If you have recently started with your Ph.D., using the research paper help you draft the perfect paper.Β It’s one of the primary stages where you have to conduct surveys and web searches to gather data using computational and networking technologies.
However, the focus must be on the fact that the data used is the evidence to support one’s thesis. Hence, you should not be relying too much on dry statistics and facts.
Make sure you understand the context of the statistics you use. For example, if you compare internet usage among teenagers in the United States and the United Kingdom, make sure to include a discussion of the many economic and political factors.
Continue reading to explore the best tips to effectively and precisely discover data that meet their specific needs.
Outline your discussion points
Before determining the type of statistical data you require, you should have a general idea of your research paper. A rough outline of the points you want to make or hypotheses you want to prove can help you focus.
For example, suppose you’re penning a research paper for a sociology class about the impact of crime in inner cities. In that case, you may want to point out that high school graduation rates decline as the rate of violent crime increases.
To back up that claim, you will require data on high school graduation rates in specific inner cities and violent crime rates in the same areas.
Hence, try to gather statistics that show the trends in those two rates from that data. Then you can compare those statistics to find a correlation that supports your point.
Consider what date you need and why
Evaluate how you will use the data in the context of your research before starting the search for data. For example, are you looking for data for comparison or validation to use as the foundation for a new study?
List down the attributes the data must have to serve the purpose(s) you’ve identified, including data format, spatial or temporal coverage, availability, and author or research group. In many cases, your initial data requirements and identified constraints will change as the search progresses.
Brainstorm search terms
Typically, the statistics you require can be found online. However, to find relevant data and statistics, you must first identify keywords most likely to yield the desired results.
Finding the most suitable keywords can be a difficult task. For starters, you can try to use words that academics or other field researchers would use when discussing your topic.
Note that you also require synonyms or similar phrases for those words. Make sure to check for both broad categories and specific examples of related phenomena.
Know the background of the data
It is much more painless to interpret statistics and assess their ultimate reliability if you have information about the study or poll’s background and participants.
Try using the “5 Wβs” journalistic standard – Who, What, When, WhereΒ & WhyΒ – to adequately investigate the background.
This means, you must study (or, in the case of a poll, who asked the questions), what questions were asked, when the study or poll was conducted, and why.
The answers to these questions will help you understand the purpose of the statistical research and whether or not it will be useful.
Refine your search
In many cases, your initial search may not return all the relevant data required. Hence, in situations like that, emphasize broadening or narrowing your approach based on the results.
Aside from rephrasing your search query and using search operators, you can also narrow the scope of your results by using facets or filters specific to individual repositories.
Refinements such as data format, analysis types, and availability help users quickly find usable data.
Examining unique results (for example, by clicking on links for more information) can indicate the type of information you find interesting.
Choose the best resource
Another important consideration is the availability of data resources. University librarians can provide advice about particular subscription-based resources available at your institution.
Research papers in your field can also point to available data repositories. For example, citations of datasets within journal articles are common in areas such as astronomy and genomics.
Concentrate on relevant studies and polls
By now, you can take taxation law assignment help from research studies and polls are used to create statistics. In fact, many of these statistics and the raw data are also available online.
While you can conduct a general internet search using your keywords to find statistics for your research paper, knowing specific sources can help you find reliable statistics faster.
Examine the most recent data
Monitoring the most recent literature is one of the most effective ways to identify new data submissions.
Furthermore, many domain-based repositories, such as environmental observatories and sequencing databases, accept similar types of data submissions on a regular basis.
When new publications or data products are submitted, publishers and some digital repositories provide alerting services. For example, it may be possible to set up a recurring search API, or a Rich Site Summary (RSS) feed to automatically monitor specific resources, depending on the resource.
Concluding words,
In every research paper, the role of statistical data is significant as it defends your argument. Hence, you must focus on only the relevant information that directly fits your research and not the ones that leave traces of loopholes in your research work.
Therefore, follow these expert-recommended tips and get the most relevant facts that fit your study.
