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TEACHING/LEARNING MATERIALS FOR GRADUATION RESEARCH

Etymology and Definition of Research:

The word research comes from the French word that means to search closely. Research
may be defined as a "a careful study of a subject, especially in order to discover new
facts or information about it." (Oxford Advanced Learners' Dictionary)
Types of Research:
The two types of research are primary research and secondary research. But before
learning about these, it is necessary to know what are primary sources and secondary
sources.
Primary Sources refer to poems, plays, novels and short stories, biographies and
autobiographies. Secondary Sources refer to writings on music, history, linguistics, or
views about poems, novels, stories, etc.
Primary Research is research or close study and analysis of primary sources.
Secondary Research is a close study of secondary sources.
Look at the following sources and write PS next to Primary Sources and SS next to
Secondary Sources.
(Here, we will focus only on the title and the author as it is only the first step to
understanding as far as students are concerned. While dealing with the third step in
writing the research paper Compiling a Working Bibliography students can be
oriented with the format of citation.)

1.

Tell me your Dreams by Sidney Sheldon (novel)

2.

Will in the World: How Shakespeare became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt

3.

The Moral Symbols of William Golding by Husham Ibrahim AlShammary

4.

Is Bernard Shaw a Dramatist? by Archibald Henderson

5.

Voices from the Other World: Ancient Egyptian Tales by Naguib Mahfouz (short
stories)
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6.

Principles of Phonetics by J. Laver

7.

I am the Dog I am the Cat by Donald Hall (children's poem)

8.

Writing without Teachers by Peter Elbow

9.

Far North and Other Dark Tales by Sara Maitland (collection of stories)

10. The Myth of Theory by William Righter.

STEPS IN WRITING A RESEARCH PAPER

STEP 1: SELECTING A TOPIC

STEP 2: CONDUCTING RESEARCH

STEP 3: COMPILING A WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY

STEP 4: EVALUATING SOURCES

STEP 5: TAKING NOTES

STEP 6: OUTLINING

STEP 7: WRITING DRAFTS

Selecting a Topic:
The topic of research refers generally to the title of the research or the area in which the
researcher wishes to conduct research. The research topic should be narrow and
specific. For instance, one cannot do a research on Analyzing Elizabethan Poetry. This is
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because the Elizabethan Age consists of many poets who have written hundreds of
poems. So, this topic would be too broad for research. Therefore, two things should be
borne while selecting the topic a) the time allotted and b) the length of the research
paper.

Look at the following topics. Which of these topics is the right one for a research
paper? Tick the right topics.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

The Role of Children in Fiction

A Study of the Themes in Golding's Lord of the Flies
Portrayal of Violence in Films
A Critical Analysis of Shakespeare's Plays
A Study of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
Exploring Problems of Second Language Learners
A Comparative Study of Marlowe's Barabas and Shakespeare's Shylock
Analyzing the learning problems/difficulties of SL Learners in Jazan University
An Overview of English Vocabulary
A Study of Colour-related Idioms in English

Conducting Research:
The second step in research is the process of finding information. For this, one must find
a good library. Information can be found in print in the form of books and journals.
Otherwise, a researcher can also find digital or online resources. Digital or electronic
resources could refer to audio or video files, and CDs and DVDs. Online resources refer
to the information available on the internet.
While conducting electronic searches, there are four common types of searches:
Author Search:

Here, one can type the name of the author and find information

about his/her books. In addition, one can also find books or articles written about that
author.
Title Search:

In this type of search, one can type the title of a poem or a novel or

any book and find details about the author, the year of publication, the name of the
publisher who has published the book, etc.

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For researchers or students of a particular branch of knowledge like

Subject Search:

Linguistics, History, Political Science, Sociology, the subject search is the best option for
it provides them a list of all books that are available in that subject.
Boolean Search:

The Boolean search helps the researcher to expand or restrict

his/her area of search using key words like AND, OR, NOT. For instance, under the
Boolean search, the researcher can type John Holland NOT Holland John and thereby
restrict his/her search.
Similarly, the researcher can also type RAMAN SELDON and LITERARY CRITICISM to
broaden his/her search.
Expanded Search: The expanded search is used when the researcher wants extensive
or detailed information. The researcher just needs to type a word and names of books,
articles or newspaper entries related to that word will appear on screen. Sometimes, it is
enough to type a root word like femini and all information on related subjects like
FEMINISM, FEMINIST LITERARY CRITICISM, FEMINIST MOVEMENT, FEMININE
DISCOURSE, FEMINIST WRITERS, will appear on screen.

Read the following sentences and choose which of these searches you will require for
each for them. Choose the right search from the box below.

Title Search

Boolean Search

Subject Search

Expanded Search

1.

Author Search

You want to read all the plays of Christopher Marlowe. But you don't know the
names of any of the plays. Which search will you adopt? ________________

2.

You know that the story "The Rocking Horse Winner" is very good but you don't
remember the name of the author. Which search will help you find the author's
name? ___________________________

3.

You have great interest in Phonology and want to read books on Stress and
Intonation. Which search will help you out in this regard? __________________
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4.

You like reading historical romances and not mystery romances. Which search will
you adopt? _________________________________

5.

You are interested in reading the plays of T.S. Eliot. But whenever you type Eliot,
you get a list of books by other authors whose second name is Eliot. You want
books only by T.S. Eliot. So which search will serve your purpose?
________________________________.

6.

You want to know everything related to killing or murder because you want to
conduct research on the terrible outcomes of murder. You know that the word
'cide' means murder and decide to type that word to get information. What search
are you using? ________________________________.

Sujatha Menon