CONDUCTING RESEARCH
GLE 37: access information and conduct research using various data-gathering strategies/tools,
including formulating clear research questions; evaluating the validity and/or reliability of
primary and/or secondary sources; using graphic organizers; compiling and organizing
information to support the central ideas, concepts, and themes of a formal paper or presentation;
preparing annotated bibliographies and anecdotal scripts
DATA-GATHERING STRATEGIES
Now that you know what research sources are available to you and how to find them, you need to
gather the data you will need for a paper or presentation. You can do that in the following ways:
(1) Formulate clear research questions. These will help you efficiently find the best information.
Your topic needs to be broad enough so that you will find enough information, but also narrow
enough that you are not bogged down with too much information that may not be relevant. For
example, if you are writing about sea creatures that are dangerous to humans, some of research
questions might include the following:
How many marine animals are poisonous?
Which sea creatures are carnivores?
Which sea creatures have killed humans in the past?
(2) Use creative and critical research strategies, utilizing a wide variety of sources. Keep in mind
that the best source for your topic may not be pages found on the Internet or even books from the
library. They might be field studies, oral histories, interviews or experiments conducted by experts.
(3) Use graphic organizers (such as outlines, charts, timelines, webs, and so on) to arrange the
information from your resources in a way that can best be used. We will look at each of those
organizers later.
COMPILING AND ORGANIZING INFORMATION
Once you have all of the research sources you think you will need, it is time to compile and organize
information. Whether you are doing research for a formal paper or an oral presentation, you will
need to come up with a central idea. You then must use the resources you have found to help support
those ideas.
A good way to stay on top of all the bits of information you find is to use anecdotal scripts. When
scripting anecdotally, you make notes that highlight key points, pose questions, and summarize what
the text says. You can write notes directly in the margins of a resource text, or you can keep a file of
note cards that list your notes and the page number of the resource text where each point can be
found. These note cards are like recipe cards in a box – only this recipe will “cook up” a great research
paper. When you arrange them in the file box, use the organizing method that will help you easily find
the right data again. You can arrange cards alphabetically or chronologically (for example, if you are
writing about an author’s life).
Another way to organize and record your research is to use an annotated bibliography. This is a list
of the sources you consulted and notes on each source. An annotated bibliography includes a brief
summary of the work and some ideas about how it will be useful to you. For example, James is writing
a paper on authors who influenced American philosophy. They include people like Benjamin Franklin
and Mark Twain. To add to this list, James found a website with a brief biography of Will Rogers, the
journalist, actor, and philosopher born in 1879. His annotated bibliography for this source might look
like this:
Will Rogers Institute. 8 October 2010l
<http://www.wrinstitute.org/wrfaq.asp.> Major highlights of Rogers’s life.
The main point, however, is to draw conclusions about your topic from all of the information you
have. One or two sources can provide plenty of information. But it is only when a researcher
considers multiple sources that patterns begin to emerge. Looking at a variety of sources also allows
you to figure out which sources are the best to use, and where it is best to use them in your project.
USING GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS
Whether you are reading or preparing to write, you will need to know how to use and read graphic
organizers. Some are already made for you, and you have to analyze the information; others you
arrange ideas. Your teacher may suggest the type of organizer you can use.
Webs are graphic organizers used to arrange your thoughts about a topic. You can use webs to help
you study for a test or prepare a writing assignment; you can use them to organize notes that you take
while reading. To create a web, write the main topic in the center circle. Write ideas that you want to
develop on branches extending from the circle.
predict
predict
CALCULATE
solve
solve
Charts can be created to compare and contrast ideas. It is easy to make a Venn diagram to show how
things are alike and different. You can
Where Were Shanda's Friends Born?
also make tables to arrange your
Texas
information in an easy-to-read format
10%
for later use.
Arkansas
10%
Oklahoma
60%
Kansas
20%
Timelines help organize events in chronological order. They are graphic aids for showing historical
or biographical information. Timelines are good tools for taking notes on information that flows in
chronological order. They can also be used to help a reader keep track of the main events in the plot of
a story. Not only can you analyze and interpret timelines, you can make your own to use as a guideline
for something you are studying. For example, while studying a chapter in a history book, you can
draw yourself a timeline showing the order in which the main events from a historical period
occurred.
Frankfurter invented
in Germany, 1487-1600
Mid 1800s: German
immigrants bring
frankfurter to America
1860s, first frankfurters sold
by street vendors in NY
Early 1900s, frankfurter
first call a “hot dog”
1890s, frankfurters first
sold at a Major League
game in St. Louis
Outlines are another excellent way to arrange your ideas. an outline can help you sort main ideas
from supporting details and place those ideas in the order in which they should flow. Here is the
layout of a basic outline:
I. Introduction: Main Idea
II. Body
A. Paragraph 1: Topic 1
1. Supporting details
2. Supporting details
3. Supporting details
B. Paragraph 2: Topic 2
1. Supporting details
2. Supporting details
3. Supporting details
C. Paragraph 3: Topic 3
1. Supporting details
2. Supporting details
3. Supporting details
III. Conclusion
PRACTICE ON GLE 37
(1) Yvonne included a works-cited page with her essay on this history of soccer. Her teacher asked her to revise
it into an annotated bibliography. Below is an entry from her works-cited page:
Black, Earl. Soccer: When It Was Called Football. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 2002.
Which change, if any, should be made to make the entry into an annotated bibliography entry?
A. The publisher’s name and location should be removed from the entry.
B. The information should be reorganized, so the title appears before the author’s sources should be
added.
C. A summary of the text, the author’s expertise, and the book’s relation to the other sources should be
added.
D. No change.
(2) Rico wants to make a graphic organizer to show the differences between World War I and World War II.
Which would be best for him to use?
A. outline
B. Venn diagram
C. timeline
D. web
(3) Take a look at Tara’s outline for her report on President Obama.
I.
II.
III.
Early Life
A. Law School
B. Civil Rights Attorney
Career in Legislature
A. State Senator
B. ____________________
Presidency
Which topic would best fit in the blank?
A. Community Organizer
B. Foreign Policy Expert
C. Health Care Reformer
D. US Senator
(4) Finn is writing a report on the human brain. Which would be the best research question for his topic?
A. How does the human brain work?
B. Does the average person’s brain ever stop learning?
C. How much does the average human brain weigh?
D. What part of you brain controls each bodily function?
(5) Oliver is writing an anecdotal script on a reference source about the life of Sir Alexander Fleming, the
discoverer of penicillin. Which of his statements would be the most helpful when he is writing his paper?
A. This source has too much about penicillin and not enough about Fleming.
B. This source has many facts that were disputed in other sources.
C. This source has many facts about Fleming’s early life.
D. This source has many grammatical errors in it.
(6) Erin wants to make a graphic organizer about Albert Einstein’s career. Which would be the best type of
organizer to use?
A. Venn diagram
B. timeline
C. outline
D. web
....................................................................................................................................................................................
Suppose you want to find out about the art of the American Revolution for a report. Here are two different print
sources that contain information about art of the American Revolution. Use these two sources to locate, analyze
and synthesize information for your research project.
(1) Use the introduction to Chapter 8: “Art of the American Revolution” to answer this question.
The answer to which question would most improve a student’s understanding of the remarks about the
portrait of Samuel Adams in paragraph 4? (37a)
A. Where in Massachusetts was the portrait painted?
B. How was Samuel Adams related to President John Adams?
C. What were the contents of the Massachusetts Charter?
D. Why was John Singleton Copley chosen to paint Samuel Adams?
(2) Use the introduction to Chapter 8: “Art of the American Revolution” to answer this question.
What is the best reason for using the Declaration of Independence to determine the accuracy of John
Trumbull’s painting? (37b)
A. It is an early historical artifact.
B. It is a primary source document.
C. It is a symbolic government report.
D. It is an important political statement.
(3) Use the outline from a research study on the artists of the American Revolution and their works to
answer this question.
An outline such as this is most useful for? (37c)
A. locating information.
B. checking information.
C. organizing information.
D. summarizing information.
(4) Use the outline from a research study on the artists of the American Revolution and their works to
answer this question.
Which additional entry to the outline under ―A. John Singleton Copley‖ is correct? (37c)
A.
B.
B. Declining Years
4. Declining Years
C.
D.
e. Declining Years
i. Declining Years
(5) Use the introduction to Chapter 8: “Art of the American Revolution” to answer this question.
From the text of the introduction, the contents of Chapter 8 mostly likely discuss paintings in terms of
(37d)
A. important events in United States history.
B. biographies of well-known American artists.
C. market prices of eighteenth-century collectibles.
D. techniques used by eighteenth-century painters.
(6) Use the outline from a research study on the artists of the American Revolution and their works to
answer this question.
Which higher-level heading would best fit at the top of the outline? (37d)
A.
B.
I. Artists of the Revolution
I. European Influences
C.
D.
I. Benjamin West
I. The Revolutionary War
1. From the book Introduction to the American Revolution by Jane Abrams;
published in New York City by Yale UP in 1999
Introduction to Chapter 8: ―Art of the American Revolution‖ (pp.165-166)
1
2
3
4
5
ART OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
How can anyone visualize the events of 250 years ago? There were no cameras or copy machines, no
video or audio recorders. Artists of the time were keenly aware of the need to preserve history and provide
the public with some record of the important historical events that were taking place.
Many painters of the time strove to provide images that represented the historical significance of
dominant personalities and key events, rather than actual facts. A famous painting by John Trumbull
(1756–1843), The Declaration of Independence, is one example of art that is ―historically‖ true to life.
Although the location and subjects of the painting were all painstakingly done from life, there are several
people in the painting who did not sign the Declaration of Independence but were important figures at the
time, while several people who did sign the declaration are missing, perhaps because Trumbull was unable
to locate them or get them to pose for him. An interesting detail in the painting is that John Adams is
shown standing on Thomas Jefferson’s foot! Was this Trumbull’s way of commenting on the often strained
relationship between the two founding fathers?
No better example of factual inaccuracy could be found than what is arguably the most famous painting
of the Revolutionary Era, George Washington Crossing the Delaware, by Emmanuel Leutze (1816–1868).
This German-American artist visited the Smithsonian Museum several decades after Washington’s famous
crossing to study his uniform and sword as well as many contemporary paintings of Washington. Then he
returned to Germany to paint the picture, which he finished in 1850. Either unaware of the facts, or
ignoring them, he proceeded to place several people in the boat with Washington who, although important
to the Revolution, were not even near Delaware at the time. A flag is depicted that did not exist until six
months later. The actual crossing took place in the middle of the night in a driving snowstorm but that
would not have made for a very clear painting. Instead, Leutze chose to represent the historical ―truth‖ of
the event: the brave men rowing, Washington standing resolutely near the prow of the boat, moving out of
darkness into the dawn—all no doubt intended as a symbolic representation of Washington leading the new
nation into a bright and hopeful future. Leutze was later commissioned to do a painting to decorate a
stairway in the Capitol. Westward the Course of Empire Takes its Way (1860) was the result.
Perhaps the best-loved painter of the time was John Singleton Copley (1738–1815), especially known
for his portraits. His extreme attention to detail gives us precise, if somewhat idealized likenesses of those
who ―sat‖ to have their pictures painted. Copley, too, included symbolic elements in his representations.
For example, his portrait of Samuel Adams shows a man with a determined and fretful look on his face
pointing to a copy of the Massachusetts Charter, which lies partially unfurled on the desk before him. The
John Hancock portrait gives us a close look at some beautiful furniture, a well-used quill pen (Hancock’s is
the most prominent signature on the Declaration of Independence), and even the wrinkles of Hancock’s
stockings. Perhaps one of the most daring paintings Copley crafted was that of Paul Revere, who is not
wearing a coat. Why, when having one’s portrait done was such a great extravagance, would a colonial
gentleman be seen without his coat? Revere wanted not only to be seen as a true craftsman (he was a
silversmith), but also to express his admiration for the colonial women who had daringly woven the
domestic linen for his shirt, at a time when only imported linen was allowed into the country.
Look carefully at these paintings of our revolutionary era. They go beyond what simple photographs
could have done. They depict what the artists felt and knew, what the subjects wanted to portray, and,
perhaps, what the viewers wish they had witnessed.
2. From a research study on the artists of the American Revolution and their
works by Jeff Buckley.
Outline
A. John Singleton Copley (1738-1815)
1. Early Life
a. born in Boston, Massachusetts. Age 17, portrait of the Rev. William Welsteed, minister
2. Middle Years
a. became famous in England for The Boy with the Squirrel (1766)
b. traveled in England to make studies of old portraits and actual places
c. concentrated on biblical and historical subjects, e.g., Abraham Offering up Isaac, Hagar and
Ishmael in the Wilderness, The Death of Major Pierson, The Siege of Gibraltor
3. Important Works
a. The Return of Neptune
b. Samuel Adams
c. John Hancock
d. Paul Revere
B. John Trumbull (1756-1843)
1. Early Life
a. went to school at Harvard University at age 15
b. soldier in the American Revolutionary War
i. sketched plans of British fortifications
ii. witnessed the Battle of Bunker Hill
c. studied under Benjamin West, painted small pictures of the War of Independence
2. Middle Years
a. sold a series of 28 paintings and 60 miniature portraits for $1,000
b. painted full-length portraits of General Washington, George Clinton, Alexander Hamilton, and
John Jay
c. painted portraits of John Adams and Jonathan Trumbull (his father)
3. Important Works
a. The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill
b. The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec
c. Declaration of Independence
d. Washington Resigning his Commission