Research
Research is an integral part of the Personal Project. Whatever your project topic and your intended product, you will need to gather facts, information, ideas and suggestions. This isn't the type of research you may have done before where you have to gather a certain number of sources or take notes in a certain way - you will need to devise the questions you need answered to successfully complete your project, and to create your product.
Towards this end, you'll be required in this project to expand your research methods. You won't just be using internet or print sources (though those will certainly be a component of your research process. You'll be using a process of four different research methods, abbreviated MISO.
Towards this end, you'll be required in this project to expand your research methods. You won't just be using internet or print sources (though those will certainly be a component of your research process. You'll be using a process of four different research methods, abbreviated MISO.
MISO - What is It?
Using the MISO methods of research will enable you to practice ways of investigating topics that you might not have explored before. The four types of research included in MISO are Media, Interview, Survey and Observation.
MediaUsing media resources is probably the type of research most comfortable and familiar for you. Media resources are any type of visual or print reference created by someone else and available to you in print of digitally. These include:
SurveySurveys can help you find out what people know or believe about a topic. They can be very useful to you as data, or to help you generate ideas for your topic. In particular, they can be helpful in figuring out ways to incorporate principled action into your project - what do people want or need to know/receive help with in relation to your project? In what form would they like to receive that help?
There are many different ways to survey people - digital surveys, paper surveys, verbal surveys. You can survey people you know, specific groups, or random samplings of people. Again, the information that you get through a survey is going to be unique - it's data no one else has - and will help to make your project original and special. |
InterviewMany of the topics students choose for their Personal Projects don't necessarily lend themselves to easy internet research. However, the help of another person - someone skilled in the area you're exploring - can be invaluable.
Interviews enable you to ask questions, seek advise, and utilize the experience of another person. Interview-based research helps make your project unique - the information you get from whomever you interview isn't going to be something that just anyone can look up on the internet! ObservationResearch through observation and experience involves becoming personally involved in the topic that you want to research.
This involves going to the place you're researching, watching someone who creates what you want to create, or observing a situation you're interested in. If you're doing a project to gather resources for a food bank, this might mean going there and watching a delivery, seeing who comes to pick up food, when they come, what they need. You might help pick up or deliver food, and experience what the workers there experience. If you're doing a project on bullying, this may involve watching your peers in the cafeteria, little kids on the playground, or the dynamics on the bus. Observation is one of the most personal types of research and, again, produces highly personal results. |
Making a Research Plan
Being successful with the MISO method of research takes planning and practice! Several documents are included on this page to help you practice and implement the MISO method.
Use the MISO Brainstorming Document to help figure out how to go about research a topic with the MISO method
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This takes the MISO Brainstorming Document further, asking you to plan specific actions (interview questions, etc.) to develop your research plan.
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Finding Sources
There are many resources that you can use to help you in your research. Some sites, links and resources are available below.
Media Resources:
Survey Resources:
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Interview Resources:
Observation and Experience Resources:
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The Annotated Bibliography
As part of the research process, you will create an annotated bibliography to help track, guide and share your MISO research.
An annotated bibliography is similar to the Works Cited pages that you have created in the past. Like in a Works Cited page, you will create citations (using EasyBib, a citation generator) for your research (including your original research). What makes an annotated bibliography different, however, is that it includes a paragraph that you write for each source, detailing the strengths of the source and evaluating the information that it includes to explain and justify using it as a resource for your project.
Annotated bibliographies serve a lot of purposes. They:
Your annotated bibliography will be included on your project website, and can be an excellent resource to share with your panel during the Oral Presentation
An annotated bibliography is similar to the Works Cited pages that you have created in the past. Like in a Works Cited page, you will create citations (using EasyBib, a citation generator) for your research (including your original research). What makes an annotated bibliography different, however, is that it includes a paragraph that you write for each source, detailing the strengths of the source and evaluating the information that it includes to explain and justify using it as a resource for your project.
Annotated bibliographies serve a lot of purposes. They:
- · create a detailed resource of research materials on a topic
- · help you to organize and use your research
- · establishing credibility for you as a researcher and the product you’ve created
- · demonstrate examples of the different types of sources that you used in your research
- · enable others to access and use your research
Your annotated bibliography will be included on your project website, and can be an excellent resource to share with your panel during the Oral Presentation