Today in class we learned about the difference between "search" and "research". I had never really considered the two words to be very different. I had always simply thought that research was just a fancy way of searching, and nothing more. However, I learned that research is a formulated process of looking for a source, while searching is simply looking for something that you want, finding it, and citing it as a source. I realize that I have been "searching" for most of my academic life, and I need to do a lot more "research" instead.
Another important topic we talked about today in class was source credibility. I have always been aware of the basic questions that should be asked about a source's credibility, like possible bias, but today I was introduced to more important questions like, "is the source's contact information available?", or "what is the reputation of the publisher?". I will always keep these questions in mind when researching an article for an assignment.
I completely agree with you on the research and search component of class. I had aways considered them to be the same but once it was brought up I realized that there is a difference. I also did a lot of searching not much researching which I realize I have to start doing. Great post.
ReplyDeletesource credibility is especially critical for web documents, where someone can disguise who they are.
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