51.501 W Legal Method
and Social Inquiry
Selected (rather
random) suggestions
about ‘keeping
yourself organized’ when doing your thesis
Compiled by T.
Organization
Issues Update:
The library site of the
You may need to use this web engine to retrieve other
hyperlink references in this handout as I have edited this only quickly for
this year. All sources have been edited and extracted to pull out key points.
TAKING NOTES
FROM
● Make photocopies of all useful articles, and sections of
books. For books, always include a photocopy of the title page.
● Always take a set of notes for each reference. Do not
simply highlight the relevant passages on your photocopy; distill and synthesize
the important information in your own words.
● For each piece of information noted,
record the page number.
KEEPING FILES AND RECORDING REFERENCES
● Keep
a well-organized file of all photocopies and notes.
● Citations for all useful references
should be recorded. For journal articles record, in the following order: author
(last name and all initials), year published, title in full, journal name (don't use abbreviations), volume number (and
issue number, if important), and pages. For books and maps record: all authors
or editors (last names and all initials; indicate whether author or editor),
year published, title in full,
publisher's name, and publisher's city. Also record the scale for maps. Either
write the citation for each reference on a 3" x 5" note card and keep
these in box specially made for such cards, or enter it into an MS Word
document or a specialty program for references like ENDNOTE.
Taken from:
http://www.eeescience.utoledo.edu/Academic%20Program/Programs/Geology_MS_Thesis.htm
Taken from:
http://www.lmu.edu/lrc/programs/research_essay.html
It is encouraging and helpful to
start a filing system. Open a word-processor file for each chapter and one
for the references. You can put notes in these files, as well as text.
While doing something for Chapter n, you will think "Oh I must refer back
to/discuss this in Chapter m" and so you put a note to do so in the file
for Chapter m. Or you may think of something interesting or relevant for that
chapter. When you come to work on Chapter m, the more such notes you have
accumulated, the easier it will be to write.
Make a back-up of these files and do so every day at least (depending on the reliability of your computer and the age of your disk drive). Do not keep back-up disks close to the computer in case the hypothetical thief who fancies your computer decides that s/he could use some disks as well.
A simple way of making a remote back-up is to send it as an email attachment to a consenting email correspondent, preferably one in a different location. You could even send it to yourself if your server saves your mail (in some email packages like Eudora this is an optional setting). In either case, be careful to dispose of superseded versions so that you don't waste disk space, especially if you have bitmap images or other large files.
You should also have a physical filing system: a collection of folders with chapter numbers on them. This will make you feel good about getting started and also help clean up your desk. Your files will contain not just the plots of results and pages of calculations, but all sorts of old notes, references, calibration curves, suppliers' addresses, specifications, speculations, letters from colleagues etc., which will suddenly strike you as relevant to one chapter or other. Stick them in that folder. Then put all the folders in a box or a filing cabinet. As you write bits and pieces of text, place the hard copy, the figures etc in these folders as well. Touch them and feel their thickness from time to time---ah, the thesis is taking shape.
If any of your data exist only on paper, copy them and keep the copy in a different location. Consider making a copy of your lab book. This has another purpose beyond security: usually the lab book stays in the lab, but you may want a copy for your own future use. Further, scientific ethics require you to keep lab books and original data for at least ten years, and a copy is more likely to be found if two copies exist.
While you are getting organised, you should deal with any university paperwork. Examiners have to be nominated and they have to agree to serve. Various forms are required by your department and by the university administration. Make sure that the rate limiting step is your production of the thesis, and not some minor bureaucratic problem.
Writing Research Papers @ University
Wayne Heaslip
Clinical & Learning Skills
Counsellor
SFU Health, Counselling & Career
Centre
http://www.sfu.ca/hccc/pdfs/Writing%20Research%20Papers%20Manual.pdf
Bibliographic
Cards
As you do your research
and you find a book, article or any other resource that looks promising, take out one of your 3x5 cards. On the front of the
card record the following information.
Upper
left-hand corner
Ø
Record
the library call number and any other information that will assist you to
locate the resource quickly and efficiently. Even after you have done some research you may need to go back to that resource
again to get some further details you may have missed. So, write where you
found the resource. This is important if you are working in more than one
library.
Ø
Also
note the name of the index in which you found the resource (for example Psych
Abstracts on the internet)
On
the main part of the card
Ø
Include
all the bibliographic details of the resource. This will help you find it again
if you need to.
Ø
It
will also give you all the information that you need to do
your bibliography, reference list, endnotes,
or footnotes. For that reason put it in the exact form that it will appear in
your bibliography or list of references. The
form will depend on what style you are required to use (e.g. APA, MLA). This
will save you a lot of time when it comes time to do
it later. Doing it exactly at this point will ensure that you have all the
essential parts of the reference. This way you will not have to go searching
later for little details like the volume number of a particular journal
article.
Upper
right-hand corner of the card
Ø
Give
the card a number. The first card you use will be #1. If you mess
up and miss a
Ø
number
it does not matter.
Ø
The
important thing is that you assign a different number to each card.
Back
of card
Ø
on
the back you can give a brief record of your opinion of the resource if you
like. You can indicate whether it looks useful or not, and what types of
information it has.
Ø
Be
sure to use this system for each potential resource that you find. Only put one
resource on each card. You may want to organize the information on your card in
a different way, that is fine, just make sure you have these three basic
elements on each card: A number for ordering the cards and referencing them.
All the bibliographic
details Details on where you found the resource including the call #, the
index, the library and where in the library.
Research Cards
When you do your library research take along your bibliography
cards, blank 3x5 cards for research, your preliminary
outline and your research question. Use blank
3x5 cards to take notes
on while you do your research.
Some
Guidelines:
Ø
Only
write one thought, one idea, one quote or one fact on each card. If you
encounter a very long quote or string of data, you can write on both sides of
the card if necessary. Try to never carry over a note to a second card. The
reason why you only put one note per card is that it will make using these
cards much easier when it comes time to organizing your final outline and using
the cards to write your draft. Try to write your information in your own words.
Ø
Use
quotation marks around any material that you copy verbatim. In the upper
left-hand corner of the card write down the resource number that corresponds to
your bibliographic card.
Ø
This
will remind you of where the information came from when it comes time to doing
endnotes, footnotes or references. Using this resource number will help avoid
having to write the resource again and again on each card you use.
Ø
Below
this resource number write down the pages on which the information appeared in
the resource. You will need this when doing referencing (e.g. footnotes,
endnotes, works cited list)
Ø
In
the upper right hand corner of the card write a very brief (several words)
headline describing the information on the card.
Ø
Only
use one side of each card if at all possible.
Ø
When
you are finished with a particular resource, go back to the bibliography
card that you did and put some indication on it that you used this resource
(like a check mark).
Ø
While
you are doing research you are going to have
some thoughts of your own come to you. Do the
same thing with these. Use 3x5 cards to jot down your thoughts, ideas or
reflections on what you are encountering. Be sure to indicate on the card that
these are your thoughts. Give the card a headline.
….
Dealing
with Writer's Block
1. Ideas
and writing will flow much more easily if you shelve your critical self while
writing at this stage. This means that:
* You will
have a chance to revise your composition and assess how convincing it sounds
later
* You will
have a chance later to add in necessary material
* You will
have a chance to polish grammar and check spelling later.
* You will
have a chance to spice up your vocabulary later.
If you try
to make your first draft perfect you may find yourself experiencing writer's
block. If you can't get started consider opening with "this essay is going
to sound like a load of crap at first but it will get better as I go."
1. If you
feel blocked try to focus on the ideas that you want to express and not think
ahead to the final product.
2. You
might find it easier talking into a tape recorder, or using voice activated
word processing software.
3. Some
people find that they freeze up as soon as they sit down at a keyboard so try
to write your first draft on paper if this works better for you.
4. Pretend
you are writing a letter to a good friend, and tell him or her everything you
have learned about your subject and why you believe your thesis
is correct.
5. Use everyday
language. You can spice things up later.
6. Don't
edit yourself. Leave that later. This is a rough draft.
7. Try to keep moving. If you get stuck on a particular section don't stew over it for hours. Just write a quick note about what you plan on covering in that section and carry on. You are far better either going on writing another section or taking a break rather than getting fixated on one section. Let your subconscious mind do some of the work for you.
How
to Write and Survive Writing a Thesis
Dr. Darleen
Pryds
Franciscan School of Theology, GTU
(extracted and edited by tbd)
Get Out
Your Calendar NOW and Create a Schedule
Always carry a pen and notepad with you once you begin in earnest
Manuals of Style: Start now and learn a Style and use it consistently, so it
becomes second nature.
II. The Psychology of Writing a Thesis
A. Confidence
1. student mentality vs. scholar
mentality
2. Take charge of your schedule
3. Be Honest in your Writing and your Documentation
4. Don’t be Arrogant about your
Contribution to Scholarly World
B. Persistence vs. Procrastination
1. write 5 pages everyday
2. if stuck, write in a new way—through
graphs, diagrams, pictures
3. if stuck, write in a new space—a
coffee shop, a book store, the library
4. if stuck, play “final exam” and write
non-stop for 2 hours
5. leave something easy to write as a
warm-up for the next day
C. Form a Thesis Peer Group for Peer Review
D. Passion for Subject: when you feel stuck, write about your
passion
E. Your Text and Your self-identity: Fragile Ego/Healthy Ego
From: http://courseweb.fst.edu/pryds/study/Thesis.html
RESEARCH STRATEGIES (The
“Register Method”)
WILLIAM BADKE
Organizing Your Notes to
Write your Paper
http://www.acts.twu.ca/lbr/chapter9.htm
"I have
seventy-five pages of notes, not counting the photocopy I left on the copier
and the two pages which I think fell behind my desk. Now every time I look at
these collections of chicken scratch, I want to scream. What a mess! How am I
ever going to make an essay out of this chaos? Will there ever be meaning to my
life?"
Yes, there will. Take
heart. There is a way to organize your disastrous jumble or the chaos of notes
in your computer, no matter how incomprehensible it now seems to be.
I hesitate whenever I
suggest "my" method for note organization. What if your mind, heaven
forbid, does not correspond with mine? What if I am totally out of touch with
the logical categories you most enjoy?
Still, someone has to
suggest something. Librarians, even though dull, are undoubtedly logical and
thus better equipped than, say, Renaissance painters, to suggest methods of
organizing information. I am giving you only one method (with some variations)
because throwing too many methods at you can be confusing. If you don’t like
this approach, ask your favorite professor or another librarian to suggest a
better one (I dare you).
My system can be called
a "register method" of note organization. A "register" is
an index list of some sort that enables you to organize data.
Consider an auto parts
store. The parts are laid out in bins on row after row of shelves. The fact
that the water system thermostats are next to the distributor caps that are
next to the spark plugs is not nearly as relevant as the fact that each bin has
a number on it.
When I walk in and ask
for a thermostat for a 1949 Wuzzly Roadster, the parts person does not
immediately proceed to the shelves and start looking. He or she opens a parts
book or searches with a computer to find the bin number for that model of
thermostat. Then it’s an easy task to find the bin with the right number on it
and deliver my part to me.
Here’s the point of the
analogy: The rows of auto parts are your jumbled mess of notes. The bin numbers
are codes you insert into these notes such as page numbers and other symbols.
The parts book or computer index represents an indexed outline by which you can
retrieve your notes in a coherent way. This is how it works:
Your Notes
Some people write notes
on 3 x 5 or 4 x 6 cards. This is, in my humble opinion, a grave error. Even an
average-sized periodical article requires two or three cards, written on both
sides to summarize its main points. A book could increase the number of cards
to twenty or thirty. Not only is that costly, but you know you’re going to lose
a least a few cards before your research is done.
If God had meant us to
write out notes on cards, he would not have allowed us to invent standard
notepaper or computer printers that take standard paper sizes. Does not nature
itself tell you that eyes, hands and pens were made for writing boldly on
decent sized paper instead of scraping one-sixteenth inch high letters on
miniscule cards?
Save your note cards for
the next part of my system if you are not using a computer, and write your
notes the natural way – on lined, punched, normal notepaper. Be sure, however,
to follow the right method. As you begin notes on each book or article, be very
certain that you include full bibliographical information in the notes (author,
title, place, publisher, date, volume number, page numbers).
When you have completed
your notes for a particular item (even if those notes are ten pages long),
simply leave a few lines blank, then start notes on your next book or article,
being sure again to enter full bibliographical information first. (if you are
using a computer, see the alternatives below).
One of the important
things you need to do is number the pages of your notes consecutively.
If you have fifty pages of notes on ten pages, then number your note pages from
one to fifty (If using a computer and planning to print out your notes, insert
page numbers before you print). If you have photocopies, put them in the right
places in your notes and number them too. Keep your notes in a binder so pages
don’t get lost.
Options for Notes
Using a Computer
Some people prefer to
print their notes onto paper. In this case, the computer is just an input
device, and notes are handled as above.
If you are planning to
use your notes in their electronic format, you need to determine how you want
to set them up. Unless you have a note organization program like Nota Bene
(see previous chapter), it’s probably best to put all your notes into one file
so that you can search them with only one search rather than several. The
exception would be the situation in which the file gets beyond 40 – 50 pages. Make
sure you back up your information constantly if it’s all in one file. You’d
hate to lose the whole thing.
Your word processor’s
"find" function (often in the "edit" menu) will become your
best retrieval tool, though in the organizing process, you may need to input
some codes (see below)
Your Bibliography
As you gather sources,
you need to keep track of them, including enough bibliographical information so
that you won’t have to go on a desperate search for a lost date or volume number
when you start writing your paper. Here’s the minimal information needed:
BOOKS – Author, title, city
of publication, publisher, date.
PERIODICAL ARTICLES – Author and title of
article, journal title, volume number, date (e.g. January 1999 or Spring 2000),
and page numbers where the article is found.
ARTICLE IN A BOOK – Author and title of
article, title of book, editor of book, city of publication, publisher, date.
REFERENCE BOOK ARTICLE – Title of article,
author if given (often abbreviation of author name is given at the end of the
article), title of reference book, edition of reference book; and (sometimes)
city of publication, publisher, date.
INTERNET ARTICLE – Author (if given),
title, publisher (if given), Internet address (URL), and date you accessed the
information.
These days, the most
practical way to compile a bibliography is with a computer file. That way, you
can put everything in alphabetical order easily, and, if you have enough
foresight, you can format your bibliography early on according to the style
manual you are expected to use. ONE
TIP: at the beginning of
each entry, indicate where the notes for that entry are – either give a file
name (if the notes are in your computer) or page number (if you’ve got your
notes in print form with the pages numbered consecutively).
The alternative is to
set up a card file. Each card would have full bibliographical information for
only one entry in your bibliography. It should also contain a note on the
computer file name or page numbers of notes where notes on that item may be
found. Who knows, you may remember that Octavius Flootsnoot said something
about the issue you’re dealing with. If you’ve cross-referenced your
bibliography file to your notes, you need only look up "Flootsnoot,"
and your entry will tell you exactly where your notes for Flootsnoot are.
Your Subject Index
Note taking is easy.
Retrieval is hard. The biggest problem most students face is that they’ve taken
many pages of notes and photocopies, but now that they want to write the research
paper, they can’t retrieve the data they need.
Virtually anyone, even a
seasoned author, gets writing anxiety – that moment when you are finally
staring at a blank page or computer screen (with the cursor blinking in a
taunting fashion), and you mind tells you that this paper will never happen.
You may have written brilliant papers in the past (or not), but this one simply
can’t be completed. The fear value is tremendous. Now, imagine that you have
the further problem that your notes are a mess, you’re not sure you did enough
research, and you can’t find even the data you remember noting down. Writing
anxiety now becomes writing crisis.
The only way to save
yourself all this angst, is to get organized before you write. Sure, I
know you’re thinking, "My paper is due in 3 hours. I don’t have time to
get organized."
My response is that you don’t have time NOT to
get organized.
Let me suggest a method
that will break the back of writing anxiety and actually save you time in the
long run. Here are the steps:
Take a good-sized piece
of paper and write your preliminary outline on it, leaving lots of space
between each heading or subheading. (You do have a preliminary outline,
don’t you? If not, you’ve probably already wasted a lot of time researching
things that aren’t relevant to your topic, which is why your barely started
paper is due in three hours.)
Determine a symbol to
represent each heading or subheading. These symbols could be the letters and
numbers used in your outline (
Read through your notes.
Every time you discover data that is relevant to one of your headings in your
outline, write the location (page number of notes or file name of computer
file) under that heading. In your notes, insert your symbol so that you can
find the exact location of the data.
For computer files, this is especially
important: Later, you can open your "find" function in your word
processor, type the symbol (%) in the box, and locate every place in the file
where data relevant to that heading is found. Just remember to insert a space
before and after the symbol wherever you input it in your notes so that the
"find" function can actually find it.
Thus, with this
exercise, you cross-reference your notes with your outline. The outline may
then look something like this (page numbers referring to printed notes, and
notations in capitals referring to computer files):
The Limits of Behaviorism: Walden Two in Perspective
I. An Introduction to
Behaviorism
# 4. 17, INTBEH.DOC
II. B.F. Skinner’s Walden
Two
$ 3, 18, 3, WALDEN.DOC,
SKIN.DOC
III. Walden Two as
a Demonstration of the Limits of Behaviorism
% 6, 12, 14-17, CRITIQUE.DOC
In the above, note that
my symbols are #, $ and %. These symbols will also be inserted in the
appropriate places in the printed notes or computer files for easy retrieval of
data.
Why go to all this
trouble? Simple. It saves time and alleviates writing anxiety. Consider the
awful alternative: You begin writing the actual paper and get to heading number
one: "An Introduction to Behaviorism." Now you have to read through
all forty-seven pages of notes, looking for material on this aspect. Having
found your material and written this section of your paper, you come to your
second roadblock: The heading "B.F. Skinner’s Walden Two." Now
you have to go through your notes again, for a second desperate search for
relevant information. Then comes heading number three, and the whole nasty
quest starts all over. In the process, you will have read all your notes three
times and recreated your writing anxiety three times.
Thus, setting up a cross-index to your notes before you start writing saves you having to re-read your material every time you start a new section of your paper. Besides, you are left with a warm and comforting sense that you actually know where you are going before you start. When was the last time you had a feeling like that?
MORE SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING THE RESEARCH PROCESS
Barry W.
Hamilton, Ph.D.
Northeastern Seminary (
*Don’t
organize your paper around your data. A
paper organized around data looks like a cut-and-paste job—the kind of stuff
college students do when they spend too much time watching television or the
moon. Rather, organize your paper around
your questions—use the thesis statement as the foundation for the structure of
your research paper. Your questions and
ruminations should bring form to the data—the data should not provide the form
for your research paper. If you take
your notes and paste them together to make a paper, you have not looked deeply
enough into the nature of your subject.
Probe your data with your own questions.
Be motivated by your own curiosity and burning desire to solve a problem
that bothers you.
…
*Make
photocopies of the title page and copyright information of books, and—when
possible—photocopy entire journal articles.
This might help you avoid checking out 38 books, with the attendant
responsibility of keeping track of due dates.
If possible, keep these photocopies in organized files, and place the
files in a designated space.
…
*Remember
that research is almost never done in a straight line. Good research travels in revolving loops,
with several phases of a project taking shape simultaneously. The research process is deliberative, moving
in ‘iterative cycles.’ You may be working on several pieces of a project at
once. But you must keep each phase moving toward a timely completion—striving
for perfection could stall the entire project.
*When
working on a large project with chapters (such as a thesis), organize notes by
chapter divisions. When I wrote my
dissertation, I kept notes on 3 ¼-inch ‘floppy disks’ (an early form of
removable media) since my laptop computer did not have a hard drive (286-series
microprocessor), and named the files with chapter divisions clearly identified. When using paper media, organize notes using
*Most of my
writing is done on a computer. However,
I still keep paper-format composition notebooks (the 99-cent variety) for
freestyle writing opportunities—in the car, in a doctor’s office reception
area, at home when I’m not at the computer (on the couch or love seat),
whenever Churchville has power outages.
Nevertheless, recently I’ve found the ‘Notes’ feature on my Microsoft
Outlook 2000™ to be a valuable feature for reflections on my writing
projects. Apple computers have a similar
feature.
*You might
consider purchasing a digital voice recorder for speaking your thoughts, perhaps
when driving, but almost invariably writing down your thoughts is much more
effective. Some computers (such as the
Apple iBook) have digital notepads. You
can also download software (often free or low-cost shareware) for taking notes
on your computer. A key
consideration—systematically keeping track of these notes.
*While it’s
impossible to set down a schedule in concrete, it’s still a good idea to rough
out a timeline for the completion of your research project, especially in the
case of a large project such as a thesis or dissertation. Try to strike a balance between the phases of
your project—reading, taking notes, writing the rough and final drafts—avoid
getting fixated on a single phase. You
could read dozens of books and write voluminous notes—and then be faced with
the arduous task of writing a 20-page paper overnight—or, more likely, the
specter of an “Incomplete.”
Conceptualize the project in its formative stages, and stay within
limits. While you may be tempted to pursue
certain strands of thought, hew the straight line of your thesis statement. You can save the unexplored paths for future
research (after the due date for your project).