Each day this week I'll be posting portions of an article written regarding how to research. This is a useful guide which walks through the process and should be read by any debater interested in enhancing their debate skills. I’ll re-post the entire article next week in its full form.
Many debaters do not know how to research. From beginners to advanced debaters, there are debaters who are deficient in research skills. While many experienced debaters have learned to get by with their skills, the best research is still beyond their grasp. This lesson is intended to help all debaters, beginning, intermediate, and advanced alike to become better researchers. Whether this is your first time researching or you are a varsity debater in your eighth year of competition, these simple steps can help you to become an even better researcher.
I have spoken with numerous debaters who complain, “I went to the internet and searched for the topic for one hour and didn’t find anything!” As I ask some probing questions, I realize that these students are taking a wrong perspective toward research. Some are hopeful that the research will simply pop out at them. (Typing in “ocean policy” will NOT produce a case in five seconds. Sorry to disappoint.) Some students cannot find articles because they are not searching the in right places. Some students find articles but do not utilize them to their full potential. Still other students take their hour talking on IM, playing Yahoo games, and posting on the debate forums and are surprised when they look back over their “research time” and realize that they have not accomplished anything! (duh!) No matter which student one is, a few techniques in the research process can help to make anyone a better researcher.
The research process begins by taking a broad look at the topic. First, examine the resolution for key words. For example, when researching the resolution: “Resolved: That the United States federal government should significantly change its policy toward one of more of its protectorates.” you can circle or highlight the words that seem important. Also, if you do not know the meaning of any word in the resolution, now is the prime time to solve that problem. Go to dictionary.com and search for any word you need defined. Any one of numerous sources can provide you with the basic definition, but dictionary.com provides numerous definitions that will settle the meaning of the term in your mind before you progress any further along in the research process. After you understand the terms in the resolution examine each “key word” from your initial reading of the resolution. It might look something like this:
“Resolved: That the United States federal government should significantly change its policy toward one of more of its protectorates.”
Now that the key words are highlighted (these are also the words you will probably want to define in your case) you can begin your research.
Typically, I start my research on the internet and quickly move to other sources (we’ll come to those later). The internet is so expansive that I can get my feet just wet enough that I know what I’m looking for when I start using the other resources. Warning: The internet is a time-suck! If you do not have hours to waste, you may be better off looking for your research in other places.
Go to google.com and begin looking up these key words. Look them up individually, collectively, and in different groupings. For example, search for:
"united states", policy toward protectorate,
Don’t look at just the first page. If you only look at the first link you will miss many valuable resources which come up down the page or on later pages. I went to page 2. A bit down the page, there is a link for “Time for a Korean Divorce” [http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-08-03.html] which is an article mentioning the words in the search query. Now the research has just begun. From this point you can read that article. While you read that article you need to highlight/underline/circle any and all key words you can find in the article. These terms will be useful in digging deeper into the topic.
After you read this article, you can look up the new key words you have found in google. For example: “military,” “defense,” “South Korea,” “peninsula,” and “dependent” are all some key words which can be recycled in additional searches.
Now you are ready to begin addressing that issue specifically. Search for the new keywords, add them into your old searches, and try them in unique orders. All of these methods will produce numerous articles relating to one area of the topic. After you have repeated this process a few times (for some of us, it is hundreds of times), you will begin to have a strong idea related to that area of the resolution.
This search also turned up something unique to this topic. Policy regarding locations is different from policies for such things as trade policy, immigration policy, or mental health policy. Because this resolution is unique, there are some additional strategies which can be employed in researching.
Here are some additional tips specific to the protectorate resolution:
- Search ‘“protectorate”, “United states”’ and see if you can develop a list of protectorates. Also, look for synonyms to protectorate (territory, commonwealth, insular area, dependency, etc.) and search for these terms. This will allow you to hone your search to specific topics within these locations.
- Once you have found a list of protectorates, you can look for a problem which needs to be solved. Again, search google and look for ‘ “protectorate name”, “policy analysis” ‘ or ‘ “protectorate name”, “policy change” ‘ or other such variations which can give you areas for case development.
- Look at think tank and policy research groups. Once you are on their website, search for the protectorate name you are researching and read some of their articles. Often you can find policy recommendations from the experts using this strategy.
- Keep abreast of the news on protectorates. While some topics are not volatile, this topic assures major changes all the time. Even if you are not running a case in danger of being implemented by the government, you need to know what is going on in the current system so that you will not be caught off guard in a round.
After you feel that you have a basic understanding of the topic it is time to step research up a few notches. The next step is to print this article if you are reading it on a computer screen. No, seriously, print it now. Once it prints, get up from the computer…yup, I know, it’s tough to leave it all alone in the cold world, but trust me, it will be there when you get back – and so will your IM buddies ;).
Take this article with you as you head off to the library!!
At the library there are three resources you can take advantage of. First, go to the library catalog and search for the keywords you have found. Find some books on the topic and skim them. If the book seems to be good, look at the bibliography. This allows you to benefit from the research the author already did for you! Second, find one of the computers in the library which has databases on it. These research databases contain hundreds of thousands of articles from magazines, journals, and newspapers and are fully searchable. Again, look at the references and bibliography in these sources. You never know what great article you might overlook if you neglect to read the research someone else already found. Finally, go and talk with the reference librarian. Yes, you have to put your communication skills into practice outside of tournaments, I’m sorry, it’s true. Ask the librarian to help you find sources which make specific arguments. Often the reference librarians will do research for you!! I suggest approaching them last at the library because they can help you expand the research you already have. While they could be helpful from the beginning, they will probably only get the really easy stuff at first. If you already have that, they will help you dig deeper!
Now you are in for the best part of this whole process. After reading hundreds of articles, skimming bunches of books, and spending a short eternity staring at computer screens and printouts you will have knowledge about your topic that puts you head and shoulders above your peers. This knowledge forms the basis for your debate season. Are you finished? Not really. But now you know where the holes in your information are and you know where to look to find them.
Now you’re asking yourself, “What about later in the year when I need to find something specific?” Well, I’m guessing that if you follow this process for any length of time you already know what to do, but let me tell you just in case you’re a lazy debater who didn’t follow the previous instructions. First, decide what you need it to say. Then, use the key words from that argument and place them in your search query. Third, play around with the statement and look at think tanks that hold a paradigm friendly to the argument you are trying to make. Finally, if you still can’t find it, or if you want even stronger arguments, go and talk with the reference librarian.
Research can be a difficult part of any activity. While students in debate should know how to research, many for whatever reason, do not have research abilities to match their debating abilities. Following these simple steps is one way I have found to develop a good foundation and then to build upon that foundation. If debaters will take the time to learn the skills of research, they will not dread research but will be able to utilize their limited time to produce the research they need and win the argument.
For basic research instruction see our youtube channel, specifically the lecture on research/evidence basics. For links to studies and articles on the current NCFCA/STOA policy resolution and NFL/NCFL/UDL LD resolution follow us on twitter. If you'd like to learn to debate, you should watch our LD videos or buy The Great Debate
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