This is How Far We’ve Come
Finishing up the second section of Critical Thinking and Writing, I realized we’ve come very, very far in writing, reading, research, and English in general. Yet, the most impactful and interesting things I’ve learned has been related to research, specifically the methods and ways to conduct it efficiently. (Yes, I know we’ve gone over this a lot but it’s the last time. I promise!)
Inquiry-Based Research
One of my favorite concepts to rely on when it comes to researching is having a question and inquiry in mind when diving in. By doing this, it not only provides a good sense of direction but also what to look and not look for in terms of sources. For example, this method helped me significantly when I made trips to the Santa Clara University Archives, a place exploding with key material and valuable documents.
In the archives, I found it extremely challenging to sort and arrange all the potential documents for my research papers. However, this inquiry-based mindset I acquired allowed me to have a clearer sense of what sources would be key to my argument as well as those that could be used as naysayers, taking my paper to the next level. I realized that this method was more useful for working with large databases and groups of material rather than a smaller set of information. Overall, I found this tool extremely useful and hope to use it again soon!
Thanks for reading!