How to Complete Research

the Proper Way

By: Surya Venkatraman

Date: 11 June 2014

 Define the Problem

Understand the Criteria and Constraints:

Copy down the criteria and constraints outlined to you by the teacher.
Mark down words and terms in the criteria and constraints that you are
unfamiliar with or don’t know the definition of.
Rephrasing:
The criteria and constraints are just a guideline
You should rephrase the criteria and constraints in your own words and alter
them as the project rules change.
 Define the Problem
To provide an example, for this project the criteria and constraints would be
along the lines of

Make a research document that gives future Engineering students a guideline on

how to conduct research properly. Be sure to go over how to search on search
engine websites. You do not need to go farther than the “Research” step of the
design process. Make sure that the medium is through either Microsoft Word or
Microsoft PowerPoint. It is advised to use this project to help you remember how to
research properly.

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 Concepts and Terms
Concepts
For every project that is assigned, there are certain concepts, or fields of
knowledge that should be understood.
In addition, there are also some unfamiliar terms outlined in the criteria and
constraints that should be searched up and defined.
It is important to identify these from the criteria and constraints and then to
research these topics to become more familiar with them.
For example, for the “Tug-Bot Project”, it is important to research the concepts
and terms of gear chains, torque, speed, and friction.
Another example is for this project. It is important to go over the concept of
technical writing.
 Research
Existing solutions
There are usually solutions to the problems that have already been outlined to
you in the criteria and constraints
For example, in the “Drawbridge Building Challenge”, it may be smart to look at
drawbridges that already exist and incorporate elements of its design into your
design.
In addition, there have been many instances when a project in this class has been
done the year before. In many cases, the information on this project has been
posted online though video sharing sites like YouTube
For example, here is the link to my “Crain Strain” project from the 2012-2013
school year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1hfXVSu9KQ
 How to Search on Search Engine
Websites
When searching something on websites such as Google or Bing, there are a few
tips and tricks to keep in mind.
Use words that are most likely to appear on websites. For example, instead of
searching my tooth hurts, say toothache. This is because that’s the word a
denistry or medical site would most likely use.
Spelling is generally not important because most search engines have spell check
built into them.
Capitalization does not matter. For example New York Times and new york times
heed the same results.
Most punctuation is also ignored, including ?!,.%^*( )[]/
It may also help to use the toolbar search box (The suggestion box) in order to
see what other people searched up. The questions in the box most likely have the
most results
 Evaluating your Source
Not all sources are created equally, and must be treated that way
There are three types of sources
Primary Sources: Original materials on which other research is based. This
includes poems, diaries, court records, interview, surveys, academic journals, and
original research/fieldwork. Primary sources are generally regarded as the most
reliable source, however they sometimes may contain a large amount of bias. This
generally does not occur for engineering research however.
Secondary Sources: Those that describe or analyze primary sources. This includes
books and articles that interpret, review or synthesize original research or
fieldwork. They are less reliable than primary sources because they are a
paraphrased version of an original source.
Tertiary Sources: Those that organize and locate secondary and primary source.
This includes online databases (Ex. Wikipedia) and encyclopedias. These sources
can be used to get a general understanding of a topic but not as primary research.
In addition, sites that end in .edu and .gov are generally far more reliable than .com
Finally, look at the year of the website. Your research shouldn’t come from the year
1975. Rather it should be within the past 3-4 years and a decade at the latest.

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 Evaluating
Note Taking
your Source
Researching means nothing if your research is not organized well and clearly
There are many effective strategies of note taking
Ex. Cornell Notes

Cal Poly Univeristy-

Main ideas “Note Taking Systems."
Main Ideas Http://www.sas.calpoly.ed
expanded u. California Polytechnic
upon State University, 2014.
Web. 15 June 2014.

Summary
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 Cornell Notes cont.
The advantages of using Cornell notes are it saves time and effort.
In addition, it is an easy format for pulling out major concepts and ideas
There are no main disadvantages

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 Outlining
Ex. Outlining
Cal Poly Univeristy-“Note
A. Main Idea Taking Systems."
Http://www.sas.calpoly.edu
1. Details . California Polytechnic
• Supports the detail above State University, 2014.
• Support the detail above Web. 15 June 2014.
2. Details

The advantages of using this system is it records content as well as relationships.

it also reduces editing and is easy to review by turning main points into questions
The disadvantages are that it requires more accurate organization. it also may not
show the relationship of a sequence.

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 Sentence Method
Ex. Sentence Method
This method is simply just writing every new though, fact or topic on a separate
line, numbering as you progress.
The advantages of using this system is it is slightly more organized than the
paragraph. It also covers most of the information.
The disadvantages are that you can’t determine the major points from the minor
points. Difficult to edit without having to rewrite by clustering points which are
related.
Cal Poly Univeristy-“Note
Taking Systems."
Http://www.sas.calpoly.edu
. California Polytechnic
State University, 2014.
Web. 15 June 2014.

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 Citations
It is important to cite your sources whenever you are researching
In high school and college, failure to cite where your information comes from is
plagiarizing and will result in 0.
There are many formats for citations but generally MLA 7 is the most widely used
as of the past 3-4 years.
The proper format of MLA 7 for websites is below
Contributors' names. "Title of Resource." The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing
Lab, Last edited date. Web. Date of access.
For engineering class, it is more useful to keeps your citations on the slide or page
your research is on rather than a separate work cited page.

Purdue Owl-“MLA Formatting and Style

Guide." Purdue OWL: MLA Formatting and
Style Guide. The Writing Lab, 2014. Web. 14
June 2014.

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