Note Making Strategy for Dissertation Research.
Friday, October 30th, 2009Note making is an important dissertation research and study skill that helps you keep track of your reading. If you make notes efficiently you can write your research paper with much ease without skipping relevant references and information. Among other research tools and techniques that help students write a dissertation, assignment or a coursework effectively, note making is a useful technique in organizing and recording ideas and main points.
Note making Steps and Methodology.
Approach to Reading: It is obvious that we read for information when researching a topic but the approach, perspective and point of view should be clear. Your reading and note taking will vary according to the information you are looking for. This will help you identify your key areas. For example: A Research paper, a journal or a book might have information on many similar topics, not everything but the information relevant to you therefore goes to your notes.
Taking Notes with a purpose: You need to have a purpose in mind when you make notes. Question yourself to discover the purpose of your reading a particular text, find out what you mean to seek in it, Do you want an answer to a research question, Are you reading to defend your research proposal idea or you just want to know what a particular author has to say about a topic. The purpose of note making becomes very important when writing a critical essay.
While taking Notes-
a) Paraphrase sentences keeping the ideas not the words.
b) Make subgroups to cluster main and sub points. Main sections could b numbers followed by sub sections with Roman numerals and the sub-sub-sections with alphabets.
c) Use abbreviations and symbols. Develop your own shorthand. Omit articles, prepositions and conjunctions. Change verbs to nouns and begin points with them.
d) While writing a sentence verbatim, use quotes. Also, in brackets specify the page number. If taking a quote of an already quoted quote i.e quote of another writer from the text, look for footnotes, endnotes or Bibliography to specify the name of the author, text and page number.
e) Stick to author’s view point while taking notes. Keep a separate column for your response, observation, impressions and ideas. Mark whether you agree or disagree or that you fill the gap left by the author. Use your impressions in writing research paper.
Choosing the writing document: It is essential to use the appropriate document to record your notes. Note slips are a better choice than keeping a diary as they can be easily categorized into different topics taken from varied sources. Slips should be used one sided so that observations and other information can be recorded later. Also, each slip should carry a single topic. Make sure not to use pencil or ink pen as writing tend to fade with time. Let your handwriting be legible .
Check for Clarity: Finally check for clarity of your notes a day after they are recorded. Take required measures to make your notes easily decipherable.
Bring the best out of your dissertation research by making and organizing notes. Get your writing edited or proofread for better results.
