How do I get better at research? -
- Thread starter DeadFish
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Find your sources and cite them.
That's the first rule of researching. The second one is learning how to sift through the bullshit.
That's the first rule of researching. The second one is learning how to sift through the bullshit.
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Could you post a small essay you've made about anything, so we can help you with the editing?
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Ideally you just want to have a good system for recalling information. Just taking notes isn't good enough unless you have a way to sort them. Look up Zettelkasten. It's a system for storing knowledge that results in a web of connected ideas which aids research and writing. It's similar to a wiki in some respects but is completely non-linear. It trains you to take good, concise notes and then split off each note into the system to exist on its own. A good example would be you taking a few notes on this Count Lustig character that includes a list of crimes he was involved in, then a few weeks later you add another person who ended up doing a similar crime (let's say bank robbery.) Now if you want to write an article on famous bank robberies, you could easily search your system for bank robberies and draw a connection between Lustig and this other person, and maybe there's some unexpected relationship there, like they both robbed the same bank X years apart, were born in the same city, etc. Maybe not the best description of how it works, but there's plenty of videos and articles about it floating around.
I'd say the passion thing is partially true but the other part people fail at is organization. You can research to your heart's content but if you just shit your data out in an unorganized fashion, it's not better than being poorly researched.
My suggestion: Find other communities that have expressed interest in this subject. Try to go as far back in its history as you can. Make notes of key events and save resources. Once you feel like you've looked into it as far as you can, look over your shit and see if you want to organize it via timeline or by grouping events together.
I hope this helps OP. I wasn't the greatest at writing threads but it's something that takes time to learn. Look at other threads here for examples too.
My suggestion: Find other communities that have expressed interest in this subject. Try to go as far back in its history as you can. Make notes of key events and save resources. Once you feel like you've looked into it as far as you can, look over your shit and see if you want to organize it via timeline or by grouping events together.
I hope this helps OP. I wasn't the greatest at writing threads but it's something that takes time to learn. Look at other threads here for examples too.
Utilize your local libraries and information centers. Depending on where you live, they may have access to a large number of databases and document registries. In addition, they have a number of print sources on a multitude of topics, true crime included.
Never, ever pay for an article. Ever. Do not buy a subscription to use a database. Many times, if you find an article that you are interested in using, you can simply email one of the authors (best to do the lead researcher) and ask if you may have a copy of it for research purposes. The authors are usually not beholden to any of these databases, so they can give the article away as they please for free. I've done this a number of times and have only been turned down once or twice.
Read. Read a lot. Take plenty of notes. Make sure your notes have some direction. Know going in what you would like to focus on. If you cannot know the direction going in, try to find one quickly as you read.
If you're focusing on online individuals, then make sure any sources you find are legitimate. Try to find other sources that corroborate each other. If there are any contradictions, these need to be investigated.
Never, ever pay for an article. Ever. Do not buy a subscription to use a database. Many times, if you find an article that you are interested in using, you can simply email one of the authors (best to do the lead researcher) and ask if you may have a copy of it for research purposes. The authors are usually not beholden to any of these databases, so they can give the article away as they please for free. I've done this a number of times and have only been turned down once or twice.
Read. Read a lot. Take plenty of notes. Make sure your notes have some direction. Know going in what you would like to focus on. If you cannot know the direction going in, try to find one quickly as you read.
If you're focusing on online individuals, then make sure any sources you find are legitimate. Try to find other sources that corroborate each other. If there are any contradictions, these need to be investigated.
Just some basic tips I thought of :
First and for most get the question you are asking yourself down the question for lack of a better analogy will be your sword while passion and interest your energy. You want to chisel away as much bias and bloat in your starting questions because they will be your main weapon to dig for information. This can help a lot because sometime your looking for something like a general timeline of events while other time you will be looking at the specifics of a certain event so having inadequate questions can be a hindrance.
Make sure to organize your notes as you take them and then comeback to them because re-reading can sometimes reveal things we previously had not seen. No note taking skill is necessarily "better" try as many until you find the ones that fit you.
Restrain your passion. Although passion in general is good when researching topics you find yourself extremely invested in it can have bad results. I find myself giving in to the euphoric feeling of looking into things that I am interested in and can tunnel vision which is something to avoid. This also can be a problem because as you stop paying attention to your body and kind of like when your on Adrenalin just because you do not feel it immediately does not mean you will not in the future.
Understand depth and prepare. Some subjects will require you to go into technicalities so it is better for you to look about some important word, definitions, and concepts to keep near you in case needed (of course not everything you don't have to go over a whole textbook). While some topics will require depths of knowledge that will mostly be taught in college and therefore unless you specialize in that field rethink if you really want to spend that much time.
Cross reference a lot of the information although there is processes in a lot of academia to get rid of bias and misinformation these are fallible so, looking at multiple different sources can help weed out things that slip through.
Manage your time to your ability. Reading past your limits becomes inefficient you need to be on your best mental condition when researching because you will be connecting a lot of information and organizing it for future use and missing important tidbits will become time consuming if you have to go back. Schedule a time you want to finish and deadline because these will let you know how you can break up your time into manageable bits.
Mix both online and in real life resources valuable for information a lot of the time information is scattered and because no one bothered to look into the subject you'll have to hunt it down.
Set up a system to vet what your reading before going into reading anything and coming with nothing of value. This can include looking at table of contents, researching author name, reading review ect.
Keep up to date with online journals. Science and History are ever changing in some areas with discoveries being made and old stuff being refitted to newer theories or thrown out. search up the most popular journals and keep up to date for information that might pertain to your area of research.
For writing study the basics first. In writing you will sometimes see famous authors misuse grammar for an effect.When you are trying to get better unless you are already proficient do not try this. Have a thesaurus because you will need to learn how multiple words mean the same thing but can have a large effect on the flow and structure of your sentences. Gauge who your audience because you will have to cater to those people. basically never forget the 5 W's: When, Where, Who , Why, What. Last but not least write a journal or when possible for at least 15-20 minutes write about whatever come to mind
sorry if it is too long I managed to catch myself half way through and not go on for a full page.
edit: forgot to add write multiple drafts for most of your papers.
First and for most get the question you are asking yourself down the question for lack of a better analogy will be your sword while passion and interest your energy. You want to chisel away as much bias and bloat in your starting questions because they will be your main weapon to dig for information. This can help a lot because sometime your looking for something like a general timeline of events while other time you will be looking at the specifics of a certain event so having inadequate questions can be a hindrance.
Make sure to organize your notes as you take them and then comeback to them because re-reading can sometimes reveal things we previously had not seen. No note taking skill is necessarily "better" try as many until you find the ones that fit you.
Restrain your passion. Although passion in general is good when researching topics you find yourself extremely invested in it can have bad results. I find myself giving in to the euphoric feeling of looking into things that I am interested in and can tunnel vision which is something to avoid. This also can be a problem because as you stop paying attention to your body and kind of like when your on Adrenalin just because you do not feel it immediately does not mean you will not in the future.
Understand depth and prepare. Some subjects will require you to go into technicalities so it is better for you to look about some important word, definitions, and concepts to keep near you in case needed (of course not everything you don't have to go over a whole textbook). While some topics will require depths of knowledge that will mostly be taught in college and therefore unless you specialize in that field rethink if you really want to spend that much time.
Cross reference a lot of the information although there is processes in a lot of academia to get rid of bias and misinformation these are fallible so, looking at multiple different sources can help weed out things that slip through.
Manage your time to your ability. Reading past your limits becomes inefficient you need to be on your best mental condition when researching because you will be connecting a lot of information and organizing it for future use and missing important tidbits will become time consuming if you have to go back. Schedule a time you want to finish and deadline because these will let you know how you can break up your time into manageable bits.
Mix both online and in real life resources valuable for information a lot of the time information is scattered and because no one bothered to look into the subject you'll have to hunt it down.
Set up a system to vet what your reading before going into reading anything and coming with nothing of value. This can include looking at table of contents, researching author name, reading review ect.
Keep up to date with online journals. Science and History are ever changing in some areas with discoveries being made and old stuff being refitted to newer theories or thrown out. search up the most popular journals and keep up to date for information that might pertain to your area of research.
For writing study the basics first. In writing you will sometimes see famous authors misuse grammar for an effect.When you are trying to get better unless you are already proficient do not try this. Have a thesaurus because you will need to learn how multiple words mean the same thing but can have a large effect on the flow and structure of your sentences. Gauge who your audience because you will have to cater to those people. basically never forget the 5 W's: When, Where, Who , Why, What. Last but not least write a journal or when possible for at least 15-20 minutes write about whatever come to mind
sorry if it is too long I managed to catch myself half way through and not go on for a full page.
edit: forgot to add write multiple drafts for most of your papers.
Hope Im not necro posting. No the biggest issue is funding something when I dont know the jargon.
Recently for personal reasons I have a need to know more about pre Christian eastern European religion.
Maybe hope to find a Christian saint that has an origin from pre Christian days.
Recently for personal reasons I have a need to know more about pre Christian eastern European religion.
Maybe hope to find a Christian saint that has an origin from pre Christian days.
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Trying to research a topic you’re totally unfamiliar with is difficult. If you’re just starting a thread or making something to introduce laypeople to a subject you should look up online courses or lectures online that are free and get yourself familiar with the words and concepts People in this field use. Research is just self-guided learning after all.
Practice makes perfect. No, really. Otherwise I can only tell you to get rid of all of your expectations about the time it may require.
Never stop searching. Sometimes I need to research things and search things. It’s very complicated. It’s hard to figure out. I had to look into things. Researching. Searching. Still ongoing.
Type 'Reeeeee' into a search box and press enter a few times. You will eventually get quite good at research.
Spend the money to get access to scholastic studies and papers. Look at things that contradict your opinion as to avoid being one of those faggy youtube/netflix documentarians. Ask /pol/, they're usually right.
