This presentation contains useful information on aspects to consider as well as useful links during the elaboration of a thesis or research project. It was customized for students at the University of Costa Rica (UCR).

1. IO-5600 Investigation Techniques By Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós gilberto.hernandez_q@ucr.ac.cr 1 Educational material created and customized by Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós for FAL-UCR. 2010

2. What is research? Research is the systematic process of collecting and analyzing information to increase our understanding of the phenomenon under study. It is the function of the researcher to contribute to the understanding of the phenomenon and to communicate that understanding to others. This course is aimed at helping students conduct research conducive towards the elaboration of a thesis or research project as part of the Bachelor’s Degree in English Language Teaching (ELT) at the University of Costa Rica. 2 Educational material created and customized by Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós for FAL-UCR. 2010

3. Investigative Essay Writing Investigative essay writing is closely related to research paper writing. Investigative writing must begin with asking questions on the subject, and finding relevant sources of information, such as knowledgeable people, books, scholarly reviewed articles and journals, websites, or any combinations of these. In most cases, collecting information for investigative essays requires the ability to use a library on credible online resources. You would need to read the materials found on your topic, and then summarize, paraphrase, and quote key ideas accurately from other people’s writings. In addition, personal interviews with people knowledgeable in the field are often helpful. Talk to an expert, authority, witness, or participant of the event or occasion. You could also survey the general public to determine the majority attitudes or opinions, trends, and reactions. Once you have collected required information, you should then present your findings in a written form suitable for your audience, with clear references in the text to the sources of information. 3 Educational material created and customized by Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós for FAL-UCR. 2010

4. Techniques for Investigative Essay Writing Begin with an interesting title and a catchy lead sentence or paragraph. The first few sentences of your investigation essay arouse your readers’ interest and focus their attention on the subject. Give background information by giving the relevant “who”, “what”, “where”, “when”, and “why” questions. Answering the “wh..” questions ensures that the audience have enough information to understand your investigative essay fully. State the main idea, question, or focus of the investigation essay. The purpose of your research essay is to convey the information as clearly as possible. Readers must not guess the main idea. Summarize or quote information from written or oral sources, and cite sources in text. Quote accurately any statistics, data, or sentences from your sources. Cite authors and titles in accordance to the citation style you use. Write in an interesting and readable style appropriate for the intended audience. Clear, direct, and readable language is essential for an investigative essay paper. Use paragraphs and charts as appropriate. 4 Educational material created and customized by Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós for FAL-UCR. 2010

5. Locating Research Information 5 Educational material created and customized by Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós for FAL-UCR. 2010 Education Statistics at a Glance, U.S. Department of Education http://nces.ed.gov/edstats/ Eric Processing and Reference Facility http://ericfac.piccard.csc.com/ Federal Statistics http://www.fedstats.gov/ Test Reviews online http://buros.unl.edu/buros/jsp/search.jsp Searching Eric http://www.eric.ed.gov U.S. Census Bureau http://www.census.gov/ United States Department of Education http://www.ed.gov/index.html Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov

6. Navigating and Searching the Web 6 Educational material created and customized by Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós for FAL-UCR. 2010 Alexahttp://www.alexa.comAltavistahttp://www.altavista.com Ask Jeeves http://www.askjeeves.com/ Excite http://www.excite.com/ Google http://www.google.com Infomine: Scholarly Internet ResourceCollectionshttp://infomine.ucr.edu/ Learnthe Net http://www.learnthenet.com/english/index.html Yahoo: http://www.yahoo.com

7. Tutorials and Courses 7 Educational material created and customized by Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós for FAL-UCR. 2010 Java Applets for Visualization of Statistical Concepts http://www.kuleuven.ac.be/ucs/java/index.htm Library and Information Skills Tutorial http://webster.commnet.edu/libroot/workbook/wrkbk.htm Research Methods WWW Tutorial http://www.camden.rutgers.edu/dept-pages/sociology/main.htm Statistical Refresher Tutorial http://cne.gmu.edu/modules/dau/stat/ The Scientific Method http://www.scientificmethod.com/

8. Research Process and Content 8 Educational material created and customized by Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós for FAL-UCR. 2010 Basic Methods of Research http://www.siu.edu/departments/coe/ras1/504/Research_methods.htm Educational Research Course SDSU http://edweb.sdsu.edu/Courses/Ed690DR/690course.html QualPage: Resources for Qualitative Research http://www.qualitativeresearch.uga.edu/QualPage/

9. Writing Assistance 9 Educational material created and customized by Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós for FAL-UCR. 2010 Anomalous Anonymies—Grammar Goofs http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/goofs.htm Eminent Quotableshttp://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/quotes/quotes_frames.htm Grammar and Writing Bookshelf http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/bookshelf.htm Guide to Grammar and Writing http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/ Help with Writing Research Papers http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/writ-pap.htm Merriam and Websterís Collegiate Dictionary http://www.m-w.com/netdict.htm Merriam and Websterís Collegiate Thesaurus http://www.m-w.com/thesaurus.htm Online References http://www.bartleby.com/index.html Online Resources for Writers http://webster.commnet.edu/writing/writing.htm

10. Style Manuals 10 Educational material created and customized by Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós for FAL-UCR. 2010 A Guide for Writing Research PapersóMLA Style http://webster.commnet.edu/mla/index.shtml A Guide for Writing Research Papers Based on APA Documentation http://webster.commnet.edu/apa/index.htm APA Pub Manual FAQ http://www.apastyle.org/faqs.html APA Style for Electronic Formats http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html APA Style Guide http://www.apastyle.org Guide for Citing Electronic Information http://www.wpunj.edu/wpcpages/library/citing.htm How to Organize a Research Paper and Document it with MLA Citations http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/4184/ The Elements of Style http://www.bartleby.com/141/index.html The Official MLA Site http://www.mla.org/

11. Online Journals 11 Educational material created and customized by Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós for FAL-UCR. 2010 Education Action Research: http://www.triangle.co.uk/ear/ Education Policy Analysis Archives: http://epaa.asu.edu/Educational Insights: Peer Review of Graduate Student Research: http://ccfi.educ.ubc.ca/publication/insights/Journal of Statistics Education: http://www.amstat.org/publications/jse/index.htmlThe Qualitative Report: http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/index.html

12. Statistics 12 Educational material created and customized by Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós for FAL-UCR. 2010 Analysis of Variance and Covariance http://uku.fi/~mauranen/advbis/advbis4.htm Dr. Drottís Sampling Techniques http://drott.cis.drexel.edu General Tutorial on (Univariate) Mathematical Modeling (pdf) http://www.geocities.com/~mikemclaughlin/op_cit/Tutorial.pdf Planning of Statistical Investigations http://uku.fi/~mauranen/advbis/advbis2.htm Simple Linear Regression and Multiple Regression http://uku.fi/~mauranen/advbis/advbis3.htm Statistical Inference, Estimation, Hypothesis Testing http://uku.fi/~mauranen/advbis/advbis2.htm Statistical Resources http://www.stat.ufl.edu/ The World Wide Web Virtual Library: Statistics http://www.stat.ufl.edu/vlib/statistics.html Using the Computer in the Statistical Part of Research: http://uku.fi/~mauranen/advbis/advbis5.htm

13. Miscellaneous Sites 13 Educational material created and customized by Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós for FAL-UCR. 2010 American Educational Research Association (AERA) http://www.aera.net British Educational Research Association (BERA) http://www.bera.ac.uk/ Consortium for Policy Research in Education http://www.cpre.org/index_js.htm Education Index http://www.educationindex.com/ Educational Research Assistance for Graduate Students http://gokate.freeyellow.com/ Educational Research Network http://www.ernweb.com/ European Educational Research Association (EERA) http://www.eera.ac.uk/ Links to Professional Resources http://www.ipmaac.org/links.html National Foundation for Educational Research http://www.nfer.ac.uk/ Suite 101.com http://www.suite101.com Federal Statistics http://www.fedstats.gov/ U.S. Census Bureau http://www.census.gov/

14. Thank You! Questions and Answers gilberto.hernandez_q@ucr.ac.cr 14 Educational material created and customized by Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós for FAL-UCR. 2010