Eng 2053 - report writing

Research

The Purpose of Research

The purpose of research is to find out about a topic that has significance for you. research allows you to discover and learn all you can about the topic in question. We basically employ two strategies in research: talking to people and searching through printed materials.

Collecting Information From People

We usually accomplish information collection from people through an interview or through surveys. During an interview you may ask a person two types of questions:

• Open (which allows an involved answer), "Why do you read Science Fiction?"
• Closed (seeks only predetermined answers), "Which type of books do you prefer to read, Science Fiction or Fantasy?"

Interviewing

Here your goal is simply to get the facts from someone who already knows them (an expert). To conduct an interview that is fruitful, you need to be aware of the following:

• Prepare Carefully. Research the individual. Prep questions. Get batteries and tapes.
• Be Professional.
• Probe for Information. Ask open-ended questions. Ask for descriptions. Engage in perception checks.
• Record. Get a tape recorder. Then you have absolute certainty as to what was said and the interviewee doesn't have to wait for you to scribble everything down.

Surveying

When you conduct a survey, you are asking respondents to answer a series of (usually closed) questions that you hope will provide answers to the overall question you are researching. Surveys contain three components:

• Context Setting Introductions (This includes an explanation of why you chose this person for the survey, your goal in collecting the information, and how the information will be used.)
• A set of questions
• A form that allows easy tabulation of the results

The Goal of most surveys is to allow the researcher to create a workable generalization. The researcher hopes that when the data is tallied, they can say that, their data shows that x percent of people engage in y; therefore, we can generalize this data to say that x percent of people in (the larger setting) engage in y. For instance, if your survey says that 35% of your classmates pick their toes, then, from this data, you can generalize and say that 35% of the students on campus pick their toes.

Click here if you would like to see a Sample Survey.

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