The process of developing a research question is seldom a linear journey but instead developing a research question often involves multiple rounds of refining based on feedback, findings, and a growing understanding of your topic.
This is something important to realize and how research should be actually conducted. Having expectations is normal, but letting the question and the approach adapt to discoveries is how research can reach a relevant conclusion.
When you need more detailed subject knowledge, such as new theories, analyses, and interpretations to back up your projects, you would be better served by investigating scholarly materials such as journal articles and books rather than an encyclopedia.
This is a very important point not just about Wikipedia but about resources online. Google results will offer knowledge that can be broad and background to a subject, but to find nuanced material other research methods are required, and peer-reviewed expert publications offer that level of intricacy, they are just not immediately accessible.
Newspaper and magazine articles Newspaper and magazine articles tend to be brief and to the point. They’re intended to keep us current with events and popular topics, and rarely go in depth or provide sources for further reading. Newspaper articles are a common example of a primary source, which we’ll discuss in the next section.
Newspapers, in my view, are only relevant in measuring what a subject meant to society and how it was seen at the time. I think of my own research project and how they report on the reception of a film release, not analyzing or going in depth on what such story means, but can be useful to know what the general public would have known at the time and what is widely believed about it.
Books Books tend to be much longer and, because of this, they can go into greater depth than articles. Books are great sources for providing a “big picture” perspective of a topic with background information and rich detail.
Books are a great starting source for research that may not immediately grant quotable information, but is great as a precursor. Before embarking on research, having enough 'big picture' knowledge on the subject is important, and reading a full book (or a few) can provide the base to build a strong research question and the avenues of further research that can be done.
Sometimes an author or publisher’s personal, political, or business relationships may affect the objectivity of their work. Check if any funding information or corporate ties to the project are listed, and consider whether those ties are likely to impact how the research is presented.
This is a key point in information research, if one source is being funded by a group that would benefit from a certain interpretation or conclusion, the content can be deemed unreliable. Sometimes, some pages disguise funding from a cause with a misleading name, such as foundations that claim to protect abstract concepts but in reality legitimize ideas for a larger organization. It is important to know who wants certain information to be available and why.
Despite their rapid improvement, content generated by AI is considered untrustworthy and should not be used as a source for information. Generative AI creates content by analyzing and mimicking whatever content it is supplied with in its code. This means that generative AI can easily inherit bias and is not capable of discerning whether the claims it makes are accurate.
One misconception about AI that people have is that it is capable of reasoning, that it has intelligence, when that is not true. It doesn’t understand the content that it reads and writes, it simply puts information together from its database, like an advanced version of the autocorrect feature on phone keyboards. It’s tendency to satisfy the user and lack of reasoning makes it very unreliable, but does a great job at appearing to be useful.
In contrast, some intentionally misleading websites appear sleek and well-supported because their creators have heavily invested in making their work look “reputable.”
This is very much true, sometimes the most misleading content is made to be most effectively accessible and shareable, so I notice that material that has a more click-based, attention seeking impression is worth doubting. Accurate and important information is not likely to be summarized by a catchy headline that elicits a reaction, but instead presents facts in a way that allows the reader to reach their own conclusions.
Finding an author’s bias is crucial when evaluating information because it helps readers understand the perspective from which the information is presented. Every author has a unique background, experiences, and beliefs that shape their views and influence how they present information. By identifying an author’s bias, readers can better assess the objectivity and reliability of the information, allowing them to consider alternative viewpoints and make more informed judgments. Understanding an author’s bias also helps readers recognize potential agendas or motivations behind the information, which is especially important in fields such as journalism, politics, and education where bias can significantly impact how the information is presented and how a reader might respond to that information.
It’s extremely important to note that bias is unavoidable, even in journalism that believes itself to be unbiased, there is usually a perspective that comes from the background of the author and publication. This goes beyond interests and political affiliations, it can even be what nation the content is being produced in. Knowing what these factors are and measuring them against the information is a key piece in research.