Synthesis of Chapter 5

Chapter 5 is about the beginning of the research process: finding and evaluating sources.  I liked the comparison of research to a conversation.  When you research, you add to the wealth of knowledge about a particular topic, drawing your own conclusions about what you have read, and perhaps making new discoveries.  These is nearly infinite research that can be done about any given topic, even new ones.  Research on newer topics primarily takes shape in the form of experiments.  With the advent of the internet, access to resources has quickly multiplied.  If you know where to look and what to search for, you can find vast knowledge about a topic at the click of a button.

Because we are able to access so much information so quickly, we must determine the quality and relativity of our sources. Primary sources generally are more accurate and reflect on the viewpoints taken in the midst of an event or era.  Examples are journals and pictures.  Secondary sources are more widely used in student research and are analyses of a topic.  Good points of secondary sources are that they may lead to other sources if a bibliography is included, and that they are a bit more widely focused than a primary source.  However, relying on secondary sources involves trust in the author to have used reliable sources.  It is important to evaluate the reliability of sources, especially internet sources.    Some websites may seem to be reliable at first glance, but further investigation reveals that the website is not well suited for research purposes.  Properly evaluating sources is a skill which must be fine tuned over time.  Field research (experiments and interviews) are also highly useful forms of research as they allow you to gain knowledge that has not been published.

Before beginning to write, it is important to create an annotated bibliography.  Preferably, this is done as your research.  Annotated Bibliographies, while nightmares to create, prove to be useful once you have acquired many sources and need to recall what each source is specifically about.  Now the writing process may begin.  Hopefully the final product contributes to the ongoing conversation about the topic, while interweaving your conclusions with your findings from research.