6.1 Why Do I Need Sources?
Jackie Hendricks; Amy Lueck; Loring Pfeiffer; and Maura Tarnoff
Why Do I Need Outside Sources for My Research Project?
Research is made up of three elements: sources, tools, and methods. In academic writing, and much other public and professional writing, it is generally not enough just to write from your own ideas, beliefs and assumptions. Instead, you need sources as data, to provide background on a topic, to understand diverse perspectives on a topic, and to inform your own methods and methodology. To understand why sources are a critical component to research methodology, we’ll turn to DataCenter’s parallel between the process of extracting and delivering knowledge and the process of serving soup from a crockpot.
The soup in the pot represents your sources—the places where your information lives. The sources you choose will depend on what information you are looking for. Choosing whether to find information in a publication, online resource, mainstream institution, or directly from the community will depend on your research goals. The analogy goes like this:
- The soup inside the crockpot is what you want (the source information).
- The ladle is the instrument you use, uniquely designed specifically for extracting the ingredients you want (the tool).
- How you use the ladle—whether by stirring, scooping, or simply skimming off the top—will get you what you want from the soup (the method).
| Research Element | Examples of Sources in Research | Examples of Sources in the Crockpot Analogy |
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| Sources: The sources are the places where your information lives |
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| Tools: The tools are what you use to extract the information you need |
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| Methods: The methods are the procedures you use to extract and disseminate your information |
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Every soup has a different combination of ingredients and textures. Similarly, in your quest to answer basic research questions, you should turn to a variety of different sources for evidence: reference resources, people, evaluative and opinionated articles, and any other credible sources that allow you to achieve the goals of your project. Along the way, you continually evaluate and reevaluate the credibility of your sources.
Remember that the process may take time—maybe more time than you anticipate! After all, research and writing are complex, recursive activities. Start by locating and reading sources that help you select and narrow your topic. As you narrow your focus, you may need to go back and look for additional sources. Additional sources will help you flesh out your understanding of your topic and build the structure of your paper. In the coming sections, we’ll go into more depth on collecting, evaluating, citing, and differentiating between sources.
Attribution
“Collecting and Assessing Sources” by Jackie Hendricks, Amy Lueck, Loring Pfeiffer, and Maura Tarnoff is adapted from “An Introduction to Research Justice” by Reem Assil, Miho Kim, and Saba Waheed for the DataCenter: Research for Justice, used under CC BY-SA 3.0. “Collecting and Assessing Sources” is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
