How to Research
The key to how to research efficiently is to know who and what you’re looking for! Sounds simple? Sometimes it is and
sometimes it’s a challenge. But the great news is you use research skills constantly whether you know it or not! The fact
you’re here now is testimony to them being alive and well, and working for you. You put keywords into a search engine and you
came up with this page, didn’t you?
How to research are part of the bundle of skills making your life efficient.You probably wouldn’t go to an unfamiliar
city looking for a particular street without a map; otherwise you’d be running round in circles for months, if not years. The
same principle is true of researching for a specific speech or presentation subject.
Generally getting relevant information is a matter of using sound common sense i.e. the 'how to research' skills you already have! If you want to find out about something you go to the places where that information is most likely to be.
So how does this work in practice with a speech topic?
The starting point of 'how to research' is always to know as much as possible about your audience.
(Helpful hint:-This is covered fully under the heading WHO: here)
Knowing your audience will give you a fairly accurate gauge of the degree of complexity or depth required to meet their needs. Now combine this information with the length of time you’re expected to fill and the brief (subject and purpose of the speech) you’ve been given (if any).
The result of:
audience + time + brief = an indication of the research requirements.
When you have this sorted you’re on your way in the 'how to research' process.
The next step is to find out how much you already know about where to get the information you need to support your
topic authoritatively. Grab the outline you made as you went through the planning page and look it again.
You will have noted down your topic heading (what it is you are going to speak about) and several (1, 2, 3 or more) main
ideas or sub-headings. Each one of these gives important information and you’ll want to support it with good examples.
The next step of 'how to research' is not to go rushing off to the library or on to the net but to go systematically through your sub-headings making yourself notes about what you need to research and where you think
you’ll find it. If you already have the information at your finger tips, jot that down too. This will save you time by making your researching targeted.
The main information location areas are:
Other sources are:
- International, national and local authorities/organizations (reachable through either their internet site or telephone book listing)
- Newspapers ( again often available on-line)
- Magazines( Try on-line for these too)
- Radio/TV( Also often on-line)
- Specific specialist resource people( interviews)
Using the internet is a superb place to start. There is so much information buzzing around out there just waiting to
be called up by your clicking fingers. And that’s part of its challenge. To avoid spending hours sifting through endless
websites to finish with nothing, use a few 'how to research' on the internet tricks.
- Use distinctive phrases rather than general terms to narrow the results e.g.: ‘effects of cigarette smoking’ rather than
‘cigarettes’ or ‘cigarette smoking’
- If you know the proper name of the organization or person enter it
- Use AND to link two or more subjects together e.g. children AND reading AND success
- Be aware of different spellings, synonyms or alternate forms you could use for your search term
- Try using speech marks around your phrase e.g. “children AND reading AND success”
Different search engines have different methods of retrieving results. If you're not getting what you want, try finding out how to research for the specific engine you're using by clicking up their help pages.
Having found web pages offering information you want, evaluate them. The internet is a self-publishing paradise. Anybody can
put up a website and they’re generally free to say whatever they like on whatever subject! So before you leap and grab the
first ‘authority’ fitting what your topic, look carefully. Is the website believable? How do you know? Is this one person’s
voice and if so, who are they? What are their credentials? Is this an official organization’s site? Are contact details available?
A rule of thumb 'how to research' tip is to gather more than one reputable website. Three makes a reasonable sample. If they all are saying similar things about your topic, you can probably safely assume the information is valid. If you want more information than is available on site, use the contact page and send an email. You may or may not be rewarded with a response but a polite detailed enquiry outlining who you are, what information you want and the purpose for asking is worth a go!
To easily collect the information for future reference copy and paste into a word document. Remember to take the url as well
and bookmark the sites before leaving them as you may have to return to get further information.
How to Research Using a Library
There are bonuses to the library not available on the internet. These are you get live people (librarians) to talk to and
real books to handle!
Use a similar 'how to research' system as on the internet.
Enter the details of your subject into the library on-line data base and again the more specific you can be, the more
likelihood you’ll find what you want. The results will let you know what material is held where and direct you to find
it.
If you can’t find what you want ask a librarian how to research using the library's system. They enjoy being involved in ensuring people get what they need.
If you are confronted by a large number of different books and perhaps magazine or newspaper articles as well, use the
rapid scan technique.
For a book or magazine flip open the contents page and quickly read the chapter or article headings. If there’s an index at
the back of the book search out your key words. Nothing? Put the books back. Something? Check them out to take home for
closer reading.
How to Research Using the Telephone Book
If you have the name of either an organization or person who could supply the information you need, ring them!
You’ll need to judge for yourself the possible pay-off compared to the costs involved. These could be in time, and money
depending where the person or organization is in relation to you.
How to Research Tips for Top Telephone Results
- Don’t dial the number before preparing.
- Write yourself a list of the questions you want to ask.
- Be as specific as possible.
- Rank your questions from most important to least.
- Gauge how much time you are asking for. If you’ve prepared 30 minutes of question and answer, a busy person, may not have
that to give you!
- Have a piece of paper and pen handy for writing down the answers.
- If possible know at least a little about the organization and /or person before ringing
- If you’re ringing a large organization and don’t know who to ask for, ask the receptionist who would be the most suitable
person to talk to you about your topic.
- Get their name and ask if they are available.
- If so, introduce yourself, state your purpose ie. collecting information for a speech to be given to xxxx in two weeks time, ask if they have x amount of time to talk to you.
- If you get the go ahead, ask your questions and carefully record the answers. Be sure to thank the person for their time.
- If the person is not able to answer your questions right away, ask if there is a time when you could call back.
How to Research: Collating your Results
Collating your material can be a breeze or a mission. It depends on you.
Mission people are those who have to read everything and then have to re-evaluate their outline to see if
they’re missing something they simply must put in. Once they start to re-evaluate they begin to question their choices.
They doubt they've followed the 'how to research' process correctly.
(I know type of doubting intimately because I’ve done and still do it occasionally. It’s called wanting to make it perfect and while that's good in smallish doses, too much saps your confidence. The end result of ‘too much’ is paralysis. You end up blocked and anxious, and finally, scrambling to honor your deadline. Avoid it. If you can, catch yourself doing it and STOP.
If you’ve done your homework and found out what your audience expects and wants, then you do understand. You simply need get on with it rather than make it more complicated for yourself!)
By contrast the breeze people sail through, cool as could be. How do they do it? They stick to their main idea
headings in their original outline. They ONLY take information if it supports and extends their ideas in a substantial way. If the information is off-track or of little consequence they discard it. They stop reading. They don’t take notes. They move on to the next source. And they ONLY read what is necessary to understand what is being said and how it fits with their speech. In other words if you don’t have to read a whole book, don’t. Take the bits you need and no more. Knowing what to take and what to leave is part of learning how to research effectively. Like most things, you'll get more efficient through practice.
How to Process Information from either Print Material or a Website
Firstly collect up all your source material. Print off selected text from the websites you’ve book-marked and have any other
material (books, newspapers, magazines, interview notes etc.) ready for action. To speed your progress, sort them into piles
matching each of your main ideas.
Write your first main idea heading at the top of a blank sheet of paper. Example: ‘The Impossible Does Happen’
Now go to the ‘The Impossible Does Happen’ resource pile to begin processing the material.
Under the heading on your paper write the type and name of the first source.
Example: Book: ‘Lesser Known Facts of Flying Pigs’ by John Dreamer, Published by Inspired Life, 2001
Now you can either summarize in your own words the information you need or take a direct quote from the text.
If you have more than one point to summarize rank them in order from the most important to the least.
If you wish to use a passage straight from the text without summarizing, copy the section down. Note the page number (or
website url etc.), so you can return if need be.
If you have more than one source per main idea, be sure to number them as you process them.
Once you’ve finished working with your first main idea, start another sheet of paper for the second and third and so
on.
Your notes could look like this.
Heading (Main Idea One): The Impossible does Happen
- Book: Lesser Known Facts of Flying Pigs, John Dreamer, Inspired Life, 2004
- Summary: Flying Pigs are not a figment of an over active imagination. They have been seen on numerous occasions in the skies over Little –Weeble-Onsea, in the North of England. Detailed reports span 3 decades. The latest sighting was in 2001.
- Direct Quote: ‘My neighbor shouted at me to come and look. I rushed outside and saw at least twenty pigs flying in
formation. They looped around the church steeple several times before disappearing over the hills. It was weird. I wouldn’t
have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.’ Mrs Molly Green, resident, Little-Weeble-Onsea talking about the
sighting in 2001. Pg 24.
- Next Source…
Be sure to keep all your pieces of paper clearly marked and together! (You’ll be using them soon to write your
speech.)
Keep in mind as you go of both the audience and the length of time you’re speaking for.
If you gather too much information you’ll be unable to use it inside the time frame. If the information is unsuitable because
it’s either too complex or simple, or simply not relevant, you’ll have to discard it. It’s easier to do the processing ahead rather than later.
PS. Please note the rules around taking other people’s words to use. Always acknowledge the original speaker or
writer. Most people do not mind you using their work; in fact most of them appreciate and enjoy it. BUT they do mind if you
do not say where you got your information from or try to pass it off as your own. This is called plagiarism and can incur
hefty fines if you get caught. And they mind if you twist, distort or manipulate their words to fit your own ends. Play
fair…be nice. Be honest.
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