Anonymous
By Jacy Sutton
One of the most important skills for any student to master is how to conduct research properly. Conducting proper investigation according to a set of guidelines and principles lies at the heart of what makes academic work reliable and valuable to society. While many students associate conducting research with work reserved for college students, the fact of the matter is that it is a skill that even a high school student should attempt to master.
As no education would be complete without mastering the art of investigation, here we’ve put together a quick guide to understanding exactly what research is and the benefits of doing this kind of investigation at a young age.
What exactly do we mean by research?
Essentially, research skills refer to the ability to find the most useful and relevant information on a given topic. This skill set encompasses many valuable approaches such as investigation, analysis, comparison, and creating solutions. These skills are not only valuable in an academic context but later in life prove hugely valuable in a professional setting. Strong investigative and analysis skills are something that many employers will actively be seeking in their candidates, and there’s no better place to develop them than while you’re a student. Being able to conduct efficient and thorough research lends great insight into any topic and allows you to more reliably come up with solutions to problems.
Where is research performed?
In a school setting, research is usually performed in the context of class assignments. One of the most common forms of assessment for students is to set a writing assignment that relates back to a particular course or lesson they have taken.
For students just learning the basics of how to conduct this kind of investigation, there is assignment help available online. Of course, no one can come and ask “write me a research paper” but it is perfectly fine to seek help with the research itself. Any student should engage their relatives, friends and co-students for qualitative or quantitative research.
What are some examples of research assignments?
Research assignments tend to take the topic of a particular course or class and ask students to explore it by themselves. A student of environmental sciences, for instance, may choose to conduct their investigative assignment on the effects of certain farming practices on the local environment. Answering this question usually requires forming a hypothesis and exploring sources that either confirm or refute the hypothesis.
For many students, one of the hardest parts of conducting any investigation is coming up with a topic to write about for their course. In this situation, students can seek out coursework writing help from teachers or peers to help them with a topic that relates well back to their class. Expert writing guides can help shed light on how to perform investigations that demonstrate you’ve fully understood your course content.
How can high school students begin to research?
While many institutional research opportunities are targeted at university students, there are still many options for investigation and analysis experience at a high school level. Working part-time or volunteering in an administrative job can present great research opportunities for high school students. What counts as research experience for high schoolers can be as simple as putting together an office report on a given topic.
Some academic institutions even offer volunteer research opportunities for students looking to improve their skills ahead of university. With these, young people can offer a bit of their time to helping out on large-scale experimental projects and learning through experience. Many organizations are always on the lookout for volunteers to help conduct large-scale surveys and experiments. Participating in these provides students with a great blueprint for experimentation that they can then apply to their own school research.
The benefits of starting early
Having a background in research from a young age is a great way to get a head start developing a skill that will undoubtedly advance you both academically and professionally. A university application will be greatly enhanced by any mention of research experience, as colleges can see that you’re already serious about learning in a thorough manner.
Just about every employer will make a positive note of research experience appearing on a person’s resume, as it indicates that a worker can be trusted to deal with information in a systematic and thorough manner. A good background in conducting investigation and analysis helps to develop the analytic and critical thinking skills that are so crucial to making someone an effective employee.
Research skills are an important element of every young person’s education, and the expert opinion is to engage students in this activity from as early a point as possible. By starting as early as high school, students can ensure that possessing the skills needed for proper research activity are practically second nature!
It is kind of funny that some people log on to edhat, ask a question, when there is this thing called a search engine that can answer it immediately with the same effort… log into Google and type the question there.
The other weird thing we people do is only research things that provide confirmational bias, which leaves a huge hole in our depth of knowledge.
Lets say I want to make a decision based on climate change. Living in California, it helps to know that we produce 1% of the earths air pollution. So if all human life was removed from CA, all livestock and the state reverted to it natural pre human state tomorrow at 7AM we’d reduce global pollution by our 1%. But would global pollution reduce by the full 1%? No. Because India, China, Brazil Africa etc are increasing emissions until 2035.
One person might see this and say “so what, I’m still buying a Tesla to do my part however small and besides, they are cool”. Perfect.
Another person might see this and say “well, I still need a diesel truck to pull around my 4 horses and I’m not going to feel shame about it”. That is a rational fact based response also.
On the same subject, climate change, lets continue on EV’s. How many people know that the CEO of Toyota has repeatedly warned CA that going to emission free EV’s by 1935 will require upgrades to the states power grid, and require new and robust 24/7 sources of energy. Or, at the other end of the cord that charges your Tesla will be a coal plant in AZ, because storing solar requires batteries, wind is inconsistent, hydro is limited by drought and capacity, and nuclear is the boogieman.
If people did their homework looking at both sides, when the Governor throws out some fine sounding idea like all EV by 2035, instead of clapping we should immediately ask him: “Where is all that electrical power going to come from?”
” You can’t keep the power grid on now if there is a predicted wind event over 40mph, or temperatures over 90 in LA. How do you propose to fix that by 2035?”
“Numerous people in the EV car industry have concluded that the only power source that could serve all of these EV’s in 2035 is nuclear (most people would be charging EV’s overnight and can’t afford a Tesla battery pack in their home and solar on their roof). What is your plan?”
Looking at both sides allows for a person to know that the Governor is serious when he takes a ton of money and rebuilds the power grid and makes hard decisions on developing more 24/7 power production. Right now he seems to be hoping Elon Musk or other geniuses are going to find a way to make power plants out in space that can come online in 13 years.
And nothing says “I’ve been proven wrong many times” more than someone who discounts expert information and fact checking.
As someone who spent too much time doing these kinds of academic extracurriculars outside of school, my advice is to LET KIDS BE KIDS. Once childhood is gone, it’s gone. Our society is creating a generation rife with mental health issues, purported by ridiculously high standards and encouragement to grow up fast.