Three Important Aspects When Researching

There are many aspects which need to be considered when carrying out research. Three important aspects which need to be taken into consideration are:

1. Bibliography - When carrying out research, it is important to record a bibliography stating the sources which provided you with the information e.g. if you used a book, state the book title, the book page and the publishers of the book, or if you are using a website, include the URL. It is important to record a bibliography so anyone who comes into contact with your research is able to return back to the original sources.
2. Seperating opinions from facts - When researching, it is easy to be sidetracked by opinions, and use opinions as facts in your research. It is important to differentiate between a fact and an opinion, and if using an opinion, ensure the opinion used has significant fact and evidence to back up the statement - i.e. if reading a newspaper article, and the journalist states a comment such as "the best ever film" - check the box office ratings and the popularity before you actually use that comment as part of your research.
3. Identifying sources credibility - When carrying out reserarch, particularly questionnaires and surveys, ensure the information provided is accurate, and try to identify when participants could be lying, or could have a bias opinion - i.e. if you are asking about a particularly company product, and you ask someone who works for that company, they are obviously going to have glowing reports about the product, whereas someone neutral will have a more neutral opinion.