Business communication building critical skill 6th module022

Finding,
Analyzing, and
Documenting
Information
Module
Twenty Two
McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright © 2014 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Learning Objectives
LO 22-1 Apply strategies for print and online
information searches.
LO 22-2 Apply strategies for web page
evaluation.
LO 22-3 Apply strategies for survey and
interview question use.

22-2


Learning Objectives
LO 22-4 Identify respondents for surveys
and interviews.
LO 22-5 Analyze information from research.
LO 22-6 Practice common citation styles for
research documentation.

22-3

Types of Research
 Primary
 Gathers new information.
 Includes surveys, interviews, and observations.

 Secondary
 Retrieves published information.
 Includes library research and online searches.

22-4


How can I find information
online and in print?
 Keywords
 the terms that the computer searches for in a
database or on the web.

 At the beginning of a search, use all the
synonyms and keywords you can think of.

22-5


Examples of a Boolean Search

22-6

Sources for Electronic Research

22-7


Sources for Web Research

22-8


Using the Internet for Research
 Finding Web pages
 Use root words to find variations.
 Use quotation marks for exact terms.
 Uncapitalize words.

22-9


Using the Internet for Research
 Evaluating Web pages





Use reputable sources.
Look for an author.
Check the date and source.
Compare the information with other sources.

22-10


How do I write questions for
surveys and interviews?
 A survey questions a large group of people,
called respondents or subjects.
 Questionnaire
 a written list of questions that people fill out

 Interview
 a structured conversation with someone who
will be able to give you useful information

22-11


How do I write questions for
surveys and interviews?
 When asking questions
 Use phrasing that doesn’t bias the response.
 Avoid questions that make assumptions about
your audience.
 Use words that mean the same thing to you and
your audience.

22-12

How do I write questions for
surveys and interviews?
 Closed questions
have a limited
number of possible
responses.
 Open questions do
not lock the subject
into any sort of
response
22-13


Closed and Open Questions

22-14


How do I write questions for
surveys and interviews?
 Branching questions
 direct different respondents to different parts of
the questionnaire based on their answers to
earlier questions.

22-15


How do I decide whom to
survey or interview?

 The population is the
group you want to
make statements
about
 Defining your
population correctly is
crucial to getting
useful information
22-16


How do I decide whom to
survey or interview?
 Random sample
 each person in the population theoretically has
an equal chance of being chosen

 Convenience sample
 a group of respondents who are easy to get

 Judgment sample
 a group of people whose views seem useful

22-17


How should I analyze the information
I’ve collected?

22-18

Analyzing Words







Have things changed over time?
Does geography account for differences?
What similarities do you see?
What differences do you see?
What confirms your hunches?
What surprises you?

22-19


Checking Your Logic
 Causation
 means that one thing causes or produces
another.

 Correlation
 means that two things happen at the same time

22-20

Checking Your Logic
 Identify changes that might yield a different
result
 Discuss circumstances that may have affected
the results
 Summarize your negative findings in progress
reports
 Remember that negative results aren’t always
disappointing to the audience
22-21


How should I document sources?
 The two most widely used formats for
endnotes and bibliographies in reports are
those of the Modern Language Association
(MLA) and the American Psychological
Association (APA).

22-22


How should I document sources?
 Citation
 means attributing an
idea or fact to its
source in the body of
the report

 Documentation
 means providing the
bibliographic
information readers
would need to go back
to the original source

22-23


MLA and APA Formats for
Documenting Sources

22-24


MLA and APA Formats for
Documenting Sources

22-25