by InspiredWritingResearch

Created on: May 25, 2007   Last Updated: March 20, 2009

A quick yet obvious time-saving research technique is to ask the right person for the right advice about where to start research for a project, whether that be a student term paper or a company report. Much researching time is often wasted by dithering and following false leads due to a lack of understanding about waht is required.

Yet we human beings will often procrastinate, use endless 'trial and error' or even present a piece of work that we know is 'under-par' simply because we feel a need to ask is an admission of inadequacy. Oftentimes, we human beings will go to extraordinary lengths in order to elicit information, and often we take the most circuitous route possible if this means that we will not to have embarrass, or draw attention to ourselves by having to give in and ask someone! that someone could be a College Professor or a Line Manger.

Some people might say that this is gender specific in that men are less likely to use this asking technique than women. How many times, for example, has a woman been in a car with a male partner, driving round fruitlessly, wasting time and fuel because they have lost their way - when all he has to do is to stop and ask? This obvious technique has its applications to college study or company career advancement levels.

When, for example, first or second year student assignments are set, a shrewd student can get friendly with the students in the year above and ask their advice about where THEY got the most useful and direct research for that assignment. Obviously, this should not extend beyond tips in the general direction of the research - using other peoples work is counter-productive as well as wrong as the student is then not having that learning experience. Many older students will respond warmly to genuine appeals for help and feel gratified that their experience is valuable. The same goes for the 'vets' in the office - often they will be flattered to have a young 'pup' ask for their experience.

Asking for information also applies in the Library. After all, that is what librarians are trained, and paid, to do. They will have a far deeper knowledge of the system and catalog, and in the case of students, may have been asked the same question many times - so it will save squandering valuable study time to use their expertise. If they can't help on rare occasions - they will be a mine of information on alternative sources to try, whether that be on the Internet or on the shelves.

Asking tutors is strangely difficult for some students. Perhaps it is because they are shy or self-conscious but many will bypass the fastest and most obvious way to elicit the most direct information - straight from the horse's mouth of their tutor. Again, tutors are trained and paid to be the best source of assistance for their students. Often tutors will have legitimate sources of information such as article directories, research papers and other Internet rresearch sources in list format for the benefit of their students. Many young people are too embarrassed to stay behind after class to chat with the tutor, yet it is often the students who have this inner confidence and social ease who are later the most successful. Other students need to learn from them and develop their own social networking skills.

In this way, they can overcome the block to learning which social diffidence sometimes presents, and a good place to start is to slowly train themselves to start asking questions in the right way to elicit a valuable response.

Helpful Research Resources:

HighBeam Article Directory - Internet

Learn more about this author, InspiredWritingResearch.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.