Sophomore Research Review

As we hit the middle of Chalcedon term, and you Sophomores particularly have now undertaken one big research paper and are gearing up for your second, we thought it might be helpful to check in with a few folks from the Junior class to share their research advice. Here it is below:

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What was your experience writing research papers prior to NSA?

Prior to NSA, I did three years of research writing at my High School. In 10th grade, our English class had a segment at the start of the year that purely focused on research and paper formatting. We had to write a paper on plagiarism and misinformation that required a great deal of careful source choice. Most of my classes had 2-3 papers during the school year and most required a small amount of research. My junior thesis and senior thesis both required extensive research, with my senior thesis taking a great deal of sleuthing to find good resources. (Dexter)

Unfortunately, none. I mostly wrote hand-written, literary analysis essays before NSA. Needless to say, I was a bit harried Jerusalem Term of sophomore year. (Juliana)

I didn't write any research papers prior to my time at NSA. (Justus)

How early did you start the research process?

I started research for my first paper the week before the proposal draft was due, and found enough sources to formulate a good idea. I knew I needed more as I entered Nicea term. I probably spent 15-20hrs researching that first week. On my second paper I started researching around week 2 or 3 but probably took less time in doing so total. (Dexter)

I believe I started around week 2 or 3 for both papers. I started early, and my first session or two was simply flipping through books in the Oversized and Resource sections, or interviewing my grandfather and looking up some of the topics he touched on. (Juliana)

I started my research process about halfway through Jerusalem Term, but I recommend starting even earlier than that, especially the first time you write one. It will take you a minute to figure out what you want to write about, even if you think you have it nailed down. (Justus)

Which resources were most invaluable to your process, and how did you settle on using those? (e.g. JSTOR, Newspaper databases, WSU, etc)

I found the U of I library to be the most helpful for my first paper. I found most of my sources there and found a topic to write on by combing through their greek section and flipping through books that seemed to fit my initial ideas. I think I only used the U of I library and JSTOR for my first paper. U of I has a great selection with lots to comb through in close proximity. JSTOR has a fabulous selection of articles that are easy to comb through.

For my second paper I gathered two or three ideas from my grandparent interview. I took my ideas, researched them using the WSU databases, Newspapers.com, and JSTOR. I used the WSU databases because I could easily access many articles and newspapers. I used Newspapers.com because their selection is wonderful and their search filters work wonderfully. JSTOR still reigns with academic articles. (Dexter)

I would highly recommend JSTOR. At least a third of the resources I used came from there. As soon as I had a grounded, I relied heavily on books I borrowed from UoI (get an account, folks! It's free, just have your ID handy.) and on the newspaper databases available on the WSU campus. I found these through recommendations from my professors, and simply kept an eye out for sections or places---whether online or in the library---rich with the key words I was using. (Juliana)

Without a doubt, JSTOR and the UI Library were my most invaluable assets. You should try to login to JSTOR in as many university libraries as you can while being on their wifi. This will open up your archive access and give you thousands of additional articles that wouldn't have even been searchable before. By the time I was writing my second research paper, I had access to 5 institutions. (Justus)

What did you learn about research during the research process? What would you do differently if you could start again?

I learned how to use library databases skillfully. I do not know what I would do differently. (Dexter)

Time is your most invaluable resource in the research process, and it is too often squandered. If I could have a do-over, I would probably start around the same time (week 2 ideally), but I would have been more consistent. I would want to know my topic backwards and sideways by the time I hit week 4. Set aside an hour a couple of times and week and turn off your phone (yes, I see you "reseaching" on there), and just go at it. (Juliana)

You definitely don't know what you want to write about until you've been to office hours twice. You should try to establish a regular feedback loop with your teacher and with an upperclassman who took your section in a prior year. They can help you with grammar, and they're not afraid to tell you if your idea would fail. (Justus)

How was the library able to assist you in the research process, or what resources did you access through Tyndale?

I used the Oxford reference to formulate ideas. I used the Exemplary Essays section online to get a grasp of the scope and model for my papers. (Dexter)

I actually didn't use Tyndale much (please don't hate me). JSTOR and the online CMS guide were absolute lifesavers, though (make sure you're signed in NSA wifi for the latter, though!). Never be afraid to ask dumb questions from the librarians, though, whether Tyndale, UoI, or WSU. It's literally their job. Just be nice. (Juliana)

The library has a ton of Loeb copies which are amazing for primary source research. Dr. Schlect also recommends leafing through encyclopedias for a few hours when hunting for a topic. You need to write about something interesting, and that's not a bad place to start if you're at a loss. (Justus)

What advice would you give to this year's Sophomores when it comes to research?

I would recommend finding a topic early. Talk to Schlect about your topic before doing super detailed research. Use the U of I and WSU libraries for online and physical resources. Categorize all of your sources before you being writing. Use the Google Scholar and JSTOR advanced search features. (Dexter)

It basically boils down to three things: start early, know your key words, and don't be afraid to use resources that disagree with you. The first one is pretty self-explanatory. As for the second, as soon as you know your topic, you need to figure out what words makes your topic click. What cities were the Greek vases you're writing on primarily found in? Are they referred to by those cities' names? If so, you'll probably want to include it in your search. Finally, many of your resources might agree with you---partially. Maybe they disagree with your conclusion, or that two historical events were connected. But the goal of your paper is not to say what everyone already said---it is to say something interesting and viable about the past that is supported by historical evidence (yes, someone probably said it before, and that's okay too). But as long as you're in agreement with your resources on historical facts, you can use them where they agree with you at your liberty. Heck, my grandfather disagreed with the conclusion of the paper I interviewed him for, but I had strong historical evidence drawn from others which backed me up. All that to say, treat your resources well. (And my grandfather and I have a great relationship despite that.) (Juliana)

Meet with your teachers as often as you reasonably can. They want you to write an excellent paper. Also pay attention to the way they speak about Historical happenings in class; imitation is an excellent method. Are they always organizing their thoughts chronologically, or is there a different flow to the class period? How is the term curriculum organized in terms of authorship, medium, and topic? How does your teacher speak about causation? What are some things you never hear Dorney/Schlect say? What are the most common turns of phrase you hear from them? Your research should be informed by some kind of logical flow, and your teacher's curation of happenings is a good model.

The bottom line is that your professors are experts, and they know more about writing history than you do. Pay attention to how they color the scene, and imitate them as best you can. EVERYTHING is intentional, just don't be weird about it. (Justus)

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Thank you to Dexter, Juliana, and Justus for their help! We hope you find this useful as you work on your term projects.