentation. 


By following these guidelines a researcher will make the most productive use of his or her time and create the best possible research.

The Worst Way to Approach a Research Project

by Timothy Howe

Start by gathering "enough" data
Research implies gathering data. One temptation to be resisted is thinking that there is such a thing as "enough" data. No amount of information will ever seem like enough. It is not even possible to determine what constitutes "enough" during the research stage. Certainly, gathering a large volume of data is important, but avoid determining in advance what amount will be sufficient. 


Expect the research to organize itself
A sure way to bog down in a project is to permit the data to dictate the research process. This will lead the researcher down whatever trail the research leads instead of gathering the most important information for the project. Instead, start with an outline and stick with the outline. Only veer off it when it proves untenable. Good organization will cause good research.


Don't worry about the context of your quotes
Quotations are important since they give authority to your work, whether in support of your argument or as an argument to counter. But ignoring the context of the quote could affect understanding. Each quote originates in  a field that gives it meaning. Be sure to not strip the quote out of that field without its reinforced meaning.  


Don't verify if you are quoting the author's idea correctly
More dire than ignoring context, the researcher could misrepresent the ideas of the original source. Not all information is easy to process and it is easy to misunderstand ideas. As one quotes experts, it is vitally important to get the facts right. Poor quality control at this stage could nullify a research project. 


Find the hidden "gems"
Research is about hard work. There are rarely moments when a researcher happens upon a special "gem" that fills in all the gaps. The end product comes about as the result of persistence and tenacity. Hope will never be a replacement for effort.


Research possesses a time element. Thus it is crucial to get the right data, get it into some order, verify it and get to hard work quickly. 

The Third Thing

by Sharon Warkentin Short 

       Every now and then, an idea from a book changes forever the way you think about something. This was my experience when I read The Courage to Teach by Parker J. Palmer (Jossey-Bass, 1998). Parker challenges the traditional teacher-centered model of education not by defending a student-centered alternative, but by introducing a “third thing”—a subject-centered approach. Gathered around the subject that draws them together, neither the teacher nor the students control the learning experience, but all are held accountable to the subject itself.

            This style of teaching replicates the process by which all knowledge is gained: it is the work of “a community of people looking at a subject and debating their observations within a consensual framework of procedural rules” (p. 104). Rather than merely delivering to students the conclusions of their community of learners, subject-centered teachers invite students into the community to participate in the process of coming to know the subject. Sometimes this kind of pedagogy produces that awkward moment when a student catches the instructor in a contradiction or an inaccuracy. To Parker, such a moment is cause not for embarrassment but for celebration, because it demonstrates that “students have direct, unmediated access to the subject, and they can use their knowledge to challenge my claims” (p. 118).

            Parker’s “third thing” corresponds to a quality that many students rate highly in their evaluation of their professors, which is “passion for the subject.” This passion, Parker observes, is more than simply excitement or fascination with the content: “Passion for the subject propels that subject, not the teacher, into the center of the learning circle” (p. 120).

            I have realized that, for all my commitment to the active involvement of students in the construction of their knowledge, I still often default to standing between the content and the learners rather than gathering around the content with them. For me, the most enjoyable aspect of teaching is often the learning that precedes the presentation to the class. I like to collect, study, organize, summarize, and deliver neat packages of information to my students, but in that process all the immediate interaction with the subject matter is mine. How much richer my students’ experiences would be if I invited them into exploring that subject with me.

            I love the little rhyme by Robert Frost that Parker quotes to capsulize the joy of gathering around a subject and coming to know it together as teachers and learners:

We dance around in a ring and suppose,
But the Secret sits in the middle and knows. (p. 105)