reading research project ideas

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• Research Guides

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper

• Reading Research Effectively
• Purpose of Guide
• Design Flaws to Avoid
• Independent and Dependent Variables
• Glossary of Research Terms
• Narrowing a Topic Idea
• Broadening a Topic Idea
• Extending the Timeliness of a Topic Idea
• Academic Writing Style
• Choosing a Title
• Making an Outline
• Paragraph Development
• Research Process Video Series
• Executive Summary
• The C.A.R.S. Model
• Background Information
• The Research Problem/Question
• Theoretical Framework
• Citation Tracking
• Content Alert Services
• Evaluating Sources
• Primary Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Tiertiary Sources
• Scholarly vs. Popular Publications
• Qualitative Methods
• Quantitative Methods
• Insiderness
• Using Non-Textual Elements
• Limitations of the Study
• Common Grammar Mistakes
• Writing Concisely
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Footnotes or Endnotes?
• Further Readings
• Generative AI and Writing
• USC Libraries Tutorials and Other Guides
• Bibliography

Reading a Scholarly Article or Research Paper

Identifying a research problem to investigate usually requires a preliminary search for and critical review of the literature in order to gain an understanding about how scholars have examined a topic. Scholars rarely structure research studies in a way that can be followed like a story; they are complex and detail-intensive and often written in a descriptive and conclusive narrative form. However, in the social and behavioral sciences, journal articles and stand-alone research reports are generally organized in a consistent format that makes it easier to compare and contrast studies and to interpret their contents.

General Reading Strategies

W hen you first read an article or research paper, focus on asking specific questions about each section. This strategy can help with overall comprehension and with understanding how the content relates [or does not relate] to the problem you want to investigate. As you review more and more studies, the process of understanding and critically evaluating the research will become easier because the content of what you review will begin to coalescence around common themes and patterns of analysis. Below are recommendations on how to read each section of a research paper effectively. Note that the sections to read are out of order from how you will find them organized in a journal article or research paper.

1.  Abstract

The abstract summarizes the background, methods, results, discussion, and conclusions of a scholarly article or research paper. Use the abstract to filter out sources that may have appeared useful when you began searching for information but, in reality, are not relevant. Questions to consider when reading the abstract are:

• Is this study related to my question or area of research?
• What is this study about and why is it being done ?
• What is the working hypothesis or underlying thesis?
• What is the primary finding of the study?
• Are there words or terminology that I can use to either narrow or broaden the parameters of my search for more information?

2.  Introduction

If, after reading the abstract, you believe the paper may be useful, focus on examining the research problem and identifying the questions the author is trying to address. This information is usually located within the first few paragraphs of the introduction or in the concluding paragraph. Look for information about how and in what way this relates to what you are investigating. In addition to the research problem, the introduction should provide the main argument and theoretical framework of the study and, in the last paragraphs of the introduction, describe what the author(s) intend to accomplish. Questions to consider when reading the introduction include:

• What is this study trying to prove or disprove?
• What is the author(s) trying to test or demonstrate?
• What do we already know about this topic and what gaps does this study try to fill or contribute a new understanding to the research problem?
• Why should I care about what is being investigated?
• Will this study tell me anything new related to the research problem I am investigating?

3.  Literature Review

The literature review describes and critically evaluates what is already known about a topic. Read the literature review to obtain a big picture perspective about how the topic has been studied and to begin the process of seeing where your potential study fits within the domain of prior research. Questions to consider when reading the literature review include:

• W hat other research has been conducted about this topic and what are the main themes that have emerged?
• What does prior research reveal about what is already known about the topic and what remains to be discovered?
• What have been the most important past findings about the research problem?
• How has prior research led the author(s) to conduct this particular study?
• Is there any prior research that is unique or groundbreaking?
• Are there any studies I could use as a model for designing and organizing my own study?

4.  Discussion/Conclusion

The discussion and conclusion are usually the last two sections of text in a scholarly article or research report. They reveal how the author(s) interpreted the findings of their research and presented recommendations or courses of action based on those findings. Often in the conclusion, the author(s) highlight recommendations for further research that can be used to develop your own study. Questions to consider when reading the discussion and conclusion sections include:

• What is the overall meaning of the study and why is this important? [i.e., how have the author(s) addressed the " So What? " question].
• What do you find to be the most important ways that the findings have been interpreted?
• What are the weaknesses in their argument?
• Do you believe conclusions about the significance of the study and its findings are valid?
• What limitations of the study do the author(s) describe and how might this help formulate my own research?
• Does the conclusion contain any recommendations for future research?

5.  Methods/Methodology

The methods section describes the materials, techniques, and procedures for gathering information used to examine the research problem. If what you have read so far closely supports your understanding of the topic, then move on to examining how the author(s) gathered information during the research process. Questions to consider when reading the methods section include:

• Did the study use qualitative [based on interviews, observations, content analysis], quantitative [based on statistical analysis], or a mixed-methods approach to examining the research problem?
• What was the type of information or data used?
• Could this method of analysis be repeated and can I adopt the same approach?
• Is enough information available to repeat the study or should new data be found to expand or improve understanding of the research problem?

6.  Results

After reading the above sections, you should have a clear understanding of the general findings of the study. Therefore, read the results section to identify how key findings were discussed in relation to the research problem. If any non-textual elements [e.g., graphs, charts, tables, etc.] are confusing, focus on the explanations about them in the text. Questions to consider when reading the results section include:

• W hat did the author(s) find and how did they find it?
• Does the author(s) highlight any findings as most significant?
• Are the results presented in a factual and unbiased way?
• Does the analysis of results in the discussion section agree with how the results are presented?
• Is all the data present and did the author(s) adequately address gaps?
• What conclusions do you formulate from this data and does it match with the author's conclusions?

7.  References

The references list the sources used by the author(s) to document what prior research and information was used when conducting the study. After reviewing the article or research paper, use the references to identify additional sources of information on the topic and to examine critically how these sources supported the overall research agenda. Questions to consider when reading the references include:

• Do the sources cited by the author(s) reflect a diversity of disciplinary viewpoints, i.e., are the sources all from a particular field of study or do the sources reflect multiple areas of study?
• Are there any unique or interesting sources that could be incorporated into my study?
• What other authors are respected in this field, i.e., who has multiple works cited or is cited most often by others?
• What other research should I review to clarify any remaining issues or that I need more information about?

NOTE :  A final strategy in reviewing research is to copy and paste the title of the source [journal article, book, research report] into Google Scholar . If it appears, look for a "cited by" followed by a hyperlinked number [e.g., Cited by 45]. This number indicates how many times the study has been subsequently cited in other, more recently published works. This strategy, known as citation tracking, can be an effective means of expanding your review of pertinent literature based on a study you have found useful and how scholars have cited it. The same strategies described above can be applied to reading articles you find in the list of cited by references.

Reading Tip

Specific Reading Strategies

Effectively reading scholarly research is an acquired skill that involves attention to detail and an ability to comprehend complex ideas, data, and theoretical concepts in a way that applies logically to the research problem you are investigating. Here are some specific reading strategies to consider.

As You are Reading

• Focus on information that is most relevant to the research problem; skim over the other parts.
• As noted above, read content out of order! This isn't a novel; you want to start with the spoiler to quickly assess the relevance of the study.
• Think critically about what you read and seek to build your own arguments; not everything may be entirely valid, examined effectively, or thoroughly investigated.
• Look up the definitions of unfamiliar words, concepts, or terminology. A good scholarly source is Credo Reference .

Taking notes as you read will save time when you go back to examine your sources. Here are some suggestions:

• Mark or highlight important text as you read [e.g., you can use the highlight text  feature in a PDF document]
• Take notes in the margins [e.g., Adobe Reader offers pop-up sticky notes].
• Highlight important quotations; consider using different colors to differentiate between quotes and other types of important text.
• Summarize key points about the study at the end of the paper. To save time, these can be in the form of a concise bulleted list of statements [e.g., intro has provides historical background; lit review has important sources; good conclusions].

Write down thoughts that come to mind that may help clarify your understanding of the research problem. Here are some examples of questions to ask yourself:

• Do I understand all of the terminology and key concepts?
• Do I understand the parts of this study most relevant to my topic?
• What specific problem does the research address and why is it important?
• Are there any issues or perspectives the author(s) did not consider?
• Do I have any reason to question the validity or reliability of this research?
• How do the findings relate to my research interests and to other works which I have read?

Adapted from text originally created by Holly Burt, Behavioral Sciences Librarian, USC Libraries, April 2018.

Another Reading Tip

When is it Important to Read the Entire Article or Research Paper

Laubepin argues, "Very few articles in a field are so important that every word needs to be read carefully." However, this implies that some studies are worth reading carefully. As painful and time-consuming as it may seem, there are valid reasons for reading a study in its entirety from beginning to end. Here are some examples:

• Studies Published Very Recently .  The author(s) of a recent, well written study will provide a survey of the most important or impactful prior research in the literature review section. This can establish an understanding of how scholars in the past addressed the research problem. In addition, the most recently published sources will highlight what is currently known and what gaps in understanding currently exist about a topic, usually in the form of the need for further research in the conclusion .
• Surveys of the Research Problem .  Some papers provide a comprehensive analytical overview of the research problem. Reading this type of study can help you understand underlying issues and discover why scholars have chosen to investigate the topic. This is particularly important if the study was published very recently because the author(s) should cite all or most of the key prior research on the topic. Note that, if it is a long-standing problem, there may be studies that specifically review the literature to identify gaps that remain. These studies often include the word review in their title [e.g., Hügel, Stephan, and Anna R. Davies. "Public Participation, Engagement, and Climate Change Adaptation: A Review of the Research Literature." Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 11 (July-August 2020): https://doi.org/10.1002/ wcc.645].
• Highly Cited .  If you keep coming across the same citation to a study while you are reviewing the literature, this implies it was foundational in establishing an understanding of the research problem or the study had a significant impact within the literature [positive or negative]. Carefully reading a highly cited source can help you understand how the topic emerged and motivated scholars to further investigate the problem. It also could be a study you need to cite as foundational in your own paper to demonstrate to the reader that you understand the roots of the problem.
• Historical Overview .  Knowing the historical background of a research problem may not be the focus of your analysis. Nevertheless, carefully reading a study that provides a thorough description and analysis of the history behind an event, issue, or phenomenon can add important context to understanding the topic and what aspect of the problem you may want to examine further.
• Innovative Methodological Design .  Some studies are significant and worth reading in their entirety because the author(s) designed a unique or innovative approach to researching the problem. This may justify reading the entire study because it can motivate you to think creatively about pursuing an alternative or non-traditional approach to examining your topic of interest. These types of studies are generally easy to identify because they are often cited in others works because of their unique approach to studying the research problem.
• Cross-disciplinary Approach .  R eviewing studies produced outside of your discipline is an essential component of investigating research problems in the social and behavioral sciences. Consider reading a study that was conducted by author(s) based in a different discipline [e.g., an anthropologist studying political cultures; a study of hiring practices in companies published in a sociology journal]. This approach can generate a new understanding or a unique perspective about the topic . If you are not sure how to search for studies published in a discipline outside of your major or of the course you are taking, contact a librarian for assistance.

Laubepin, Frederique. How to Read (and Understand) a Social Science Journal Article . Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ISPSR), 2013; Shon, Phillip Chong Ho. How to Read Journal Articles in the Social Sciences: A Very Practical Guide for Students . 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2015; Lockhart, Tara, and Mary Soliday. "The Critical Place of Reading in Writing Transfer (and Beyond): A Report of Student Experiences." Pedagogy 16 (2016): 23-37; Maguire, Moira, Ann Everitt Reynolds, and Brid Delahunt. "Reading to Be: The Role of Academic Reading in Emergent Academic and Professional Student Identities." Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice 17 (2020): 5-12.

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• Last Updated: Mar 26, 2024 10:40 AM
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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 113 great research paper topics.

General Education

One of the hardest parts of writing a research paper can be just finding a good topic to write about. Fortunately we've done the hard work for you and have compiled a list of 113 interesting research paper topics. They've been organized into ten categories and cover a wide range of subjects so you can easily find the best topic for you.

In addition to the list of good research topics, we've included advice on what makes a good research paper topic and how you can use your topic to start writing a great paper.

What Makes a Good Research Paper Topic?

Not all research paper topics are created equal, and you want to make sure you choose a great topic before you start writing. Below are the three most important factors to consider to make sure you choose the best research paper topics.

#1: It's Something You're Interested In

A paper is always easier to write if you're interested in the topic, and you'll be more motivated to do in-depth research and write a paper that really covers the entire subject. Even if a certain research paper topic is getting a lot of buzz right now or other people seem interested in writing about it, don't feel tempted to make it your topic unless you genuinely have some sort of interest in it as well.

#2: There's Enough Information to Write a Paper

Even if you come up with the absolute best research paper topic and you're so excited to write about it, you won't be able to produce a good paper if there isn't enough research about the topic. This can happen for very specific or specialized topics, as well as topics that are too new to have enough research done on them at the moment. Easy research paper topics will always be topics with enough information to write a full-length paper.

Trying to write a research paper on a topic that doesn't have much research on it is incredibly hard, so before you decide on a topic, do a bit of preliminary searching and make sure you'll have all the information you need to write your paper.

#3: It Fits Your Teacher's Guidelines

Don't get so carried away looking at lists of research paper topics that you forget any requirements or restrictions your teacher may have put on research topic ideas. If you're writing a research paper on a health-related topic, deciding to write about the impact of rap on the music scene probably won't be allowed, but there may be some sort of leeway. For example, if you're really interested in current events but your teacher wants you to write a research paper on a history topic, you may be able to choose a topic that fits both categories, like exploring the relationship between the US and North Korea. No matter what, always get your research paper topic approved by your teacher first before you begin writing.

113 Good Research Paper Topics

Below are 113 good research topics to help you get you started on your paper. We've organized them into ten categories to make it easier to find the type of research paper topics you're looking for.

Arts/Culture

• Discuss the main differences in art from the Italian Renaissance and the Northern Renaissance .
• Analyze the impact a famous artist had on the world.
• How is sexism portrayed in different types of media (music, film, video games, etc.)? Has the amount/type of sexism changed over the years?
• How has the music of slaves brought over from Africa shaped modern American music?
• How has rap music evolved in the past decade?
• How has the portrayal of minorities in the media changed?

Current Events

• What have been the impacts of China's one child policy?
• How have the goals of feminists changed over the decades?
• How has the Trump presidency changed international relations?
• Analyze the history of the relationship between the United States and North Korea.
• What factors contributed to the current decline in the rate of unemployment?
• What have been the impacts of states which have increased their minimum wage?
• How do US immigration laws compare to immigration laws of other countries?
• How have the US's immigration laws changed in the past few years/decades?
• How has the Black Lives Matter movement affected discussions and view about racism in the US?
• What impact has the Affordable Care Act had on healthcare in the US?
• What factors contributed to the UK deciding to leave the EU (Brexit)?
• What factors contributed to China becoming an economic power?
• Discuss the history of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies  (some of which tokenize the S&P 500 Index on the blockchain) .
• Do students in schools that eliminate grades do better in college and their careers?
• Do students from wealthier backgrounds score higher on standardized tests?
• Do students who receive free meals at school get higher grades compared to when they weren't receiving a free meal?
• Do students who attend charter schools score higher on standardized tests than students in public schools?
• Do students learn better in same-sex classrooms?
• How does giving each student access to an iPad or laptop affect their studies?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Montessori Method ?
• Do children who attend preschool do better in school later on?
• What was the impact of the No Child Left Behind act?
• How does the US education system compare to education systems in other countries?
• What impact does mandatory physical education classes have on students' health?
• Which methods are most effective at reducing bullying in schools?
• Do homeschoolers who attend college do as well as students who attended traditional schools?
• Does offering tenure increase or decrease quality of teaching?
• How does college debt affect future life choices of students?
• Should graduate students be able to form unions?

• What are different ways to lower gun-related deaths in the US?
• How and why have divorce rates changed over time?
• Is affirmative action still necessary in education and/or the workplace?
• Should physician-assisted suicide be legal?
• How has stem cell research impacted the medical field?
• How can human trafficking be reduced in the United States/world?
• Should people be able to donate organs in exchange for money?
• Which types of juvenile punishment have proven most effective at preventing future crimes?
• Has the increase in US airport security made passengers safer?
• Analyze the immigration policies of certain countries and how they are similar and different from one another.
• Several states have legalized recreational marijuana. What positive and negative impacts have they experienced as a result?
• Do tariffs increase the number of domestic jobs?
• Which prison reforms have proven most effective?
• Should governments be able to censor certain information on the internet?
• Which methods/programs have been most effective at reducing teen pregnancy?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Keto diet?
• How effective are different exercise regimes for losing weight and maintaining weight loss?
• How do the healthcare plans of various countries differ from each other?
• What are the most effective ways to treat depression ?
• What are the pros and cons of genetically modified foods?
• Which methods are most effective for improving memory?
• What can be done to lower healthcare costs in the US?
• What factors contributed to the current opioid crisis?
• Analyze the history and impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic .
• Are low-carbohydrate or low-fat diets more effective for weight loss?
• How much exercise should the average adult be getting each week?
• Which methods are most effective to get parents to vaccinate their children?
• What are the pros and cons of clean needle programs?
• How does stress affect the body?
• Discuss the history of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
• What were the causes and effects of the Salem Witch Trials?
• Who was responsible for the Iran-Contra situation?
• How has New Orleans and the government's response to natural disasters changed since Hurricane Katrina?
• What events led to the fall of the Roman Empire?
• What were the impacts of British rule in India ?
• Was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary?
• What were the successes and failures of the women's suffrage movement in the United States?
• What were the causes of the Civil War?
• How did Abraham Lincoln's assassination impact the country and reconstruction after the Civil War?
• Which factors contributed to the colonies winning the American Revolution?
• What caused Hitler's rise to power?
• Discuss how a specific invention impacted history.
• What led to Cleopatra's fall as ruler of Egypt?
• How has Japan changed and evolved over the centuries?
• What were the causes of the Rwandan genocide ?

• Why did Martin Luther decide to split with the Catholic Church?
• Analyze the history and impact of a well-known cult (Jonestown, Manson family, etc.)
• How did the sexual abuse scandal impact how people view the Catholic Church?
• How has the Catholic church's power changed over the past decades/centuries?
• What are the causes behind the rise in atheism/ agnosticism in the United States?
• What were the influences in Siddhartha's life resulted in him becoming the Buddha?
• How has media portrayal of Islam/Muslims changed since September 11th?

Science/Environment

• How has the earth's climate changed in the past few decades?
• How has the use and elimination of DDT affected bird populations in the US?
• Analyze how the number and severity of natural disasters have increased in the past few decades.
• Analyze deforestation rates in a certain area or globally over a period of time.
• How have past oil spills changed regulations and cleanup methods?
• How has the Flint water crisis changed water regulation safety?
• What are the pros and cons of fracking?
• What impact has the Paris Climate Agreement had so far?
• What have NASA's biggest successes and failures been?
• How can we improve access to clean water around the world?
• Does ecotourism actually have a positive impact on the environment?
• Should the US rely on nuclear energy more?
• What can be done to save amphibian species currently at risk of extinction?
• What impact has climate change had on coral reefs?
• How are black holes created?
• Are teens who spend more time on social media more likely to suffer anxiety and/or depression?
• How will the loss of net neutrality affect internet users?
• Analyze the history and progress of self-driving vehicles.
• How has the use of drones changed surveillance and warfare methods?
• Has social media made people more or less connected?
• What progress has currently been made with artificial intelligence ?
• Do smartphones increase or decrease workplace productivity?
• What are the most effective ways to use technology in the classroom?
• How is Google search affecting our intelligence?
• When is the best age for a child to begin owning a smartphone?
• Has frequent texting reduced teen literacy rates?

How to Write a Great Research Paper

Even great research paper topics won't give you a great research paper if you don't hone your topic before and during the writing process. Follow these three tips to turn good research paper topics into great papers.

#1: Figure Out Your Thesis Early

Before you start writing a single word of your paper, you first need to know what your thesis will be. Your thesis is a statement that explains what you intend to prove/show in your paper. Every sentence in your research paper will relate back to your thesis, so you don't want to start writing without it!

As some examples, if you're writing a research paper on if students learn better in same-sex classrooms, your thesis might be "Research has shown that elementary-age students in same-sex classrooms score higher on standardized tests and report feeling more comfortable in the classroom."

If you're writing a paper on the causes of the Civil War, your thesis might be "While the dispute between the North and South over slavery is the most well-known cause of the Civil War, other key causes include differences in the economies of the North and South, states' rights, and territorial expansion."

#2: Back Every Statement Up With Research

Remember, this is a research paper you're writing, so you'll need to use lots of research to make your points. Every statement you give must be backed up with research, properly cited the way your teacher requested. You're allowed to include opinions of your own, but they must also be supported by the research you give.

#3: Do Your Research Before You Begin Writing

You don't want to start writing your research paper and then learn that there isn't enough research to back up the points you're making, or, even worse, that the research contradicts the points you're trying to make!

Get most of your research on your good research topics done before you begin writing. Then use the research you've collected to create a rough outline of what your paper will cover and the key points you're going to make. This will help keep your paper clear and organized, and it'll ensure you have enough research to produce a strong paper.

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Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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101 research paper topics.

• Why do we sleep ?
• How do GPS systems work?
• Who was the first person to reach the North Pole ?
• Did anybody ever escape Alcatraz ?
• What was life like for a gladiator ?
• What are the effects of prolonged steroid use on the human body?
• What happened during the Salem witch trials ?
• Are there any effective means of repelling insects ?
• How did trains and railroads change life in America?
• What may have occurred during the Roswell  UFO incident of 1947?
• How is bulletproof clothing made?
• What Olympic events were practiced in ancient Greece?
• What are the major theories explaining the disappearance of the dinosaurs ?
• How was the skateboard invented and how has it changed over the years?
• How did the long bow contribute to English military dominance?
• What caused the stock market crash of 2008?
• How did Cleopatra come to power in Egypt what did she do during her reign?
• How has airport security intensified since September 11 th , 2001?
• What is life like inside of a beehive ?
• Where did hip hop originate and who were its founders?
• What makes the platypus a unique and interesting mammal?
• How does tobacco use affect the human body?
• How do computer viruses spread and in what ways do they affect computers?
• What is daily life like for a Buddhist monk ?
• What are the origins of the conflict in Darfur ?
• How did gunpowder change warfare?
• In what ways do Wal-Mart stores affect local economies?
• How were cats and dogs domesticated and for what purposes?
• What do historians know about ninjas ?
• How has the music industry been affected by the internet and digital downloading?
• What were the circumstances surrounding the death of Osama Bin Laden ?
• What was the women’s suffrage movement and how did it change America?
• What efforts are being taken to protect endangered wildlife ?
• How much does the war on drugs cost Americans each year?
• How is text messaging affecting teen literacy?
• Are humans still evolving ?
• What technologies are available to home owners to help them conserve energy ?
• How have oil spills affected the planet and what steps are being taken to prevent them?
• What was the Magna Carta and how did it change England?
• What is the curse of the pharaohs?
• Why was Socrates executed?
• What nonlethal weapons are used by police to subdue rioters?
• How does the prison population in America compare to other nations?
• How did ancient sailors navigate the globe?
• Can gamblers ever acquire a statistical advantage over the house in casino games?
• What is alchemy and how has it been attempted?
• How are black holes formed?
• How was the assassination of Abraham Lincoln plotted and executed?
• Do the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks?
• How do submarines work?
• Do lie detector tests accurately determine truthful statements?
• How did Cold War tension affect the US and the world?
• What happened to the lost settlers at Roanoke ?
• How does a hybrid car save energy?
• What ingredients can be found inside of a hotdog ?
• How did Julius Caesar affect Rome?
• What are some common sleep disorders and how are they treated?
• How did the Freedom Riders change society?
• How is internet censorship used in China and around the world?
• What was the code of the Bushido and how did it affect samurai warriors ?
• What are the risks of artificial tanning or prolonged exposure to the sun?
• What programs are available to help war veterans get back into society?
• What steps are involved in creating a movie or television show?
• How have the film and music industries dealt with piracy ?
• How did Joan of Arc change history?
• What responsibilities do secret service agents have?
• How does a shark hunt?
• What dangers and hardships did Lewis and Clark face when exploring the Midwest?
• Has the Patriot Act prevented or stopped terrorist acts in America?
• Do states that allow citizens to carry guns have higher or lower crime rates?
• How are the Great Depression and the Great Recession similar and different?
• What are the dangers of scuba diving and underwater exploration?
• How does the human brain store and retrieve memories ?
• What was the Manhattan Project and what impact did it have on the world?
• How does stealth technology shield aircraft from radar?
• What causes tornadoes ?
• Why did Martin Luther protest against the Catholic Church?
• How does a search engine work?
• What are the current capabilities and future goals of genetic engineers ?
• How did the Roman Empire fall?
• What obstacles faced scientists in breaking the sound barrier ?
• How did the black plague affect Europe?
• What happened to Amelia Earhart ?
• What are the dangers and hazards of using nuclear power ?
• How did Genghis Khan conquer Persia?
• What architectural marvels were found in Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire ?
• From where does spam email come and can we stop it?
• How does night vision work?
• How did journalists influence US war efforts in Vietnam ?
• What are the benefits and hazards of medical marijuana ?
• What causes desert mirages and how do they affect wanderers?
• What was the cultural significance of the first moon landing ?
• What are sinkholes and how are they formed?
• Have any psychics ever solved crimes or prevented them from occurring?
• Who is Vlad the Impaler and what is his connection to Count Dracula ?
• What are the risks of climate change and global warming ?
• What treatments are available to people infected with HIV and are they effective?
• Who was a greater inventor, Leonardo di Vinci or Thomas Edison ?
• How are the Chinese and American economies similar and different?
• Why was communism unsuccessful in so many countries?
• In what ways do video games affect children and teenagers?

923 Comments

I like using this website when I assist kids with learning as a lot of these topics are quickly covered in the school systems. Thankyou

Mackenah Nicole Molina

Wow! I always have trouble deiciding what to do a research project on but this list has totally solved that. Now my only problem is choosing what idea on this list I should do first!

Most of these my teacher rejected because apparently ‘these aren’t grade level topics, and I doubt they interest you”

I’m sorry to hear that. Sounds like you will have a potentially valuable character-building experience in the short-term.

Edwin Augusto Galindo Cuba

THIS SITE IS AWESOME, THERE ARE LOTS OF TOPICS TO LEARN AND MASTER OUR SKILLS!

research kid

I need one about animals, please. I have been challenged to a animal research project, Due Friday. I have no clue what to research! somebody help, thanks for reading!

You can do one on bats

For international studies you can do Defense and Security.

This was very helpful.

Research on Ben Franklin? I think THAT will get a real charge out of everyone (hehehehegetit)

Mandy Maher

“Is it possible to colonize Mars?”

maddy burney

these are silly topics

thx for making this real.

more gaming questions!!!!!!

Is it still considered stealing if you don’t get caught?

Yes, yes it is still considered stealing.

I need topics on memes

Mary Nnamani

Please I need project topics on Language Literature

Marcella Vallarino

I would appreciate a list of survey questions for middle school grades 6-8

I need a research topics about public sector management

I NEED FIVE EXAMPLES EACH ON QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH (EDUCATION, HEALTH, TECHNOLOGY, ECONOMY AND ENGINEERING)

publish research that are interesting please……

hey can you do one on the burmiueda triangle

Anybody know video games effect kids,and,teens. There Fun!!

they’re

I need a topic about woman history if any of u can find 1 please that would be great!

You could research about the history of the astronauts, and of human past (WWI, WWII, etc.)

so about women? Manitoba Women Win the Right to Vote in Municipal Elections, The First Women, January 23, 1849: Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman to graduate from medical school and become a doctor in the United States, Rosa Parks Civil Rights Equal Pay. I have way more. so if you need more just ask.

communism is good

what are you a communist?!?!

Did FDR know about the upcoming attack on Pearl Harbor on 07 DEC 1941.

do you know how babies are born

Christine Singu

kindly assist with a research topic in the field of accounting or auditing

need more about US army

Please can yiu give me a topic in education

I think one should be how can music/Video games can affect the life for people

or How Do Video Games Affect Teenagers?

zimbabwe leader

I think a good topic is supporting the confederate flag!

Need a research topic within the context of students union government and dues payments

do more weird ones plz

joyce alcantara

Hi pls po can you give me a topic relate for humanities pls thank u.

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Project Ideas for Reading

Many of these ideas are excerpted from "Share with a Flare" by Anne Semple Bruce, Blue Ribbon Press.

Most projects will be related in some way to comprehension, understanding genres and developing dispositions to enjoy reading, read for daily living and/or read for information.

Visual arts and crafts

Performing arts and drama, written language, other activities.

Audiotape a book or play for the visually impaired. Students first read the book, discuss its message, characters, and whether there are changes of mood that should be reflected as it is read. Pronunciations and meanings for unfamiliar words are clarified. Different students read dialogue for particular characters as such dialogue appears. The audiotape is presented to an appropriate institution or program in the community. (Comprehension, vocabulary and fluency are all addressed.)

How do I know it? Let me show the ways! Books/stories/information from articles are retold in other creative formats (plays, newspapers, comic books, puppet shows, song and dance, illustrated guides, etc.) and shared with an appropriate audience. Reading the targeted text and group discussion precedes the selection of the project(s) by different teams.

Romeo, Juliet, who would you be today? Reset a Shakespearean play into modern day and retell the story. Play reading and discussion for comprehension precedes the transformation.

Books as Calls to Action. Stories and songs arouse emotions. Emotions often spur a desire to do something. Discuss the fact that there are universal themes that authors use to create the conflicts or problems at the center of great literature. After eliciting several of these themes (greed, injustice, poverty, discrimination, war, love, selfishness, overcoming obstacles, fear, etc.) present students with a choice of books to read (e.g., To Kill a Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet, Grapes of Wrath, The Diary of Anne Frank, etc.). Their discussions should tie the theme to modern problems. Students can plan a debate on how society should deal with the problem, an informative exhibit or event, or a service project to help alleviate the basic problem. An alternate approach is to have them select a theme and assign a book dealing with that theme.

Is Shakespeare Still Relevant? Students read at least one of Shakespeare’s plays and identify the universal theme, which will still be relevant today. They then select a way to convince an audience of their opinions. Lends itself to debate, resetting in modern times, finding articles in newspapers (current and archived) and highlighting (and giving meaning to) quotes to think about today.

Extend the Reading. Students or groups of students can extend the reading of a common text from different perspectives and using different talents to reveal their understanding by engaging in any of these activities.

Create a(n):

Advertisement to buy or read a book—Be prepared to explain what in the advertisement will attract people. Think about what in the book might attract people with different interests and backgrounds.

Award for the book— Awards are often certificates or plaques. What about the book deserves an award? What kind of award does it deserve?

Book jacket— The jacket should give a brief summary—but not give away the ending! It should also say something about the author.

Bulletin board or posters— List the funniest jokes or riddles from books, or amazing facts; the display is interactive and can grow over time as children add to it.

Chalk talk— Using chalk on a chalkboard or markers on a white board, briefly retell the story in pictures while simultaneously relating it orally.

Collage— Show the important ideas, events or characters—Be sure you can tell why each part of the collage is there. What was its importance? All of the pieces together could present a message. What would it be for this book?

Cartoon or graphic novel of the story or part of it—Does the cartoon version illustrate the important events and feelings?

Costume for a character—Why is this an appropriate costume? Be able to tell us about the character in terms of who he/she is and about the setting of the story that would bring images of this costume.

Diorama— It should portray several important scenes that allow you to retell highlights of the story as seen in the diorama.

Family tree of a character—Some stories will not lend themselves to this very well. Choose only if a family tree is important to the story.

Illustration of a setting, favorite part or amazing or important facts—Be able to explain all you can about what you have illustrated. Was it the most important setting? The first? The last? What about the fact is amazing or important?

Map of the setting or a character’s journey—As you point out different sites on the map, can you relate what happened there?

Mask of a character— Help others know the character. Who was he or she? What part did the character play in the story? Do you know someone like this character?

Mobile of story elements (story grammar)— Mobiles can be made from separate pieces of paper, on a cube, a balloon, or beach ball that can be hung with each element visible. Important parts of the story should be highlighted. These may include characters, setting, problem, solution, plot and theme. Very young children may use a simpler format of story beginning, middle and end.

Mural— Be sure you can tell what the mural shows and why you picked these things to be part of it.

Painting­­— Paint a scene; a part you liked, the turning point in the story, characters or illustrate an amazing or new fact you learned. Share why you chose what you did and what part it (they) played in the story as a whole.

Poster illustrating milestone events—Be able to explain their importance.

Puppet of a character— Create a puppet and be prepared to tell everyone about this character and its place in the book. Since it is a puppet, tell it from the perspective of the character through the mouth of the puppet.

Scrapbook based on information or events in the book—For this you will have to imagine the sequence of events and imagine artifacts or articles that might have been written as the events of the story unfolded.

Three-dimensional characters made of stuffed socks or other material—Tell about the characters and their place in the story or have them talk about themselves and their acquaintances.

PowerPoint presentation based on information from the book or retelling the story—This venue may be more appropriate for nonfiction books.

Research— Books and stories can be used to prompt research on the times, places and customs from the stories, to compare characters to historical figures or to find items in today’s news that relate to the story. Such research should at the very least be presented to the rest of the class, perhaps inviting parents or community members or displayed as an exhibit in the hall.

Design and perform:

Accompaniment to a retelling or reading of the story—Consider sound effects or music.

Choral reading of poetry.

Graphics or use ready-made graphics— Use them to highlight parts of the story or to retell it.

Interview with a character or with the author—This requires a partner, one to be the interviewer and one the interviewee. Try to think of what people listening to the interview would like to know.

Memorize and recite a passage from the book—Be able to tell what happened before and after this passage and what its significance is to the storyline. Several students could memorize favorite passages and present them at appropriate times as a narrator tells the whole story.

Original song or rap about the story—Be sure to pick up an important idea and know how it fits with the whole story if it does not tell the whole story.

Oral critique of the story or topics related to the story that have been researched—what made it interesting or not interesting; were the characters believable or were they meant to take you out of the world into fantasy and did they do that; what do you think of the theme of the story; would you want to read other books like this or by this author? This could be done as a panel show.

Oral directions of how to make or do something from the book—If possible, pick something that the audience will actually be able to make while you speak.

Pantomime the story, a scene, or a character for others who have read the book—Have the audience ask yes or no questions if they need clues.

Parade of characters from one book or a variety of books—Each character can tell about what he or she does in the story and how it all turns out from the character’s perspective. They could tell something that happened to them and ask the audience to identify the book or story.

Play— Create a short play that summarizes the story and act it out using props and costumes (could be a spare tie, hat or ribbon).

Radio commercial— This is similar to a written advertisement but must be done with only sound. How can you make readers want to buy or borrow this book in up to 60 seconds time?

Reader’s theatre— Students develop scripts, perform in groups and practice using their voice to depict characters from texts.

Story retelling orally to a group—Can you use your own words as a storyteller to get them interested? Can you create suspense, excitement or calm? Can you make them think the story is happening right there?

Talk show featuring the book or the author or a character from the book—Someone will be the host and others will play the author and readers and respond to questions.

Television commercial —Sell the book or a play about the book. Visuals are needed and could be produced as PowerPoint or a story board.

Travel lecture about a particular setting or location in the book, using visual aids.

Videotaped retelling or re-enactment of a scene—Live performance is preferable.

Write a(n):

Alphabet book or large poster with boxes for each letter of the alphabet with something corresponding to the story for each letter.

Autobiography of a character.

Book review or critique of the book—similar to oral project but written so it can be part of an exhibition.

Biography of the author or illustrator.

Copy passages or phrases from the book that are particularly memorable or well written—Keep such passages in a special journal or share on a poster with why you think they are special.

Crossword puzzle or acrostic— Create by using vocabulary or important characters, events or facts from the book.

Diary or journal of a character—Pretend that you are the character in the book. As each part of the story progresses, write an entry from the viewpoint of the character.

Game questions— Create questions based on the story that could be used in a game like Jeopardy or Twenty Questions.

Investigation— Does something in the reading make you curious about your own community or the people you know? Conduct a poll or gather data to find out. Display the data and interpret it for an audience.

Letter to one of the characters— This letter should focus on something that happens in the story to that character, expressing sympathy, outrage, desire to help, request, or questioning something that has been said or done. Your letter should show that you understand the story.

Letter to the author— What would you say to the author about the story? Did you enjoy it? Were you confused by something? Did it make you think or feel strongly? Did it make you think about something in your life?

Letters between characters— Imagine one character writing to another in the story. Think about their relationship. What might they each say to the other? Be prepared to explain why they would write what they do.

Math story problem drawn from the story— In many stories there are references to numbers or shapes or chance. If there are some in your book, can word problems be written about them? (Be sure to provide the solutions.)

Newspaper or newspaper article— Select an event and act as a local reporter. Write an article for the newspaper that captures what was happening. For historic reading, a whole newspaper page or two may be in order reporting on various aspects of the day.

New title for the book— Do you think the book could have a different title? Propose a new title and tell why you think it would be more appropriate than the one it has.

Opinion and proof— Write an opinion about a character or about a piece of information in a non-fiction book and then cite evidence from the book to support your opinion.

Organize a community project— If your reading has brought to mind a need in the community that young people can help with, organize a group for community service and carry it out (e.g., food or clothing collection, visiting the elderly, stories or songs on DVD, cleaning up the neighborhood, etc.).

Persuasive article or speech about the book or a subject explored in the book—Try to convince others to agree with your position on the topic explored or to take action about something the book has addressed.

Poem about a character or event in the book—Look at various forms of poetry such as acrostics, haiku, odes, etc.

Propose legislation— If the reading revealed a need in the community, propose a piece of legislation to correct what is wrong. Support your proposal with logical arguments.

Reference book— Create it from information learned in the book and related books.

Riddles about characters or events—Share them with an audience.

Sequel or prequel to the story—What happened before the book began? After it ended?

Story rewrite— Can you put a new ending on the story? At what point in the current book will the new ending begin to unfold? Why do you like this ending?

Create or use a(n):

Book talk— Discuss several books that will entice other students to read them.

Book discussion, book club or literature circle to talk about the book with others—Books on some topics may lead to debates or campaigns.

Book fair— Have students showcase titles, authors and genres they’ve read.

Build or create something from the story—Pick something that is interesting to students. For example, a book about dogs might lend itself to building a doghouse; a book about frontier days might produce a rag or straw doll; a book about a million might lead to collecting or creating a million of something.

Edible book fair— Students can prepare or bring in a dish that relates to the book. For example, food arrangement or cake baked in the shape of the main character (works well if it’s an animal), or a character’s favorite dish, or food appropriate to a setting, or a type of food that’s discussed in the book such as corn in a book about Midwest farming or Tang orange drink in a book about space exploration, or even food that’s a pun on the title such as a cheese dip called “Velveeta Rabbit” based on the book “The Velveteen Rabbit”.

Graphic organizer to categorize and relate ideas—When using any of these be prepared to explain to the audience what is written to help them understand the story, important aspects and relationships, or the author’s devices.

• Character map
• Semantic feature analysis
• Timeline or calendar

Artifacts— Have them relate to the subject such as confederate currency in a book about the Civil War or shells in a book about the seashore.

Research the topic of the book, the time period or the author—Present the information to others in an interesting way.

Read similar books—Select books by the same author, in the same series, on the same topic, or on the same topic but in a different genre such as nonfiction or poetry and compare to the original book.

How to Read a Research Paper – A Guide to Setting Research Goals, Finding Papers to Read, and More

If you work in a scientific field, you should try to build a deep and unbiased understanding of that field. This not only educates you in the best possible way but also helps you envision the opportunities in your space.

A research paper is often the culmination of a wide range of deep and authentic practices surrounding a topic. When writing a research paper, the author thinks critically about the problem, performs rigorous research, evaluates their processes and sources, organizes their thoughts, and then writes. These genuinely-executed practices make for a good research paper.

If you’re struggling to build a habit of reading papers (like I am) on a regular basis, I’ve tried to break down the whole process. I've talked to researchers in the field, read a bunch of papers and blogs from distinguished researchers, and jotted down some techniques that you can follow.

Let’s start off by understanding what a research paper is and what it is NOT!

What is a Research Paper?

A research paper is a dense and detailed manuscript that compiles a thorough understanding of a problem or topic. It offers a proposed solution and further research along with the conditions under which it was deduced and carried out, the efficacy of the solution and the research performed, and potential loopholes in the study.

A research paper is written not only to provide an exceptional learning opportunity but also to pave the way for further advancements in the field. These papers help other scholars germinate the thought seed that can either lead to a new world of ideas or an innovative method of solving a longstanding problem.

What Research Papers are NOT

There is a common notion that a research paper is a well-informed summary of a problem or topic written by means of other sources.

But you shouldn't mistake it for a book or an opinionated account of an individual’s interpretation of a particular topic.

Why Should You Read Research Papers?

What I find fascinating about reading a good research paper is that you can draw on a profound study of a topic and engage with the community on a new perspective to understand what can be achieved in and around that topic.

I work at the intersection of instructional design and data science. Learning is part of my day-to-day responsibilities. If the source of my education is flawed or inefficient, I’d fail at my job in the long term. This applies to many other jobs in Science with a special focus on research.

There are three important reasons to read a research paper:

• Knowledge —  Understanding the problem from the eyes of someone who has probably spent years solving it and has taken care of all the edge cases that you might not think of at the beginning.
• Exploration —  Whether you have a pinpointed agenda or not, there is a very high chance that you will stumble upon an edge case or a shortcoming that is worth following up. With persistent efforts over a considerable amount of time, you can learn to use that knowledge to make a living.
• Research and review —  One of the main reasons for writing a research paper is to further the development in the field. Researchers read papers to review them for conferences or to do a literature survey of a new field. For example, Yann LeCun’ s paper on integrating domain constraints into backpropagation set the foundation of modern computer vision back in 1989. After decades of research and development work, we have come so far that we're now perfecting problems like object detection and optimizing autonomous vehicles.

Not only that, with the help of the internet, you can extrapolate all of these reasons or benefits onto multiple business models. It can be an innovative state-of-the-art product, an efficient service model, a content creator, or a dream job where you are solving problems that matter to you.

Goals for Reading a Research Paper — What Should You Read About?

The first thing to do is to figure out your motivation for reading the paper. There are two main scenarios that might lead you to read a paper:

• Scenario 1 —  You have a well-defined agenda/goal and you are deeply invested in a particular field. For example, you’re an NLP practitioner and you want to learn how GPT-4 has given us a breakthrough in NLP. This is always a nice scenario to be in as it offers clarity.
• Scenario 2 —  You want to keep abreast of the developments in a host of areas, say how a new deep learning architecture has helped us solve a 50-year old biological problem of understanding protein structures. This is often the case for beginners or for people who consume their daily dose of news from research papers (yes, they exist!).

If you’re an inquisitive beginner with no starting point in mind, start with scenario 2. Shortlist a few topics you want to read about until you find an area that you find intriguing. This will eventually lead you to scenario 1.

ML Reproducibility Challenge

In addition to these generic goals, if you need an end goal for your habit-building exercise of reading research papers, you should check out the ML reproducibility challenge.

You’ll find top-class papers from world-class conferences that are worth diving deep into and reproducing the results.

They conduct this challenge twice a year and they have one coming up in Spring 2021. You should study the past three versions of the challenge, and I’ll write a detailed post on what to expect, how to prepare, and so on.

Now you must be wondering – how can you find the right paper to read?

How to Find the Right Paper to Read

In order to get some ideas around this, I reached out to my friend, Anurag Ghosh who is a researcher at Microsoft. Anurag has been working at the crossover of computer vision, machine learning, and systems engineering.

Here are a few of his tips for getting started:

• Always pick an area you're interested in.
• Read a few good books or detailed blog posts on that topic and start diving deep by reading the papers referenced in those resources.
• Look for seminal papers around that topic. These are papers that report a major breakthrough in the field and offer a new method perspective with a huge potential for subsequent research in that field. Check out papers from the morning paper or C VF - test of time award/Helmholtz prize (if you're interested in computer vision).
• Check out books like Computer Vision: Algorithms and Applications by Richard Szeliski and look for the papers referenced there.
• Have and build a sense of community. Find people who share similar interests, and join groups/subreddits/discord channels where such activities are promoted.

In addition to these invaluable tips, there are a number of web applications that I’ve shortlisted that help me narrow my search for the right papers to read:

• r/MachineLearning  — there are many researchers, practitioners, and engineers who share their work along with the papers they've found useful in achieving those results.

• Arxiv Sanity Preserver  — built by Andrej Karpathy to accelerate research. It is a repository of 142,846 papers from computer science, machine learning, systems, AI, Stats, CV, and so on. It also offers a bunch of filters, powerful search functionality, and a discussion forum to make for a super useful research platform.

• Google Research  — the research teams at Google are working on problems that have an impact on our everyday lives. They share their publications for individuals and teams to learn from, contribute to, and expedite research. They also have a Google AI blog that you can check out.

How to Read a Research Paper

After you have stocked your to-read list, then comes the process of reading these papers. Remember that NOT every paper is useful to read and we need a mechanism that can help us quickly screen papers that are worth reading.

To tackle this challenge, you can use this Three-Pass Approach by S. Keshav . This approach proposes that you read the paper in three passes instead of starting from the beginning and diving in deep until the end.

The three pass approach

• The first pass —  is a quick scan to capture a high-level view of the paper. Read the title, abstract, and introduction carefully followed by the headings of the sections and subsections and lastly the conclusion. It should take you no more than 5–10 mins to figure out if you want to move to the second pass.
• The second pass —  is a more focused read without checking for the technical proofs. You take down all the crucial notes, underline the key points in the margins. Carefully study the figures, diagrams, and illustrations. Review the graphs, mark relevant unread references for further reading. This helps you understand the background of the paper.
• The third pass —  reaching this pass denotes that you’ve found a paper that you want to deeply understand or review. The key to the third pass is to reproduce the results of the paper. Check it for all the assumptions and jot down all the variations in your re-implementation and the original results. Make a note of all the ideas for future analysis. It should take 5–6 hours for beginners and 1–2 hours for experienced readers.

Tools and Software to Keep Track of Your Pipeline of Papers

If you’re sincere about reading research papers, your list of papers will soon grow into an overwhelming stack that is hard to keep track of. Fortunately, we have software that can help us set up a mechanism to manage our research.

Here are a bunch of them that you can use:

• Mendeley [not free]  — you can add papers directly to your library from your browser, import documents, generate references and citations, collaborate with fellow researchers, and access your library from anywhere. This is mostly used by experienced researchers.

• Zotero [free & open source] —  Along the same lines as Mendeley but free of cost. You can make use of all the features but with limited storage space.

• Notion —  this is great if you are just starting out and want to use something lightweight with the option to organize your papers, jot down notes, and manage everything in one workspace. It might not stand anywhere in comparison with the above tools but I personally feel comfortable using Notion and I have created this board to keep track of my progress for now that you can duplicate:

⚠️ Symptoms of Reading a Research Paper

Reading a research paper can turn out to be frustrating, challenging, and time-consuming especially when you’re a beginner. You might face the following common symptoms:

• You might start feeling dumb for not understanding a thing a paper says.
• Finding yourself pushing too hard to understand the math behind those proofs.
• Beating your head against the wall to wrap it around the number of acronyms used in the paper. Just kidding, you’ll have to look up those acronyms every now and then.
• Being stuck on one paragraph for more than an hour.

Here’s a complete list of emotions that you might undergo as explained by Adam Ruben in this article .

Key Takeaways

We should be all set to dive right in. Here’s a quick summary of what we have covered here:

• A research paper is an in-depth study that offers an detailed explanation of a topic or problem along with the research process, proofs, explained results, and ideas for future work.
• Read research papers to develop a deep understanding of a topic/problem. Then you can either review papers as part of being a researcher, explore the domain and the kind of problems to build a solution or startup around it, or you can simply read them to keep abreast of the developments in your domain of interest.
• If you’re a beginner, start with exploration to soon find your path to goal-oriented research.
• In order to find good papers to read, you can use websites like arxiv-sanity, google research, and subreddits like r/MachineLearning.
• Reading approach — Use the 3-pass method to find a paper.
• Keep track of your research, notes, developments by using tools like Zotero/Notion.
• This can get overwhelming in no time. Make sure you start off easy and increment your load progressively.

Remember: Art is not a single method or step done over a weekend but a process of accomplishing remarkable results over time.

You can also watch the video on this topic on my YouTube channel :

Feel free to respond to this blog or comment on the video if you have some tips, questions, or thoughts!

If this tutorial was helpful, you should check out my data science and machine learning courses on Wiplane Academy . They are comprehensive yet compact and helps you build a solid foundation of work to showcase.

Web and Data Science Consultant | Instructional Design

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Research and Critical Reading

Pavel Zemilansky

Learning Objectives

• Read critically to discover the meaning, purpose, and content of a piece
• Respond critically to written works using reading strategy

INTRODUCTION

Good researchers and writers examine their sources critically and actively. They do not just compile and summarize these research sources in their writing, but use them to create their own ideas, theories, and, ultimately, their own, new understanding of the topic they are researching. Such an approach means not taking the information and opinions that the sources contain at face value and for granted, but to investigate, test, and even doubt every claim, every example, every story, and every conclusion. It means not to sit back and let your sources control you, but to engage in active conversation with them and their authors. In order to be a good researcher and writer, one needs to be a critical and active reader.

This chapter is about the importance of critical and active reading. It is also about the connection between critical reading and active, strong writing. Much of the discussion you will find in this chapter in fundamental to research and writing, no matter what writing genre, medium, or academic discipline you read and write in. Every other approach to research writing, every other research method and assignment offered elsewhere in this book is, in some way, based upon the principles discussed in this chapter.

Reading is at the heart of the research process. No matter what kinds of research sources and, methods you use, you are always reading and interpreting text. Most of us are used to hearing the word “reading” in relation to secondary sources, such as books, journals, magazines, websites, and so on. But even if you are using other research methods and sources, such as interviewing someone or surveying a group of people, you are reading. You are reading their subjects’ ideas and views on the topic you are investigating. Even if you are studying photographs, cultural artifacts, and other non-verbal research sources, you are reading them, too by trying to connect them to their cultural and social contexts and to understand their meaning. Principles of critical reading which we are about to discuss in this chapter apply to those research situations as well.

I like to think about reading and writing as not two separate activities but as two tightly connected parts of the same whole. That whole is the process of learning and making of new meaning. It may seem that reading and writing are complete opposite of one another. According to the popular view, when we read, we “consume” texts, and when we write, we “produce” texts. But this view of reading and writing is true only if you see reading as a passive process of taking in information from the text and not as an active and energetic process of making new meaning and new knowledge. Similarly, good writing does not come from nowhere but is usually based upon, or at least influenced by ideas, theories, and stories that come from reading. So, if, as a college student, you have ever wondered why your writing teachers have asked you to read books and articles and write responses to them, it is because writers who do not read and do not actively engage with their reading, have little to say to others.

We will begin this chapter with the definition of the term “critical reading.” We will consider its main characteristics and briefly touch upon ways to become an active and critical reader. Next, we will discuss the importance of critical reading for research and how reading critically can help you become a better researcher and make the research process more enjoyable. Also in this chapter, a student-writer offers us an insight into his critical reading and writing processes. This chapter also shows how critical reading can and should be used for critical and strong writing. And, as all other chapters, this one offers you activities and projects designed to help you implement the advice presented here into practice.

WHAT KIND OF READER ARE YOU?

You read a lot, probably more that you think. You read school textbooks, lecture notes, your classmates’ papers, and class websites. When school ends, you probably read some fiction, magazines. But you also read other texts. These may include CD liner notes, product reviews, grocery lists, maps, driving directions, road signs, and the list can go on and on. And you don’t read all these texts in the same way. You read them with different purposes and using different reading strategies and techniques. The first step towards becoming a critical and active reader is examining your reading process and your reading preferences. Therefore, you are invited to complete the following exploration activity.

Writing Activity: Analyzing Your Reading Habits

List all the reading you have done in the last week. Include both “school” and “out-of school” reading. Try to list as many texts as you can think of, no matter how short and unimportant they might seem. Now, answer the following questions.

• What was your purpose in reading each of those texts? Did you read for information, to pass a test, for enjoyment, to decide on a product you wanted to buy, and so on? Or, did you read to figure out some complex problem that keeps you awake at night?

• You have probably come up with a list of different purposes. How did each of those purposes influence your reading strategies? Did you take notes or try to memorize what you read? How long did it take you to read different texts? Did you begin at the beginning and read till you reached the end, or did you browse some texts? Consider the time of day you were reading. Consider even whether some texts tired you out or whether you thought they were “boring.” Why?

• What did you do with the results of your reading? Did you use them for some practical purpose, such as buying a new product or finding directions, or did you use them for a less practical purpose, such as understanding some topic better r learning something about yourself and others?

When you finish, share your results with the rest of the class and with your instructor.

Having answered the questions above, you have probably noticed that your reading strategies differed depending on the reading task you were facing and on what you planned to do with the results of the reading. If, for example, you read lecture notes in order to pass a test, chances are you “read for information,” or “for the main” point, trying to remember as much material as possible and anticipating possible test questions. If, on the other hand, you read a good novel, you probably just focused on following the story. Finally, if you were reading something that you hoped would help you answer some personal question or solve some personal problem, it is likely that you kept comparing and contrasting the information that you read your own life and your own experiences.

You may have spent more time on some reading tasks than others. For example, when we are interested in one particular piece of information or fact from a text, we usually put that text aside once we have located the information we were looking for. In other cases, you may have been reading for hours on end taking careful notes and asking questions.

If you share the results of your investigation into your reading habits with your classmates, you may also notice that some of their reading habits and strategies were different from yours. Like writing strategies, approaches to reading may vary from person to person depending on our previous experiences with different topics and types of reading materials, expectations we have of different texts, and, of course, the purpose with which we are reading.

Life presents us with a variety of reading situations which demand different reading strategies and techniques. Sometimes, it is important to be as efficient as possible and read purely for information or “the main point.” At other times, it is important to just “let go” and turn the pages following a good story, although this means not thinking about the story you are reading. At the heart of writing and research, however, lies the kind of reading known as critical reading. Critical examination of sources is what makes their use in research possible and what allows writers to create rhetorically effective and engaging texts.

KEY FEATURES OF CRITICAL READING

Critical readers are able to interact with the texts they read through carefully listening, writing, conversation, and questioning. They do not sit back and wait for the meaning of a text to come to them, but work hard in order to create such meaning. Critical readers are not made overnight. Becoming a critical reader will take a lot of practice and patience. Depending on your current reading philosophy and experiences with reading, becoming a critical reader may require a significant change in your whole understanding of the reading process. The trade-off is worth it, however. By becoming a more critical and active reader, you will also become a better researcher and a better writer. Last but not least, you will enjoy reading and writing a whole lot more because you will become actively engaged in both.

One of my favorite passages describing the substance of critical and active reading comes from the introduction to their book Ways of Reading , whose authors David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky write:

Reading involves a fair measure of push and shove. You make your mark on the book and it makes its mark on you. Reading is not simply a matter of hanging back and waiting for a piece, or its author, to tell you what the writing has to say. In fact, one of the difficult things about reading is that the pages before you will begin to speak only when the authors are silent and you begin to speak in their place, sometimes for them—doing their work, continuing their projects—and sometimes for yourself, following your own agenda (1).

Notice that Bartholomae and Petrosky describe reading process in pro-active terms. Meaning of every text is “made,” not received. Readers need to “push and shove” in order to create their own, unique content of every text they read. It is up the you as a reader to make the pages in front of you “speak” by talking with and against the text, by questioning and expanding it.

Critical reading, then, is a two-way process. As reader, you are not a consumer of words, waiting patiently for ideas from the printed page or a web-site to fill your head and make you smarter. Instead, as a critical reader, you need to interact with what you read, asking questions of the author, testing every assertion, fact, or idea, and extending the text by adding your own understanding of the subject and your own personal experiences to your reading.

The following are key features of the critical approach to reading:

• No text, however well written and authoritative, contains its own, pre-determined meaning.
• Readers must work hard to create meaning from every text.
• Critical readers interact with the texts they read by questioning them, responding to them, and expanding them, usually in writing.
• To create meaning, critical readers use a variety of approaches, strategies, and techniques which include applying their personal experiences and existing knowledge to the reading process.
• Critical readers seek actively out other texts, related to the topic of their investigation.

The following section is an examination of these claims about critical reading in more detail.

TEXTS PRESENT IDEAS, NOT ABSOLUTE TRUTHS

In order to understand the mechanisms and intellectual challenges of critical reading, we need to examine some of our deepest and long-lasting assumptions about reading. Perhaps the two most significant challenges facing anyone who wants to become a more active and analytical reader is understanding that printed texts doe not contain inarguable truths and learning to questions and talk back to those texts. Students in my writing classes often tell me that the biggest challenge they face in trying to become critical readers is getting away from the idea that they have to believe everything they read on a printed page. Years of schooling have taught many of us to believe that published texts present inarguable, almost absolute truths. The printed page has authority because, before publishing his or her work, every writer goes through a lengthy process of approval, review, revision, fact-checking, and so on. Consequently, this theory goes, what gets published must be true. And if it is true, it must be taken at face value, not questioned, challenged, or extended in any way.

Perhaps, the ultimate authority among the readings materials encountered by college belongs to the textbook. As students, we all have had to read and almost memorize textbook chapters in order to pass an exam. We read textbooks “for information,” summarizing their chapters, trying to find “the main points” and then reproducing these main points during exams. I have nothing against textbook as such, in fact, I am writing one right now. And it is certainly possible to read textbooks critically and actively. But, as I think about the challenges which many college students face trying to become active and critical readers, I come to the conclusion that the habit to read every text as if they were preparing for an exam on it, as if it was a source of unquestionable truth and knowledge prevents many from becoming active readers.

Treating texts as if they were sources of ultimate and unquestionable knowledge and truth represents the view of reading as consumption. According to this view, writers produce ideas and knowledge, and we, readers, consume them. Of course, sometimes we have to assume this stance and read for information or the “main point” of a text. But it is critical reading that allows us to create new ideas from what we read and to become independent and creative learners.

Critical reading is a collaboration between the reader and the writer. It offers readers the ability to be active participants in the construction of meaning of every text they read and to use that meaning for their own learning and self-fulfillment. Not even the best researched and written text is absolutely complete and finished. Granted, most fields of knowledge have texts which are called “definitive.” Such texts usually represent our best current knowledge on their subjects. However, even the definitive works get revised over time and they are always open to questioning and different interpretations.

READING IS A RHETORICAL TOOL

To understand how the claim that every reader makes his or her meaning from texts works, it is necessary to examine what is know as the rhetorical theory of reading. The work that best describes and justifies the rhetorical reading theory is Douglas Brent’s 1992 book Reading as Rhetorical Invention: Knowledge, Persuasion, and the Teaching of Research-Based Writing . I like to apply Brent’s ideas to my discussions of critical reading because I think that they do a good job demystifying critical reading’s main claims. Brent’s theory of reading is a rhetorical device puts significant substance behind the somewhat abstract ideas of active and critical reading, explaining how the mechanisms of active interaction between readers and texts actually work.

Briefly explained, Brent treats reading not only as a vehicle for transmitting information and knowledge, but also as a means of persuasion. In fact, according to Brent, knowledge equals persuasion because, in his words, “Knowledge is not simply what one has been told. Knowledge is what one believes, what one accepts as being at least provisionally true.” (xi). This short passage contains two assertions which are key to the understanding of mechanisms of critical reading. Firstly, notice that simply reading “for the main point” will not necessarily make you “believe” what you read. Surely, such reading can fill our heads with information, but will that information become our knowledge in a true sense, will we be persuaded by it, or will we simply memorize it to pass the test and forget it as soon as we pass it? Of course not! All of us can probably recall many instances in which we read a lot to pass a test only to forget, with relief, what we read as soon as we left the classroom where that test was held. The purpose of reading and research, then, is not to get as much as information out of a text as possible but to change and update one’s system of beliefs on a given subject (Brent 55-57).

Brent further states:

The way we believe or disbelieve certain texts clearly varies from one individual to the next. If you present a text that is remotely controversial to a group of people, some will be convinced by it and some not, and those who are convinced will be convinced in different degrees. The task of a rhetoric of reading is to explain systematically how these differences arise— how people are persuaded differently by texts (18).

Critical and active readers not only accept the possibility that the same texts will have different meanings for different people, but welcome this possibility as an inherent and indispensable feature of strong, engaged, and enjoyable reading process. To answer his own questions about what factors contribute to different readers’ different interpretations of the same texts, Brent offers us the following principles that I have summarized from his book:

• Readers are guided by personal beliefs, assumptions, and pre-existing knowledge when interpreting texts. You can read more on the role of the reader’s pre-existing knowledge in the construction of meaning later on in this chapter.

• Readers react differently to the logical proofs presented by the writers of texts.

• Readers react differently to emotional and ethical proofs presented by writers. For example, an emotional story told by a writer may resonate with one person more than with another because the first person lived through a similar experience and the second one did not, and so on.

The idea behind the rhetorical theory of reading is that when we read, we not only take in ideas, information, and facts, but instead we “update our view of the world.” You cannot force someone to update their worldview, and therefore, the purpose of writing is persuasion and the purpose of reading is being persuaded. Persuasion is possible only when the reader is actively engaged with the text and understands that much more than simple retrieval of information is at stake when reading.

One of the primary factors that influence our decision to accept or not to accept an argument is what Douglas Brent calls our “repertoire of experience, much of [which] is gained through prior interaction with texts” (56). What this means is that when we read a new text, we do not begin with a clean slate, an empty mind. However unfamiliar the topic of this new reading may seem to us, we approach it with a large baggage of previous knowledge, experiences, points of view, and so on. When an argument “comes in” into our minds from a text, this text, by itself, cannot change our view on the subject. Our prior opinions and knowledge about the topic of the text we are reading will necessarily “filter out” what is incompatible with those views (Brent 56-57). This, of course, does not mean that, as readers, we should persist in keeping our old ideas about everything and actively resist learning new things. Rather, it suggests that the reading process is an interaction between the ideas in the text in front of us and our own ideas and pre-conceptions about the subject of our reading. We do not always consciously measure what we read according to our existing systems of knowledge and beliefs, but we measure it nevertheless. Reading, according to Brent, is judgment, and, like in life where we do not always consciously examine and analyze the reasons for which we make various decisions, evaluating a text often happens automatically or subconsciously (59).

Applied to research writing, Brent’s theory or reading means the following:

• The purpose of research is not simply to retrieve data, but to participate in a conversation about it. Simple summaries of sources is not research, and writers should be aiming for active interpretation of sources instead
• There is no such thing as an unbiased source. Writers make claims for personal reasons that critical readers need to learn to understand and evaluate.
• Feelings can be a source of shareable good reason for belief. Readers and writers need to use, judiciously, ethical and pathetic proofs in interpreting texts and in creating their own.
• Research is recursive. Critical readers and researchers never stop asking questions about their topic and never consider their research finished.

ACTIVE READERS LOOK FOR CONNECTIONS BETWEEN TEXTS

Earlier on, I mentioned that one of the traits of active readers is their willingness to seek out other texts and people who may be able to help them in their research and learning. I find that for many beginning researchers and writers, the inability to seek out such connections often turns into a roadblock on their research route. Here is what I am talking about.

Recently, I asked my writing students to investigate some problem on campus and to propose a solution to it. I asked them to use both primary (interviews, surveys, etc.) and secondary (library, Internet, etc.) research. Conducting secondary research allows a writer to connect a local problem he or she is investigating and a local solution he or she is proposing with a national and even global context, and to see whether the local situation is typical or a-typical.

One group of students decided to investigate the issue of racial and ethnic diversity on our campus. The lack of diversity is a “hot” issue on our campus, and recently an institutional task force was created to investigate possible ways of making our university more diverse.

The students had no trouble designing research questions and finding people to interview and survey. Their subjects included students and faculty as well as the university vice-president who was changed with overseeing the work of the diversity task force. Overall, these authors have little trouble conducting and interpreting primary research that led them to conclude that, indeed, our campus is not diverse enough and that most students would like to see the situation change.

The next step these writers took was to look at the websites of some other schools similar in size and nature to ours, to see how our university compared on the issue of campus diversity with others. They were able to find some statistics on the numbers of minorities at other colleges and universities that allowed them to create a certain backdrop for their primary research that they had conducted earlier.

But good writing goes beyond the local situation. Good writing tries to connect the local and the national and the global. It tries to look beyond the surface of the problem, beyond simply comparing numbers and other statistics. It seeks to understand the roots of a problem and propose a solution based on a local and well as a global situation and research. The primary and secondary research conducted by these students was not allowing them to make that step from analyzing local data to understanding their problem in context. They needed some other type of research sources.

At that point, however, those writers hit an obstacle. How and where, they reasoned, would we find other secondary sources, such as books, journals, and websites, about the lack of diversity on our campus? The answer to that question was that, at this stage in their research and writing, they did not need to look for more sources about our local problem with the lack of diversity. They needed to look at diversity and ways to increase it as a national and global issue. They needed to generalize the problem and, instead of looking at a local example, to consider its implications for the issue they were studying overall. Such research would not only have allowed these writers to examine the problem as a whole but also to see how it was being solved in other places. This, in turn, might have helped them to propose a local solution.

Critical readers and researchers understand that it is not enough to look at the research question locally or narrowly. After conducting research and understanding their problem locally, or as it applies specifically to them, active researchers contextualize their investigation by seeking out texts and other sources which would allow them to see the big picture.

Sometimes, it is hard to understand how external texts which do not seem to talk directly about you can help you research and write about questions, problems, and issues in your own life. In her 2004 essay, “Developing ‘Interesting Thoughts’: Reading for Research,” writing teacher and my former colleague Janette Martin tells a story of a student who was writing a paper about what it is like to be a collegiate athlete. The emerging theme in that paper was that of discipline and sacrifice required of student athletes. Simultaneously, that student was reading a chapter from the book by the French philosopher Michel Foucault called Discipline and Punish. Foucault’s work is a study of the western penitentiary system, which, of course cannot be directly compared to experiences of a student athlete. At the same time, one of the leading themes in Foucault’s work is discipline. Martin states that the student was able to see some connection between Foucault and her own life and use the reading for her research and writing (6). In addition to showing how related texts can be used to explore various aspects of the writer’s own life, this example highlights the need to read texts critically and interpret them creatively. Such reading and research goes beyond simply comparing of facts and numbers and towards relating ideas and concepts with one another.

FROM READING TO WRITING

Reading and writing are the two essential tools of learning. Critical reading is not a process of passive consumption, but one of interaction and engagement between the reader and the text. Therefore, when reading critically and actively, it is important not only to take in the words on the page, but also to interpret and to reflect upon what you read through writing and discussing it with others.

CRITICAL READERS UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REACTING AND RESPONDING TO A TEXT

As stated earlier in this chapter, actively responding to difficult texts, posing questions, and analyzing ideas presented in them is the key to successful reading. The goal of an active reader is to engage in a conversation with the text he or she is reading. In order to fulfill this goal, it is important to understand the difference between reacting to the text and responding to it.

Reacting to a text is often done on an emotional, rather than on an intellectual level. It is quick and shallow. For example, if we encounter a text that advances arguments with which we strongly disagree, it is natural to dismiss those ideas out of hand as not wrong and not worthy of our attention. Doing so would be reacting to the text based only on emotions and on our pre-set opinions about its arguments. It is easy to see that reacting in this way does not take the reader any closer to understanding the text. A wall of disagreement that existed between the reader and the text before the reading continues to exist after the reading.

Responding to a text, on the other hand, requires a careful study of the ideas presented and arguments advanced in it. Critical readers who possess this skill are not willing to simply reject or accept the arguments presented in the text after the first reading right away. To continue with our example from the preceding paragraph, a reader who responds to a controversial text rather than reacting to it might apply several of the following strategies before forming and expressing an opinion about that text.

• Read the text several times, taking notes, asking questions, and underlining key places.
• Study why the author of the text advances ideas, arguments, and convictions, so different from the reader’s own. For example, is the text’s author advancing an agenda of some social, political, religious, or economic group of which he or she is a member?
• Study the purpose and the intended audience of the text.
• Study the history of the argument presented in the text as much as possible. For example, modern texts on highly controversial issues such as the death penalty, abortion, or euthanasia often use past events, court cases, and other evidence to advance their claims. Knowing the history of the problem will help you to construct meaning of a difficult text.
• Study the social, political, and intellectual context in which the text was written. Good writers use social conditions to advance controversial ideas. Compare the context in which the text was written to the one in which it is read. For example, have social conditions changed, thus invalidating the argument or making it stronger?
• Consider the author’s (and your own) previous knowledge of the issue at the center of the text and your experiences with it. How might such knowledge or experience have influenced your reception of the argument?

Taking all these steps will help you to move away from simply reacting to a text and towards constructing informed and critical response to it.

CRITICAL READERS RESIST OVERSIMPLIFIED BINARY RESPONSES

Critical readers learn to avoid simple “agree-disagree” responses to complex texts. Such way of thinking and arguing is often called “binary” because is allows only two answers to every statement and every questions. But the world of ideas is complex and, a much more nuanced approach is needed when dealing with complex arguments.

When you are asked to “critique” a text, which readers are often asked to do, it does not mean that you have to “criticize” it and reject its argument out of hand. What you are being asked to do instead is to carefully evaluate and analyze the text’s ideas, to understand how and why they are constructed and presented, and only then develop a response to that text. Not every text asks for an outright agreement or disagreement. Sometimes, we as readers are not in a position to either simply support an argument or reject it. What we can do in such cases, though, is to learn more about the text’s arguments by carefully considering all of their aspects and to construct a nuanced, sophisticated response to them. After you have done all that, it will still be possible to disagree with the arguments presented in the reading, but your opinion about the text will be much more informed and nuanced than if you have taken the binary approach from the start.

TWO SAMPLE STUDENT RESPONSES

To illustrate the principles laid out in this section, consider the following two reading responses. Both texts respond to a very well known piece, “A Letter from Birmingham Jail,” by Martin Luther King, Jr. In the letter, King responds to criticism from other clergymen who had called his methods of civil rights struggle “unwise and untimely.” Both student writers were given the same response prompt:

Example: Student A

Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is a very powerful text. At the time when minorities in America were silenced and persecuted, King had the courage to lead his people in the struggle for equality. After being jailed in Birmingham, Alabama, King wrote a letter to his “fellow clergymen” describing his struggle for civil rights. In the letter, King recounts a brief history of that struggle and rejects the accusation that it is “unwise and untimely.” Overall, I think that King’s letter is a very rhetorically effective text, one that greatly helped Americans to understand the civil rights movement.

Example: Student B

King begins his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by addressing it to his “fellow clergymen.” Thus, he immediately sets the tone of inclusion rather than exclusion. By using the word “fellow” in the address, I think he is trying to do two things. First of all, he presents himself as a colleague and a spiritual brother of his audience. That, in effect, says “you can trust me,” “I am one of your kind.” Secondly, by addressing his readers in that way, King suggests that everyone, even those Americans who are not directly involved in the struggle for civil rights, should be concerned with it. Hence the word “fellow.” King’s opening almost invokes the phrase “My fellow Americans” or “My fellow citizens” used so often by American Presidents when they address the nation.

King then proceeds to give a brief background of his actions as a civil rights leader. As I read this part of the letter, I was wondering whether his readers would really have not known what he had accomplished as a civil rights leader. Then I realized that perhaps he gives all that background information as a rhetorical move. His immediate goal is to keep reminding his readers about his activities. His ultimate goal is to show to his audience that his actions were non-violent but peaceful. In reading this passage by King, I remembered once again that it is important not to assume that your audience knows anything about the subject of the writing. I will try to use this strategy more in my own papers.

In the middle of the letter, King states: “The purpose of our direct-action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation.” This sentence looks like a thesis statement and I wonder why he did not place it towards the beginning of the text, to get his point across right away. After thinking about this for a few minutes and re- reading several pages from our class textbook, I think he leaves his “thesis” till later in his piece because he is facing a not- so-friendly (if not hostile) audience. Delaying the thesis and laying out some background information and evidence first helps a writer to prepare his or her audience for the coming argument. That is another strategy I should probably use more often in my own writing, depending on the audience I am facing.

REFLECTING ON THE RESPONSES

To be sure, much more can be said about King’s letter than either of these writers have said. However, these two responses allow us to see two dramatically different approaches to reading. After studying both responses, consider the questions below.

• Which response fulfills the goals set in the prompt better and why?
• Which responses shows a deeper understanding of the texts by the reader and why?
• Which writer does a better job at avoiding binary thinking and creating a sophisticated reading of King’s text and why?
• Which writer is more likely to use the results of the reading in his or her own writing in the future and why?
• Which writer leaves room for response to his text by others and why?

CRITICAL READERS DO NOT READ ALONE AND IN SILENCE

One of the key principles of critical reading is that active readers do not read silently and by themselves. By this I mean that they take notes and write about what they read. They also discuss the texts they are working with, with others and compare their own interpretations of those texts with the interpretations constructed by their colleagues.

As a college student, you are probably used to taking notes of what you read. When I was in college, my favorite way of preparing for a test was reading a chapter or two from my textbook, then closing the book, then trying to summarize what I have read on a piece of paper. I tried to get the main points of the chapters down and the explanations and proofs that the textbooks’ authors used. Sometimes, I wrote a summary of every chapter in the textbook and then studied for the test from those summaries rather than from the textbook itself. I am sure you have favorite methods of note taking and studying from your notes, too.

But now it strikes me that what I did with those notes was not critical reading. I simply summarized my textbooks in a more concise, manageable form and then tried to memorize those summaries before the test. I did not take my reading of the textbooks any further than what was already on their pages. Reading for information and trying to extract the main points, I did not talk back to the texts, did not question them, and did not try to extend the knowledge which they offered in any way. I also did not try to connect my reading with my personal experiences or pre-existing knowledge in any way. I also read in silence, without exchanging ideas with other readers of the same texts. Of course, my reading strategies and techniques were dictated by my goal, which was to pass the test.

Critical reading has other goals, one of which is entering an on-going intellectual exchange. Therefore it demands different reading strategies, approaches, and techniques. One of these new approaches is not reading in silence and alone. Instead, critical readers read with a pen or pencil in hand. They also discuss what they read with others.

STRATEGIES FOR CONNECTING READING AND WRITING

If you want to become a critical reader, you need to get into a habit of writing as you read. You also need to understand that complex texts cannot be read just once. Instead, they require multiple readings, the first of which may be a more general one during which you get acquainted with the ideas presented in the text, its structure and style. During the second and any subsequent readings, however, you will need to write, and write a lot. The following are some critical reading and writing techniques which active readers employ as they work to create meanings from texts they read.

UNDERLINE INTERESTING AND IMPORTANT PLACES IN THE TEXT

Underline words, sentences, and passages that stand out, for whatever reason. Underline the key arguments that you believe the author of the text is making as well as any evidence, examples, and stories that seem interesting or important. Don’t be afraid to “get it wrong.” There is no right or wrong here. The places in the text that you underline may be the same or different from those noticed by your classmates, and this difference of interpretation is the essence of critical reading.

Take notes on the margins. If you do not want to write on your book or journal, attach post-it notes with your comments to the text. Do not be afraid to write too much. This is the stage of the reading process during which you are actively making meaning. Writing about what you read is the best way to make sense of it, especially, if the text is difficult.

Do not be afraid to write too much. This is the stage of the reading process during which you are actively making meaning. Writing about what you read will help you not only to remember the argument which the author of the text is trying to advance (less important for critical reading), but to create your own interpretations of the text you are reading (more important).

Here are some things you can do in your comments

• Ask questions.
• Agree or disagree with the author.
• Question the evidence presented in the text
• Offer counter-evidence
• Offer additional evidence, examples, stories, and so on that support the author’s argument
• Mention other texts which advance the same or similar arguments
• Mention personal experiences that enhance your reading of the text

WRITE EXPLORATORY RESPONSES

Write extended responses to readings. Writing students are often asked to write one or two page exploratory responses to readings, but they are not always clear on the purpose of these responses and on how to approach writing them. By writing reading responses, you are continuing the important work of critical reading which you began when you underlined interesting passages and took notes on the margins. You are extending the meaning of the text by creating your own commentary to it and perhaps even branching off into creating your own argument inspired by your reading. Your teacher may give you a writing prompt, or ask you to come up with your own topic for a response. In either case, realize that reading responses are supposed to be exploratory, designed to help you delve deeper into the text you are reading than note-taking or underlining will allow.

When writing extended responses to the readings, it is important to keep one thing in mind, and that is their purpose. The purpose of these exploratory responses, which are often rather informal, is not to produce a complete argument, with an introduction, thesis, body, and conclusion. It is not to impress your classmates and your teacher with “big” words and complex sentences. On the contrary, it is to help you understand the text you are working with at a deeper level. The verb “explore” means to investigate something by looking at it more closely. Investigators get leads, some of which are fruitful and useful and some of which are dead-ends. As you investigate and create the meaning of the text you are working with, do not be afraid to take different directions with your reading response. In fact, it is important resist the urge to make conclusions or think that you have found out everything about your reading. When it comes to exploratory reading responses, lack of closure and presence of more leads at the end of the piece is usually a good thing. Of course, you should always check with your teacher for standards and format of reading responses.

Try the following guidelines to write a successful response to a reading:

Remember your goal—exploration. The purpose of writing a response is to construct the meaning of a difficult text. It is not to get the job done as quickly as possible and in as few words as possible.

As you write, “talk back to the text.” Make comments, ask questions, and elaborate on complex thoughts. This part of the writing becomes much easier if, prior to writing your response, you had read the assignment with a pen in hand and marked important places in the reading.

If your teacher provides a response prompt, make sure you understand it. Then try to answer the questions in the prompt to the best of your ability. While you are doing that, do not be afraid of bringing in related texts, examples, or experiences. Active reading is about making connections, and your readers will appreciate your work because it will help them understand the text better.

While your primary goal is exploration and questioning, make sure that others can understand your response. While it is OK to be informal in your response, make every effort to write in a clear, error-free language.

Involve your audience in the discussion of the reading by asking questions, expressing opinions, and connecting to responses made by others.

USE READING FOR INVENTION

Use reading and your responses to start your own formal writing projects. Reading is a powerful invention tool. While preparing to start a new writing project, go back to the readings you have completed and your responses to those readings in search for possible topics and ideas. Also look through responses your classmates gave to your ideas about the text. Another excellent way to start your own writing projects and to begin research for them is to look through the list of references and sources at the end of the reading that you are working with. They can provide excellent topic-generating and research leads.

KEEP A DOUBLE-ENTRY JOURNAL

Many writers like double-entry journals because they allow us to make that leap from summary of a source to interpretation and persuasion. To start a double-entry journal, divide a page into two columns. As you read, in the left column write down interesting and important words, sentences, quotations, and passages from the text. In the right column, right your reaction and responses to them. Be as formal or informal as you want. Record words, passages, and ideas from the text that you find useful for your paper, interesting, or, in any, way striking or unusual. Quote or summarize in full, accurately, and fairly. In the right-hand side column, ask the kinds of questions and provide the kinds of responses that will later enable you to create an original reading of the text you are working with and use that reading to create your own paper.

DON’T GIVE UP

If the text you are reading seems too complicated or “boring,” that might mean that you have not attacked it aggressively and critically enough. Complex texts are the ones worth pursuing and investigating because they present the most interesting ideas. Critical reading is a liberating practice because you do not have to worry about “getting it right.” As long as you make an effort to engage with the text and as long as you are willing to work hard on creating a meaning out of what you read, the interpretation of the text you are working with will be valid.

IMPORTANT: So far, we have established that no pre-existing meaning is possible in written texts and that critical and active readers work hard to create such meaning. We have also established that interpretations differ from reader to reader and that there is no “right” or “wrong” during the critical reading process. So, you may ask, does this mean that any reading of a text that I create will be a valid and persuasive one? With the exception of the most outlandish and purposely-irrelevant readings that have nothing to do with the sources text, the answer is “yes.” However, remember that reading and interpreting texts, as well as sharing your interpretations with others are rhetorical acts. First of all, in order to learn something from your critical reading experience, you, the reader, need to be persuaded by your own reading of the text. Secondly, for your reading to be accepted by others, they need to be persuaded by it, too. It does not mean, however, that in order to make your reading of a text persuasive, you simply have to find “proof” in the text for your point of view. Doing that would mean reverting to reading “for the main point,” reading as consumption. Critical reading, on the other hand, requires a different approach. One of the components of this approach is the use of personal experiences, examples, stories, and knowledge for interpretive and persuasive purposes. This is the subject of the next section of this chapter.

ONE CRITICAL READER’S PATH TO CREATING A MEANING: A CASE STUDY

Earlier on in this chapter, we discussed the importance of using your existing knowledge and prior experience to create new meaning out of unfamiliar and difficult texts. In this section, I’d like to offer you one student writer’s account of his meaning- making process. Before I do that, however, it is important for me to tell you a little about the class and the kinds of reading and writing assignments that its members worked on.

All the writing projects offered to the members of the class were promoted by readings, and students were expected to actively develop their own ideas and provide their own readings of assigned texts in their essays. The main text for the class was the anthology Ways of Reading edited by David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky that contains challenging and complex texts. Like for most of his classmates, this approach to reading and writing was new to Alex who had told me earlier that he was used to reading “for information” or “for the main point”.

In preparation for the first writing project, the class read Adrienne Rich’s essay “When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Revision.” In her essay, Rich offers a moving account of her journey to becoming a writer. She makes the case for constantly “revising” one’s life in the light of all new events and experiences. Rich blends voices and genres throughout the essay, using personal narrative, academic argument, and even poetry. As a result, Rich creates the kind of personal-public argument which, on the one hand, highlights her own life, and on the other, illustrates that Rich’s life is typical for her time and her environment and that her readers can also learn from her experiences.

To many beginning readers and writers, who are used to a neat separation of “personal” and “academic” argument, such a blend of genres and styles may seem odd. In fact, on of the challenges that many of the students in the class faced was understanding why Rich chooses to blend personal writing with academic and what rhetorical effects she achieves by doing so. After writing informal responses to the essay and discussing it in class, the students were offered the following writing assignment:

Although Rich tells a story of her own, she does so to provide an illustration of an even larger story—one about what it means to be a woman and a writer. Tell a story of your own about the ways you might be said to have been named or shaped or positioned by an established or powerful culture. Like Rich (and perhaps with similar hesitation), use your own experience as an illustration of both your own situation and the situation of people like you. You should imagine that the assignment is a way for you to use (and put to the test) some of Rich’s terms, words like “re-vision,” “renaming,” and “structure.” (Bartholomae and Petrosky 648).

Notice that this assignment does not ask students to simply analyze Rich’s essay, to dissect its argument or “main points.” Instead, writers are asked to work with their own experiences and events of their own lives in order to provide a reading of Rich which is affected and informed by the writers’ own lives and own knowledge of life. This is critical reading in action when a reader creates his or her one’s own meaning of a complex text by reflecting on the relationship between the content of that text and one’s own life.

In response to the assignment, one of the class members, Alex Cimino-Hurt, wrote a paper that re-examined and re- evaluated his upbringing and how those factors have influenced his political and social views. In particular, Alex was trying to reconcile his own and his parents’ anti-war views with the fact than a close relative of his was fighting in the war in Iraq as he worked on the paper. Alex used such terms as “revision” and “hesitation” to develop his piece.

Like most other writers in the class, initially Alex seemed a little puzzled, even confused by the requirement to read someone else’s text through the prism of his own life and his own experiences. However, as he drafted, revised, and discussed his writing with his classmates and his instructor, the new approach to reading and writing became clearer to him. After finishing the paper, Alex commented on his reading strategies and techniques and on what he learned about critical reading during the project:

ON PREVIOUS READING HABITS AND TECHNIQUES

Previously when working on any project whether it be for a History, English, or any other class that involved reading and research, there was a certain amount of minimalism. As a student I tried to balance the least amount of effort with the best grade. I distinctly remember that before, being taught to skim over writing and reading so that I found “main” points and highlighted them. The value of thoroughly reading a piece was not taught because all that was needed was a shallow interpretation of whatever information that was provided followed by a regurgitation. [Critical reading] provided a dramatic difference in perspective and helped me learn to not only dissect the meaning of a piece, but also to see why the writer is using certain techniques or how the reading applies to my life.

ON DEVELOPING CRITICAL READING STRATEGIES

When reading critically I found that the most important thing for me was to set aside a block of time in which I would’t have to hurry my reading or skip parts to “Get the gist of it.” Developing an eye for…detail came in two ways. The first method is to read the text several times, and the second is to discuss it with my classmates and my teacher. It quickly became clear to me that the more I read a certain piece, the more I got from it as I became more comfortable with the prose and writing style. With respect to the second way, there is always something that you can miss and there is always a different perspective that can be brought to the table by either the teacher or a classmate.

ON READING RICH’S ESSAY

In reading Adrienne Rich’s essay, the problem for me was’t necessarily relating to her work but instead just finding the right perspective from which to read it. I was raised in a very open family so being able to relate to others was learned early in my life. Once I was able to parallel my perspective to hers, it was just a matter of composing my own story. Mine was my liberalism in conservative environments—the fact that frustrates me sometimes. I felt that her struggle frustrated her, too. By using quotations from her work, I was able to show my own situation to my readers.

ON WRITING THE PAPER

The process that I went through to write an essay consisted of three stages. During the first stage, I wrote down every coherent idea I had for the essay as well as a few incoherent ones. This helped me create a lot of material to work with. While this initial material doesn’t always have direction it provides a foundation for writing. The second stage involved rereading Rich’s essay and deciding which parts of it might be relevant to my own story. Looking at my own life and at Rich’s work together helped me consolidate my paper. The third and final stage involved taking what is left and refining the style of the paper and taking care of the mechanics.

ADVICE FOR CRITICAL READERS

The first key to being a critical and active reader is to find something in the piece that interests, bothers, encourages, or just confuses you. Use this to drive your analysis. Remember there is no such thing as a boring essay, only a boring reader.

• Reading something once is never enough so reading it quickly before class just won’t cut it. Read it once to get your brain comfortable with the work, then read it again and actually try to understand what’s going on in it. You can’t read it too many times.
• Ask questions. It seems like a simple suggestion but if you never ask questions you’ll never get any answers. So, while you’re reading, think of questions and just write them down on a piece of paper lest you forget them after about a line and a half of reading.

Reading and writing are rhetorical processes, and one does not exist without the other. The goal of a good writer is to engage his or her readers into a dialog presented in the piece of writing. Similarly, the goal of a critical and active reader is to participate in that dialog and to have something to say back to the writer and to others. Writing leads to reading and reading leads to writing. We write because we have something to say and we read because we are interested in ideas of others.

Reading what others have to say and responding to them help us make that all-important transition from simply having opinions about something to having ideas. Opinions are often over-simplified and fixed. They are not very useful because, if different people have different opinions that they are not willing to change or adjust, such people cannot work or think together. Ideas, on the other hand, are ever evolving, fluid, and flexible. Our ideas are informed and shaped by our interactions with others, both in person and through written texts. In a world where thought and action count, it is not enough to simply “agree to disagree.” Reading and writing, used together, allow us to discuss complex and difficult issues with others, to persuade and be persuaded, and, most importantly, to act.

Reading and writing are inextricably connected, and I hope that this chapter has shown you ways to use reading to inform and enrich you writing and your learning in general. The key to becoming an active, critical, and interested reader is the development of varied and effective reading techniques and strategies. I’d like to close this chapter with the words from the writer Alex Cimino-Hurt: “Being able to read critically is important no matter what you plan on doing with your career or life because it allows you to understand the world around you.”

Bartholomae, David and Anthony Petrosky, Eds. Introduction. Ways of Reading . 8th Ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008.

Brent, Douglas. 1992. Reading as Rhetorical Invention. NCTE , Urbana, Illinois. Cimino-Hurt, Alex. Personal Interview. 2003.

Martin, Janette. 2004. “Developing ‘Interesting Thoughts:’ Reading for Research.” In Research Writing Revisited: A Sourcebook for Teachers , eds. Pavel Zemliansky and Wendy Bishop, Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH. (3-13).

Rich, Adrienne. 2002. “When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-vision.” In Ways of Reading , 6th ed. Eds. Bartholomae, David and Anthony Petrosky. Bedford/St. Martin’s Boston, (627-645).

Research and Critical Reading Copyright © 2016 by Pavel Zemilansky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Pairing Literacy Instruction With Project-Based Learning Is a Win for Students

During a hands-on, project-based science lesson, a group of third graders in Michigan excitedly worked on creating their own garden to grow food for their community. Along the way, they learned about biology, ecology, weather and climate science, and engineering design. But the learning didn’t stop there.

Opportunities for literacy instruction

During this project, students spent time developing essential literacy skills—reading, writing, and oral language—and using those skills as tools to build science knowledge and solve meaningful problems. They engaged with rich, accessible books such as In the Garden With Dr. Carver by Susan Grigsby , about the agricultural scientist George Washington Carver and his traveling educational wagon.

I was fortunate to spend time observing one of the third-grade classes that used the science curriculum Multiple Literacies in Project-Based Learning (ML-PBL), which was developed by higher education experts working closely with elementary teachers. Throughout the unit, students’ excitement about their garden planning and about making connections among text and firsthand experience was palpable.

Prior to reading In the Garden With Dr. Carver , the third graders shared observations they made around their school to determine the best location for their garden. Their teacher then used the book to help students compare their firsthand observations with the information in the text to refine criteria for their garden location.

In addition to reading high-quality children’s literature, students interpreted diagrams, tables, and maps, and they read and followed the instructions on seed packets. They studied an article about the impact of weather on fruit crops in Michigan and engaged with multimedia sources, including a video about Ron Finley , known as the Gangsta Gardener, who built community gardens in Los Angeles.

What the research says

In a recently released study, Michigan State University and University of Michigan researchers found that students who used the ML-PBL curriculum outperformed their peers experiencing traditional science instruction on a state science assessment. The results held for students performing below grade level in reading, which is notable because reading performance is highly correlated with success in other areas. The study was one of several released by Lucas Education Research, a division of the George Lucas Educational Foundation, which found that project-based learning positively impacts student achievement.

In another study, University of Michigan and Michigan State University researchers found that second-grade students who had access to a project-based social studies and literacy curriculum outperformed peers on measures of social studies knowledge and informational reading . And in yet another study, Stanford University researchers found that middle school students in California who used a project-based science curriculum outperformed peers on a science assessment and on the state’s end-of-year English language arts assessment . Furthermore, English learners with access to the project-based science curriculum outperformed their peers on the state’s English proficiency test.

Taken together, these studies provide compelling evidence that high-quality project-based learning can advance a school’s literacy and content area goals. Too often, schools that are highly focused on making gains in reading and math, the two subjects generally at the center of state accountability plans, shy away from interdisciplinary approaches like project-based learning. But these studies show there is no need for that practice and that students may see more improvement through literacy instruction that’s integrated into project-based learning even if the projects are rooted in other content areas.

Characteristics of high-quality project-based learning

Each of the curricular approaches featured in the studies puts projects at the center of the teaching and learning. In practice, projects are too often added to the end of a unit of instruction rather than being an instructional tool that drives the learning across a unit. Project-based learning, however, should not be used for every lesson. The approaches studied allowed for a balance of explicit, teacher-led instruction with student-directed learning.

The curricula studied also shared some other key characteristics. They included projects that were authentic and relevant to students’ lives, were closely aligned to core content standards, generally included driving questions to anchor the project and frame the lessons—such as how can we plan gardens for our community to grow plants for food?—and included sustained professional learning opportunities for teachers.

Giving it a try

If you want to try blending literacy instruction with a project-based approach, here are steps to get started:

• Check out the free educational resources from the highlighted studies on the online portal Sprocket , hosted by Lucas Education Research.
• Think about how you can enhance project-based units with a variety of texts to deepen students’ knowledge, support them to make connections to their firsthand experiences, and motivate them to ask new questions. Are there articles, books, or other texts that would help your students engage more deeply in the project?
• As you identify texts, think about how students will use them and the supports they may need. Interactive read-alouds of informational text are great for supporting access to text that contains complex concepts and providing the grist for rich discussion. Other texts may be a good fit for students to read independently or with peers. If students are developing written or multimedia products to communicate information, you may consider incorporating mentor texts to support this work.
• When organizing small groups, think about the various literacy-related expertise students bring to their group. Some students may have deep background knowledge about a particular topic, whereas others may be strong writers or videographers.
• Check for resources in your community that could support student learning. Are there community members, family members, or disciplinary experts (e.g., scientists) who can share relevant expertise with the class? Students could write interview questions and document what they learn from others.
• Don’t forget about the value of multimedia sources such as video clips, podcast episodes, simulations, or an art study to deepen student learning.

As we look to the fall and develop plans to accelerate learning after more than a year of virtual and hybrid learning in many parts of the world, schools should leverage project-based learning, which is an underused approach. It can help students build literacy and other critical thinking skills, deepen content knowledge, and spark the kind of joy that I think we all want to see more of in K–12 classrooms going forward.

Dr. Miranda S. Fitzgerald is an assistant professor of reading and literacy education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research focuses on reading and literacy instruction in the intermediate grades and the integration of literacy and science instruction, especially in the context of project-based learning. Her work has appeared in journals such as American Journal of Education, Review of Research in Education, and ILA’s Reading Research Quarterly .

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Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: Reading Research Effectively

• Purpose of Guide
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Reading a Scholarly Article or Research Paper

Reading Research Publications Effectively

It's easy to feel overwhelmed and frustrated when first reading a scholarly article or research paper. The text is dense and complex and often includes abstract or convoluted language . In addition, the terminology may be confusing or applied in a way that is unfamiliar. To help overcome these challenges w hen you first read an article or research paper, focus on asking specific questions about each section. This strategy can help with overall comprehension and understanding how the content relates [or does not relate] to the research problem you are investigating. This approach will also help identify key themes as you read additional studies on the same topic. As you review more and more studies about your topic, the process of understanding and critically evaluating the research will become easier because the content of what you review will begin to coalescence around common themes and patterns of analysis.

Think about the following in this general order:

1.  Read the Abstract

An abstract summarizes the basic content of a scholarly article or research paper. Questions to consider when reading the abstract are: What is this article about? What is the working hypothesis or thesis? Is this related to my question or area of research? The abstract can be used to help filter out sources that may have appeared useful when you began searching for information but, in reality, are not relevant.

2.  Identify the Research Problem and Underlying Questions? 

If, after reading the abstract, you believe the paper may be useful, focus on examining the research problem and identifying the questions the author is trying to address. Look for information that is relevant to your research problem and make note of how and in what way this information relates to what you are investigating.

3.  Read the Introduction and Discussion/Conclusion

The introduction provides the main argument and theoretical framework of the article. Questions to consider for the introduction include what do we already know about this topic and what is left to discover? What other research has been conducted about this topic? How is this research unique? Will this study tell me anything new related to the research problem I am investigating?

Questions to ask yourself while reading the discussion and conclusion sections include what does the study mean and why is it important? What are the weaknesses in their argument? Does the conclusion contain any recommendations for future research and do you believe conclusions about the significance of the study and its findings are valid?

4.  Read about the Methods/Methodology

If what you have read so far closely relates to your research problem, then move on to reading about how the author(s) gathered information for their research. Questions to consider include how did the author do the research? Was it a qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods project? What data is the study based on? Could I repeat their work and is all the information available to repeat the study?

5.  Read about the Results and Analysis

Next, read the outcome the research and how it was discussed and analyzed. If any non-textual elements [e.g., graphs, charts, tables, etc.] are confusing, focus on the explanations about them in the text. Questions to consider are what did the author find and how did they find it? Are the results presented in a factual and unbiased way? Does their analysis of results agree with the data presented? Is all the data present? What conclusions do you formulate from this data and does it match with the author's conclusions?

6.  Review the References

The list of references, or works cited, shows you the basis of prior research used by the author(s) to support their study. The references can be an effective way to identify additional sources of information on the topic. Questions to ask include what other research studies should I review? What other authors are respected in this field, i.e., who is cited most often by others? What other research should be explored to learn about issues I am unclear or need more information about?

Reading Tips

Preparing to Read a Scholarly Article or Research Paper for the First Time

Reading scholarly publications effectively is an acquired skill that involves attention to detail and the ability to comprehend complex ideas, data, and concepts in a way that applies logically to the research problem you are investigating. Here are some strategies to consider.

While You are Reading

• Focus on information in the publication that is most relevant to the research problem
• Think critically about what you read and seek to build your own arguments; not everything is 100% true or examined effectively
• Read out of order! This isn't a novel or movie; you want to start with the spoiler
• Look up the definitions of words you don't know as you read

There are any number of ways to take notes as you read, but use the method that you feel most comfortable with. Taking notes as you read will save time when you go back to examine your sources. Below are some suggestions:

• Print the article and highlight, circle, and/or underline text as you read [or, you can use the highlight text   feature in a PDF document]
• Take notes in the margins [Adobe Reader offers pop-up sticky notes]
• Focus on highlighting important quotes; consider using a different color to differentiate between quotes and other types of text you want to return to when writing
• Quickly summarize the main or key points at the end of the paper

As you read, write down questions that come to mind that relate to or may clarify your research problem. Here are a few questions that might be helpful:

• Have I taken time to understand all the terminology?
• Am I spending too much time on the less important parts of this article?
• Are there any issues that the authors did not consider?
• Do I have any reason to question the credibility of this research?
• What specific problem does the research address and why is it important?
• How do these results relate to my research interests or to other works which I have read?

Adapted from text originally created by Holly Burt, USC Libraries, April 2018. Thank you, Holly!

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• Clin Epidemiol

From ideas to studies: how to get ideas and sharpen them into research questions

Jan p vandenbroucke.

1 Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands

2 Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

3 Department of Medical Statistics and Centre for Global NCDs, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

Neil Pearce

Where do new research questions come from? This is at best only partially taught in courses or textbooks about clinical or epidemiological research. Methods are taught under the assumption that a researcher already knows the research question and knows which methods will fit that question. Similarly, the real complexity of the thought processes that lead to a scientific undertaking is almost never described in published papers. In this paper, we first discuss how to get an idea that is worth researching. We describe sources of new ideas and how to foster a creative attitude by “cultivating your thoughts”. Only a few of these ideas will make it into a study. Next, we describe how to sharpen and focus a research question so that a study becomes feasible and a valid test of the underlying idea. To do this, the idea needs to be “pruned”. Pruning a research question means cutting away anything that is unnecessary, so that only the essence remains. This includes determining both the latent and the stated objectives, specific pruning questions, and the use of specific schemes to structure reasoning. After this, the following steps include preparation of a brief protocol, conduct of a pilot study, and writing a draft of the paper including draft tables. Then you are ready to carry out your research.

Introduction

How do you get an idea for a study? How do you turn your idea into a testable hypothesis, and turn this into an appropriate and feasible study design? This is usually at best only partially taught in epidemiology courses. Most courses and textbooks assume that you know your research question and the general methods that you will need to answer it. Somehow it is assumed that you can readily translate your idea into a specific framework, such as the PICO framework (Patient, Intervention, Control or Comparison, Outcome) 1 or the FINER framework (Feasible, Interesting, Novel, Ethical, and Relevant) 2 or that you can fit it into counterfactual reasoning. 3 However, before describing your project in one of these frameworks, you first need to have an idea for your study and think about it in general terms: why you might do a study and how you might do a study.

This paper considers the complex process of having ideas, keeping track of them, turning them into studies, trying them out in pilot studies, and writing a draft paper before you finally embark on your study.

The paper is intended for novice researchers in clinical or public health epidemiology. It is not intended to be a comprehensive literature review about creativity, nor a sociology or philosophical treatise about why scientists get particular ideas (and not other ideas). It is based on our personal experience of (a combined) 70+ epidemiologic research-years. We have worked on very different topics, mostly on opposite sides of the globe, yet found that our experiences are quite similar. The fact that these issues are rarely covered in epidemiology courses has provided motivation to reflect on our experience.

Getting new ideas

So how do you get an idea? How some juxtaposition of neural patterns in our brain suddenly creates a new idea is a process that we are far from understanding. According to Karl Popper, the origin of new ideas does not matter; the only thing of interest is to devise how to test them. 4 Over the past decades, the literature has been enriched with new ideas about “being creative” in science – as witnessed in the book Innovation Generation by Ness. 5

In the present paper, we will not cover the literature about creativity and discovery in depth, but we will discuss the issues that we consider relevant to epidemiologic research. We will first consider the more general principles.

The real complexity of the thought processes that lead to a scientific undertaking is almost never described in published papers. Immunologist Medawar claimed that in this respect almost all scientific papers may be a fraud – not in the sense that scientists deliberately produce misleading data, but in the sense that the real thought processes that lead to the data and conclusions are not mentioned. 6 Scientists tell us about their real thought processes in memoirs, inaugural, or valedictory lectures – which is why these are so much more interesting than “standard” papers or presentations.

What strikes our minds: regularities or anomalies?

All sciences study a particular “object of knowledge” (eg, “matter”, “life”). Ideas come from experience and previous knowledge or facts about this object of knowledge, although this knowledge is always filtered through the perspective of one or more theories. 7 Epidemiology studies the distribution and determinants of disease in human populations, 8 and epidemiological ideas arise from observing and thinking about populations. 9 These could be clinical populations (ie, clinical experience, sometimes involving just a few patients), exposure-based populations (eg, workers exposed to a particular chemical), or general populations (geographically defined or sociologically defined). Whatever the population we are interested in, ideas come from observing either regularities or anomalies.

The observation of regularities (“induction”) is a common origin of new ideas. 4 , 10 – 13 Philosopher David Hume described “Induction” as: regularly seeing two things happening in succession (like pushing a switch and a light going on) leads to suspicions of causality. As he pointed out, causality can never be proven by the mere observation of “constant conjunctions”, but observing regularities can start our train of thought. 12

An anomaly (or irregularity) strikes our mind, because it defies our expectations. The regularity that we expected was our “hypothesis” (even if it was not really explicitly formulated); the anomaly is a “refutation”. 4 , 13 It forces us to think about other explanations, and these lead to new hypotheses that we then try to test. Thus, scientists do not usually start from hypotheses that are nicely formulated “out of the blue”, but instead start from previous knowledge and experience; when they are challenged by anomalies, scientists seek new explanations. 14

An interesting way to discover anomalies is to enter a new field of research; since you have other background experience than the people already in the field, you see things that they take for granted but that strike you as odd – at the same time, you may also see new explanations for these anomalies. One of the pioneers of clinical epidemiology, Sackett, once wrote that scientists should “retire” from a field as soon as they become “experts”. 15 When you are too long in a field, you will no longer see the anomalies, and you may even obstruct newcomers with new explanations. Of course, there are differences between scientists: some roam across various fields and others stick to a problem area that they explore with increasing depth – then the increasing depth and the new techniques that one needs for advancing one’s thoughts will be like a “new field”.

Taxonomies of discovery

Few researchers have listed the different ways in which one can arrive at new ideas, that is, lists of ways of discovery. We will present two of them – which have very different origins but remarkable similarities. Several examples of studies corresponding to items on these two lists are given in Appendix Examples A1–A10 .

Sources for new ideas about health care evaluation were described by Crombie and Davies in the chapter “Developing the research question” of their book on Research in Health Care that reflects a UK public health experience. 16

• “Review existing practice […] the current organisation and delivery of health care is not as good as it could be […]”
• “Challenge accepted ideas […] much of health care is based on accepted practice rather than research evidence […]” ( Appendix Example A3 )
• “Look for conflicting views […] which indicate either that there is not enough evidence, or that some practitioners are misinformed”
• “Investigate geographical variation […] reflecting on the reasons [for geographical variation] can be a fruitful source of research questions […]” ( Appendix Example A6 )
• “Identify Cinderella topics […] important areas of health care are often overlooked […]”
• “Let loose the imagination […] look for wild or impossible ideas […] free the mind from the constraints of conventional wisdom […].”

A taxonomy for sources of clinical research questions about medical care and clinical problems was proposed by Hulley and Cummings, in the context of clinical research in the US: 2

• “Build on experience;” your own experience, that of close colleagues with whom you can freely discuss your research ideas, and that of a good mentor, because young researchers might not yet have much experience, “An essential strategy for a young investigator is to apprentice himself to an experienced senior scientist who has the time and interest to work with him regularly.”
• ○ By harvesting “the medical literature and attending journal clubs, national and international meetings, seeking informal conversations with other scientists and colleagues”
• ○ “A sceptical attitude about prevailing beliefs can stimulate good research questions”
• ○ Be alert to “careful observation of patients, which has historically been one of the major sources of descriptive studies” ( Appendix Examples A1 and A2 )
• ○ Your experiences in teaching; having to explain something may make you aware of gaps in your knowledge; questions by patients and colleagues may similarly identify things that we do not fully understand or ignore
• “Keep the imagination roaming […]” by a mixture of creativity and tenacity; “put an unresolved question clearly in view and turn on the mental switch that lets the mind run freely toward it”.

A special mention needs to be made about the last categories of both the lists: “Let loose the imagination” and “Keep the imagination roaming”. These are especially important to find innovative solutions. In many situations wherein you cannot do a perfect study and you run a grave danger of potential confounding or bias, it helps to “get deeply immersed”: to understand the problem biologically, clinically, socially, organizationally, and environmentally will help you to think about what is happening, why it is happening, and whether you can find situations in which the potential confounders or biases do not exist or exists in reverse. You should forget formal designs and think out of the box: you will find instances of studies that mutually reinforce each other and may even arrive at formulating new designs or analytic solutions (see Appendix Examples A7–A10 ).

Keeping track of your ideas

It is not only important to have good ideas but also important to develop them. Researchers who work in laboratories have the habit of keeping “lab logs”. They write down briefly the results of an experiment, note why they think it went wrong, and how they will perform the next experiment. This permits them to trace how they changed the experiments or even the content and the direction of their research. We should do the same in epidemiologic and clinical research, particularly in the stage of creating new ideas. Such notes about ideas can include not only hypotheses and views or results by others but also drawing directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) (see “Intermezzo: specific schemes to structure reasoning” section) to make the causal structures of ideas clear.

The greatest minds kept track of their thoughts. Charles Darwin’s notebooks document his ideas, his observations, his readings, and new theories and facts that struck him. 17 For example, Darwin noted a story that he heard from his father, a medical practitioner. His father recounted that he had been struck by one of his patients’ ways of expressing himself, because he had attended a parent of the patient who had had the same mannerisms – even though the parent had died when the patient was still an infant. Remarks like these still have relevance today when we think about the heredity and evolution of behavior.

The sociologist C Wright Mills carried the description of the process one step further in the appendix of his book on The Sociological Imagination . 18 He encourages young sociologists to set up a file of stacked cards to keep track of “[…] personal experience and professional activities, studies underway and studies planned […]” which “[…] encourages you to capture ‘fringe thoughts’: various ideas which may be by-products of everyday life, stretches of conversations […]”. These notes are continuously reshuffled, regrouped under new headings, and pondered. Mills denounced the habit of most (social) scientists who feel the need to write about their plans only when they are going to apply for a grant. He thought that scientists should continually work with their file of ideas and regularly take stock of how these have evolved.

Such strategies are still relevant today, even if our “logs” are kept in electronic form, particularly because grant writing has become more demanding, hectic, and time-consuming. From such files, new research projects are born: while your ideas gradually develop, you keep wondering what data you might need to prove a certain proposition, and how you might get those data in the easiest way possible. Often, ideas are reshuffled and regrouped under new headings. A new observation, a new piece of literature may make old ones fall into place, or there may suddenly be a new opportunity to work out an old idea.

A complementary advice recently came in a blog from a contemporary sociologist, Aldrich: his advice is to “Write as if you don’t have the data”, that is, to write “[…] the literature review and planning phase of a project, preferably before it has been locked into a specific research design”. 19

The role of emotions

Underlying the discovery process, there are often two emotions: “surprise” and “indignation”. Surprise is the intellectual emotion when we see something happening against expectation: a patient with an unusual exposure, unusual disease manifestation, sudden cure, or sudden ill-understood deterioration; a laboratory result that is an anomaly; and a sudden epidemic of disease in a population. Indignation is the moral emotion: a group of patients is not being treated well because we lack sufficient knowledge, or because we are blundering in organizing health care or in transmitting and applying public health knowledge. Some passion is useful to bring any undertaking to a good end, be it that the passion should be restrained and channeled into polite undertakings, like in a research protocol. While doing the research project, maintaining some of the original passion will help you to find ways to overcome the daily hassles of research, the misadventures, the difficulties of getting others to collaborate, and the difficulties of getting published ( Appendix Example A11 ).

Sharpening the research question: the pruning

Pruning a research question means cutting away anything that is unnecessary, so that only the essence remains.

The initial spark of an idea will usually lead to some rather general research question. Invariably, this is too ambitious, or so all-encompassing that it cannot be researched (at least not within the time frame of a single grant or PhD project). You have to refine your research question into something that is interesting, yet feasible. To do so, you have to know clearly where you are heading. The emphasis on a clear preconceived idea about what you want to attain by your research often comes as a surprise; some people object: “[…] isn’t research about discovery? How can you know in advance what you want to find?”

The social scientist Verschuren proposed the “wristwatch metaphor”. 20 A researcher is not like a beachcomber, who strolls along the beach to see whether anything valuable washed ashore. Rather, a researcher is like someone who has lost her wristwatch on the beach and returns to search for it. She knows what part of the beach to look, she can describe her wristwatch in detail, and once she has found it, she knows that this is the watch she was looking for. Some further background to these ideas can be found in Appendix B .

Charles Medawar wrote in his Advice to a Young Scientist (page 18) 21 that as much as politics is the ‘art of the possible’, research is the ‘art of the soluble’. A research question should be limited to a question that can be solved with the resources at hand. This does not mean that you should preferentially study “trivial” questions with easy solutions. It does mean that you should seek out your particular niche: something specific, something that was overlooked by others, or some new twist to a general question, so that you can make your own contribution.

The concept of “serendipity” is often invoked when thinking of “seeking novelty”: it means finding something that you were not looking for. For a full discussion of the more complex reality that shows how, in reality, “chance favors a prepared mind”, see Appendix C .

Proceed in the inverse order of the paper that you will write

From the aforementioned, we know that we need a precise aim and a soluble research question.

How can we achieve this? The best approach is to “begin at the end”, that is, the conclusion that you hope to support when you eventually publish your research findings, perhaps many years from now. 22 Most medical research papers have a fixed format: introduction, methods, results, discussion. Usually, the discussion has three parts: summary of the results, discussion of the strengths and limitations, and the importance and interpretation of the findings. There you start: you try to imagine what such last lines of the eventual paper might be – in particular what their intent, their message to the reader might be. Another useful strategy would be to imagine what might be written in the separate box “What this paper adds” that many journals nowadays ask to convey the message from the authors clearly and succinctly to the readers.

The “latent” versus the “stated” objective

The pioneer clinical epidemiologist Feinstein wrote that a good research consultant should be like a good clinician, who first wants to learn from the patient: “What is the chief complaint?”, that is, which is the problem that you want to study. Next, “What will you do with the answer?” 22 The latter question is not just about the potential conclusions of the research paper, but more importantly, their meaning. What is the intended effect (or impact) of the findings? He called this the “latent objective”: what do you want to achieve or change by your project; the “stated objective” is different, it is the type of result that the study will deliver. For example, the stated objective can be that you want to do a randomized trial to compare one intervention versus another and that you will look at recurrence of disease. The latent objective might be that you are concerned that one intervention may be harmful to patients, driven by special interests, and that if this is the case it should be abolished.

Rather analogously, the long-time editor of the Annals of Internal Medicine , Edward Huth, proposed in his book about medical publishing the “So-What” and the “Who-Cares” tests: “What may happen if the paper’s message is correct?”; may it change concepts and treatment or stimulate further exciting research? 23 In fact, many funders now require such an “impact statement” as part of the grant application process.

Experienced research consultants know that when trying to discover the latent objective, it is useful to brush aside the detailed protocol and to ask directly what the meaning of the research is. The meaning of the research is often not clearly stated in a formal study protocol that limits itself more or less to “stated aims”. 24 Like a patient who cannot articulate her/his complaints very well, would-be researchers lose themselves in trivial “side issues” or operational details of the protocol. Appendix Examples A2 and A11 explain the importance of elucidating the underlying frustration of the clinician-researcher to clearly guide a research effort.

After initial questions have set the scene and clarified the “latent objective” of a project, the next questions are more operational, translating the latent objective back into a “stated objective”. 22 The stated objective should be a feasible research project. According to Feinstein, one should ask: what maneuver is to be executed (what intervention, deliberate or not, and how is it administered), what groups are to be compared (and why those groups), and what is the outcome that we will study?

In these phases of discussion, one needs to immerse oneself into the problem: one has to understand it biologically and clinically, and how it is dealt with in the daily practice of health care in the setting in which you will do research. Getting deeply immersed in the problem is the only way of arriving at shrewd or new solutions for studies on vexing medical or public health problems ( Appendix Example A9 ). Mere discussion of technical or procedural aspects of a proposed design, data collection, or analysis will usually not lead to new insights.

Specific pruning questions, to ask yourself or others

In initial discussions, one goes back and forth between the general aim (the latent objective), the scientific questions that follow from it, and the possible research designs (with stated objectives). After feeling secure about the “latent” aim, proceed with more specific questions.

• Try to describe exactly the knowledge gap that you want to fill (ie, the watch that you lost at the beach). Is it about etiology, about pathogenesis, about prognosis? What should change for the benefit of a particular group of patients? Try to be as specific as possible. Do your colleagues see these problems and their solutions as you do? – and if not, why don’t they?
• Once you know the point you want to make, describe what table or figure you need to fill the gap in knowledge, that is, what would your results look like? This means drawing a simple table or graph. Are these the data you want? Will these tables convince your colleagues? What objections might they have? Keep in mind that if the research results go against ingrained beliefs, they will be scrutinized mercilessly, so the important aspects of your research should be able to withstand likely objections.
• Thereafter, the questions become more practical: what study design is needed to produce this table, this figure? Can we do this? Do we have the resources or can we find them?

Be self-critical

You should always remain self-critical about the aspects that threaten the validity of your study ( Appendix Example A12 ). 25 If the practical problems are too large, or the research question too unfeasibly grandiose, it might be wise to settle for a less ambitious aim ( Appendix Example A13 ).

Paraphrasing Miettinen, 26 the first decision is whether you should do the study at all. There might be several reasons to decide not to pursue a study. One might be that arriving at a satisfactory design will be impossible, because of biases that you are unable to solve. It serves no purpose to add another study that suffers from the same unsolved problems as previous studies. For example, it does not serve any purpose to do yet another study that shows lower mortality in vegetarians, if you cannot solve the problems of confounding that vegetarians are persons who have different lifestyles in comparison with others. 27 (If, however, you have found a solution – pursue it at all means!) Nevertheless, thinking about the potential problems and ultimate aims of a seemingly impossible question can foster the development of a new study design or a new method of analysis, ( Appendix Examples A2, A9, and A10 ). In the same vein, deciding that you cannot do a study yourself might make you look for collaboration with persons who have the type of data that you do not, for example, in a different population where it is believed that confounding is not so severe or may even be in the opposite direction.

All studies have imperfections, but you need to be aware which ones you can tolerate. 28 In the early stages of an enquiry, an “imperfect” study might still be worthwhile to see whether “there might be something in it”. For example, time trends or ecological comparisons are often seen as poor study designs to assess causality by themselves, but they can be very valuable in helping to develop ideas, as well as providing a “reality check” about the potential credibility of some hypothesis. 29

Conversely, it is pointless to add yet another study, however perfect, showing what is already known very well – unless you have to do it for “political” purposes, say, for convincing decision makers in your own country.

Finally, it is not a good use of your time to chase something completely improbable or futile. For example, at the present state of the debate, it serves no purpose to add another study about the presence or absence of clinical benefits or harms of homeopathy: no one will change his or her mind about the issue. 30 , 31 An exception might be something that is highly improbable, but that if true might lead to completely revolutionary insights – such an idea might be worth pursuing, even if the initial reaction of outsiders might remain incredulousness. Still, you should pursue unlikely hypotheses knowingly, that is, with the right amount of self-criticism – in particular, to make yourself aware when you are in a blind alley.

To keep yourself on the “straight and narrow”, it helps to form a group of people who cover different aspects of the problem you want to study: clinical, biochemical and physiological, and methodological – to discuss the project as equals. Such discussions can not only be tremendous fun but also will invariably lead to more profound and diverse research questions and will help to find solutions for practical as well as theoretical problems. In the right circumstances of a “machtsfreie Dialog” 32 (a communication in which all are equal and that is only based on rational arguments and not on power – which all scientific debates should be), such a circle of colleagues and friends will help you to be self-critical.

Finally, when pursuing one’s research interests, one should be prepared to learn new skills from other fields or collaborate with others from these fields. If one stays only with the techniques and skills that one knows, it might not lead to the desired answers. 33

What if the data already exist? And you are employed to do a particular analysis with an existing protocol?

Even in the circumstance that the data already exist, it greatly helps to not jump into an analysis, but to think for yourself what you would ideally like to do – if there were no constraints. As Aldrich mentioned, 19 also in that circumstance researchers should still

[…] begin their literature review and conceptual modeling as if they had the luxury of a blank slate […]. Writing without data constraints will, I believe, free their imaginations to range widely over the realm of possibilities, before they are brought to earth by practical necessities.

Moreover, this will make clear what compromises one will make by accepting the available data and the existing analysis protocol. Otherwise, one starts an analysis without being sufficiently aware of the limitations of a particular analysis on particular data.

The difference between explanatory and pragmatic research

A useful distinction is between explanatory and pragmatic research: the former is research that aims at discovery and explanation, whereas the latter is intended to evaluate interventions or diagnostic procedures. The first type of research consists of chasing explanations by pursuing different and evolving hypotheses; the second type of research aims at making decisions about actions in future patients. 27 The two opposites differ strongly in their thinking about the types of studies to pursue (eg, observational vs randomized), about the role of prior specification of a research hypothesis, about the need for “sticking to a prespecified protocol”, and about subgroup analyses and multiplicity of analyses. Some of these will be explained in the following subheadings.

The difference between explanatory and pragmatic trials is sometimes thought to mirror the difference between doing randomized trials versus observational research. However, even for randomized trials, a difference exists between “ pragmatic” and “explanatory” trials (coined first by Schwartz and Lellouch). 34 Because it is not always easy to delineate what aspects of a randomized trial are “pragmatic” or “explanatory”, instruments have been crafted to help researchers and evaluators. 35 , 36 Conversely, not all observational studies are explanatory: some are needed for pragmatic decisions (think about adverse effects of drugs and also about diagnostic evaluations where studies should influence practice guidelines) – while other studies aim at explaining how nature works.

Which iterations should you allow yourself? Anticipating the next project

Thinking about a research problem is a strongly iterative process. 2 , 33 , 37 One starts with a broad aim and then tries out several possible ideas about studies that might lead to better understanding or to better solutions.

Likewise, project proposals characteristically go through many iterations. In the early phases of the research, it is commonplace that the study design or even the research question is changed. Specific suggestions about common research problems and their potential solutions were given by Hulley and Cummings, 2 which we reproduce in Appendix D .

The revision of the aims of a project may be profound, in particular in explanatory research (see “The difference between explanatory and pragmatic research” section), in contrast to pragmatic research (see “Shouldn’t you stick to a predefined protocol?” section). The chemist Whitesides wrote: “Often the objectives of a paper when it is finished are different from those used to justify starting the work. Much of good science is opportunistic and revisionist”. 38 Along a similar line, Medawar proposed that to do justice to the real thought processes of a research undertaking, the discussion section of a paper should come at the beginning, since the thought processes of a scientist start with an expectation about particular results. The expectation determines which findings are of interest and why they will be interpreted in a particular way. 6 He added that in real scientific life, scientists get new ideas (ie, new expectations) while doing their research, but “[…] many of them apparently are ashamed to admit, that hypotheses appear in their mind along uncharted byways of thought”. 6

“Seeing something in the data” can be an important part of scientific discovery. This is often decried as “data dredging”, which it is not: one sees something because of one’s background knowledge and thereby there always is some “prior” that exists – even if that was not specified beforehand in the study protocol. 27 , 39 The word “exploratory” is often misused when it is used to characterize a study. True “exploratory” data analysis would only exists if it is mindlessly done, such as a Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) analysis – but even GWAS analyses have specific aims, which becomes clear when results are interpreted and some findings are designated as “important” and others not. As stated by Rothman:

Hypotheses are not generated by data; they are proposed by scientists. The process by which scientists use their imagination to create hypotheses has no formal methodology […]. Any study, whether considered exploratory or not, can serve to refute a hypothesis. 40

Appendix Examples A5 and A7 show how projects changed mid-course because of a new discovery in the data or in the background knowledge about a research topic.

Generally, it is a good habit to think through what the next project might be, once you will have the result of the project you are currently thinking about, so as to know what direction your research might take. 33

Shouldn’t you stick to a predefined protocol?

Different research aims, in particular along the “explanatory” versus “pragmatic” continuum, may lead to different attitudes on the amount of change that protocols may endure while doing research. 27 , 39 For randomized trials, and also for pragmatic observational research, the research question is usually fixed: does a new therapy lead to better outcomes for a particular group of patients in a particular setting? Because findings from randomized trials or pragmatic observational research may lead to millions of patients to adopt or avoid a particular therapy (which means that their well-being or even life depends on the research) researchers are generally not at liberty to change their hypotheses at the last moment – for example, by suddenly declaring an interest in a particular subgroup. They should stick to the predefined protocol. If a change is needed for practical reasons, it should be clearly stated in the resulting publications. This makes thinking about research questions and doing pilot studies beforehand all the more important (see “Pilot Study” section).

In contrast, much epidemiologic and clinical research tries to explain how nature works. This gives greater leeway: exploration of data can lead to new insights. Thus, “sticking to the protocol” is a good rule for randomized trials and pragmatic observational research, but may be counterproductive for explanatory research. 39 , 41 Nevertheless, it is good to keep track of the changes in your thoughts and in the protocol, even if only for yourself. In practice, many situations are intermediate; in particular when using large available data sets, it often happens that one envisages in a protocol what one would do with the data, only to discover upon opening the data files that the data fall short or are more complex than imagined; this is another reason for doing pilot studies, even with large available data sets (see “Pilot Study” section).

How much literature should you read?

If you are setting up a new research project in a new area, do not start by reading too much. You will quickly drown in the ideas of others. Rather, read a few general reviews that identify unanswered problems. Only return to the literature after you have defined your research question and provisionally your study design. Now, the literature suddenly becomes extremely interesting, since you know what types of papers you need. You also know what the potential objections and shortcomings are of the different design options, because you thought about them yourself. The number of relevant papers usually greatly shrinks, see Appendix Example A4 .

Shouldn’t you do a systematic review first?

It is argued that before embarking on a new piece of research, one should first do a systematic review and/or meta-analysis, because this may help to define the gaps in knowledge more precisely, and guide new research – or may show that the question has been solved. This argument is somewhat circular. A systematic review is a piece of research in itself, intended for publication, and requires much time and effort. Like any piece of research, it requires a clear research question. As such it does not “identify gaps”: a systematic review is about a research question which is already specified, but for which more information is needed. Thus, the main function of the advice to first do a systematic review is to know whether the research question that one has in mind has not yet been solved by others. Perusing the literature in depth is absolutely needed, for example, before embarking on a randomized trial or on a major observational study. However, this is not the same as doing a formal systematic review. In-depth scoping of the literature will suffice. If it is found that potentially valuable studies already exist on the research question that one has in mind, then the new study that one is thinking about may be discarded, and a systematic review should be done instead.

Intermezzo: specific schemes to structure reasoning

Specific schemes have been proposed to guide our reasoning between the stage of delineation of the “gap in knowledge” and the stage of proposing the research design.

The acronym FINER (feasible, interesting, novel, ethical, and relevant) was coined by Hulley and Cummings 2 and denotes the different aspects that one should consider to judge a budding research proposal. These words are a good checklist for an in-depth self-scrutiny of your research. The central aspects are the feasibility and whether the possible answers are exciting (and/or much needed).

The PICO format (Patient, Intervention, Control or Comparison, Outcome) is advocated by the evidence-based medicine and Cochrane movements and is very useful for clinical therapeutic research, particularly randomized controlled trials (RCTs). 1 , 42 Questions about therapeutic interventions are highly specific, for example, a particular chemotherapeutic scheme (the intervention) is proposed to study survival (the outcome) among young women with a particular form of stage III breast cancer (the patients). This framework is less useful, and becomes a bit pointless, for etiologic research about generalizable questions such as: “Does smoking cause lung cancer?” which applies to all humans and to different types of smoking. Of course, all research will be done in particular population, with particular smoking habits, but this does not necessarily define the research question. Some of the first investigations about smoking and lung cancer were done in male doctors aged ≥35 years in the UK 43 – this was a very convenient group to research, but being a male doctor in the UK is not part of the research question.

The PICO format is thus most applicable for pragmatic research. A much more detailed and elaborate scheme for pragmatic research was proposed by the US Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) which has published Methodology Standards, including “Standards for Formulating Research Questions”. While we would not agree with all six standards, junior investigators may find the structure useful as they think through their options – especially for pragmatic research questions. 44

Counterfactual reasoning 3 emphasizes those aspects of the “ideal randomized trial” that should be mimicked by an observational study. A key question is whether your study is addressing a hypothesis that could in theory be studied in a randomized trial. For example, if the research question is “does smoking cause lung cancer?”, then this is a question that could in theory (but not in practice) be addressed by randomizing study participants to be smokers or nonsmokers. In this situation, it may be useful to design your observational study with the intention of obtaining the same answer that would have been obtained if you had been able to do a randomized trial.

However, the aims of explanatory observational research are different from those of randomized trials. 27 Explanatory research about disease etiology may involve “states” like being female, being old, being obese, having hypertension, having a high serum cholesterol, carrying the BrCa1 gene, and so on, as causes of disease. None of these causes are interventions. In contrast, RCTs focus on what to do to change particular causes: which interventions are feasible and work? For example, being female might expose a person to job discrimination; the intervention might be to have women on the appointment committee or to use some kind of positive discrimination. Likewise, the gene for phenylketonuria leads to disease, but the intervention is to change the diet. For carriers of BRCa1 genes, different strategies can be evaluated in RCTs to evaluate their effectiveness in preventing premature death due to breast cancer: frequent screening, prophylactic mastectomy, hormone treatment, and so on – which may have different effects. For obesity or hypertension or hypercholesterolemia, different types of interventions are possible – with potentially different effects and different adverse effects.

The interventionist outlook, that is, trying to mimic an RCT, can be very useful, for some type of observational studies, for example, about the adverse effects of drugs. It helps to make certain that one can mimic an “intervention” (ie, patients starting to use particular drugs) that is specific and consistent in groups of patients that are comparable (more technically, exchangeable – meaning that the results of the investigation would not change if the persons exposed and nonexposed were swapped). These conditions can be met in a credible way, if there are competing drugs for a similar indication, so that there is an active drug comparator: the interventions (use of different drugs in different patients) will be well defined, and the patients on the different drugs will tend to be comparable. This works particularly well if you are focusing on adverse drug effects that were unknown or unpredictable at the time of prescription. 45 , 46 For example, you may obtain more valid findings in a study that compares the adverse effects of two different beta agonists for asthma care (ie, two different drugs within the same class), than to design a study which compares patients who are prescribed beta agonists with patients who are prescribed other asthma medication, or no medication at all – because the latter might be a highly different group of patients. 47

As mentioned, there are some important studies about causes of diseases where a randomized trial is not feasible, even in theory. In particular, there are various “states” which are major causes of disease (obesity, cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, etc). These states strongly affect the risks of disease and death, but cannot be randomized. For example, it is difficult to conceive of randomizing study participants to be obese or not obese; however, we could randomize them for the reduction of obesity, for example, through exercise, but such a study would assess the effects of a particular intervention, not of obesity itself. Still, it remains important to estimate the overall effects of obesity, that is, to answer the question “would this group of people have had different health status, on the average, if they had not been obese”. In this situation, the concept of “interventions” is not relevant to designing your study (at least in the way that the term “intervention” is commonly used). What is more relevant is simply to focus on the counterfactual contrast which is being assessed (eg, a body mass index [BMI] of 35 versus a BMI of 25), without specifying how this contrast came about.

A technique that has gone hand in hand with counterfactual reasoning in epidemiology is drawing DAGs; several introductions to DAG theory can be found in epidemiologic textbooks. 3 , 48 DAGs can be useful in the brainstorming phase of a study, after the general research question has been defined. At this stage, a general structure for the study is envisaged and the complexity of the causal processes needs clarification. A DAG can be extremely useful for illustrating the context in which a causal question is being asked, the assumptions that will be involved in the analyses (eg, whether a particular risk factor is a confounder, a mediator, or a col-lider), and help us question the validity of our reasoning. 49 Using DAGs helps us also decide which variables we need to collect information on and how they should be measured and defined. Given that DAGs root in causal thinking, their construction is, of necessity, subjective.

Preparation: pilot study, protocol, and advance writing

Doing a pilot study and collecting ancillary information about feasibility.

May I now start? is a question heard after lengthy deliberations about the research question and the potential studies that follow from it. Such deliberations almost invariably produce a lot of enthusiasm and exhilaration – because they are fun. The researcher wants to begin collecting data or start the analysis. However, Crombie and Davies, in their chapter about “Developing the research question” state emphatically: “Don’t rush into a study”. 16 Separate from doing a pilot study, which is about the procedures of your study, you may also need to collect ancillary information before actually starting your study.

Pilot study

Even if you think you are totally certain of what you want, you should first do a pilot study, based on a brief protocol. 2 , 22 That initial protocol should be easy to write. You have already discussed the aim and design of your study. Write them down. You expect a particular type of information that is essential and that will tell the essence of your message (a particular 2-by-2 or X-by-Y table, a particular graph), which you can describe.

Pilot studies are not done to know the likely direction of the results; instead, the aim is to see whether you will be able to perform the procedures of your study – and ultimately whether that really is the study you want to do. 50 The aim is to save yourself from embarrassment: data that very surprisingly do not turn out to be what you expected, questionnaires that are misunderstood or do not deliver the answers that you need or that are not returned, laboratories that do not produce, patients who do not show up, heads of other departments who block access to their patients or materials, or yourself who needs more time to manage the complexity of the undertaking.

We have never heard of someone who was sorry for having done a pilot. Conversely, we know many persons who found out at much personal embarrassment and institutional cost that their project was unfeasible. In intermediate cases, the pilot may show the need to change questionnaires or procedures before the study goes ahead.

In principle, a pilot study should be exactly like your final study and test out all your procedures on a small number of persons. Often, it is better to approach the task piecemeal and pilot different aspects of the research one by one.

A tough question is how to do pilot studies and pilot analyses when ethical or institutional review board approval is necessary for some of the actions in a pilot study. One solution might be to avoid piloting some procedures; for example, try parts of the procedure – for example, you may not be able to randomize in a pilot, but you may be able to try out data collection procedures and forms. There is a degree of circularity about piloting, also in obtaining funding, as one may need funding for the pilot. In practice, the best step might be to ask the ethics committee or review board of your institute which aspects of the research can be piloted and under what conditions.

In Appendix E , several questions that you might ask in pilot studies are listed. They may lead to profound reassessments of your research – particularly if you are piloting the collection of new data, but also if the research involves analyses of existing data.

Ancillary information

It may be necessary to collect additional information about event rates or standard deviations of measurements to calculate the statistical precision that might be obtained. Also, sometimes you need other ways of “testing the water” like procedures to streamlining data collection from different centers in order to know whether the study is feasible. Depending on the study size and importance, such activities may become studies in themselves and actually take a lot of time and money.

Advance writing of paper: before full data collection and/or analysis

Whitesides’ advice is:

The key to efficient use of your and my time is that we start exchanging outlines and proposals as early in a project as possible. Do not, under any circumstances, wait until the collection of data is ‘complete’ before starting to write an outline. 38

After the pilot study, you have a firm grasp of all elements that are necessary for a scientific paper: introduction, materials and methods, results, and discussion. In the introduction, you explain why you have done this research. Almost always, an introduction comprises three ideas: what is the general problem? what is the particular research question? what study will you perform to answer that question? This is followed by the materials and methods section. They have been extensively discussed and have been fine-tuned in the study protocol and the pilot study. Thereafter come the results sections. By now, you know what tables or figures you want and how you can obtain them, but not what the final numbers will look like. You will also have an idea about the auxiliary tables that you might need to explain your data to others (such as a table with the baseline characteristics or an additional table with a subgroup analysis). You can now draft the layouts of all these tables. Visualizing the presentation of your results in advance is the “bare minimum” of writing in advance.

Finally, the discussion section. Can you write a discussion before you know the final data? Of course you can; you even must think ahead. In principle, there are only three possible outcomes: the study can give the results that you hoped for; it can show the inverse; or something indeterminate in between. In all instances, you can imagine how you will react. One possibility is that you are disappointed by the results of your study, and you will tend to find excuses for why it did not produce the results you hoped for. What excuses might your produce? The other possibility is that it does show what you wanted; then you may have to imagine how others will react and what their objections might be. If the results are indeterminate, everybody might be disappointed, and you will need to explain the failure of your research to give clear-cut results. When you detect a specific weakness by imagining this situation, you may wish to change aspects of your study.

As we explain in Appendix F , there is no need to write a very extensive paper as a first draft – on the contrary, it might be more useful to write a short paper, which has the advantage that others will more readily read it and comment on it.

Never be afraid to discuss your study at all stages extensively with others, not only your immediate research colleagues but also semi-outsiders and also in this advance-writing stage. If you know, or are told by others, that a particular direction of your results might not be believed and therefore draw criticism because of some potential deficiency in your study, why not remedy it at this stage? Looking at what you have written, or by discussing potential results with others, you will be able to imagine more clearly what your readers and critical colleagues might object to.

Writing a paper beforehand is the ultimate test of whether the research project is what you wanted, whether your reasoning flows logically, or whether you forgot something. The initial draft will be a yardstick for yourself and for others – whatever happens during the course of your research. This will help you to surmount surprise happenings: you have written down where you started and why, and therefore you will also know very securely when and why you have to take a detour – or even a U-turn.

Writing is difficult and time-consuming. Writing a paper can easily take 5–10 revisions, which might span a full year (inclusive of the time it takes your supervisor or your colleagues to produce comments). During the writing, you will often be obliged to go back to the data and do additional or different analyses. Since your paper will need many revisions, and this will take such a long time, why not take a head-start at the beginning of your data collection? It will save frustration and lost time at the end of your project.

Many guidelines and advices exist about writing, both about the substance (how to use words and phrases) and about the process. All beginning researchers should have a look at some books and papers about writing, and seasoned researchers can still profit from rereading them. Several reporting guidelines exist for several types of studies (RCTs, observational, diagnostic research, etc). They are often very detailed, in describing what should be in title, abstract, and so on. Although they should not be mechanically adhered to, 28 they help writing. In Appendix F , we have collected some wisdom that we particularly liked; several books on writing are listed, as well as reporting guidelines that help researchers to craft papers that are readable and contain all the information that is necessary and useful to others.

Now you can start “your research”

After the piloting and after having written your paper, you are ready to start your data collection, your analysis, or whatever is needed to “do your research”.

The work that is needed before you can start to “do your research” will take a great deal of time and effort. What will you have achieved after setting up a piece of research following the lengthy and involved precepts of this paper? You will have specified a limited research question that you will solve. You will add one little shining stone to the large mosaic of science. At the time that you do the study, you may still be too close to see its effect on the overall picture. That will come over the years.

Further reading

Some texts that we mention in the paper might be especially worthwhile for further reading; see Appendix G .

Acknowledgments

We thank Miguel Hernán, Stuart Pocock, and Bianca De Stavola for their informative comments on an earlier draft manuscript, as well as two anonymous reviewers of Clinical Epidemiology . The Centre for Global NCDs is supported by the Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund (097834/Z/11/B). This work was also supported by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013 / ERC grant agreement number 668954).

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Bell Ringers

Independent research projects in upper elementary, independent research projects in upper elementary ela.

Every year, I plan to give my students more choice, voice, and independent project work. Of course, we also have to deal with state testing and loads of other requirements. However, giving your students independent research projects not only helps them demonstrate learning and mastery of standards, it also gives them some choices and ability to share their own unique voice! Here are some independent research projects in upper elementary ELA that your 4th through 6th graders will love!

Genius Hour

You may have heard of Genius Hour or Passion Projects. Genius Hour is considered project-based learning, and it starts with a question. Students choose their own research question about anything really, and they study it at least an hour a week. After reading/researching about their question, their final project can be something as simple as an explanatory slideshow or building their own dollhouse. The possibilities are endless.

Genius Hour can require some scaffolding at the beginning. For example, you may ask your students to research a question related to a certain topic. If you’re reading Watsons Go to Birmingham, for example, they may ask a question surrounding the Civil Rights Movement or the 1960s. The topics can be open-ended to give the students some choice but still have an overarching theme.

Once students get practice researching and coming up with their own final project, they can choose a Genius Hour topic about anything. Some example questions may include:

• How do I promote healthy eating in elementary school?
• How do I prepare for middle school?
• What is the best place to take a family vacation, and how can I plan one for my family?
• How do you start a small business as a student?

Genius Hour gives students choice and voice in the classroom, and you’ll love learning about their passions!

Author Studies

This is one of my favorite projects to use for upper elementary ELA students! I first implemented this project with fifth graders after state testing. This is the perfect time of year for an independent study, and it reinforces reading, writing, and research concepts used throughout the school year!

This project includes almost everything you need for your students to complete a research project on the author of their choosing . It sets them up to brainstorm, research, take notes, plan, and then complete a research paper on their selected authors. I have also made sure to leave some of the note-taking more generic so that you and your students can use as little or as many pages as they need.

Start by giving students the included list of possible authors to research or let them choose their own. This author may already be a favorite or one they want to know more about! Once the author is chosen, your job is to facilitate. Remind them of resources to use for research, note-taking skills and options, and let them learn and explore!

The author study resource includes everything your students need to get started. You’ll have the author examples, note sheets, rubrics, and an example research paper to help guide your instruction and student learning!

Differentiate by having students work in groups to research an author together or study different authors within the same genre. This is also a great way to culminate literature circles by having students research the author they read!

These independent research projects in upper elementary ELA are some of my favorites to provide choice while differentiating for all learners. What research projects have you tried in your ELA classroom?

• Read more about: Upper Elementary Reading

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Text Types and Their Relation to Efficacy in Beginning Reading Interventions

Pugh, Alia, Kearns, Devin M., Hiebert, Elfrieda H. (2023). Text Types and Their Relation to Efficacy in Beginning Reading Interventions. Reading Research Quarterly

The role of word-, sentence-, and text-level variables in predicting guided reading levels of kindergarten and first-grade texts

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The word complexity of primary-level texts: Differences between first and third grade in widely used curricula

Kearns, D., & Hiebert, E.H. (2022). The word complexity of primary-level texts: Differences between first and third grade in widely used curricula. Reading Research Quarterly, 57 (1), 255-285.

Features of Known and Unknown Words for First Graders of Different Proficiency Levels in Winter and Spring

Hiebert, E. H., Toyama, Y., & Irey, R. (2020). Features of known and unknown words for first graders of different proficiency levels in winter and spring. Education Sciences, 10 (12), 389.

Changing Readers, Changing Texts: Beginning Reading Texts from 1960 to 2010

Hiebert, E.H. (2015).Changing Readers, Changing Texts: Beginning Reading Texts from 1960 to 2010. Journal of Education, 195 (3), 1-14.

A Comparison of the Effects of Two Phonetically Regular Text Types on Young English Learners’ Literacy

Hiebert, E.H. & Fisher, C.W. (2016).  A Comparison of the Effects of Two Phonetically Regular Text Types on Young English Learners’ Literacy  (Reading Research Report 16.01). Santa Cruz, CA: TextProject, Inc.

An Analysis of Two Reading Intervention Programs

Murray, M.S., Munger, K.A., & Hiebert, E.H. An Analysis of Two Reading Intervention Programs. Elementary School Journal, 114 (4), 479-500.

The Critical Word Factor in Texts for Beginning Readers

Hiebert, E.H., & Fisher, C.W. (2007). The critical word factor in texts for beginning readers. Journal of Educational Research. 101 (1), 3-11.

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Research projects

Book History

Book and publishing history has been a long-standing and distinctive research focus of the department, with active collaborations in Modern Languages and the University Library, as well as national and international partnerships. The University houses the Archive of British Publishing and Printing , which has been designated an 'Outstanding Collection' by the Museums, Library and Archives Council. The archive supports the research of members of the department as well as postdoctoral and postgraduate researchers. The archive is also used for undergraduate projects.

The University Library also houses the prize-winning 'Location Register of Twentieth-Century English Literary Manuscripts' and 'Writers, Artists, and their Copyright Holders' (WATCH), run in collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin.  Find out more about the library's research projects

The Modernist Archives Publishing Project (MAPP): The Hogarth Press Archive Online

Claire Battershill and Nicola Wilson are co-investigators on an international digital humanities project with colleagues Dr Alice Staveley (Stanford, US), Dr Helen Southworth (University of Oregon, US) and Dr Elizabeth Willson Gordon (King's University, Canada).

The Modernist Archives Publishing Project (MAPP) brings together digital scholarship on twentieth-century publishing and aims to provide new ways of analysing and communicating the production networks of texts. Linking disparate archival holdings through a digital resource, MAPP will capture the processes of textual production, dissemination, and reception from the author's initial solicitation or submission to the publishing house, through editorial and production processes, to dust jackets and book design, readership and reviews, and catalogued sales figures.

A case study of Leonard and Virginia Woolf's Hogarth Press, a well-known but under-researched modernist publisher with a famous in-house writer, a varied list, strategic marketing, and international reach, offers an ideal pilot study. A user will be able to search the publisher's output according to genre, or author, or book designer, and organize material temporally; to see, for instance, what other Hogarth books were being produced alongside Virginia Woolf's modernist break-through, Jacob's Room , in 1922, or what books Woolf herself was reading for prospective Hogarth publication when she was actively theorizing the reinvention of the novel form.

Participating libraries and institutions include the University of Reading's Special Collections; Bruce Peel Special Collections Library, University of Alberta; Washington State University Libraries; the E.J. Pratt Library at the University of Toronto; Stanford University's Literary Lab and Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis (CESTA).

The Book Society: The influence of Britain's first mail-order book club on authors, publishers and readers, 1929-60

Nicola Wilson, British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellowship award

This project examines the literary and cultural impact of the Book Society from 1929-60 and how it shaped the production of the novel and mid-twentieth century reading patterns. Established in 1929 by the novelists Arnold Bennett and Hugh Walpole, it was modelled on the influential American Book-of-the-Month Club. Book Society Choices meant mass sales and great publicity, ensuring the bestselling success of novels as diverse as South Riding (1936), Rebecca (1938), and A Kind of Loving (1960).

Whereas the impact of the American Book-of-the-Month Club is well-known, the British Book Society is under-researched and rarely features in histories of reading or literary and cultural analysis of the twentieth century. This project uses records in the Archive of British Publishing and Printing at Reading to demonstrate how this powerful distributor transformed literary culture, the literary marketplace and multi-national reading communities. 

Diasporic Literary Archives Leverhulme Trust Project

Working with colleagues in Modern Languages and Research Projects, members of the English Department have secured funding from the Leverhulme Trust to undertake a three year project to promote the preservation of, and access to, literary archives held worldwide. A network involving partners from around the world will give the project an international relevance. For more information on the project, please visit the Diasporic Literary Archives website. 

Verse Miscellanies Online - British Academy Research Development Award

Michelle O'Callaghan has produced a digital edition and accompanying study of the early printed poetry miscellanies, from Songes and Sonnets (1557) to A Poetical Rhapsody , which first appeared in 1602, but continued to be published until 1621. Her book, Crafting Poetry Anthologies in Renaissance England (Cambridge, 2020), examines the extent to which practices of anthologising were shaped through the commercial development of the book trade and the role early printed poetry anthologies played in the history of the English lyric poetry and cultures of recreation. For more information, visit the Verse Miscellanies Online website .

The Impact of Distribution and Reading Patterns on the Novel in Britain, 1880-1940 AHRC Project

Members of the Department received funding from the AHRC to pursue an exciting research project entitled . 

Professor Patrick Parrinder, Dr Andrew Nash and Dr Nicola Wilson were researchers on this AHRC-funded project (2008-2012). The project examined the relationship between book history and literary history by investigating whether and to what extent the novel as a literary and cultural form has been affected by changing patterns of the distribution and readership of texts.

The period 1880-1940 is framed by two pivotal moments in literary and publishing history - the decline and eventual disappearance of the three-volume novel and the full emergence of the paperback. Categories such as the best-seller and subgenres such as detective fiction became increasingly distinct from 'mainstream' fiction. The impact of the public library movement, the rise of cheap subscription libraries, new retail outlets, and book clubs exemplify the changes in the circulation of fiction during this period.

How far were publishers and authors consciously seeking to produce fiction that would be acceptable to the market, and what constraints did this involve? To what extent did changes in reading patterns and in the cultural status of fiction influence what was written and published? And what contribution can the analysis of changes in distribution and reading patterns make to a new understanding of one of the most revolutionary periods in the history of English fiction?

Room to Rhyme

Room to Rhyme is a British Academy funded research project led by Conor Carville investigating literature, crisis, arts policy and the public sphere, with special attention to poetry in Northern Ireland between 1968 and 1978.

The project celebrated 50 years since the 1968 Arts Council funded tour of Northern Ireland by Seamus Heaney, Michael Longley and Davy Hammond. The project examined the historical and intellectual background to the tour, locating it in the context of debates in government, at the BBC and the Arts Council concerning the role of culture in a situation of increasing polarization. The project aimed to establish the thinking behind the poetry tours organized by the Northern Ireland Arts Council in the 1960s and 1970s, and to consider first, the impact of this thinking on cultural production, especially poetry, and second, the lessons that might be learned for current arts policy in both NI and the rest of the UK.

The two workshops organised during the project brought to Reading a range of interlocutors that enriched the research immeasurably: Marie Breen-Smyth, an expert on terrorism who worked for the Community Relations Commission in the early 1970s; Ian Duhig, a poet who has both been shortlisted the Forward prize and worked with the homeless in Belfast; Damian Gorman , a poet commissioned numerous times by the NI Arts Council, the BBC and others, and who has also worked using poetry in conflict resolution situations elsewhere (Middle East and the Balkans).

Room to Rhyme attracted much interest from non-academic audiences through its final conference and reading, which were free and open to the public, and held in the historical Linen Hall library in Belfast. Ten speakers, representing the foremost critics in the field of Northern Irish poetry, shared their most recent research across the day. In the evening there was a reading by Michael Longley - a member of the original tour - as well as leading NI poets Colette Bryce and Alan Gillis. The audience included academics, writers, undergraduates and arts administrators, but was for the most part composed of Linen Hall members, book group members and other interested parties.

Visit the Room to Rhyme website .

From Cervantes to Shakespeare, Valladolid 1605: Bringing La Ruta de los Ingleses to Schools, Tourists, and Citizens

In spring 1605, an English embassy led by Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham arrived in Valladolid (capital of Spain, 1601-6) to ratify the Treaty of London signed the previous year at Somerset House, in the presence of King Philip III. Drawing on contemporary texts and documents in Spanish, English, and Portuguese, Mark Hutchings (University of Reading) and Berta Cano-Echevarría (Universidad de Valladolid) have retraced the ceremonial entry into Valladolid, the route taken within the city walls, and the sites of the entertainments held over the course of several weeks and plotted these events onto the earliest map of the city. In partnership with the Town Hall and Castile y León Schools La Ruta de los Ingleses has been adopted by the Tourist Office and incorporated into the regional secondary school curriculum respectively.

To read more about the early modern relationship between the Iberian Peninsula and the British Isles, visit the Networks of Exchange website .

Crossing Borders in Insular Middle Ages Project (2016-2020, Humboldt Foundation Networking Grant)

Aisling Byrne is co-principal Investigator with Dr Victoria Flood of Birmingham University on a four-year network project funded by the Humboldt Foundation. The network brings together scholars from around Europe, tracing the transmission and translation of literary texts across Britain, Ireland, and Iceland, during the period 1250-1550. In 2019, the project, launched its digital resource developed in collaboration with "CultureLab" at Newcastle University  The website features a selection of texts translated between Latin, French, Irish, Welsh, English and Norse in the medieval period. It explores the movements of these texts across borders and between languages through (a) interactive maps of transmission, (b) discursive articles and (c) a database of manuscripts.

"When we talk about home: testimonies, Oral Histories, and Poetry of Migration", Leverhulme Research Fellowship, 2020-21.

Yasmine Shamma's project reads interviews with refugees and displaced subjects of recent migration crises against poetry that addresses such human movement.

Featuring theoretically informed commentary on a self-curated collection of interviews with refugees from Syria, Palestine, and Africa, this project asks what 'home' means to these 'placeless people' who left their homes under the assumption that their displacement would be temporary. How do the displaced make themselves at 'home' in supposedly temporary settings? How do they sense lost homes when they create new homes? This project features original interview material and reads it alongside the contemporary poetry of migration.

Lost and Found?: A Digital Archive of Testimonies of Migration, Displacement, and Resettlement, British Academy, 2018-19

This project, led by Yasmine Shamma, and funded by the British Academy's 'Tackling the UKs International Challenges' scheme, centres on the homes that have been lost and found by refugees of the recent Syrian crisis.  

Read more about Lost and Found?

"What think you of a wound?":Wounding oneself in Early Modern England, Wellcome University Award

Early modern people deliberately wounded themselves surprisingly often and in numerous ways, from stabbing to castration. This five-year project aims to transform our understanding of early modern social attitudes by unravelling why people wounded themselves, and what kinds of emotional and practical responses this provoked. Working across different kinds of texts from ballads to plays and medical treatises, it will explore how self-wounding acts related to contemporary debates about selfhood and self-ownership, showing how one phenomenon might be read in numerous, interrelated ways.

Alanna Skuse's project, funded by a Wellcome University Award, is the first sustained investigation into self-wounding in early modern England. It will provide contextualised analysis of some of the most compelling moments in the early modern dramatic canon, and will show how representations of self-wounding from across literary cultures contributed to contemporary notions of embodiment, morality, and self-expression.

This project follows on from Alanna's previous project, 'Selfhood and the surgically altered body, 1600-1745', funded by a Wellcome Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, 2016-19.

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Multigenre Research Project: The Key to Fitting in All Genres of Writing

Looking for a way to spice up your writing unit while engaging students, differentiating by ability and interest, and still covering all the required standards at the appropriate level of rigor? Teaching writing is not always easy, but I’ve got you covered. Just keep reading as I introduce you to the benefits of the multigenre research project.

“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.” ~ Mark Twain

When I was in grad school for my reading specialist certification, I took a class on teaching writing. It was a little confusing to me at first exactly why I was taking a writing class in a reading program, but as I quickly learned, writing and reading are closely entwined in the love relationship that is literacy. As it was, the professor of this class introduced us to the multigenre research project.

The Multigenre Research Project

What is it, you might be wondering? A multigenre research project is a mixture of imagination, research, reading, writing, and ingenuity. Picture all the goodness of multiple genres of writing smooshed together and combined with student choice and writing workshop.

Students pick a research topic that interests them, and they write about that topic from various angles and viewpoints through multiple genres of writing (creative, expository, persuasive, analytical, argumentative – you name it!).

They package their ideas together symbolically, and they also include a transitional element (a repetend, if you will) that ties each piece of their writing together seamlessly. A lot of thought is required. For a more detailed explanation (and some quality resources), read this .

The Time I Wrote One

Back to my story…I’ll never forget what happened next. That professor actually made us write one. The whole  thing. I just thought, seriously lady? I have little kids at home…and a dog…and a husband…and two fish…and I teach full time. Are you for real?

The MGP, as she taught it, took me about two months to complete. But, I have to admit: In hindsight, I understood why she was teaching us about this approach to writing and reading. It really was the perfect literacy storm. That’s why I’m sharing these ideas with you today. Also, it doesn’t have to take two months. You can make it fit your needs.

For the sake of brevity, I’m not going to go into all the details about exactly how to structure the unit or what to include (although you can easily do some research on this topic and find a plethora of insanely good ideas). Instead, what I’d suggest is that you get your hands on this book* . It’s the text I used in my master’s class, and the authors tell you everything you need to know.

What I am going to share are 11 reasons why it will revolutionize your research unit.

1. Student interest is paramount.

The beauty of the multigenre research project is that students truly CAN write about almost any topic that interests them. Even if they’ve written about the topic in the past, the multigenre research project will allow them to delve deeper into the subject they enjoy. I was amazed by the level of interest my students showed in their projects. Bonus.

2. Creativity is encouraged.

Sadly, many traditional research papers squelch students’ imaginations. My students are left hungry, always asking me, “When are we doing a creative writing unit?” The demands of high school English curriculum often leave little room for “fun” writing.

With the multigenre project, students are writing multiple pieces about their topic, and each piece is a different genre. If Suzy wants to write a recipe, and Billy Bob is yearning to write a comic strip, so be it.

Students are required to think about how they will tie each of their pieces together (which is called the repetend), and the symbolic project packaging is another angle where students can showcase their imaginations.

3. Minilessons are sprinkled throughout.

One of the reasons I love the multigenre project is because it allows me to see students’ writing on a regular basis (I collect one piece each week), and I focus my minilessons on common patterns I notice in their pieces.

For instance, I cover one trait of writing each week, one or two genres of writing each week, and one grammatical concept per week. Students can grasp the authenticity behind these lessons because they are geared specifically toward their current drafts. We reinforce those ideas as we draft, revise, and edit our genres.

4. Differentiation? A breeze.

You don’t even have to try. It’s impossible to teach the multigenre research project and not differentiate. Students get to pick their topics. You get to help them decide what pieces and how many they should write based on their research and their ability levels. You gear instruction toward their needs. A custom-made assignment for every student. Done.

5. More time is available for conferences with students.

Regular research writing units can feel rushed. With the multigenre project, I make it a habit of sitting down with every student in the classroom at least once a week to conference with them about their current piece of writing and their vision for the project as a whole. I usually do this either during group conference/feedback time or during the day each week I give students to work on that week’s genre. Students appreciate this instant feedback, and at the end of the unit, there are no surprises. We have clearly communicated expectations all along.

6. Potential exists for cross-curricular adventures.

This concept is not just an English thing.  Anyone can assign a multigenre research project. Teachers can even join together to have students research topics that cross content areas. When students select topics they enjoy, they will be more likely to want to research different facets of that subject and, in turn, possibly dip into multiple content areas.

7. It enforces the writing process naturally.

It’s always amazing to me that ninth graders can sit in my classroom and not understand the writing process. Hello? There are only five steps! Sigh. In reality, I can’t entirely blame them. If I only purposely thought about the writing process a couple times a year, I probably wouldn’t have much reason to remember it, either.

With the multigenre project, I emphasize that writing process for every piece and for the project as a whole. It’s sort of impossible for students not to have it mastered when we are through.

8. It allows for student-driven learning.

I was a little concerned about how my freshmen students would handle this whole project. In hindsight, they amazed me with their passion for the topics they chose, for the genres they wanted to write, for the depth of their thinking, and for their responsibility they took on with researching. When the choices are left up to the students, they really can impress you.

Even better, my students LEARNED TO TALK ABOUT WRITING. Say what?!? Yes, I sat with them while they conferenced. I modeled constructive feedback. They started out a little meek and unsure, but they ended the nine weeks with some serious writing feedback lingo in their tool belts, and they were more confident in their abilities to assess their own and their peers’ writing. That’s something to celebrate!

9. The design is flexible.

The thing with the multigenre research project is that it truly can be whatever you need it or want it to be. If you only have a couple weeks, students can complete much of it outside of class, or it could be a short project. If you have an entire nine weeks, however, you can really devote some serious instructional time and writing workshop lessons to the unit.

You can include whatever genres of writing you want your students to know, and you can emphasize whatever minilessons they need. Flexibility reigns.

10. Research writing is still taught, but better.

So here’s the thing. I don’t want anyone navigating away from this blog post thinking that students don’t learn how to write a research paper with this approach to writing. Quite the contrary, actually. My students had a firm understanding of what it means to write research pieces after completing this unit, but their comprehension of “research writing” was extended beyond the norm.

I introduced my students not only to traditional MLA research writing skills, but also to the concept of citing research in creative writing through footnotes and endnotes. I showed them different formats of citing sources, and we discussed which citation formats would be appropriate for which genres of writing. The discussion was rich. Learning was forefront. It really was worthwhile.

11. Conquer the writing standards.

I challenge you to find one Common Core writing standard that is not covered with this multigenre research project. It’s a beast. Text types and purposes? Check. Production and distribution of writing? Check. Research to build and present knowledge? Check. Range of writing? Checkmate. I absolutely adore that students can be investing themselves in a topic they love and accomplishing so much learning at the same time. It’s a rich, infectious atmosphere.

If I sat here longer, I’m sure I could come up with far more than 11 benefits of this assignment. For full transparency, I don’t want to end this post with everyone thinking my classroom during this unit was all rainbows and unicorns. Do all students LOVE this assignment? Let’s be real – I wish. With any project, there will always be that pocket who holds back and grumbles, but I actually had many students tell me how much they were enjoying it, so I know it was successful for the majority of the class.

Tips for Implementation

If you are interested in trying this unit in your own classroom, I would first suggest developing an easy template/rubric for grading the assignments.

Also, tell students up front exactly what your expectations are, and as you conference with them, make sure to give them honest feedback so there are no surprises when they get their graded project returned to them. This will be a project many students consider an extension of themselves, so they will be emotionally attached.

Start with something manageable. If you don’t fully understand what you are doing, your students definitely will be lost. Finally, get organized. Create a calendar (even an organic one that you explain will be altered as you move throughout the project) so that everyone is on the same page for deadlines, topics of study, computer lab dates, and other expectations.

You can access my free organizational materials for the prewriting portion of the MGP here .

Most importantly, have fun with this. Let students drive their own learning, and don’t be too hard on yourself…the first time is always a process of trial and error! Tell your students you want their help with tweaking the unit as you go…they’ll have an additional interest to keep them vested in their work.

* This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. If you click through and purchase using the link, I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

PASSION PROJECTS

Argumentative writing, scaffolding the multiple-paragraph essay.

I found your site via Pinterest and am very intrigued by the idea of the multi-genre project. I would like to read more, but the link to your book recommendation yields a “can’t find this book”message on Barnes and Noble. Please help!

Hi Loralyn!

Thanks so much for letting me know about the link. It’s fixed now. The book I used is is called A Teacher’s Guide to the Multigenre Research Project: Everything You Need to Get Started by Melinda Putz. I highly recommend it! It saved me so much time by laying out a solid plan for how to get started. If you decide to try this, don’t forget to come back and let us know how it went. I’d be so excited to hear about your experiences. Let me know if there’s any other way I can help. Happy teaching!

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65+ Real-World Project-Based Learning Ideas for All Ages and Interests

Find and implement solutions to real-world problems.

Project-based learning is a hot topic in many schools these days, as educators work to make learning more meaningful for students. As students conduct hands-on projects addressing real-world issues, they dig deeper and make personal connections to the knowledge and skills they’re gaining. But not just any project fits into this concept. Learn more about strong project-based learning ideas, and find examples for any age or passion.

What is project-based learning?

Project-based learning (PBL) uses real-world projects and student-directed activities to build knowledge and skills. Kids choose a real-world topic that’s meaningful to them (some people call these “passion projects”), so they’re engaged in the process from the beginning. These projects are long-term, taking weeks, months, or even a full semester or school year. Students may complete them independently or working in small groups. Learn much more about project-based learning here.

What makes a good PBL project?

In many ways, PBL is more like the work adults do in their daily jobs, especially because student efforts have potential real-world effects. A strong PBL project:

• Addresses a real-world issue or problem
• Requires sustained and independent inquiry, in and out of the classroom
• Allows students voice and choice throughout the project
• Combines elements of many disciplines
• Includes collaboration with public partners, such as universities, community organizations, or businesses
• Produces a public product that is seen by those outside the school community
• Covers a complete process, including activities like research, design, production, marketing or public awareness, and enlisting supporters or investors

Outdoor Project-Based Learning Ideas

• Create a new local park, or improve an existing one by adding new features or providing needed maintenance.
• Plant a community garden to provide food for a soup kitchen, food pantry, or other organization.
• Design and create a butterfly, pollinator, or other wildlife garden to support the local ecosystem.
• Build a new walking or biking trail that’s safe for people of all ages to use.
• Devise and implement a way to reduce litter in your community.
• Set up and manage a school or community compost pile, and distribute the resulting soil to those who need it most.
• Find and help the public use a new way to grow food that requires less soil, water, or fertilizers, which are in short supply in some parts of the world.
• Design, build, and install a completely unique piece of playground equipment that serves a specific purpose or need.

School Community Project-Based Learning Ideas

• Start a comprehensive recycling program at school, or substantially improve participation in an existing one.
• Add collaborative artwork like murals or other displays to school hallways, bathrooms, or grounds.
• Determine a location or program at your school that needs improvement, then make a plan, raise the funds, and implement your ideas.
• Come up with ways to celebrate your school’s diversity and improve relationships between all students.
• Start and run a school store , including inventory, financial plans, and marketing.
• Write a school handbook for new students, with tips and tricks for helping them feel at home.
• Figure out how to offer healthier, better-tasting meals and snacks in the school cafeteria.
• Implement a mentoring program for older students to help younger students, with planned activities and appropriate training for older students.
• Design and propose a new style of grading system that ensures equity.
• Find ways to improve the indoor recess experience at your school.
• Set up and run a new school newspaper, magazine, podcast, video channel, etc.

Greater Community Project-Based Learning Ideas

• Coordinate a community art project in a central location to celebrate local culture or artists.
• Set up a program for schoolkids to socialize with senior citizens in nursing homes, hospitals, or retirement communities.
• Create a program to offer free translation services for ESL families in the community.
• Help a local animal shelter improve its facilities, or find new ways to match homeless pets with their forever families.
• Build and maintain Little Free Libraries around your community, especially in underserved areas.
• Help local businesses become more environmentally conscious, increasing sustainability and decreasing waste.
• Create and lead a walking tour of your community, highlighting its culture, history, landmarks, and more.
• Find a way to record and celebrate local voices in your community’s history.
• Come up with ideas for welcoming immigrants and other newcomers to your community.
• Set up a series of events that will encourage the community to mix and experience each others’ foods, cultures, and more.
• Create and implement a new program to inspire a love of books and reading in preschool students.
• Set up and help run a new charitable organization your community needs.

Social Issues Project-Based Learning Ideas

• Start an awareness campaign on a topic that’s important to you, like anti-bullying, healthy living, protecting the environment, civil rights, equality and equity, etc.
• Come up with and implement ways to increase voter turnout in your community, especially among younger voters.
• Write, record, and share with a wider audience your own TED Talk–style video on an issue that hasn’t been covered yet or on which you have a unique perspective.
• Devise and implement ways for unheard voices to be amplified in your school or community.
• Write and publicly perform a play that highlights a social issue that’s important to you.
• Look for areas in your community that present challenges to those with disabilities, and help to improve them to overcome those challenges.
• Research, write, and publicly present and defend a position paper on an issue that’s important to your community.
• Choose a real court case, then research the law and work with legal experts to prepare and present your own case as you would in a courtroom.
• Write, edit, seek, and incorporate real-world feedback, and publish or publicly present your own book, poem, or song on an issue that’s important to you.
• Start a program to teach a specific group (e.g., preschoolers, senior citizens, business owners) to care for and protect the environment.
• Plan and hold a fundraiser to support an issue you care about.
• Choose a law you feel is unjust, and write, research, and publicly present and defend a position paper about your desired change.

STEM Project-Based Learning Ideas

• Create an app that meets a specific purpose for a specific audience.
• Invent something new that the world needs, and then fund, create, and sell your product in the community.
• Design a game to help students learn important STEM concepts.
• Find a simple way to improve an existing product, especially if it cuts costs or improves environmental sustainability.
• Explore ways to reduce the amount of waste we produce, especially plastic and other landfill-bound items.
• Write a book or graphic novel that’s entertaining but also teaches kids about science or math.
• Devise new ways to provide clean drinking water to communities where water is scarce.
• Build an effective solar oven people can use to cook during extended power outages, or in areas where electricity isn’t available.
• Work with a university or STEM organization to gather, analyze, and present real-world scientific data.
• Design a building to fit a specific purpose or need, including researching the requirements and zoning laws, accurately drafting a plan, determining the costs, and presenting the plan to the proposed client.
• Create an interactive hands-on exhibit to teach people about STEM concepts.
• Determine a type of website you believe is missing, then research, build, and publish the site you envision.

Creative Arts Project-Based Learning Ideas

• Organize an art show for the community, seeking out those who ordinarily might not have a chance to display their work.
• Create and teach an art class in your area of expertise to children, the elderly, or another segment of the population.
• Design a mural for an area in your community that needs beautification, and seek funding or other assistance from community members to install it.
• Write a play about a topic that’s meaningful to you or your community. Work with the community to stage a performance for all to attend.
• Invite local dancers to perform at a school or community Festival of Dance, highlighting a variety of cultures and dance styles.
• Start a regular writer’s workshop where community writers can come together to share and seek feedback. Invite local authors or publishing experts to speak as guests.
• Collect stories, poems, and essays from local authors, and put them together into a book. Sell the book to raise money for a cause that’s important to local writers.
• Gather singers or instrumentalists from your community into a choir or band. Put on a concert to raise money for a special cause, or take your choir on tour to local retirement homes, hospitals, etc.
• Write a song about a person or cause that’s important to you. Produce and record the song, then find a way to share it with others.
• Make a short film about a local hero, community event, or local place. Invite others to do the same, and organize a local film festival.

What are some your favorite project-based learning ideas? Come share your thoughts in the We Are Teachers HELPLINE group on Facebook !

Plus, meaningful service learning projects for kids and teens ..

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Expect Unexpected Engagement When you try Hexagonal Thinking in ELA

Listen to my latest podcast episode:.

25 Creative Project Ideas for ELA

• August 21, 2017

For many students, creative projects drive the most learning. The project pulls together their interests and skills with the material, and engagement happens.

Projects make a huge difference in any curriculum.

When I look back on my experience as a student, creative projects are the highlight of every year going all the way back to 4th grade (my leaf collection!). As a teacher, I try to build them into almost every unit.

If you’ve been wanting to do more creative projects, but you’re stuck for ways to get started, this post is for you. I’m going to share five different categories of projects to help you find inspiration. If you need a quick fix of project-based inspiration, I’ve created a printable checklist of thirty-two project ideas within these five categories. Print it out and put it by your computer and it’ll be a LONG time before you run out of ideas! Subscribe below and I’ll send it right along.

#1: Projects based on Modern Media  My school once got rid of sophomore honors English and history.  Students could pursue the honors distinction by completing a portfolio of interdisciplinary projects instead.

Our teaching team needed to invent these projects and roll them out every couple of months. Our first was to have the students do a radio show like This American Life. They chose themes related to our curriculum, each recording an introduction, interviews, stories, and a conclusion. Then they mixed all this with music to produce a podcast. The results were phenomenal.

There are many more ways you could use podcasts.

Students in groups could create a podcast in which they interview guests who are characters from a novel.

You could have students go out and interview people in the real world about topics they care about.

You could come up with an interdisciplinary task, like creating a podcast about the school robotics team or maker space, featuring information, background and interviews that allow students to dive into STEM topics through humanities skills.

Another great way to use modern media as the basis of a project is through video creation. You could start a class Youtube channel covering modern news from the student perspective, then let students create videos every couple of months on a major recent happening. The videos should include commentary, interviews, and related storytelling.

Ask students to create two minute versions of the novel you are reading, either through cartoon animation or short acted scenes.

Participate in a collaborative project with students in another country, producing a video as a class that explores your city and its people and sharing it with your partners, then responding to theirs.

Perhaps your students would enjoy drawing up storyboards for the Netflix version of your latest novel. Or writing a television series proposal they might present to PBS. You get the idea. Once you’re rolling, there are hundreds of ways students could explore material with real depth through the medium of modern media.

#2 Festival Projects Who doesn’t love it when their hard work is truly celebrated? There are many ways to create a festival-based final project.

Have students present creative free choice reading projects at a reading festival. Invite younger students who could use inspiration in their reading choices. Play music. Have food. It doesn’t take much preparation to pull off an engaging festival for your students. Let them help; they’ll buy in more and it’ll be less work for you.

Or make the creation of the festival itself the project. Maybe you’d like to do a transcendentalism festival for a local elementary school. Have students in groups plan activities, make food, create posters, postcards, and booklets to share with the younger kids. Put a pair of students in charge of leading a nature hike and another pair in charge of contacting local news media with a press kit and follow-up materials from the festival itself. Revel in the joy success will bring your students.

Performances lend themselves well to festivals too. Perhaps your students are going to write and act mini one-act plays. Any way you could gather everyone together from all your sections on a Thursday night, inviting parents and administrators to join you? Maybe everyone in your class is going to memorize a poem, could they perform them in the school garden after watching slam poetry clips chosen by the class while your ambiance committee serves smoothies? (I love putting students in committees. They seem to love it too.)

When students have created something outstanding, a festival can simply be a way for them to showcase their work.

Say, for example, you’ve had your students create innovative apps designed to solve the problems of literary characters ( one of my own favorite projects ). Let them present the apps at a class innovation fair, similar to a science fair but with a bookish flavor. Either have students take it in turns to wander or answer questions in front of their displays, or give everyone two minutes with the smart board behind them to present their apps as videos, Prezis, Powerpoints, or powerful speeches.

Thinking about ways to give students an authentic audience and a memorable day amps up engagement so much. I find that festivals get everyone excited, every time.

#3 Interdisciplinary Projects The world is getting more interdisciplinary all the time. If a student wants to be known for great cooking, it’s a good idea for him to be able to take good photos, make videos, write blog posts and run social media if he hopes to write a cookbook someday. Entrepreneurs must be good not only at whatever they hope to build a business around but also at all things media and marketing. Athletes must manage their personal brands and communicate with the news. Historians better be ready to broadcast live for their museum’s Facebook page.

Providing students with ways to mix and match what they are passionate about from multiple disciplines sets them up to be happier later on.

Let’s imagine a project or two you could do with colleagues in several departments at your school.

Art: Ask an art teacher if he or she would consider hosting a gallery show in your school’s display area with work from your students. Then bring the art teacher in as a guest speaker as you introduce a project to represent the nature of one character from a novel through an artistic medium. Imagine a gallery featuring short videos, paintings, drawings, photo essays, murals, and sculptures expressing the nature of Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter or Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream . Have students write up reflective analysis papers demonstrating how their work represents their careful character analysis, and display these to accompany the art.

History : Talk to a history teacher about some of the important themes of the history curriculum in the year you teach. Choose one major theme and share it with students. Have students begin hunting for news articles, headlines, and images from modern media that connect current events and trends with this powerful theme from their history study. Get permission to create a giant collage somewhere in your school space. Have every student write a paper connecting ten things they find on the wall to the theme, and choose the best to publish and display by the collage for the whole school to read.

Math : Ask students to interview math faculty about exciting math-based careers. Then have them create a newspaper called “Why Math is Cool” to publish and share with younger kids who find math a struggle. Send them out in pairs to research the topics and create elements of the newspaper – comic strips, columns, infographics, articles, advice columns, etc.

When you do an interdisciplinary project, you not only engage your students but you understand them better as students. More interdisciplinary connections may naturally arise, and your newly strengthened relationship with your colleague in another department can only help.

#4 Inhabit a School Space Again, this project provides that all-important piece, the authentic audience. When students know they will be creating a project that many people will see, it makes a big difference to their motivation.

Perhaps your students could exhibit final projects in the school office. Perhaps the culmination of a free choice reading unit could be the creation of a huge book display with recommendation blurbs in the library.

Maybe poetry slam winners could perform as part of a school assembly or at a parent night. Or a photography class could shoot photos of your class performance of Death of a Salesman to display in the entryway of the school.

Is there a dark ugly wall somewhere in your building waiting to be filled with a collage of great literary quotations? Or a mural featuring three important themes from great American novels?

Inhabiting a school space connects your classroom to the community and the community to your classroom.

Image Credit to cheapsurfgear.com

#5 Take part in a Contest or Challenge

If authentic audience is king, competition is queen. Both have great power for motivation, like it or not. Engaging students in the writing process by taking part in a challenge or participating in a competition is an easy win.

Why not try NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month) with your students this year? Can you imagine the feeling of accomplishment that would come with writing a novel as a teenager?

Or build a unit around submitting to a national essay contest ( here’s a list of great ones ) or one in your community.

You could even start a youth writing contest in your city and make your students the judges. What a lesson in good writing it would be to create a rubric and discuss the finalists to determine what pieces are the best! Similarly, you could start a website to publish student writing and make your students the editors and the public relations managers. ___

I hope you’ve found some inspiration for your next project. To borrow a line from Pringles chips, “once you start, you can’t stop!”  

Wish your students could dive into podcasting but wary of the tech? Let me give you the tips, trick, and (easy) tools you need to help students succeed with this engaging, relevant medium. Join over 5,000 other creative teachers when you sign up for Camp Creative: The Easy Roadmap to Student Podcasting. It’s a free three day PD with every resource and tutorial linked straight to your inbox – no need to try to slot a live session into your (very) busy schedule. 

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185 Trending Capstone Project Ideas

Table of Contents

Typically, at the end of a semester or an academic year, to assess how well students have understood a subject, instructors will ask each student or a team in a class to work on unique capstone project ideas. If you are unsure what topic to choose for your capstone project, then you will find this blog helpful.

Here, for people who are having trouble coming up with a capstone project topic, we have presented a list of excellent capstone project topic ideas on a variety of subjects. Furthermore, we have shared how to choose the best capstone project idea.

Continue reading this blog and get inspiring ideas for a capstone project.

What is a Capstone Project?

A capstone project is a metric used by schools and colleges to assess students’ overall understanding of a subject at the end of a course. It will be extremely valuable to the students because it allows them to demonstrate their communication, presentation, and problem-solving skills.

The goal of a capstone project is to help students plan independently, do extensive analysis, collaborate in groups, and stick to deadlines. Usually, the teachers will give each student or group of students a task to finish on any outstanding capstone project ideas.

Capstone Project Topic Selection Tips

To do a capstone project, first, you must select an ideal topic related to your subject. In case, you are worried about how to choose a perfect topic for your capstone project, adhere to these topic selection tips.

• Always select a topic that aligns with your interests and passion within your field of study.
• To create an impactful and relevant project, pick a topic that addresses current challenges or gaps in your field.
• To identify an innovative capstone project idea, make sure to combine insights from various disciplines.
• Give preference to a project idea that contains enough resources and data.
• Ensure the feasibility of your project idea by assessing the time constraints.
• When choosing a capstone project topic, keep an eye on the latest trends, debates, and issues in your field of study.
• Before finalizing your capstone project topic, get guidance from your instructors or mentors. They will validate your project ideas and help you select the right one.

Read More – Best Nursing Research Topics and Ideas For Students To Think About

List of Capstone Project Topics and Ideas

In this section, we have recommended a list of outstanding capstone project ideas on different subjects such as nursing, computer science, engineering, accounting, marketing, and so on. If you run short of capstone project ideas, without any hesitation, make use of this list.

Capstone Project Ideas on Education

• Test the efficiency of online learning platforms.
• Create a comprehensive plan for school safety.
• Design a blended learning model for higher education.
• Assess the advantages of outdoor education programs.
• Examine how parental participation affects students’ academic achievement.
• Develop strategies for effective classroom administration.
• Assess the impact of technology in elementary education.
• Create a learning disability intervention program for students.
• Analyze the effectiveness of project-based learning.
• Create an educational program for culturally responsive teaching.

Capstone Project Topics on Nursing

• Create plans for community health outreach initiatives directed by nurses.
• Examine new developments in medical monitoring systems.
• Examine the role of telemedicine in rural healthcare.
• Assess how nurse staffing levels affect the results of patients.
• Address burnout among nursing professionals.
• Analyze the effectiveness of nurse-led health promotion initiatives.
• Promote mental health awareness in critical care settings.
• Enhance infection control measures in the healthcare environment.
• Design culturally competent nursing care programs.
• Reduce medication errors by using technology.

MBA Capstone Project Ideas

• Optimize supply chain management for cost efficiency.
• Examine the role of emotional intelligence in leadership effectiveness.
• Implement performance measurement systems for organizational success.
• Analyze the effect of globalization on business strategy.
• Build a comprehensive talent management strategy.
• Examine the role of corporate social responsibility in brand perception.
• Analyze financial strategies for sustainable business growth.
• Conduct strategic analysis of market entry for an international company.
• Implement data-driven decision-making processes in organizations.
• Assess the effectiveness of leadership development programs.

Capstone Project Ideas on Management

• Improve employee engagement through effective communication.
• Assess the effectiveness of the performance appraisal system.
• Analyze the impact of diversity and inclusion on team performance.
• Create strategies for effective organizational communication.
• Examine the impact of leadership styles on employee motivation.
• Enhance organizational culture for innovation and creativity.
• Analyze the impact of leadership development on organizational success.
• Implement lead management principles for operational efficiency.
• Enhance customer relationship management to increase satisfaction.
• Examine the role of ethics in organizational decision-making.

Marketing Capstone Project Topics

• Examine the consumer perceptions of sustainable brands.
• For a corporate band, create a social responsibility campaign.
• Assess the role of emotional appeals in advertising.
• Examine the influence of cultural factors on international marketing.
• Design a customer loyalty program for retail businesses.
• Build an integrated digital marketing campaign for a product launch.
• Implement data analytics for market segmentation.
• Implement a targeted email marketing campaign.
• Analyze the effect of celebrity endorsements on brand image.
• Create a marketing plan for the launch of a new product.

Accounting Capstone Project Topics

• Create a cost accounting system for manufacturing processes.
• Examine the effect of international financial reporting standards.
• Perform internal controls for finance compliance.
• Examine the role of AI in auditing processes.
• Build risk management strategies for financial institutions.
• Examine the impact of tax policy changes on business financial planning.
• Perform data analytics for financial forecasting.
• Assess the financial performance of socially responsible investments.
• Examine the role of corporate governance in financial reporting.
• Evaluate the effect of accounting software on organizational efficiency.

Computer Science Capstone Project Topics

• Design a blockchain-based solution for secure document verification.
• Build an intelligent traffic management system using AI.
• Create an algorithm to optimize social media content delivery.
• Build a cybersecurity framework to protect a network.
• Develop a recommendation system using machine learning algorithms.
• Build a mobile app for personalized health monitoring.
• Implement a machine learning model for predictive maintenance.
• Design an automated testing tool for software quality assurance.
• Design a computer vision system to recognize objects.
• Create a scalable and secure cloud computing architecture.

Also read: Excellent Engineering Topics To Consider For Academic Work

Engineering Capstone Project Ideas

• Design an automated infrastructure monitoring and maintenance system.
• Build a waste management system.
• Design a solar-powered desalination system.
• Assess the effects of transportation systems on the environment.
• Design a smart irrigation system for sustainable agriculture.
• Design a renewable energy-powered vehicle.
• Implement structural health monitoring for the safety of the building.
• Design a sustainable energy solution for a community.
• Examine the potential of geothermal energy for sustainable power generation.
• Analyze how energy efficiency is affected by green building technologies.

Information Technology Topics for Capstone Project

• Design an intelligent chatbot for customer support.
• Build a secure authentication system.
• Design a data analytics platform for social media insights.
• Build a real-time language translation app.
• Design a machine learning algorithm for anomaly detection.
• Evaluate the usability of healthcare delivery mobile applications.
• Develop a virtual reality application for employee training.
• Analyze big data trends for business intelligence.
• Build an automated system for IT service management.
• Create a network intrusion detection system for cybersecurity.

Psychology Topics for Capstone Project

• Conduct a mental health awareness campaign.
• Analyze the factors that influence resilience in the face of adversity.
• Examine the effect of cultural factors on psychological well-being.
• Examine the role of social support in coping with trauma.
• Assess the effectiveness of online mental health support platforms.
• Analyze the correlation between sleep patterns and cognitive functioning.
• Examine the psychological effects of social media use on adolescents.
• Host a mental health stigma reduction program.
• Test the effectiveness of therapeutic inventions for anxiety disorders.
• Examine the impact of technology on the cognitive development of children.

Also read: Best Sports Research Topics for Students To Write About

Wrapping Up

From the above-shared list, choose any idea that meets your needs and develop an extraordinary capstone project. In case, you need any other innovative capstone project ideas or if you struggle to finish your capstone project, reach out to us quickly.

At greatassignmenthelp.com, we have proficient assignment helpers from different educational backgrounds to offer cheap and best capstone project help online. According to the requirements you send us, on any subject topic, our professionals will assist you in completing your capstone project effectively. Furthermore, getting our assignment help will aid you in submitting your capstone project accurately before the deadline and achieving top grades.

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April wellness walk.

The Division of Human Resources and the Penn Center for Public Health host the monthly two-mile wellness walk for April, which is the first outdoor walk of the year. 

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

College Hall, Benjamin Franklin Statue

Immigration Policy and the Election

1:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

The Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics, 133 S. 36th St.

2024 Models of Excellence

4:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Penn Museum, 3260 South St.

Take Our Children to Work Day

Various locations

Education, Business, & Law

The West Philadelphia Collaborative History Project chronicles a community’s past

Sponsored by penn’s graduate school of education, the project is a digital repository of neighborhood, institutional, and community histories..

Online visitors who spend even a few minutes rummaging through the West Philadelphia Collaborative History Project  (WPCH) are rewarded with a rich tapestry of stories. Among them: A West Philadelphia high school athletic field that hosted the 1934 championship series of the National Negro League; a popular amusement park located just outside Fairmount Park featuring a four-acre swimming pool with a sandy beach—and a whites-only policy; and three heroic Civil Rights icons —Paul Robeson, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr.—who left formidable imprints on West Philadelphia.

This is just a sampling of the topics covered in the WPCH, a digital repository that includes neighborhood, institutional, and community histories, many of them in danger of being lost. Sponsored by Penn’s Graduate School of Education (Penn GSE), the WPCH provides a web-based home for these West Philadelphia stories, all vividly illustrated with photographs and maps.

The WPCH is a labor of love for John Puckett , a historian, emeritus professor at Penn GSE and long-time West Philadelphia resident. As project director, he oversees the website, contributes articles and works closely with collaborators, including West Philadelphia residents and local graduate students.

The WPCH launched in 2018, but according to Puckett, its seed was planted more than 30 years ago. “My Penn colleague Lee Benson, an emeritus professor of American history, tried to organize a Van Pelt Library repository for West Philadelphia history,” Puckett recalls.

“Like many good ideas that were floated at the time, this one failed to reach fruition for reasons that are clear now in hindsight. In 1994, the dawn of the internet, we could not imagine the warp-speed advances in computer hardware and software technologies that would make it possible to build a website like the WPCH.”

Read more at Penn GSE News .

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‘The Illuminated Body’ fuses color, light, and sound

A new Arthur Ross Gallery exhibition of work by artist Barbara Earl Thomas features cut-paper portraits reminiscent of stained glass and an immersive installation constructed with intricately cut material lit from behind.

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25 years of ‘LOVE’

The iconic sculpture by pop artist Robert Indiana arrived on campus in 1999 and soon became a natural place to come together.

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Two-and-a-half decades of research in Malawi

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Student Innovators Share Their January 2024 Live It Fund Experiences

• Categories: Academics , Entrepreneurship
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By Dennis Krolevich ʼ26

Macalester’s Live It Fund provides funding for ambitious, globally-conscious students who identify an issue in a community and propose an innovative solution. Selected proposals are awarded up to $2,000 during winter break, with an opportunity to apply for summer funding of $6,250, plus a $500 per project expense reimbursement. 

We asked our participants to tell us about their projects and experience with the Live It Fund. 

Nibia Becarra Santillan ʼ25 

“Aulas Abiertas: Educadores Transformadores”/“Open Classrooms: Transformative Educators” focuses on building connections with teachers and leadership in order to better understand their role as mentors for low-income high school students, as well as assess their interest in building specific mentoring skills. 

How has the Live It Fund helped you to think bigger and differently about what is possible for yourself? The LIF gave me the push I needed to start taking action. Personally, I didn’t achieve all I expected, but if I put all the work I did into perspective, it doesn’t demoralize me—it highlights the complexity of developing a project from the ground up. I’m glad I had the opportunity to get my first project started!

What skill did you most develop during your project? Courage. I didn’t expect how vulnerable exposing your dreams to a community would be. I learned that the first step is to be confident in my own ideas without expecting them to be right all the time. I’ve adopted a mindset in which I hope to encounter people who question me in order to re-think some ideas and improve them. 

Do you intend to keep working on this project or have new inspiration for another project? I would love to keep working on this project because I believe it can have a great impact in my community. However, I still need to figure out how I would make it better. 

Rosie Bai ʼ27

“Conservation and Habitat Management of the China Northeast Tigers” investigated human-wildlife conflicts in northeast China, centering the impacts of Dunhua communities. 

How has the Live It Fund helped you to think bigger and differently about what is possible for yourself? The whole process was very helpful and interactive.

What skill did you most develop during your project? Taking action and being flexible were two skills I took away from this experience .

Do you intend to keep working on this project or have new inspiration for another project? I plan to continue researching HWC issues. 

Makol Deng Chuol ʼ27

“Seed of Hope, Stories of Hope” is a transformative educational initiative dedicated to empowering young souls amidst the trials of displacement. This project aims to provide hope to the resilient youth within the Kakuma Refugee Camp, located in northwest Kenya, where access to education often gets neglected in the face of adversity. With a dedicated group of sixteen eager learners, I fostered an environment of mutual learning and growth, to overcome barriers and unlock boundless opportunities. 

How has the Live It Fund helped you to think bigger and differently about what is possible for yourself? LIF has offered me valuable opportunities to build connections and challenge my initial perspectives. It has truly been a transformative experience, fostering personal growth and new insights.

What skill did you most develop during your project? Throughout my project, I developed creativity by constantly innovating and adapting my plans, which involved redesigning strategies and finding new ways to connect with my work. I will continue to use this skill to tackle challenges in the future.

Do you intend to keep working on this project or have new inspiration for another project? This experience has significantly impacted my future plans. Currently, I have identified areas for improvement and discovered new ideas that I hadn’t initially considered. These ideas, along with the established connections and momentum gained during the J-term, fuel my enthusiasm to further develop and execute the project.

Alan Schulz Diaz ʼ25 

“The Legacy of Water” was a series of workshops connecting current policy makers and community advocates around the issue of water insecurity in Turbaco, Colombia.

How has the Live It Fund helped you to think bigger and differently about what is possible for yourself? I had to navigate a complex political environment, which pushed me to work on my people skills as well as public speaking.

What skill did you most develop during your project? Adaptability. Reading the room and responding to it in real time is an incredibly useful skill that can help facilitate meaningful conversations. I will bring this with me everytime I take part in a group project.

Do you intend to keep working on this project or have new inspiration for another project? I have another idea, this time in the form of a for-profit start-up. 

Ridwan Osman ʼ26

“Somali Youth Coding Bootcamp” is the first program of its kind in my community. I chose this project because I recognized the gap in STEM education within the Somali community in my hometown of Hopkins, Minnesota. This initiative not only equips the youth with valuable coding skills but also emphasizes the transformative power of inclusive STEM education, and I remain committed to its continued development and expansion.

How has the Live It Fund helped you to think bigger and differently about what is possible for yourself? The support I received from Sasmita Tripathy, program manager of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Jody Emmings, director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, was instrumental in launching my program. 

What skill did you most develop during your project? I learned how to secure a grant because I had courage. I had to articulate and advocate the project’s needs, and learn how to be more communicative to the LIF organizers. 

Do you intend to keep working on this project or have new inspiration for another project? This project has significantly impacted my future plans, and I would love to continue this project. 

Christine Oduor ʼ25 

“EduHealth: Nurturing Healthy Lives in Siaya” is a project that aims to promote health education in Siaya County, with the goal of improving the health of the people. My project was the first step towards achieving this long-term goal. It involved collecting data and connecting with the community to understand their current situation from their perspectives. This information will be used in the next phase to develop health education frameworks that can increase preventative measures and improve people’s health.

How has the Live It Fund helped you to think bigger and differently about what is possible for yourself? The LIF project allowed me to finally bring to life an idea that had been brewing in my mind for quite some time. This experience has given me the confidence to embrace innovation and take bold steps towards making a positive impact. I now feel less intimidated by the prospect of thinking big and pursuing my ideas.

What skill did you most develop during your project? Resilience stands out the most for me. When I think about my journey, I remember how scared I was to take the first step, but eventually, I overcame that fear and took the step. I learned to overcome obstacles and not let the challenges divert me from my goal. Throughout this experience, I developed a lot of resilience, and now I am better equipped to face the challenges that come with pursuing ideas, innovations, and goals. 

Do you intend to keep working on this project or have new inspiration for another project? This project was the first step towards achieving my goal of providing health education. Completing it has encouraged me to take on the next phases of the project. I intend to continue working on this project and utilize the knowledge gained to improve the upcoming phases. 

Xiaoyu Ma ʼ25 and Terry Zhang ʼ26

“Tibetan Tongues: Ensuring Language Survival” is a program based on community exchange and cultural learning, and we have built a long-term relationship with the Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota (TAFM) as we delve deeper into understanding the people of the Tibetan community in Minnesota and learning about their culture to help make this community a better place.

How has the Live It Fund helped you to think bigger and differently about what is possible for yourself?

Ma: It was the first time I really stepped out of my social comfort zone and took the initiative to connect with a community and create many opportunities for my team in the process.

Zhang: LIF made me explore my potential in a way I haven’t done before. Now, I have the confidence to believe that I can do more than this project. 

What skill did you most develop during your project?

Ma: I chose adaptability because the people I interacted with and the destinations I traveled to during this project were very different. It takes a lot of adaptability to carry out a project in this situation.

Zhang: A lot of things happened during the project that caused major disruptions for us. The experience of constantly making changes taught me to be resilient and always be patient with the process. 

Do you intend to keep working on this project or have new inspiration for another project?

Ma: I think I’m going to continue the program, and the J-term experience is a great place to start.

Zhang: Continuing to connect with TAFM during summer and provide educational help. 

March 29 2024

More Academics News

The 2024 Live It Fund saw students propose innovative solutions to unique problems or issues around the globe.

Macalester Senior Awarded 2024 Watson Fellowship

Chloe Vasquez ʼ24 will use her Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to research snake bites and medical care in tropical areas.

Publishing with Professors: Student-Faculty Research Collaborations

Collection of faculty-student research published in academic journals, magazines, and news outlets from March 2022—December 2023.

Astronomy professor uses radio telescopes to decipher the mystery of how galaxies form

Professor John Cannon researches dwarf galaxies and reveals their role in our universe.

Professor Bill Moseley elected to lead American Association of Geographers

Professor Bill Moseley first elected leader from a non-R1 institution in American Association of Geographers

Macalester College named a top producer of Fulbright US students

Macalester College was again named a top producing institution for Fulbright US students for 2023-2024

NASA to Launch Sounding Rockets into Moon’s Shadow During Solar Eclipse

NASA will launch three sounding rockets during the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, to study how Earth’s upper atmosphere is affected when sunlight momentarily dims over a portion of the planet.

The Atmospheric Perturbations around Eclipse Path (APEP) sounding rockets will launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia to study the disturbances in the ionosphere created when the Moon eclipses the Sun. The sounding rockets had been previously launched and successfully recovered from White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, during the October 2023 annular solar eclipse . They have been refurbished with new instrumentation and will be relaunched in April 2024. The mission is led by Aroh Barjatya, a professor of engineering physics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, where he directs the Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Lab.

The sounding rockets will launch at three different times: 45 minutes before, during, and 45 minutes after the peak local eclipse. These intervals are important to collect data on how the Sun’s sudden disappearance affects the ionosphere, creating disturbances that have the potential to interfere with our communications.

The ionosphere is a region of Earth’s atmosphere that is between 55 to 310 miles (90 to 500 kilometers) above the ground. “It’s an electrified region that reflects and refracts radio signals, and also impacts satellite communications as the signals pass through,” said Barjatya. “Understanding the ionosphere and developing models to help us predict disturbances is crucial to making sure our increasingly communication-dependent world operates smoothly.”

The ionosphere forms the boundary between Earth's lower atmosphere – where we live and breathe – and the vacuum of space. It is made up of a sea of particles that become ionized, or electrically charged, from the Sun’s energy, or solar radiation. When night falls, the ionosphere thins out as previously ionized particles relax and recombine back into neutral particles. However, Earth’s terrestrial weather and space weather can impact these particles, making it a dynamic region and difficult to know what the ionosphere will be like at a given time. 

It’s often difficult to study short-term changes in the ionosphere during an eclipse with satellites because they may not be at the right place or time to cross the eclipse path. Since the exact date and times of the total solar eclipse are known, NASA can launch targeted sounding rockets to study the effects of the eclipse at the right time and at all altitudes of the ionosphere.

As the eclipse shadow races through the atmosphere, it creates a rapid, localized sunset that triggers large-scale atmospheric waves and small-scale disturbances, or perturbations. These perturbations affect different radio communication frequencies. Gathering the data on these perturbations will help scientists validate and improve current models that help predict potential disturbances to our communications, especially high frequency communication. 

The APEP rockets are expected to reach a maximum altitude of 260 miles (420 kilometers). Each rocket will measure charged and neutral particle density and surrounding electric and magnetic fields. “Each rocket will eject four secondary instruments the size of a two-liter soda bottle that also measure the same data points, so it's similar to results from fifteen rockets, while only launching three,” explained Barjatya. Three secondary instruments on each rocket were built by Embry-Riddle, and the fourth one was built at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

In addition to the rockets, several teams across the U.S. will also be taking measurements of the ionosphere by various means. A team of students from Embry-Riddle will deploy a series of high-altitude balloons. Co-investigators from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Haystack Observatory in Massachusetts, and the Air Force Research Laboratory in New Mexico, will operate a variety of ground-based radars taking measurements. Using this data, a team of scientists from Embry-Riddle and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory are refining existing models. Together, these various investigations will help provide the puzzle pieces needed to see the bigger picture of ionospheric dynamics.

When the APEP sounding rockets launched during the 2023 annular solar eclipse, scientists saw a sharp reduction in the density of charged particles as the annular eclipse shadow passed over the atmosphere. “We saw the perturbations capable of affecting radio communications in the second and third rockets, but not during the first rocket that was before peak local eclipse” said Barjatya. “We are super excited to relaunch them during the total eclipse, to see if the perturbations start at the same altitude and if their magnitude and scale remain the same.”

The next total solar eclipse over the contiguous U.S. is not until 2044, so these experiments are a rare opportunity for scientists to collect crucial data.

The APEP launches will be live streamed via NASA’s Wallops’ official YouTube page and featured in NASA’s official broadcast of the total solar eclipse. The public can also watch the launches in person from 1-4 p.m. at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center .

By Desiree Apodaca NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Related Terms

• 2024 Solar Eclipse
• Goddard Space Flight Center
• Heliophysics
• Heliophysics Division
• Heliophysics Research Program
• Science & Research
• Science Mission Directorate
• Skywatching
• Solar Eclipses
• Sounding Rockets Program
• Wallops Flight Facility

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Accelerating Data Modernization Efforts in Western and Central Africa - Republic of Congo and Gabonese Republic get World Bank support to enhance their statistical systems

WASHINGTON, March 22, 2024  - The World Bank today approved an additional $150 million in credit and loan from the International Development Association (IDA)* and from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)** to improve and harmonize data systems in the Republic of Congo and Gabonese Republic, respectively. This operation is an Additional Financing of the Harmonizing and Improving Statistics in West and Central Africa Series of Projects-Two (HISWACA-SOP 2) project, designed to improve national statistical performance, promote regional harmonization, facilitate data access and utilization, and drive the modernization of statistical frameworks in Western and Central Africa.

“ This additional financing will enable the Republic of Congo and the Gabonese Republic to participate in the regional effort to modernize and harmonize statistical systems, and to produce and disseminate high-quality data critical to help improve the lives and livelihoods of people ,” said Cheick Fantamady Kante, Country Director for Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabonese Republic .  

Within the project framework, a commitment has been made to strengthen human resource capacity, alongside sectoral coordination support to strengthen the statistical services in ministries for effective data production. The endeavor will focus on streamlining and enhancing data collection systems, modernizing human resources management, and bolstering National Statistical Offices (NSOs). Furthermore, ongoing national statistical system reforms will include the establishment of statistical training programs at universities or national schools in the Gabonese Republic, as well as support for the reform of the national statistics school in the Republic of Congo.

The first two phases of the HISWACA Project approved respectively in May 2023 ($460 million) and September 2023 ($290 million) spans 11 countries in Western and Central Africa: Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and The Gambia. It also extends support to the statistical divisions of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), and the African Union (AU) to strengthen coordination and enhance statistics harmonization across the region. The new financing for the Republic of Congo Republic and the Gabonese Republic brings the project’s total amount to $900 million.

" HISWACA underscores the World Bank’s commitment to help improve statistics production to better address the urgent needs of institutions and populations, and to advance the inclusive development agenda in Western and Central Africa ,” said Boutheina Guermazi, World Bank Director for Regional Integration for Africa and the Middle East.  

** The International Development Association (IDA) is the World Bank’s fund for the poorest. Established in 1960, it provides grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 76 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. IDA resources help effect positive change in the lives of the 1.6 billion people living in the countries that are eligible for its assistance. Since its inception, IDA has supported development work in 113 countries. Annual commitments are constantly on the rise and have averaged $21 billion over the past three years, with about 61% going to Africa.

** The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is a global development cooperative owned by 189 member countries. As the world’s largest development bank, it works to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet by providing loans, guarantees, risk management products, and advisory services to middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries.

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Forest regeneration projects failing to offset carbon emissions

by Australian National University

Forest regeneration projects that have received tens of millions of carbon credits and dominate Australia's carbon offset scheme have had negligible impact on woody vegetation cover and carbon sequestration, new research from The Australian National University (ANU) has found.

The research was undertaken in collaboration with Haizea Analytics, University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the University of Queensland, and analyzed 182 human-induced regeneration (HIR) projects. The findings are published in Communications Earth & Environment .

HIR projects are the world's fifth largest nature-based offset type by credit issuances, and the largest when projects involving avoided emissions are excluded.

The analyzed projects are mostly located in dry outback areas in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia, and are being credited for regenerating native forests in areas that are largely uncleared.

The projects do not involve any tree planting . They are mainly claiming to regenerate native forests from soil seed stock, and suppressed seedlings, by reducing livestock and feral animal numbers.

The researchers say the projects have been controversial because decades of scientific research in Australia's rangelands suggests grazing by livestock and feral animals generally does not have a material negative impact on woody vegetation cover.

The study assessed if woody vegetation cover increased in the 'credited areas' of the projects, where even-aged forests are supposed to be regenerating, and analyzed whether the trends in woody cover in the credited areas were materially different from those in comparison areas adjoining the project boundaries.

Professor Andrew Macintosh, from ANU, said the results suggest the projects have been "substantially over-credited and are largely failing."

"The projects in the study received more than 27 million credits over the period of analysis and most of them claim regeneration started around 2010 to 2014," he said.

"Due to this, their effects on woody vegetation cover should be very clear. But the data suggests tree cover has barely increased at all and, in many cases, it has gone backwards.

"Almost 80% of the projects experienced negative or negligible change in tree cover over the study period.

"The proportion of the total credited area, 3.4 million hectares, with woody cover increased by a mere 0.8% over this time.

"Forest cover—areas where the crowns of the trees cover is equal to or more than 20% of the area—increased by only 3.6%, while sparse woody cover—areas where the crowns of the trees cover between 5% and 19%—decreased by 2.8%."

ANU Professor Don Butler, who led the statistical analysis in the study, said, "Not only were the changes in forest and sparse woody cover small, but they largely mirrored changes in the adjacent comparison areas, outside the projects.

"The results suggest the observed changes in woody vegetation cover are predominantly attributable to factors other than the project activities, most likely rainfall."

The researchers say that a key problem with HIR projects is that sequestration is modeled, not directly measured. In addition, the model assumes even-aged forest regeneration is occurring across the entirety of the credited areas, regardless of what is happening on the ground.

Dr. Megan Evans from UNSW Canberra said, "HIR projects are credited on the basis that even-aged forest is regenerating across the entirety of the credited area and that, within approximately 10 to 15 years of when regeneration is modeled to have commenced, all of the credited area will have forest cover.

"The modest gain in woody cover observed within credited areas, and small effect of project registration on forest cover change, suggest this is unlikely to occur.

"The projects have largely failed to regenerate native forests and the evidence suggests things are unlikely to improve.

"Where carbon credits are issued to projects that do not sequester as much carbon as they are supposed to, it makes climate change worse. Credits from low integrity projects facilitate increases in emissions but the increases are not offset by reductions elsewhere."

Professor David Eldridge from UNSW Syndey, who has spent years researching vegetation dynamics in the Australian outback, said, "The findings of the study should come as no surprise. They align perfectly with what decades of research in Australia's rangelands suggests would occur."

The researchers argue the findings highlight the practical limitations of offsets and the potential for offset schemes to credit abatement that is non-existent, non-additional and impermanent.

Journal information: Communications Earth & Environment

Provided by Australian National University

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