Research Guide

"One thing I've learned. You can know anything. It's all there. You just have to find it" - Neil Gaiman

Research can be fun. You have probably already done some research and just didn't know it. For example:

1 - When your family is thinking about getting a pet, you want to make a good decision. You have a question or problem: What pet should you get. So you

2 -Think about what you need to know...the advantages and disadvantages of each pet. Which would fit with your family's lifestyle.

3 - You think about where you can find the answers ( books, friends, the Internet, a veterinarian) and then

4 - You go look for those answers. You might have even made some notes about what you found.

5 - Next you take what you found out and you make a decision. You get the pet.

6 - After you get your new pet, you think about your choice and whether you made the best one. How could you have found out more before deciding. What did you learn that will help you next time you have a question or decision like this to make.

Of course, you also do research for school assignments given to you by your teacher. When you do you use the same steps as you did above. Those steps are called:

The Big Six™

1 - Task Definition - What is my question? what is my project about? What am I supposed to produce at the end?

2 - Information Seeking - Where can I find information to answer my question or complete my project? Which of these sources would be the most useful?)

3 - Location and Access - Find those sources and look for information that will help you answer your question or complete your project. Be sure to take notes and write down information about your sources)

4 - Use of information - Take what you learned and make sense of it.

5 - Synthesis - Put it all together in the format your teacher requires and present it.

6 - Evaluation - Did you meet all the requirements. Do you think you did a good job? How could you do better next time?

The "Big6™" is copyright © (1987) Michael B. Eisenberg and Robert E. Berkowitz. For more information, visit: www.big6.com

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