4.22: The Value of Deeper Research
- Page ID
- 116207
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In this day and age, when you can look up anything on the Internet and watch a quick video or skim an overview of the topic, the value of researching a question more deeply may get lost.
Some time ago, I read an interview with someone who had researched for years, maybe decades, to write his book. The author, Ricky Jay, said, "It's really strange that with a book like this, you can now look up nearly every character on Wikipedia and find a page about them. And people think this knowledge - that you've worked so hard to obtain - is obtainable in 10 seconds, and that's all there is to it. There are enormous dangers in thinking the world online is the world as it exists, that what you get from your one stroke on the Internet is all there is to know."
That really struck me! I really value the curiosity that leads us to read a little bit about a lot of things. I also value the curiosity can lead you into taking a deep dive into a single topic. While you are in college, and always, I encourage you to cultivate that curiosity, to read both widely and deeply on subjects that interest you.
There is probably nothing that you can get out of a college education more important than skill and practice in following your curiosity.
Do's and Don'ts:
- Don't rely ONLY on Google for your research. Use the library more often.
- Do use the research databases available through the library to get reliable, peer-reviewed sources, including ones that are a little challenging to read.
- Don't use a fact sheet or brochure (or a webpage that is like a fact sheet or a brochure) as a source on a research paper. It doesn't give enough information. It's helpful to read fact sheets and brochures, but use them as a launch pad to find MORE information.
- Do explore information that interests you and choose topics you have an opinion about. Share that opinion. Test that opinion against the research you find. However, don't ONLY search for information to support your point of view. Actively seek out competing points of view and reliable research that can help you understand a problem or a health issue in a more rounded way. Your arguments will be better supported (substantiated) if you know more about your subject. (And sometimes, with more information your opinion might evolve!)
- Do explore the health research available to you on a Library website about a topic that you care about. Waste a little time reading about something that interests you. See if you can access a variety of sources examining the issue. Look for bias, look for quality, look for recency, look for the qualifications of the author, ask yourself questions that take a while to answer.
- DO have fun with it!
- Do honest work -- avoiding plagiarism by citing your sources, avoiding the temptation to cut and paste, and stating your own analysis and summary of topics you have read about. (Many college libraries offer library workshops to learn how to avoid plagiarism -- like the Citation Champion workshop offered by the CCSF library.)
Photo credit: Photo by Devon Divine on Unsplash