RR #3 Wadsworth Ch. 4-5

          In chapter 4 of Wadsworth Guide to Research, they discuss how to find resources through secondary research. Secondary resources are produced through someone else, and not straight through the source. The first thing they discuss is locating resources. They discuss types of resources and the two different categorizations: how texts change over time, and how texts are reviewed. Static resources include books, websites, or software applications. Syndicated resources are resources that are published over time under the same title. These include sources such as magazines, newspapers, blogs, podcasts, and journals. Dynamic resources are always changing with time, such as social networking sites, online communities, e-mail lists, and newsgroups. Also when conducting research, one must have a research plan.
          Chapter 5 explains how to conduct primary research. When making observations, researchers should use all of their senses. An important part of recording observations is a double-entry journal. One side is for observations, and the other side is for reflection. Another way of conducting primary research is through an interview. When conducting an interview there are three important steps: setting the interview time and location with the person or people, write your interview questions, and decide how to record the interview. Surveys can also be a good example of primary research. Once you have gathered your research, one must present it properly using the IMRAD format. This stands for introduction, methodology, results, analysis, and discussion.
          I think that these two chapters were very informative. They will definitely help considering we are about to start our research for our topics. I like how the book discusses many different types of research that is not normally thought of and used. I have never discussed the difference between primary and secondary research in any of my english classes before.  By understanding the difference, I think it helps you to find more of a variety of resources to use in researching a topic. The book also does a great job of explaining in detail how to conduct each type of research. It will be very helpful to look back at these while researching my topic.