Reeeeesearrrrrch!

While reading Badke, something inside my head clicked. While I’m not a fan of reading about research it just occurred me to what research really means. I thought I knew what research was: an agonizing process. Then came page 24. There, nearly three-fourths down the page, research is established as “not the gathering of information but the use of information to solve a problem” (Badke 24). I have never really thought too much about the meaning of research but it’s a lot more than just opening books, visiting websites, reading, collecting information, writing, citing, and hoping that your mark comes back looking hot. In that light, the purpose of writing a research paper doesn’t seem as agonizing anymore. Now, writing a paper seems to have point and consists of collecting information to prove a point.

So, in class today we learned about the different kinds of writing and the different kinds of writers. I suppose the readings have caused some confusion and contradiction in my brain. On one hand we have Murray’s book with radical ideas and whatnot and on the other hand we have a book that structures research. But it makes sense since there are different types of writing. I guess I knew a lot of this stuff before, but it’s not really something that I have given much thought. I just assumed that I knew all about writing and that I was a pro. Ha. Right.