WHY RESEARCH?
Notes from The Craft of Research by Booth,
Colomb, and Williams
WHAT IS RESEARCH?
Research: gather[ing] information to answer a
question that solves a problem (Booth, Colomb,
Williams 10).
Example
Problem: I need to find my textbook so that I can keep up
with assigned readings
Question: Where can I obtain a copy?
Research: Browse the library, local bookstores, ask the
instructor, look online to find a copy.
WHY WRITE UP YOUR RESEARCH?
Remember: writing helps you remember what
you think and discovered
Understand: writing helps you organize your
thoughts and understand a concept, historical
event, or discovery better
Test your thinking: writing helps you find
problems or weaknesses in your thoughts so you
can change your thinking or find better
arguments to support your ideas/claims
Joining the Conversation: by writing the
research, you join a conversation of researchers
around the world who enjoy learning new things
(11-13)
ACADEMIC WRITING
Joining a rhetorical community of shared values
(Booth et al. 14).
Write
for the reader
Format your writing so the reader understands your
citations, knows where to find information, and
knows that you have thought through your ideas and
anticipated their questions:
How have you evaluated your evidence?
Why do you think its relevant?
What ideas have you considered and rejected? (13)
Do you know what other people have said on the subject?
THINKING IN PRINT
Writing = Thinking
When you write, you have to guide your reader
through your arguments. You have to explain
why your conclusions are valid and logical.
This helps you think more clearly yourself.
CONNECTING WITH YOUR READER
We Write for Readers
Creating Roleswriting and reading as acting
Who
will read your writing? What do they know
about your topic? Why should they care about what
you have to say?
Who are you? What role to you play? Are you the
expert, the colleague, the friend? Are you respectful
of the other writers whom you use in your research?
Are you sarcastic and critical? (How will your
attitude as a reader of other writers influence how
other readers think of your writing?)
EXAMPLES:
1a. The control of cardiac irregularity by calcium
blockers depends on calciums activation of muscle
groups through its interaction with the regulatory
proteins actin, myosin, tropomyosin, and troponin in
the sarcomere, the basic unit of muscle contraction.
1b. Doctors can control irregular heartbeats with the
drugs called calcium blockers. When the heart
contracts, its muscles are activated by calcium. The
calcium in a heart muscle cell interacts with four
proteins that regulate contraction. The proteins are
actin, myosin, tropomyosin, and troponin. That
interaction happens in the basic unit of muscle
contraction, the sarcomere (17).
YOUR ROLE
NOT: I know less than you, but here is some
information on my topic. Please give me a good
grade.
Possible roles:
Ive
Found Some New and Interesting Information
Entertaining trivia
Ive
Found a Solution to an Important Practical
Problem
Government, medical, engineering, agricultural, and
business research
Ive
Found an Answer to an Important Question
Pure research solving conceptual problems; help us better
understand the world (18-20)
READERS ROLE
Writer/Reader Social Contract: Ill play my part
if you play yours (21).
Who is the reader?
Someone
Satisfied simply with interesting information
Someone
wanting a solution to a practical problem
How do we work more efficiently, make more money, end
poverty and war, solve global warming, build safer
buildings?
Someone
wanting to be entertained?
who wants to understand something better?
Finding the Truth; want good evidence to believe that what
you have to say is true; you need to show how your evidence
corrects a flawed understanding (21-24)
SOCIAL CONTRACT: REVIEW
Academic Research Writing
The
reader agrees to read a report that follows the
rules of the community
The report acknowledges the contributions of others,
identifies a problem and question, and gives a well-reasoned
answer or a better understanding of an issue
The
writer agrees to write a report that follows the
rules of the community
Show a gap in knowledge or understanding
Show why this gap is significantwhy does it matter
Show how the writer has found new answers to improve
human knowledge and fill part of that gap in The Truth
Give good evidence to believe this answer and show others
where the evidence can be found
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph
M. Williams. The Craft of Research. 3rd ed.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2008.
