Mid School

7/28/2019 Mid School

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RESEARCH CHECKLISTUse the steps below to guide you

through the research process.

1. Write 5 researchable

questions about your topic.

2. TEACHER CHECKPOINT

3. Read and take notes from an

encyclopedia article on your

topic. Write the notes on the

appropriate question card.4. Bibliographic citation.


6. Brainstorm synonyms andrelated terms for your topic.

7. Use the OPAC to locate books

on your topic

8. Take notes from at least two

book sources.

9. Bibliographic citations.


11. Use Digital Databases to locate

newspaper & magazine articleson your topic.

12. Print out any articles that help

Name

Topic

Block

Student

ResearchGuide

Synthesizing

Evaluating

Producing

Winning Research Projects!


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12. Print out any articles that help

Describe the assignment.

Consider TAPF

T TOPIC

A AUDIENCE

P PURPOSE

F FORMAT

Is this a group project? Yes No

If yes, what is each members responsibility?

What are the checkpoints for this project?

Date What is due?

The final project is due:

ANALYZE THE ASSIGNMENT


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STEP 1 QUESTIONING

DEVELOP QUESTIONS

Research questions must go beyond the Who? What? When? & Where? level. Research

questions need to address issues, trends, impact consequences and beyond. Use the Question

Creator below to begin to develop your questions. Remember questions can be modified later if

needed.

1.

2.

3.

4

Why

Who

Which

How

What

would impact

can trend

is

consequences

did value

will might

effect(s) influence

cause(s)


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STEP 2 PLANNING

Circle the keywords in your research questions. List them below with synonyms that may help

you locate information if you are not successful with the keywords. Use a thesaurus if

necessary.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

PLANNING

KEYWORDS SYNONYMS

SELECT PRINT RESOURCES


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Circle the keywords in your research questions. List them below with synonyms that may help you locate

information if you are not successful with the keywords. Use a thesaurus if necessary.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Brainstorm which resources might have information on my topic?

Check off the resources you think will have the information that you need and explain your reasoning

OPAC or Patron Catalog Proquest Online

Reserved materials in the library GrolierEncyclopedia OnlineA school focused webpage Search Engines (eg. Google)

SELECT DIGITAL RESOURCES

KEYWORDS SYNONYMS


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STEP 3 - GATHERING

Check for Relevancy Does the information answer my question or does it give me

important new information to add to my questions?

Check for Authority Do I recognize the author? Where are the authors qualifications to

provide this information? What organization, company, government or university supports

this information?

Check for Currency Is this information up to date?Check for Objectivity Does the information inform, persuade, or both?

To help you search for facts to answer your questions use . . .

Table of Contents Subject search strategies SkimmingIndexes Keyword search strategies Scanning

Boolean search strategies

Use the Standard Bibliography Form to record the necessary information for your bibliography.(See the following page for the proper format.)

CHECK FOR RELEVANCY

USE SEARCH STRATEGIES

RECORD SOURCES


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STEP 4 - SORTING

Here are some tips to help you organize your information:

1. Lay out all of your note cards on a table. Separate them so you have your note cards in one pile and your

bibliography card or source card in another pile.2. Group together note cards by topic or related questions.

3. Read your cards critically. Do you have enough information to write a well-supported paragraph foreach category? Do you have enough details? Examples?4. Put your cards in the order you plan to use them in your paper.

OR

Using the information that you have gathered, begin sorting out your ideas by creating a concept map. Feel free

to add headings and subheadings if you need them.

Sub-heading

Sub-heading

Sub-heading

Sub-heading

Sub

ORGANIZE NOTE CARDS

CREATE A CONCEPT MAP


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STEPS 5 & 6 - SYNTHESIZING AND EVALUATING

"As you combine your notes, does all the information come together to answer your questions and make sense?

If not, what should you do next? Ask yourself these questions:

Have I answered all my questions thoroughly?Do I need to throw away what is repetitive or not useful?

Do I need to ask new questions?

Should I rearrange the information for clarity?After evaluating your information you may decide that you need to go back to find more information. Now isthe time to do it. You will need to return to Step Two: Planning or Step Three: Gathering.

Putting your information into outline form can help you to see the patterns and logic of your presentation. (See

the sample below)

Research /Thesis Question:

Heading 1

Subheading a)

Subheading b)

Subheading c)

Heading 2

Subheading a)

PUT THE PUZZLE TOGETHER


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STEPS 5 & 6 - SYNTHESIZING AND EVALUATING

Questioning:

I have developed questions that helped me to

answer my main research/thesis question. Y / N

Planning:

I have selected sufficient keywords and synonyms. Y / N

I have identified resources relevant to my questions. Y / N

Gathering:I have recorded bibliographic information correctly. Y / N

I have used note cards or a graphic organizer to record

my information. Y / N

Sorting:

I have organized my information under appropriate

headings and subheadings. Y / N

SELF-ASSESSMENT


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STEP 7 - PRODUCING

When choosing the form of your presentation consider

Audience

Purpose to inform, persuade, entertain, explain, or a combination of these

Equipment, materials, and space available

Time necessary to complete

NARRATIVE: stories, essays, character portrait, script, story endings, first person

narrative

EXPOSITORY: research report, magazine article, newspaper article, book, biography,business letter

PERSONAL: personal letter, journal, diary, log, autobiography, resume

PERSUASIVE: editorial, advertisement, letter to the editor, proposal

GUIDELINES: rules, instructions

CHOOSE A PRODUCT

WRITTEN FORMS OF PRESENTATION

NON-WRITTEN FORMS OF PRESENTATION


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Standard Bibliography Form

Middle School

Remember to put citations in alphabetical order

indent the second line

spell out the names of the month

If there is no author given,skip Last name, Firstand proceed withall other information in order.

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for a book citationLast Name, First. Title of Book. City: Publisher, copyright date. example:

Smith, John G. Mammals. New York: MacMillan Inc., 1998 .

for a magazine citationLast Name, First. "Title of Article." Name of Magazine, vol

(date of magazine), pages.

example:Roberts, Susan. "Animal Rescue." Science Digest, 13

(December 1999), 32.

for a magazine citation - onlineLast Name, First. "Title of Article. " Name of Magazine, vol

(date of magazine), pages. [Online] Provider.example:

Roberts, Susan. "Animal Rescue." Science Digest, 13

December 1999 , 32. Online Pro uest.

for an encyclopedia citationLast Name, First. "Title of Article." Name of Encyclopedia, year ed.

example:

Biggs, William. "Elephant." World Book Encyclopedia, 1998 ed.

an encyclopedia citation online

Last Name, First. "Title of Article." Name of Encyclopedia,year ed [Online].

example:Biggs, William. "Elephant." World Book Encyclopedia, 1998 ed [Online].

for a World Wide Web citationLast Name, First. Title of Site. [Online] Available

http://internet address, date you visited site.example:

Adams, Elva A. The Cheetah Spot. [Online] Availablehttp:www.neocomm.net/~eadams/cheetah.thml, April 20, 2000.

for a computer software or CD citationTitle of Software. Computer Software. Publisher, copyright date.

Type of computer, format.example:

The Animals. Computer Software. Broderbund, 1996.

MacIntosh, CD.

for a personal interview citationInterviewee's last, first name. Personal Interview. date of interview.

example:

Goodall, Jane. Personal Interview. February 5, 2000

for an e-mail citationAuthor of e-mail message, Subject of Message. [Online]

Available e-mail: name@domain name, date of message.example:

Webb, Robert. Ocelot. [Online] Available e-mail:[email protected], January 12, 2000.

for a video cassette citationName of Program. Videocassette. By authors name.

Dir. directors name. Network, copyright date.example:

Incredible Human Machine. Videocassette. By John W. Harris.

for a television program citationTitle of Episode. Prod. producers name. Dir.

directors name. Program. Network, date of air.

example:The Werewolf of Fever Swamp. Prod. J. R. Tielle. Dir. M. Norris.

Goosebumps. FOX, June 17, 2000.

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