Kleine Reading

Summary
This article is based around the act and process of writing research papers. And of course, the research that goes into them. Kleine catagorizes two kinds of research paper writers: A hunter finds what he is looking for and a gatherer discovers that which might be of use. The article also included observations he made regarding people's attitudes and motives for writing research papers.

Discussion Questions
1. This article does not really line up with how I view research papers- though it should. When I think about a reseach paper, I think about sitting down at my desk, with Microsoft Word pulled up, and typing a paper. However, Kleine is trying to get me to look at research papers as more research, than typing. Which is probably how it is supposed to be. He is not describing how I do my research papers. I have always done them just to complete them (guilty, yes.) and not really to pack them full of as much information as humanly possible.

3. For the people that Kleine interviews, sources are everything. Not only were the people he interviewed doing a large amount of preparation for their papers, however they were doing a large variety of research including scientific, social and psychological. Having diverse sources helped them to piece together the best supported paper possible. In my past research papers, I would usually use the first statistics/quotes I could find and stuck them in my paper. I can explain this gap in saying that I was doing these research papers because I HAD to, they were writing these papers because they wanted to. They were able to put more effort and care into the papers simply because they were not being told to do it.

4. I would definitely start my research before I even started the paper. I would keep a chart to organize facts as I found them, and select specifically which ones I wanted to use and which ones I thought we're valid enough for my paper. I would also use a wider variety of sources, from social to statistical to scientific. Just to make my paper more well rounded and trust worthy.

My Thoughts
This article kind of made me realize the lack of effort I put into my research papers in high school. And kinda made me feel bad about it at the same time. I know that you have to work for the grade you want...but doing the bare minimum kinda let me slide by in my English classes in high school. However, now when I start my research papers- not only will I plan proactively to write them last and research them first, I will leave enough time for myself to do the research necessary for me to recieve the grade I want. This article helped me to see research papers as more research and less paper- you have to know your topic, and know it well to write a good, informative paper. Otherwise, you're simply doing what you need to do to get full credit on the rubric.