What Is The Easiest Way To Research a Topic?

Hey Guys, I made a thread a few weeks back asking what the
hardest thing about article writing. Well, now I have another
question:

What is the easiest form of researching a topic for you?
Basically, if there were a few tips that you've learned in the
past about researching a topic, would you share them? A
specific place you go (online, or offline) to get information on
a topic? Interviews, case studies, etc.

What is your research system, basically?

I dislike reading articles on topics. I find it easiest to go to
a quiet place, like a cafe, or library, and getting a good
book on the subject. Please dis if this is a stupid, or old
school method, and if you can add onto it, please do. I am
currently reading a book to help hone my researching skills.
Anything you guys could recommend? Thanks!

 

The easiest way I've ever found is to make good use of senses and having a keen observation. Now this observation vary with the topic and the availability of resources, for instance there may be many topics which cannot be found in books, especially if I'm going to write something about Current Affairs, I must have to read articles, news etc and most of the time will watch TV also. On the other hand, if I'm going to write on some subjective topic, I'd certainly have to look for the authentic books. I'll also rely on asking people's opinion if needed.

I cannot say that this one or that one is specific research method that I use, instead I determine the research method according to the nature of topic I'm going to write on.



Regards,

 

Awesome. I guess another question I'd ask, then, is how
deep are you willing to go to research said topic? As far as
interviewing people?

The only thing I worry about with online articles is the fact
that they could be thrown together by people dependent on
Wikipedia, blogs, and personal opinion, and not hard fact.
The same could go with books.

Another question for those reading this thread: how much
time would you dedicate to research alone? Until you know
enough about the subject, or a set, strict time limit? I
choose the former.

 

The easiest way for me to do research is through talking to people. They talk, I listen and take notes. Of course, actually finding the people to talk to can be difficult, especially if I don't already have contacts within that niche. The actual interview part of it might take as little as 10 minutes.

Newspapers and periodicals are probably the hardest source to use because of the amount of time it can take to find the information you need.
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I would dedicate as much time as it takes to do a thorough job on the article.

Setting a time limit can work, if it's done the right way. For example, restricting your research time to two hours might motivate you to be more efficient in your methods. On the other hand, there might be some people who quit researching after two hours time whether they have enough information or not.

Either way, it still comes back to doing as much research as you need to do a thorough job on the article.

 

It depends on the topic. If I'm writing an article about how the weak North American market is affecting sales of company X, going to a bookstore won't help much.

I don't mind interviewing people (Kind of hard to take journalism in college without doing interviews. ).

As to my sources, I look for official stuff.

Wikipedia is sometimes good in that you can get a little info and see sources. For instance, perhaps you find a page on solar power there. You'll get some interesting info I'm sure, but the gold is at the bottom. See where the info came from and go to those places.

I'd disagree with newspapers being a hard source of info. You just need the right tools to search. If you have LexisNexis, that's a good start. If not, hit Google news.

Honestly, when researching online, it's not the sources or search tools, it's your ability to search.

I have no shame admitting that I'm extremely good at it. Part of it comes from the way my brain works (and the way I trained it). The other part comes from thousands of hours spent digging. It's a passion of mine I guess. I love investigating.

There's no such thing as a good research "time." Why? Because we're all different. I may need one hour to research something that will take you ten—or vise versa.

You research until you're done. It may take you 10 minutes or 10 years.

And obviously, deeper articles require more research. If I were to write an article about the history of the Simpsons, I'd research far less than if I were writing an article about the correlation between oil prices and Iran's foreign affairs policy and if oil price increases helped fuel the Iranian Revolution.

 

Thanks! Well, the level of research and interviews again depend on the nature of topic. Let's say I'm writing on 'Problems of High School students', that's a wide topic and may require to expand my course of action to different countries. The best way to deal with such type of topics, I may have to use e mail questionaires as well, but if I'm just to write on the Problems of High School Students in a particular area or country, let's say my own country than I may end up with 10 to 15 phone calls to my friends in different cities.

Right to a great extent! This is mainly because of the excess of information round the web. At this, I remeber the first class of my Information Economics whereby the first thing I understood was 'Excess of information creates poverty of attention'.

This again depends on what you're to write and what results you want to attain. For instance, I do remember the days when I used to spend hours in libraries reading books and magazines, browsing the web and talking to people in order to be perfect in online discussions on an Academic Forum.
Well, when it comes for article writing I rely much on reading and watching TV as sources of information, that doesn't take much time. Let's say I write a 500 words article in half an hour but to take a start I need information that I generally gather in 1 to 2 hours depending on the nature of topic.


Regards,