ACWR303 - Academic Writing for Nursing
Research Strategies
The purpose of this phase is to investigate information with the intent of finding a focus.
To do this, you will want to:
Locate relevant information - this can be found in textbooks and class-assigned readings, reference materials (including the online reference sources made available through the library), book chapters, articles in scholarly journals or in magazines, and by talking to experts.
Read looking for questions rather than just information - be open to the ideas you read about and be conscious of what questions pop into your mind as you are reading What are the important aspects of this topic? Who are the key people involved? Why was this written? Is there more you'd like to know about that you aren't finding out?
Be tolerant of inconsistency - there is often a huge variety of expert opinions on a topic. Scholars do not always agree and are frequently critical of one another's approach or findings. This does not necessarily mean one is right and the other wrong, but simply that there are many possible answers to complex issues or problems. The aspects of a topic where scholars don't agree are often the most interesting ones to research!
Take notes on facts and ideas - write things down that stand out, look for aspects of the topic that interest you or for elements of the topic that seem controversial or open to various interpretations. Intentionally seek these aspects as a possible focus for your research. Write down key terms that describe these ideas.
Record relevant citations - keep a record of those sources of information you use that you may want to return to. It's very frustrating when you want to use a particularly interesting idea or great quote and can't remember where you found it! Mendeley is a free web-based tool for managing citations. Learn about Mendeley
Model - Prefocus
- Last Updated: Aug 15, 2022 10:27 AM
- URL: https://libguides.ucalgary.ca/guides/ACWR303
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