[INTRO MUSIC PLAYS]
ELENA: Hello and welcome back to Hoo’s at the Writing Center! I’m Elena,
KARISSA: I’m Karissa,
SARAH: I’m Sarah,
KIMBERLY: And I’m Kimberly!
ELENA: On today’s episode, we wanted to talk about Writing in Research. We’ve done an episode on Creative Writing, so why not an episode about writing in research in our experience and any tips or tricks we can offer to students? Whatever major you are, you are bound to have written at least one paper where you had to research extensively about a topic, so here are some quick tips!
KARISSA: First let’s talk about when we can use it and where we have seen it. Usually, we write these kinds of papers in specific classes geared toward research, but perhaps you are also just the kind of person who loves to research new topics and would love to write a paper about your findings. We have seen these papers all over our favorite academic journals and databases-- shoutout to EBSCO and JSTOR for getting us through these times- but more on them later.
SARAH: Now that we know about the when and the where, let’s chat about the who and the why. Who usually does it? Well, here at the Writing Center we know that anyone can do research, from business students, to humanities students, to nursing students, to arts students. Research looks a little different depending on the discipline, but the basic premises are the same. Now, why is this work important? Research is a place where you can follow and flesh out ideas that you’re passionate and interested about. Synthesizing what you’ve learned, arguing for or against a topic or interpretation, research builds a foundation for you to do all of this in one place.
KIMBERLY: We understand that some of you out there might not be as passionate or excited about research papers, and we totally get that. They can be long, hard, grueling, and annoying at times if you’re stuck and need to reach a deadline or a minimum page requirement. So, today we thought we could share some of our best tips in order to help you stay on track for a successful research paper.
ELENA: So, first and foremost, use the SU Library catalogue. Uh, if you’re not using it, what are you doing, except that was also me for the first, like, two and a half years of college [laughs]. So, uh, [laughs] take it from somebody who didn’t use it—I know, I was pretty much just using JSTOR is the thing, like not the entire catalogue and I think that’s how a lot of people do approach it, is you, like, get comfy with one database—don't do that, ‘cause there’s a lot more out there. And a really, really great resource that the SU library offers are research librarians who-- you can make 1:1 consultations with them, or they direct chat with the on-staff librarian whenever the library is open, so that’s just like a little chat with a librarian feature that’s in the sidebar on the Lemieux Library page, um, and so these research librarians can help you find access to sources or direct you towards helpful databases, that are not just JSOTR, as great as JSOR is [laughs].
KARISSA: Lemieux Library also has a Research Toolkit page which can walk you through the research process such as how to develop your topic, use different databases, find & cite sources, and more. So, this information can be found if you go to the Seattle U website under the “Academics” tab, and then you can click on “Lemieux Library.”
SARAH: Nowadays most research can be done through exploring online databases using keywords related to your research topic. Different databases often correlate to different disciplines, so make sure to check out which database would be the most helpful for you and your research. I don’t know if you guys have this a lot but my dad is always like “oh, you’re so lucky you have a laptop and you have online databases. I used to go to the library and look through”-- oh my god, I don’t even know what they’re called, like those cards? Do you--? I forgot, I don’t even know the name, but [sighs] don’t worry dad I still go to the library [laughs].
KIMBERLY: Also, like, we’re in a pandemic so we can’t go to the library technically [laughs]. Anyway a good way to find relevant databases is to peruse Lemieux Library’s Research Guides, which contain pages with articles and databases, journals, and other relevant research materials. This link can be found next to the Research Toolkit page we talked about earlier.
ELENA: So, when you’re researching and using search terms, there’s a couple different ways to go about this, and it’s not super intuitive so we thought we would talk a little bit about them. So, for example, if I’m researching motherhood in Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved, you can tell I’m an English major because that was like the first thing I thought of, but uh, you might go to a literature-oriented database like MLA International Bibliography or the Literature Resource Center, or of course JSTOR. You would then enter keywords. So keywords tend to use this thing called “Boolean terms” which can make your search terms, your searches more accurate. So, what this means is that if I want to research Toni Morrison and motherhood, I could type “Toni Morrison AND (in all caps) motherhood.” The Boolean term in this case is “AND,” so both terms are able to show up in the search results. And if I want to research “Toni Morrison OR motherhood,” I can type that, with OR also capitalized, and get results with either term. So here, the Boolean term is “OR” and that’s kind of like separating the two search terms so they’ll both show up, but not necessarily the two terms in the same article.
KARISSA: We know that these Booleans seem a little intimidating and kind of complicated to figure out in what instance to use which one, but we promise after a lot of practice they become relaly straightforward and easy to use, and they can make your research process much faster and more relevant to what you’re researching.
SARAH: We do highly recommend you use peer-reviewed sources instead of your regular, everyday Google search, unless your professor has an exception of course. The sources you will find on these databases are much more trusted in the academic world than your average internet find. Due to the incredible accessibility of search engines like Google, anyone can say anything usually without any repercussions. Therefore, we strongly recommend veering away from these sources. Um, but we do understand that websites like Wikipedia, super fun, we’re Wikipedia people don’t you fret, but instead [laughs]-- are we not Wikipedia people? [laughs] No, definitely Wikipedia people, pro Wikipedia. But, instead of citing the main website, we recommend looking at the references located at the bottom of the page. Weirdly enough, they usually cite very credible sources, but you just have to look for them.
KIMBERLY: [chuckles] I think the episode title of this should be “Wiki Stans.” Um, now having all of this information, you might be asking yourself what are the purposes of me writing this paper? Well, you can share your research with your peers, prove a point, find answers to a question that’s been bothering you, or even publish your research in a journal or present it at a conference. SU has our very own undergraduate research journal, SUURJ, open to all majors usually accepts submissions around October, and our own undergraduate conference, SUURA, which usually happens around the spring.
ELENA: We stan SUURJ and SUURA, just wanted to say that. They’re both super cool resources for undergrad research and there’s a ton of other journals as well that accept undergrad papers, but I would say that SUURJ is probably the most accessible one. Um, in addition to these tips and tricks that we’ve shared with you all, you’re always welcome to make an appointment at the writing center with us! Whether you’re just starting out in your research with brainstorming, outlining, or gathering sources, or deep into your research and figuring out how it all fits together, us writing consultants are here for you.
SARAH: Super important to remember that research is a collaborative process. Academia loves the “lone genius” myth but that’s not actually how research works at all in practice. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from your peers or your professors or, of course, librarians-- the real MVPs.
KARISSA: Thank you so much for tuning in and joining us today! We hope that this episode served as a useful and handy tool for all your research writing needs. Attached to our description box will also be a Microsoft Form to give you, our listeners, an opportunity to tell the Hoo’s at the Writing Center Podcast team what you want to hear in future episodes!
ELENA: If you haven’t already, please listen to our earlier episodes on Celebrating National Black History Month or our first episode of Season 3, 21 Things to Look Forward to in 2021!
SARAH: We’ll also be attaching the link to our blog where you can find fun posts written by our very own Writing Center Staff! Check out our most recent posts on writing Personal Statements or on “Calliope (Ca-lie-o-pee) Syndrome”-- sorry, is that how you pronounce it? [laughs]
ELENA: No, funny story. Not to totally derail the episode, but it’s actually Calliope (Call-e-ope) Syndrome because the whole thing--
KIMBERLY: I thought it was Cal-e-ope-eh
[laughter]
ELENA: Because the whole thing—it's all a joke on like how stupid of a word Calliope is, because it’s about mispronouncing words that you only know from reading.
SARAH: [laughs]
ELENA: So, it’s like the most cruelly named thing ever. It’s Cal-e-ope Syndrome but the actual word is pronounced Ca-lie-o-pee.
KIMBERLY: That’s so funny.
ELENA: So...
KIMBERLY: Wow.
SARAH: Cal-e-ope. Okay. I like Cal-e-ope-eh, personally [laughs]
ELENA:I mean, that’s also super incorrect, so you could use that too.
KIMBERLY: Listen, for the longest time I thought it was chia-ro-practer, so don’t ever come to me [laughs].
[laughter]
KIMBERLY: Don’t ever come to me!
ELENA: You’re valid. Anyway, that’s now on the blog.
KIMBERLY: With that, be sure to stay safe, take care of one another, and this has been another episode of--
EVERYONE: Hoo's At The Writing Center!
KIMBERLY: Check out the things in the description box and we’ll talk to you next time!
[OUTRO MUSIC PLAYS]
ELENA: Hello and welcome back to Hoo’s at the Writing Center! I’m Elena,
KARISSA: I’m Karissa,
SARAH: I’m Sarah,
KIMBERLY: And I’m Kimberly!
ELENA: On today’s episode, we wanted to talk about Writing in Research. We’ve done an episode on Creative Writing, so why not an episode about writing in research in our experience and any tips or tricks we can offer to students? Whatever major you are, you are bound to have written at least one paper where you had to research extensively about a topic, so here are some quick tips!
KARISSA: First let’s talk about when we can use it and where we have seen it. Usually, we write these kinds of papers in specific classes geared toward research, but perhaps you are also just the kind of person who loves to research new topics and would love to write a paper about your findings. We have seen these papers all over our favorite academic journals and databases-- shoutout to EBSCO and JSTOR for getting us through these times- but more on them later.
SARAH: Now that we know about the when and the where, let’s chat about the who and the why. Who usually does it? Well, here at the Writing Center we know that anyone can do research, from business students, to humanities students, to nursing students, to arts students. Research looks a little different depending on the discipline, but the basic premises are the same. Now, why is this work important? Research is a place where you can follow and flesh out ideas that you’re passionate and interested about. Synthesizing what you’ve learned, arguing for or against a topic or interpretation, research builds a foundation for you to do all of this in one place.
KIMBERLY: We understand that some of you out there might not be as passionate or excited about research papers, and we totally get that. They can be long, hard, grueling, and annoying at times if you’re stuck and need to reach a deadline or a minimum page requirement. So, today we thought we could share some of our best tips in order to help you stay on track for a successful research paper.
ELENA: So, first and foremost, use the SU Library catalogue. Uh, if you’re not using it, what are you doing, except that was also me for the first, like, two and a half years of college [laughs]. So, uh, [laughs] take it from somebody who didn’t use it—I know, I was pretty much just using JSTOR is the thing, like not the entire catalogue and I think that’s how a lot of people do approach it, is you, like, get comfy with one database—don't do that, ‘cause there’s a lot more out there. And a really, really great resource that the SU library offers are research librarians who-- you can make 1:1 consultations with them, or they direct chat with the on-staff librarian whenever the library is open, so that’s just like a little chat with a librarian feature that’s in the sidebar on the Lemieux Library page, um, and so these research librarians can help you find access to sources or direct you towards helpful databases, that are not just JSOTR, as great as JSOR is [laughs].
KARISSA: Lemieux Library also has a Research Toolkit page which can walk you through the research process such as how to develop your topic, use different databases, find & cite sources, and more. So, this information can be found if you go to the Seattle U website under the “Academics” tab, and then you can click on “Lemieux Library.”
SARAH: Nowadays most research can be done through exploring online databases using keywords related to your research topic. Different databases often correlate to different disciplines, so make sure to check out which database would be the most helpful for you and your research. I don’t know if you guys have this a lot but my dad is always like “oh, you’re so lucky you have a laptop and you have online databases. I used to go to the library and look through”-- oh my god, I don’t even know what they’re called, like those cards? Do you--? I forgot, I don’t even know the name, but [sighs] don’t worry dad I still go to the library [laughs].
KIMBERLY: Also, like, we’re in a pandemic so we can’t go to the library technically [laughs]. Anyway a good way to find relevant databases is to peruse Lemieux Library’s Research Guides, which contain pages with articles and databases, journals, and other relevant research materials. This link can be found next to the Research Toolkit page we talked about earlier.
ELENA: So, when you’re researching and using search terms, there’s a couple different ways to go about this, and it’s not super intuitive so we thought we would talk a little bit about them. So, for example, if I’m researching motherhood in Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved, you can tell I’m an English major because that was like the first thing I thought of, but uh, you might go to a literature-oriented database like MLA International Bibliography or the Literature Resource Center, or of course JSTOR. You would then enter keywords. So keywords tend to use this thing called “Boolean terms” which can make your search terms, your searches more accurate. So, what this means is that if I want to research Toni Morrison and motherhood, I could type “Toni Morrison AND (in all caps) motherhood.” The Boolean term in this case is “AND,” so both terms are able to show up in the search results. And if I want to research “Toni Morrison OR motherhood,” I can type that, with OR also capitalized, and get results with either term. So here, the Boolean term is “OR” and that’s kind of like separating the two search terms so they’ll both show up, but not necessarily the two terms in the same article.
KARISSA: We know that these Booleans seem a little intimidating and kind of complicated to figure out in what instance to use which one, but we promise after a lot of practice they become relaly straightforward and easy to use, and they can make your research process much faster and more relevant to what you’re researching.
SARAH: We do highly recommend you use peer-reviewed sources instead of your regular, everyday Google search, unless your professor has an exception of course. The sources you will find on these databases are much more trusted in the academic world than your average internet find. Due to the incredible accessibility of search engines like Google, anyone can say anything usually without any repercussions. Therefore, we strongly recommend veering away from these sources. Um, but we do understand that websites like Wikipedia, super fun, we’re Wikipedia people don’t you fret, but instead [laughs]-- are we not Wikipedia people? [laughs] No, definitely Wikipedia people, pro Wikipedia. But, instead of citing the main website, we recommend looking at the references located at the bottom of the page. Weirdly enough, they usually cite very credible sources, but you just have to look for them.
KIMBERLY: [chuckles] I think the episode title of this should be “Wiki Stans.” Um, now having all of this information, you might be asking yourself what are the purposes of me writing this paper? Well, you can share your research with your peers, prove a point, find answers to a question that’s been bothering you, or even publish your research in a journal or present it at a conference. SU has our very own undergraduate research journal, SUURJ, open to all majors usually accepts submissions around October, and our own undergraduate conference, SUURA, which usually happens around the spring.
ELENA: We stan SUURJ and SUURA, just wanted to say that. They’re both super cool resources for undergrad research and there’s a ton of other journals as well that accept undergrad papers, but I would say that SUURJ is probably the most accessible one. Um, in addition to these tips and tricks that we’ve shared with you all, you’re always welcome to make an appointment at the writing center with us! Whether you’re just starting out in your research with brainstorming, outlining, or gathering sources, or deep into your research and figuring out how it all fits together, us writing consultants are here for you.
SARAH: Super important to remember that research is a collaborative process. Academia loves the “lone genius” myth but that’s not actually how research works at all in practice. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from your peers or your professors or, of course, librarians-- the real MVPs.
KARISSA: Thank you so much for tuning in and joining us today! We hope that this episode served as a useful and handy tool for all your research writing needs. Attached to our description box will also be a Microsoft Form to give you, our listeners, an opportunity to tell the Hoo’s at the Writing Center Podcast team what you want to hear in future episodes!
ELENA: If you haven’t already, please listen to our earlier episodes on Celebrating National Black History Month or our first episode of Season 3, 21 Things to Look Forward to in 2021!
SARAH: We’ll also be attaching the link to our blog where you can find fun posts written by our very own Writing Center Staff! Check out our most recent posts on writing Personal Statements or on “Calliope (Ca-lie-o-pee) Syndrome”-- sorry, is that how you pronounce it? [laughs]
ELENA: No, funny story. Not to totally derail the episode, but it’s actually Calliope (Call-e-ope) Syndrome because the whole thing--
KIMBERLY: I thought it was Cal-e-ope-eh
[laughter]
ELENA: Because the whole thing—it's all a joke on like how stupid of a word Calliope is, because it’s about mispronouncing words that you only know from reading.
SARAH: [laughs]
ELENA: So, it’s like the most cruelly named thing ever. It’s Cal-e-ope Syndrome but the actual word is pronounced Ca-lie-o-pee.
KIMBERLY: That’s so funny.
ELENA: So...
KIMBERLY: Wow.
SARAH: Cal-e-ope. Okay. I like Cal-e-ope-eh, personally [laughs]
ELENA:I mean, that’s also super incorrect, so you could use that too.
KIMBERLY: Listen, for the longest time I thought it was chia-ro-practer, so don’t ever come to me [laughs].
[laughter]
KIMBERLY: Don’t ever come to me!
ELENA: You’re valid. Anyway, that’s now on the blog.
KIMBERLY: With that, be sure to stay safe, take care of one another, and this has been another episode of--
EVERYONE: Hoo's At The Writing Center!
KIMBERLY: Check out the things in the description box and we’ll talk to you next time!
[OUTRO MUSIC PLAYS]