RICHARD'S GUIDE

Research

1. Figure out what the question is that you are trying to answer. While you might want to take brief notes on related topics, restrict your major effort to the primary question. In selecting your topic and question, consider the following:
1. What is the purpose of the research: why is this topic chosen and what do you hope to accomplish in answering the question -- and in doing research in general? Is it important?
2. What are your initial assumptions and biases? Be particularly conscious of the value system you bring to the topic.
3. What are the major subtopics and issues involved?
4. What are your initial hypotheses? It is better to have two or more mutually exclusive possible answers to your question in mind than one or none. It helps focus your investigation on the critical issues but also keeps your mind open for new ideas that might conflict with a single initial hypothesis.
5. What will be your methodology?
6. What are the available resources? Can you get them in time to complete the research in the time available? Can you afford them?
2. Set up a system for making a permanent record of the information before you start taking notes. I recommend a bound notebook that you can carry with you wherever you go. Other folks recommend 3x5 or 4x6 file cards, which can be easily coded by source (see below) and filed by topic. If you find yourself without your notebook or file cards when you need to take some notes, transfer the notes into the permanent file as soon as possible, preferably no later than 24 hours after you've made them. In general, I also recommend taping the original notes or a photocopy into the permanent record rather than transcribing them. If you are working with a group, set up a system for making each person's data available to the others.
3. Determine as early as possible what the format will be for your bibliographic citations. Check with your instructor or the journal you expect to publish in for a required format, if any. As you search for appropriate materials and do your reading, make a habit of recording all the necessary bibliographic information, preferably in the selected format, as the FIRST thing you do with anything you read or make note of. Many folks put each reference on a single file card, which can then be sorted as necessary for easy copying when you prepare the final document. At a minimum, each citation should include the authors' names, including initials, the title of the article and/or book, journal, or report, and full and correct references to volume, number, series, pages, date and publisher. The objective is to make a complete record and double check it when you first encounter the material, so that you won't have to go back and try to find it later to get the full information for your report.
4. Log in, i.e., put your name and date (and time and location, if appropriate) on everything you write on as the first thing you do. Don't fill pages or cards top-to-bottom, side-to-side in your initial note taking; leave room for making additional comments or editing later. Cross out errors neatly with a single line, don't erase or blot them out; they might not be wrong after all!
5. Don't throw anything away, until the report is completed and accepted. Then you can filter for the circular file, keeping the permanent record, of course, of the basic material used in the report.

Preliminaries

Spend some time in the library looking at reports or papers of the type that you are going to write. Analyze them by answering the following questions:

• Who is the audience? Are the style and organization appropriate for the audience?
• What is the purpose or objective (why was it written)? Are the question and its importance clear? Is the basic answer easily determined?
• What is the overall scope of the report: what are the depth and breadth of coverage, what is included and, at least as importantly, what is left out)?
• Outline the organization of each article or report -- what are the major sections? Are they appropriately labeled?
• Make a note of how and where the data are presented? Also note how readable the writing is -- style, syntax, vocabulary.

Writing--Ten Steps

1. Determine the purpose of the report: What is the question you asked? Why is it of interest? What is the answer? Is it important? What is its importance?
2. Determine the intended audience for your report. Never write it just to your instructor; if the report does not have a real-life, applied intent, think of someone whom you consider to be the ideal reader, considering your purpose, and write it to that person.
3. Figure out a tentative title and write a brief synopsis of the report -- one or two paragraphs -- outlining your purpose, findings, and conclusions. This is primarily an extension of step 1; it helps you focus even more on what is (and what is not) important.
4. Determine the overall form and organization of the report -- what are the major sections? Normally these might include the Introduction (background -- unless a lot of history is required, in which case it would be in a separate section -- purpose, and thesis statement), Materials and Methods used, Results (the data and what they show -- direct, logical, deductive conclusions, but not analysis), Conclusion (analysis of results, inductive conclusions, recommendations, etc.), and Notes and/or References. If your Report is of a standard type -- scientific paper, technical report, journal article, etc. -- find some good, typical reports of the same type and use them as models.
5. Stock the sections. First determine the number of sections that you want in your report (step 4) and their basic titles and purposes. Then take as many sheets of paper as there are major sections and write a different section title at the top of each sheet. Third, go over the information that you have collected, determine which section each set of data and ideas should go into, and list it on the sheet of paper headed with the section title. Don't worry at this point about the order of topics within the section; the important thing is to get the right topics into the right box. For each topic ask, "Is it important to the purpose of the paper?" and "Have I put it into the right section?" If the answer to the first question is "No," then leave it out. Otherwise, be sure it is in the right place. As you list the topics, determine the best way to present them (text only, graph, drawing or other picture, table) and indicate it on the sheets. Finally, review your notes once more to be sure that you haven't left anything out.
6. Prepare a detailed outline of the report. First, make a topical outline, in which the topics you listed in step 5 for each section are arranged in order, along with the illustrations, tables, quotations, etc. Then fill out the details with a sentence outline, stating in a complete sentence what you want to say about each item in your topical outline. (You may find, after some experience with this, that it is just as convenient to plunge into the writing -- step 8 -- from the topical outline, without doing a sentence outline.)
7. Do the final processing of your data before you start the detailed writing. Lay out your figures, graphs, maps, and tables. Write the figure and map legends and the table titles now and in such a way that the figure or table is self-explanatory, without reference to the text whenever possible. Make these items complete, accurate, and ready for the artist or typist now. Don't try to put too much into one figure; but also, do not use several figures when they can be combined into one without losing information or confusing the reader. This is also a good time to select any quotations or other material that you will use directly from other sources (reports, documents, etc.); be sure the quotations are correct (including spelling) and that you have the complete proper reference.
8. Write. The two outlines from step 6 should enable you to scribble or pound away at the typewriter or word processor and develop your narrative. This is the time to get the words and ideas out. Don't worry about nuances of style, spelling, or even minor questions of word, sentence, or paragraph order. These will get dealt with in step 9. While your figures and tables should be able to be understood by themselves, do not ignore them -- each one should be mentioned in the text with a brief verbal description summarizing its major point(s). Write on one side of the page, double spaced, and with large enough margins all around so that you can edit, cut and paste and thus reorder sentences and paragraphs, etc. The main purpose is to get those ideas and text out of your head and onto the paper.
9. Rewrite. Here is where you worry about style, grammar, spelling, punctuation, order. Be sure each word, sentence, and paragraph is clear, correct, and complete. Review the ideas and make sure that they are sound and logical. If you can control your ego and have the time, have somebody else review your second draft to see if it makes sense and is clear to another person who is not as close to the topic and the writing as you are. Be particularly sensitive to the formalities of technical style; this does not mean that the writing needs to be dry and boring. For further help, consult a manual or textbook on technical writing and/or John R. Baker, "English Style in Scientific Papers," Nature, 176, 851-852 (1955).
10. Prepare the final copy -- and be sure to leave enough time for this step. If your report is to be produced in multiple copies, determine what the printing process is and what form the manuscript should be in for printing. Decide how you will deal with references, [end]notes, and footnotes, and prepare your bibliography and/or list of references carefully. Double check the reference information to be sure the volume and page numbers are correct: there is nothing more frustrating to a reader than to look up a reference and find it has been reported incorrectly. Figures (graphs, maps, drawings, etc.) should be prepared using the proper tools and materials and should look as finished and professional as you can make them. In any case, the important features should be clear and stand out, and the extraneous ones should be eliminated. Tables should be typed carefully, being sure that the columns and rows are properly lined up and their headings are clear. Finally, proofread the final copy -- twice if at all possible, or better yet, have another person go over it as well -- and correct the errors neatly. Use the same typewriter for the corrections, and retype a page if necessary -- especially if you are going to have the report reproduced and distributed in any quantity. If you only need one copy and it is not a formal document, minor typographical errors can be corrected with an ink pen. In any case, the final copy should look finished and in a form that you are proud to have in your portfolio.

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Last Updated on August 1, 2000 (Richard's Guide, Revision 8i); reformatted 6/30/05; 1/30/07