Getting materials for your seminar and research papers can be a daunting task, especially if you are not familiar with the concept of research. Sometimes, even when you are familiar with the concept of research you may be confused on which materials will be right for your seminar or research project based on the volume and availability of materials online/offline. This articles will give you a step by step guide on how to get materials for your seminar and research project.
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How to get Materials for your Seminar and Research Project
Before looking for materials for your seminar or research topics, you must have come up with a project or seminar topic. The secret to writing a successful seminar or research topic is dependent on your choice topic, it is pertinent to choose a topic that you clearly understand. Because this will inspire your interest in the seminar or research project.
Here’s a guide on how to get materials for your seminar and research project.
1. The Library and your department resource center can be a great resource for your project/seminar
One of the place to get materials and inspirations for your seminar or research project is the school library and your department resource center. Apart from getting inspiration and learning from past projects and seminar in the school library and resource center, you can also look at the format of past seminar/project. This will give you insight on how best to draw up the outline for your project/seminar.
2. Invest your time in Search Engine
There are many resources on search engine that can assist you in writing your seminar or research project; but while doing your search on search engine, you need to consider materials that you can easily reference. Because, in writing seminar/research paper, references are very important, so it’s necessary to document every materials you get online so that you will be able to referenced them properly.
It is vital to note that some schools are very keen on references that are at least not older than 10 years, so also take this into consideration while documenting materials from search engine for your project.
In searching for materials for your seminar and research project on search engine, you need to:
- Input different combination of the words if you can’t find what you are looking for when you input your topic directly on search engine.
- Use different keywords from your topic.
- Take note of all related materials
- Bookmark important pages
3. Structured/Unstructured Questionnaire are very necessary
When I was writing my research project, my focus was on a disease prevalence in a local community in my state; the first thing I did was to get materials from the disease prevalence from other states and countries which will be very useful in the discussion chapter, the other thing I did apart from the questionnaire was an unstructured questionnaire which assisted me to interact with people in the hospital who were not part of the structured questionnaire to get more insight on the topic; this was done before the development of my questionnaire and it makes the whole exercise easy.
4. Be close to your supervisor.
You were given a supervisor to guide and supervise you; as a rule of thumb, I always encourage undergraduate project students to share their materials with their supervisors for insight and guidance. Getting a clear direction at the initial stage of the project or seminar is very vital to your overall success. Don’t hide from your supervisor, share your materials with him/her, ask for guidance and be prepared to listen to his/her guidance.
Final Thoughts.
Writing your research Project/Seminar is your own contribution to knowledge in your chosen career path. So take your time, research, analyze and inspire the world with your project.