Once you have decided upon a research project and you’re able to sum up your proposed research in one sentence, it’s time to start planning your project. The first thing you need to do is your background research. This will help you to become more familiar with your topic and introduce you to any other research which will be of benefit to you when you begin your own project.

CONDUCTING PRIMARY AND SECONDARY RESEARCH

There are two types of background research – primary research and secondary research (see Table 2). Primary research involves the study of a subject through firsthand observation and investigation. This is what you will be doing with your main project, but you may also need to conduct primary research for your background work, especially if you’re unable to find any previously published material about your topic. Primary research may come from your own observations or experience, or from the information you gather personally from other people, as the following example illustrates.

In the above example, Jenny mentions a recently published report which she has read. This is secondary research and it involves the collection of information from studies that other researchers have made of a subject. The two easiest and most accessible places to find this information are libraries and the internet. However, you must remember that anybody can publish information over the internet and you should be aware that some of this information can be misleading or incorrect.

Of course this is the case for any published information and as you develop your research skills so you should also develop your critical thinking and reasoning skills. Do not believe everything you’re told. Think about the information you are being given. How was it collected? Were the methods sound? What motives did the publishers have for making sure their information had reached the public domain?

By developing these skills early in your work, you will start to think about your own research and any personal bias in your methods and reporting which may be present.

USING WEBSITES

University websites carry information about how to use the web carefully and sensibly for your research and it is worth accessing these before you begin your background work. The following points will help you to surf the net effectively and efficiently.

• Try to use websites run by organisations you know and trust.
• Check the About Us section on the web page for more information about the creator and organisation.
• Use another source, if possible, to check any information of which you are unsure. For example, if you’re interested in medical information you can check the credentials of UK doctors by phoning the General Medical Council.
• You should check the national source of the data as information may differ between countries.
• For some topics specific websites have been set up that contain details of questionable products, services and theories. For example, in medical research you could visit www.quackwatch.com, which contains non-recommended sources of health advice, questionable theories and details of money-making scams.
• If you come across information that is useful for your research remember to keep a record of all the information you will need to reference the website in your report or dissertation (see Chapter 12).
• Although it is tempting to cut and paste information from relevant websites, you must be careful if you choose to adopt this procedure. All cut and paste sections must be clearly marked so that you do not accidentally (or intentionally) pass off the information as your own work. Plagiarism is a serious offence and universities may use plagiarism detecting software to catch students who cheat with their work. However, it is possible to cut and past relevant quotations, as long as you use quotation marks in your report and reference the work carefully and correctly. For more information about plagiarism, visit www.jisc.ac.uk.

USING INTERLIBRARY LOANS

If you are a student your institutional library will probably offer an interlibrary loan service which means that you can access books from other university libraries if they are not available in your library.

A useful website is www.copac.ac.uk which provides free access to the online catalogues of university research libraries in the UK and Ireland. This is a useful service if, when referencing, you find that a small amount of information is missing (see Example 5 below).

KEEPING RECORDS

When you begin your background research, keep accurate records of what data was gathered from which source as this will save you plenty of time and frustration later, especially when you come to write your research proposal, or final report. A useful way to organise your notes is to separate your files and folders into primary and secondary research. For handwritten notes, such as those taken from library books and journal articles, keep an A4 file with the relevant pages slotted into the separate sections. For information stored on your PC, such as typed notes, transcripts and information obtained from websites, place the documents in the relevant folder and keep document and folder names simple so that you can access the information easily when required. Remember to back-up all folders and documents on a regular basis.

Primary research

For the primary research file or folder notes from each contact can be separated by a contact sheet or document which gives the name of the person, the date and time you met and a contact number or address.

Secondary research

In the secondary research file or folder each page of notes or document can be headed by details of the publication in the same format that will be used in the bibliography – author and initials; date of publication; title of publication; place of publication and publisher. If it is a journal article, remember to include the name of the journal; the page numbers of the article and the volume and number of the journal. It is also useful to include the location of this publication so that it can be found easily if needed again (website or library shelf location).

Once you have stored this information electronically it is a simple job to cut and paste your references when you come to compile the reference section and bibliography of your report or dissertation (see Chapter 12).

TABLE 2: SOURCES OF BACKGROUND INFORMATION

SUMMARY

• There are two types of background research – primary and secondary research.
• Primary research involves the study of a subject through firsthand observation and investigation.
• Secondary research involves the collection of information from studies that other researchers have made of a subject.
• For most research, the easiest and quickest way to access secondary sources are libraries or the internet.
• Any information obtained from secondary sources must be carefully assessed for its relevance and accuracy.

• Notes from primary and secondary sources should be carefully filed and labelled so that the source can be found again, if required.
• When noting details for books, reports or articles which may appear in the final report, include all the details which would be needed for the bibliography.

FURTHER READING