Different Kinds of Research

• Introduction
• Choosing a Site Partner
• Meeting with a Site Partner
• Researching the Site Partner's Field

  After meeting with the site partner to determine their project goals and expectations, it is time to initiate background research. This may involve some simple reading or in-depth interviews with your site partner or other field experts, with the goal of gaining further insight into the site partner’s field of work. It is hard to write about something you don’t understand, so a major objective is to comprehend the site partner’s line of work or research. A major resource to accomplish this could be other articles in the site partner’s field. These may be other papers published by the site partner’s department or company, or documents suggested to you by the site partner. In further understanding the site partner’s field of work, it can also be helpful to seek advice from textbooks and other educational materials, since they are written specifically for learning purposes. These could be available either through a library or from the site partner’s lab or department. Finally, other experts in the same department or doing the same sort of work as the site partner can help with insight into some of the intricacies and details of a certain scientific field. Each of these resources can be extremely useful for different types of projects, and what kinds of sources would be most helpful is a subject that could be discussed with your site partner.

• Understanding the Audience
• Interviewing Your Site Partner
• Interviews with Other People
• Conclusions

Research Methods

• Research Methods
• Rhetorical Analysis
• Text Analysis
• Researching Your Topic
• Interviewing as a Research Method