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| Research and Study Skills |
STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL RESEARCH AND STUDYING It is important to have a routine and be organised when you are researching and studying. Below you will find some hints and tips to help you. |
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1. Plan your work Planning is very important as it gives you a structure for your work. Write down the keywords and phrases you are looking for or construct a mind-map (spider diagram). This should have the topic of your research in the middle with lines coming from the centre each of which will have a keyword or phrase on it. This should help to focus your mind on the task in hand. |
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2. Think carefully about where you are going to look for information Lots of people nowadays immediately think of using the internet. Remember that there are lots of other and possibly better resources available. Some websites have misleading or wrong information on them. It's difficult to gauge the authority and reliability of websites unless they have been constructed by well known organisations such as the BBC or Amnesty International for example. Try the non-fiction section of the Library, encyclopaedias and other reference books, or CD-ROM's. |
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3. When using a book you need to check the following before you decide to use it Does it have the information you need? - look at the contents page and index and read the information on the back cover of the book. These will help you decide what exactly is in the book and if it's relevant. Is it up to date? - look at the date of publication, near the front of the book. Does it cover the date you are looking for or is it too old? If so you will need to look for another book or alternatively use the Internet if its really current information you need. Is it pitched at your level? If it's too easy or too difficult then its of no use. Leave spaces to you can add extra information later. Use headings and sub-headings. Always use your own words to take notes. You will understand more. If necessary keep a dictionary and thesaurus handy to look up the meanings and alternatives of words. |
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4. Use reading techniques to save time When you find a book that contains the information you need you will neither have the time to read every page or need to do this anyway. You can use techniques called SKIMMING and SCANNING. These are both methods of reading quickly. Skimming is used when you are trying to find out what is on a page - to get an overview of the text. The technique involves quickly reading through the text - you don't read every word or sentence. Scanning is used when you are trying to find something in particular. Eg. you scan a page in a phone book for a name when you are trying to find a phone number. TIPS Write down a list of keywords and phrases and scan for them in the text. Read the first sentence in a paragraph. It often has the main point of the whole paragraph. Look at the end of a chapter, sometimes there is a summary of the chapter. Read the headings, sub-headings and other words that have been highlighted in some way. The author has deliberately highlighted these words and phrases to attract your attention to an important point. |
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5. Make organised notes People develop their own ways of taking notes. You have to choose a method that you prefer, which you may want to modify to suit yourself. Organising your notes properly will mean that you should have all the information you need. Some examples are - - spider diagram/mind-map - using numbers or bullet points - writing short summaries of paragraphs TIPS Use highlighter or coloured pens to highlight important words / phrases. You could also use capital letters, underline words or draw boxes/circles round keywords and phrases. If dealing with numbers, try to put your data into a graph or table. |
