I have not done original research before.
I think what makes original research different from library research is that original research involves going "out in the field" to collect your own data on the population. Library research can be used as a base for original research- seeing what is already known about the population and giving some base knowledge. Some pros of original research are that you can form your own conclusions and study whatever you want. Some cons are that you need time, funds, and you need to make sure you have done everything according to guidelines to make sure that your research can be taken seriously. The pros of library research is that you don't have to do any work it's all been done for you and you just need to read things. The cons are that the research could be biased and not talk about the subject you're interested in.
The critical thinking skills in original research are observation, interpertation, analysis, inference, evaulation and explanation of the results.
In library research it would be interpertation, analysis, and evaulation.
I think all of these skills are very important in both types of research! If you miss one of the steps your research could be missing pieces or be misleading.
Hi Kristi,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post on original research vs library research.
In terms of critical thinking skills used in library research, don't forget the biggie--self-regulation! We always have to adjust our research questions, search strings, and search strategies if they do not retrieve the intended results the first time.
Sincerely,
Professor Wexelbaum