Chapter 4 of The Bedford Researcher expresses the importance
of reading critically and actively. Reading critically is incredibly important
in order to expand your thoughts, opinions, and beliefs about your topic and
research question. The text suggests any researcher should “read with an
attitude”, Meaning never accept what you read for face value. You should always
be questioning your sources, searching for connections, and most importantly,
opening your mind to many ideas instead of just focusing on one. Developing a
position statement will help you focus your research. A position statement is
formed in response to your main research question. It expresses your own
personal position on whatever issue you are writing about. After you develop a position statement, you
can start putting your critical reading skills to use. The text reminds me to
be flexible about my position while I research, as it is very possible my
position and opinions may change after reading critically about my topic. In
addition to reading critically, The Bedford Researcher also reminds us to read actively. Reading actively involves
recognizing key information and ideas, then writing down your reactions to the
information and ideas. You can effectively do this by simply highlighting a passage
that is significant to you, writing notes, questions, and opinions in the
margins, and jotting down other sources to back up your arguments about the
passage. Annotating sources and taking notes is an important part of
researching that will be incredibly helpful in the process of writing a
research paper. There are several
elements you should pay attention to as you read your sources to ensure you are
getting the most out of your research. For example, as you read, identify the author’s
main point, reasoning, and use of evidence. Then determine if the work is
credible, and if that particular source could benefit your research paper. Chapter
four also discusses the different types of frameworks writers and researches
use to identify patterns and strategies of an issue such as trend analysis,
casual analysis, data analysis, and text analysis. A significant tip from chapter
four is to not give up on hard-to-interpret evidence. If you come across a
certain article, essay, or study that uses evidence that is harder to understand,
seek help to better understand it, as it could possibly be very important
information that you do not want to exclude from you research. Overall, choose
sources that are most important and relevant to your topic. Keeping in mind the
credibility of the sources, and the importance of the reseach.
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