February 2010 "Research Rules!" Challenge - Who's In?

[Celeste Stewart]

Okay, so we all have goals for this year and we’re actively taking steps each week to achieve them, right? Good! Now, let’s move on to this month’s challenge: research. This month, all challengers will tackle one writing project that requires more research than normal. Go ahead and take a topic you’re familiar with that you’ve always wanted to explore on a deeper level or choose an unfamiliar topic that challenges you beyond your comfort level. Either way, you’re going to find three credible sources of information to use in your article. Sure, I could have you find one really good government study, but what fun would that be?

Let’s say that you want to write an article titled Living with Asthma: Where’s the Best Place to Live? You might research: asthma facts (such as how many people are currently suffering from asthma, common environmental irritants/triggers, etc.), geographical locations with high and low incidences of asthma cases, and medical information/studies/treatments/prevention. Rather than having one single source, you will draw on three. In this example, those three sources might be the American Lung Association, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Mayo Clinic.

My favorite research tip: Use Google’s Advanced Search feature and limit search results to .org, .gov, and .edu sites. Here’s a possible site for finding experts and people willing to share their stories: www.helpareporter.com. The way I understand it, the site works mainly via email. Writers put in requests for experts/regular people to interview about whatever their topics happen to be and people that match those requests respond with information, quotes, availability for interviews, etc. You create a request looking for doctors willing to give you a quote about what asthma sufferers should look for in a community before relocating. I haven’t placed any queries for experts here yet, but I plan on doing so as part of this challenge.

If you’re already doing plenty of research for your articles, the challenge for you is to dig deeper than you normally do or fine-tune how you present complex information. You’ll need to be the judge of where you need to focus your efforts. For example, if you have loads of data, how can you present it in a way where you make the point without overloading the reader with line after line of facts and figures? Can you use an analogy that makes the information easier to digest? Can you include a table to support your text?

I think I’ll do an asthma article (since I already have some ideas after just using this hypothetical article as an example). What topic are you going to tackle? Where are you going to begin your research? Who’s in?

[audrabianca]

I'm in. My topic is securitization and derivatives.

[Debbi]

This is a challenge I really needed. Thank you so much, Celeste, for the tip about using the advanced Google search to focus on .gov, .edu, and .org web sites. Not only am I using that feature now, but also upping the number of links per Google page. I never even knew that advanced feature existed.

This is exactly the type of reserach/resource help I've been needing. I hope everyone will post their little tips and tricks to finding info online. I've also been using accessmylibrary.com quite a bit after seeing it in a previous thread.

Question: How many of you go to the library to do research and how many do online reserach exclusively?

[EricScott]

What's a library?

[rohishetty]

Thanks Celeste, what a terrific idea!
My topic is diabetes.

[Celeste Stewart]

I do use the library quite often. Sometimes I even buy books! I have one customer that reimburses me if I need to do that which is definitely helpful. One of the books cost over $150! But that was for a unique project and the information wasn't readily available online or at libraries.

A few years ago, I wrote an article about fossilized seashells. I knew about them because there's an entire reef of fossilized seashells in the desert near where we go camping. I found out more information from a book detailing that particular area and its features. The book's bibliography referenced some research that happened to be available at the San Diego Natural History Museum. So, I called the museum and made an appointment at their research library and was able to review the research myself as well as make copies of the pages containing the info I needed. I took my daughter with me (she was four at the time) and made a fun outing of it. She's still impressed that we got to go "behind the scenes" at the dinosaur museum. That article later sold for $200 (it wasn't a CC article though).

While I do use the library, buy books, and gather research at museums, parks, nature centers, etc., I do the bulk of my research online using government and academic sites.

[Evelyn]

This is a funny challenge for me--some of my other work requires intense research (60 sources for 15,000 words, for instance). So I write for C-C because I don't have to do that kind of digging! It sneaks in, though, and I've been trying to avoid citing too many sources for my articles. Most webmasters don't care about such things.

As a result of research requirements, here are a few suggestions:

Go to your public library or your local CC or university and ask for public or community access to their electronic databases. You'll be able to access the Academic Search Premier which has a wealth of information on humanities subjects (teaching, nursing, business etc.), most of which are REAL studies published in REAL academic journals. This access should also give you the ProQuest database, which is newspapers and business publications--very interesting to know about cutting edge stuff there. Other databases exist about the sciences, nursing, etc.

I say to get access through the library because you can do your research online for free through the library portal.

Wait! I'm not done yet.

JStor is a great database for academic publications back to the mid-1800s. Interested in deconstructing rock music? How about studying the Spanish literary canon? I've explored both topics through JStor.

Don't forget ERIC for educational stuff and PubMed for medical, although you'll need a huge vocabulary to understand most PubMed articles. They're at ERIC.edu and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ respectively.

I'm such a geek--I've got all those bookmarked. What a geek! If you want to know more, ask and I'll let you know some of the lesser-known databases. Not that there's anything wrong with Google...

[EricScott]

Wow, there are some great resources there Evelyn. Thanks a lot for bringing them up.

I've been researching a few topics just for my personal knowledge (a bit of a geek here also, Evelyn!). I've thought about writing an article on one of the topics but I doubt it will sell on CC. But maybe for this monthly challenge I'll put together an article just to see what happens. Who knows, I may find a new niche

[Sharion]

Man, if this challenge had been issued two weeks ago I'd have aced it already! I released an article that took 8 hours of research. Couldn't tell you how many sources I went to. I'd find two sources that had conflicting info so I'd dig deeper, searching for sources I felt had the most trustworthy info. Really don't expect I'll recoup the time spent on that one. But I got soooo sucked into the subject I just had to do it.

Actually already have another article planned that will take quite a bit of research. It will probably turn out to be another research hog. Instead of trying to fully recoup the time here which would be nearly impossible, I will probably tie it into another business of mine and release it for usage only here so that I can use it myself as well.

If possible I will wait until it sells once here before I use it to give the paying person Google dibs.

[Sharion]

Ditto on the thank you for sharing the research links. The info is very much appreciated.

Reminds me of another article I'd been thinking about, a medical topic. I was going to do it and then I stopped, thinking surely it had been done a million times. Maybe the challenge for me is to find a new twist on it.

[CRDonovan]

Love the library. Do my research on line. And I do a ton of it. My problem is: when to stop? I spent a few weeks last year researching Tibet's situation with China and took copious notes. (yup, that was "weeks") Way too much for one article. Ended up walking away from it all. Have enough material for a handful of articles, at least. (or a book! ; ) ) Working on an article now which looks at the philosophical implications of quantum mechanics. You could spend years reading about this stuff. One thing that helps me focus my research ( and then, hopefully, my writing) is deciding who my intended audience is. Someone who knows nothing about the topic? Who is already well informed, looking for more information?

Anyway, this is another good challenge for me. I think my personal take on this challenge is directing and then limiting my research; or knowing when I have material for more than one article instead of trying to figure out how to fit it all in.

Thanks for the links and research tips, folks.

[Antonia]

Great resources, Evelyn and others--thanks! I already do quite a lot of research for many of my articles, and using 3 or more isn't unusual, so I'll tailor my approach to this challenge. During the month of February, I am going to:
- use at least 3 actual books as sources
- dig deeper: instead of citing something that cites something else, dig all the way down to the original chart, study or whatever
- write at least 3 articles that incorporate research I had to do for personal stuff (I do this occasionally, but not enough)