Basic Research Techniques

oWhat sources of information will you use?

oHow will you find the information?

oHow will you decide what is relevant?

oHow will you cite the information you select?

To be able to use basic research techniques.

Finding Information

Sourcing

Skimming and scanning

Using index

Word and phrase searches

To be able to use basic research techniques.

Making Notes

Written notes

Highlighting and underlining

Annotating

Copy and paste

To be able to use basic research techniques.

Bibliography & CitationsYou must reference all of your sources of information. The

formal way to do this is to include a bibliography.

For a book:Author (last name first). Title of the book. City: Publisher, Date of publication.

For a magazine:Author (last name first), "Article Title." Name of magazine. Volume number, (Date): page numbers.

World Wide Web:URL (Uniform Resource Locator or WWW address). Author (or item's name, if mentioned), date.

To be able to use basic research techniques.

When you make a reference in your text to information you have found, you need to cite

where that information came from. This citation will link to the bibliography at the end of your

work.

There are a variety of styles and ways top do this. We will cover a few and it is up to you to

decide which you will use in your work.For the purposes of an example, we will use the following information taken from…

Irish, Dan. The Game Producer’s Handbook. Boston: Course Technology, 2005

“The advantage of designing games for console gaming systems is that the specifications are published, known and unchanging for the life of the console.”

To be able to use basic research techniques.

“The advantage of designing games for console gaming systems is that the specifications are published, known and unchanging for the life of the console.” (Irish, 2005 p.137)

The Harvard System (APA)

The Harvard System (MLA)

“The advantage of designing games for console gaming systems is that the specifications are published, known and unchanging for the life of the console.” (Irish 137) or (Irish, Handbook 137)

In both cases, the citations must be supported by a full bibliographical reference at the end of the text.

To be able to use basic research techniques.

The Vancouver System

“The advantage of designing games for console gaming systems is that the specifications are published, known and unchanging for the life of the console.”1

The numbers are sequenced and either featured as a footnote (at the end of the page) or an endnote (at the end of the text).

1 Irish, The Game Producer’s Handbook 137

These foot/end notes must be supported by a full reference in the bibliography.

Irish, Dan. The Game Producer’s Handbook. Boston: Course Technology, 2005

To be able to use basic research techniques.

Remember…

Every piece of information you find should be documented and evidenced as it will contribute to your final mark.

So keep it neat and keep it organised.

To be able to use basic research techniques.