Pen.eps
Chapter 3: Read

You have your topic. You have your adviser and committee. You even have your research problem. Congratulations — you have entered the reading phase. Now, make sure you do not get mired in it. Reading can be a bit like quicksand: The more you do, the farther you sink. This chapter will help you read enough to design your study, write your literature review, and knowledgeably discuss your topic without losing yourself in tangential literature.

Topic: Revision

If you develop a habit of filtering your reading choices through your research problem, you will avoid casting too wide a net in your survey of the literature. Reading academic sources takes a lot of time and energy. But, if you are working and/or caring for a family, you do not have much time and energy to spare. It is easy to be led by others on what you should read, and it can be almost too simple to let your curiosity take you from one study to the next. Resist these urges by asking, “How does this study relate to my problem?” If the answer is weak or nonexistent, leave the source in the stacks to read another year.

As you read, you may find your research problem needs revision. This revision should merely be a honing of your problem, not a complete overhaul. Major changes to your research problem may result in delays because of extra reading or new methodology requirements. New studies are published monthly, sometimes with exciting implications. Resist the urge to substantially alter the research problem that may have taken you and your adviser hours — or even weeks — to settle on. Instead, jot the idea down in your organizational system as a potential future project.

Literature: Reassess Your Selection

As a review, the term “literature” in this sense spans a full range of academic sources. Books, journal articles, professional conference proceedings, interviews, case studies, seminar notes, and even documentary audio-visual productions are included in this category. Your role in the literature review is not to passively read as much of these sources as possible. Active engagement with the literature is required for this phase to be functional. This means absorbing the information, picking out portions useful to you, and thinking critically about whether the sources truly accomplish what they set out to. The ultimate goal of your literature review is to validate the purpose and design of your planned research. Read to reach it.

Focused selection of sources

The scope of literature brought to your attention by using only your topic as a search term in your library catalog will result in too much information for you to process and use. Selecting a list of keywords and using Boolean logic will help you narrow this search. Boolean searches use basic mathematical logic expressed in words (such as “and” for additions, “or” for subtractions, and “not” for divisions) to refine the results of a keyword search. For instance, in a Boolean search through the NIU library’s catalog, the topic “competition” displays 5,841 results. By using the Boolean search term “and” with a keyword added, like “competition and plants,” you can knock the results down to 19 sources. An even more complex Boolean search for “competition and plants not invasive” trims the results to 17 sources.

Somewhere in these narrowed results will be an applicable study whose bibliography will point you to more applicable studies. Reading through the abstracts or summaries of these sources will give you clues as to whether they are worthy of your time. Look for philosophies, study subjects, methodologies, and research aims that might be appropriate guides for your research problem. Although a few might not give you the information you hoped for, you will have already saved yourself valuable time by weeding out other more obviously unrelated studies.

Productive reading

Productive reading means spending time with appropriate literature — time that moves you forward in your thesis/dissertation process through improved comprehension, methodological awareness, and/or scholarly diction. Productivity is enhanced by focused selection of sources, reading at the right time of day, reading in the right location, and reading on the right media. “Right” is a subjective measurement based on your personal preferences. For example, e-book enthusiasts would be best served downloading as many sources in .pdf format as possible and reading them on their favorite devices, while paper enthusiasts would be better served reading photocopied sources.

It will take a bit of practice to ensure forward movement from your time spent reading. In written form, assess your productivity after reading the first 25 focused sources you access using the following list:

Once you have done this 25 times, you may notice patterns. If you find some studies leave you grasping for an answer to “most applicable things learned,” ask yourself why you chose to read those studies. This may lead you to develop better search strategies that exclude this type of study in the future. If your decision to select these studies seems valid, then see if there is a pattern between time of day, reading location, or media type and your difficulty in finding ways to apply the study to your thesis/dissertation. Use these patterns to your advantage, reading well-selected sources in the most optimal conditions possible.

Note taking

Even if you have a photographic memory, note taking is imperative during the reading phase. Memorization or familiarity with sources is not enough. You will need to record your process of critically thinking about each source, including which portions you plan to implement in your own study and why. Depending on the organizational system you have developed, these notes may be electronic, paper, or a combination of the two. No matter how you chose to organize your notes, you will be able to find and cite these sources during the writing phase if you have assigned each source a number, as suggested in Chapter 1.

Taking notes on the following items will ensure you get what you need from each source within one or two passes. This does not mean you will not revisit sources, but it will mean you can quickly decide which source to revisit and actually find it. Before taking your notes in earnest, scan the “Data” section of this chapter so you may accomplish all your note-taking tasks for each source over the course of the same read. See Appendix A for a sample note-taking form.

Through the course of preparing your proposal, you may end up using spreadsheets or tallies to better use portions of this information. If you penciled more notes on a paper copy of the study or embedded notes in an e-version, make sure to note that somewhere on your note-taking form. A simple asterisk with “more notes at [location]” will suffice

Case Study: Stick to the Schedule

Dr. Mary Crowe

Director, Office of Undergraduate Research, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro

mcroweuncg@gmail.com

www.uncg.edu/our

Biography:

Dr. Mary Crowe is the director of the Office of Undergraduate Research at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a position she has held since spring 2006. She has extensive experience in mentoring university students on projects related to the behavioral ecology of invertebrates. She likes to involve students in her research on dung beetles. Prior to her current position, she was the Director of Xavier University of Louisiana’s Center for Undergraduate Research from June 2004 to January 2006. From 1994 to 2004, she was a tenure-track/tenured faculty member in the Department of Biology at Coastal Carolina University (CCU). While at CCU, she mentored the research projects of 30 students in the field of crab foraging and thermoregulatory behavior. More than one-third of her undergraduate students have gone on to obtain their master’s and doctorate degrees, and she has served on multiple master’s thesis committees. Dr. Crowe earned her bachelor’s in Biology from Eureka College in 1987, then her master’s and doctorate in Biology from Northern Illinois University in 1990 and 1994, respectively.

Dissertation title and synopsis:

Larvae Aggregations in the Imported Willow Leaf Beetle: Mechanisms of Reaggregation and Adaptive Significance

The work focused on two different questions related to aggregations of a beetle: “how” and “why.” We found the beetle larvae cue in to secretions from each other (much like caterpillars do) to find their way to each other and new leaves to feed on. The group size of the species varied to just a few to more than 16. There appeared to be selection for middle-sized groups: If the group was too small, the larvae could not puncture the leaf to establish a feeding site; yet if the group was too big, it could attract more predators than a smaller group.

First-person account:

I earned my degrees (master’s and doctorate) in the catalog-estimated time period. I think my doctoral adviser was pivotal in helping me
navigate the process, encouraging me to break my dissertation up into pieces. Based on her input, the first chapter of my dissertation was a review and in press (accepted for publication) while I worked on the other chapters. I was able to separate the other experiments into sections and worked on one section at a time. I would start on the next section while waiting for the reviews of the previous section so there was a continuous process of writing, editing, and rewriting. One strategy I used — and continue to use to this day — is to set artificial and
accelerated deadlines for myself and work hard to treat those deadlines as seriously as those imposed by my adviser and theses/dissertations committees.

The skills above have absolutely affected my ability to publish and earn tenure. I believe another skill, listening, was just as important. Every year, I underwent an annual review where I met with the department chair and dean to ascertain my progress toward tenure. I listened closely to their evaluation of my progress and where I needed to center my energies in the upcoming year. For example, in year two, I was told I was fine in getting external support for my work but really needed to get some publications in the pipeline. I had already lined up student researchers for that summer, but the following academic year I did not work with any students and concentrated on writing up publications.

When I serve as an adviser, I do notice a transformation of my advisees’ organizational habits and their development as researchers, though I think the improved organizational skills come sooner than some other research skills (improving a person’s writing skills takes a longer time). I do not specifically talk to advisees about organizational skills and time management, but I find leading by example seems to work. Pulling up a calendar and charting out the tasks with students helps keep us all
organized. We share a Google calendar, and students can see notices for draft one of a given manuscript, including notes/appointments I keep for myself. We place meetings on the calendar for when drafts of introductions and abstracts are due as reminders. When a new student joins the group, we have a short overview meeting in which everyone talks about the lab’s research policy.

I have one tip for graduate students about how to write a successful thesis/dissertation: Schedule writing during the time you are most productive on your calendar — at least every other day. I am best first thing in the morning, and I use that time to write. Mid-afternoon, my brain is dead. I use that time to exercise or run errands, never to write. Even if you get writer’s block during that specified time, do not leave your computer. Do something — anything related to the writing of your dissertation, such as working on an outline of a subsequent chapter or the summary of a manuscript, anything that will eventually contribute to your work.

Assistance: Utilizing Your Hours

For the most part, you will be on your own during the reading phase. No one can do the reading for you; however, all current graduate students are required to register for thesis/dissertation hours, even if they are not taking coursework. Make sure to take advantage of your registration for these hours by checking in with your adviser periodically and attending seminars. These on-campus visits will give you opportunities to maintain your peer network with the other graduate students. At no point along your process should you become a ghost.

Present key sources to adviser

Pardon the pun, but it is imperative to stay on the same page as your adviser during the read phase. Make periodic appointments with him or her to discuss key studies you feel have major implications for your own research. Keep each appointment focused on one source and supply your adviser with a copy in whichever medium he or she prefers to read. Spending the time and effort to discuss these studies will keep your reading productive because it:

The last thing you want is to present your first draft of a literature summary only to have your adviser call your interpretations into question and negate the usefulness of the bulk of your reading. Periodic consultations, scheduled at your adviser’s convenience, should prevent this kind of time-intensive surprise.

Attend departmental seminars

At first glance, departmental seminars seem like optional events. But, taking the time out from reading and other obligations to attend will help you develop critical-thinking skills. It is not essential for you to be the one raising your hand asking questions. What is essential is to listen to the presentation, think about the visual display of information, and analyze the appropriateness of the conclusions drawn. Even if you are just in “sponge mode,” absorbing information without being able to analyze it, you will be able to learn from the analytic ability of others in the room. What points are they calling into question? How and when are they expressing their questions? How does the presenter respond?

If the seminar presenter was brought in from another institution, the sponsoring faculty member might hold a reception for the presenter. Check to make sure your attendance would be appropriate. If so, these informal gatherings would be an excellent place to let the presenter know you are new to the topic and to ask some questions you may have been too embarrassed to ask during the formal seminar. This is a good way to broaden your network and demonstrate enthusiasm for the research process.

Data: Methodologies to Utilize

During the read stage, collect as much information as you can about the methodologies other researchers have used to investigate your topic and how you might apply these same methodologies. By focusing your energy on methodologies in your literature rather than the vast number of methodologies that exist, it will be possible to dig in and eventually understand the “why” behind them. Understanding the why will help you select the one most appropriate to your problem and defend that choice.

Survey common methodologies for your topic

The “Sample note-taking form” mentioned in the “Literature” section simply lists “notable items from the methodology.” See Appendix A for this sample. Discomfort with statistics may make reading the data and analysis sections of articles difficult. The following series of questions will walk you through these challenging yet vital portions of the literature so you know which kinds of information to list in your notes.

Research type

Data collection

Data analysis

Rationale for the researchers’ choices

Your access to similar methods

Keep practical matters in mind as you survey appropriate methodologies for your research problem. If you are working on a thesis, do not begin planning your research around a method that took another researcher five years to complete. If you are a single mother of toddlers, you should probably pass on a methodology that requires extended, out-of-town data collection. But, access can be dependent upon more than personal constraints. Some methodologies require expensive equipment your university may not have. Unless you can find another facility with the necessary equipment and a sponsor who will make sure you get time with that equipment, look for alternative methods. Some groups of study subjects, especially children, are difficult to gain access to unless you already have some connection to them. If these groups are critical to your research problem, you may have to be flexible and creative in working through barriers to access, such as privacy concerns.

Consider carefully how much effort you want to expend in gaining access to elements of your methodology. Doing an informal cost-benefit analysis before you settle on something complex will ensure the amount of time and energy you put into this area will be worth what you get out of it. To do a quick and dirty cost-benefit analysis, ask yourself the following questions using a scale of 0 (none/nothing) to 10 (a lot):

1. How much money will this methodology cost?

2. How much time will this methodology cost?

3. How much frustration and stress will this methodology cost?

4. Add up the answers from questions 1-3.

5. Do I have access to people that can reduce the frustration/stress factor? If so, by how much can they reduce it?

6. How applicable is this methodology to my specific research question?

7. How many difficulties will I encounter if I end up using a different methodology?

8. Add up the answers from questions 5-7.

Subtract the answer in number 4 from the answer in number 8. If the result is positive, then you may have good reason to pursue the methodology. If the result is negative, you may want to start searching for alternatives. This little exercise is just that — a quick exercise to help you think about your choices. Ultimately, your decision will have to be based on discussions with your adviser.

Written Work: Documenting Your Research

Even though there is no written work to turn in for a grade during the reading phase, there is writing to do. Taking notes, drafting outlines, recording questions and insights all are important documents you will generate as you read the literature. If crafted diligently, they will be of great assistance during the actual writing of your proposal. There is no right or wrong way to draft these documents. Prepare them in whichever format on whichever medium will be convenient and conducive to study.

Notes

In the sample note-taking form, it mentions “keywords the study should be filed under.” Assigning keywords to sources is a terrific way to group them for easy reference during the design and writing stages. In order to access any source you need any time you need it, make lists for each keyword on paper or in a spreadsheet:

If you create these lists on paper, make duplicate copies, and file them alphabetically in a keyword folder or tab in your system. If you use spreadsheet software to record the lists, save the file as “keywords,” and create separate sheets for each keyword. That way you can easily flip back and forth using tabs when a single source belongs to multiple keywords.

Outlines

You may want to outline sources of particular interest. Creating an outline from the text will give you a detailed look at its construction, logic, and flow of ideas from question to conclusions. This is a time-consuming exercise, so choose the sources with care. By this point in your research, you will have a feel for which sources are the most important to absorb. Store these outlines with the sources in your system for later reference.

Questions

As you read, you will have questions: questions about why and how the authors conducted their research the way they did, questions about whether or not an author’s conclusions were supported by the evidence given, or just plain questions because you do not understand something. Record all these questions, along with the source number they pertain to. Seek out more experienced graduate students, your adviser, or some other trusted mind to discuss them. If the questions are short ones pertaining to a limited section of a source, you might be able to e-mail one of your mentors to ask the question along with the wording of the section. If the answers you seek are long and involved, set up a meeting in advance, and provide a copy of the source. If appropriate, offer to treat your mentor to an off-campus snack to make the discussion more enjoyable and show how much you value your mentor’s time and assistance.

Your thoughts and reactions

There is a space on the “Sample note-taking form” for your thoughts and reactions to statements made in your sources. Taking care to record these as you read will help you develop your research problem and write your literature review thoroughly. You will be reading so many sources that you will forget these thoughts if you do not write them down. The last thing you want to do is reread all your sources at every stage of your thesis/dissertation. Even worse would be to decide not to make a point in your writing because you cannot find the source that prompted it.

Organization: Store Everything

Throughout the reading phase, you have encountered a few new sources of information to track. Keep your paper versus electronic preferences in mind as you decide where to store quotations and records of logistics. Both types of information have a funny way of disappearing in the heat of the writing phase.

Quotations

As with the keyword lists you made in the previous section, making a quotation list will help you access the quotes you are looking for when you are looking for them. Your quotations should be listed under the most appropriate keyword in the same medium you chose for the keyword lists you developed earlier. The format is as follows:

File your quotation lists alphabetically by keyword, as with your keyword lists; paper versions alphabetically in folders/tabs or electronic versions in alphabetically arranged sheets. Using the source number and location information, you will quickly find either the original source to confirm wording or the notes on the source to review your thoughts on the quote.

Recordkeeping

In Chapter 1, you chose a place to record important dates. Is this location able to track the logistics surrounding those dates? For meetings, develop a way to organize maps and directions, parking information, and preparatory notes. For deadlines, develop a way to store and access instructions and expectations related to the tasks. For research trips, develop a system for tracking expenses such as photocopying, mileage, and meals. Review the organization section of Chapter 1 to remind yourself of electronic and paper methods at your disposal.

Maintenance

With the copious notes and sources you have generated during this stage, it is vital you tidy up. During your journey through the literature, you may have run across some sources that did not fit any of the categories you set up in Chapter 1. Take the time now to classify them, duplicate them, and store them in a logical place within your system. Make sure your organizational and disaster-recovery systems are up to date before moving on to the design stage.

Summary of Tasks

Phase 1

Phase 2

Table of Contents