When I hear the word “research” I think about my Omega Cold Press Slow Masticating Juicer 😊. Random, I know! But I was in the market for a juicer and wanted the best one a moderate budget could afford. I conducted several Google, Facebook, and Instagram searches, watched a TON of YouTube videos and read countless reviews on a number of juicers from a number of juicing experts. After about 2 weeks and too many hours to count, I decided on the Omega. When it comes to “big” purchases, I make sure to do my due diligence to ensure I’m getting the best bang for my buck, HOWEVER, when I think about “research” for the greater good of mankind (dramatic much?!) it becomes a daunting task that I try to avoid at all costs!! I’m not opposed to gaining knowledge, I’m more so anxious about information overload and organizing my findings. In addition to the data explosion, I am apprehensive about my ability to choose the correct sources, narrowing my topic down and having enough time to conduct efficient and thorough research.
To help me with this overwhelming feat, I researched HOW to research😊and found some helpful tips! Among the basics that I already know about, Google suggested that I “do a preliminary search for information”, (I suppose to make sure my topic is satisfactory), “locate materials” (I know I can use Dominicans extensive library resources for this part), “evaluate your sources” (how, though?! ☹), “make notes” (definitely going to do a annotated bibliography) and finally “write your paper”…seems easy enough…
One thing Google didn’t mention is getting feedback, constructive criticism and the opinion of my colleagues and professor. I think that will be the most integral part of conducting a research assignment because it is always helpful having likeminded individuals to make me aware of some things I might have missed or not even considered.
So, how will I tackle this research task you ask… I have a game plan!
First, I will dedicate at minimum an hour a day to this project to ensure I don’t fall behind and have a ton of work to do at the last minute! <- TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS IN ACTION!
Next, I plan on creating a bookmark folder on my browser where I will keep all potential articles/ resources that I find and go through at a later time to check for relevance.
Then, I think it will be beneficial to be able to use what I’ve learned in previous classes to help with my research project, in particular, the annotated bibliography. While I feel it is extremely tedious to complete, it was CLUTCH when it came time for me to pull my paper together. It was a true testament to the idea that “doing the hard things first, makes it easier to do other things” (or something like that!). The annotated bibliography allowed me to organize my findings, weed out the articles that were not beneficial to my topic and highlight the most important parts.
Finally, after writing the paper, I will have a friend read through my work to ensure it’s comprehensible, and that there are no grammatical errors.
With this plan of action, I’m already feeling more confident, and “research” doesn’t sound so scary anymore.
Cheers to this research journey!