The Craft of Research
Responded to by Jeremiah
Johnson
In response to the chapters
presented by Booth Colomb & Williams, I have been exposed to a vast
array of ideal in writing. The main points focus on researching both a topic as
well as the reader. I will express my analysis of three topics: the audience,
the topic and the problem.
I: Know thy audience. When focusing the skill in
crafting research and writing, taking into account the human appraising your
discourse is intelligent. Your writings exist as a medium to the readers. It
must be formatted so they learn, focus and interpret while enjoying the
experience. This is just as important as the topic itself. Do you write a
technical draft for school children? Do you write a children’s book for a CEO?
Let us then question our audience. We need to design our writing and research
so the reader cares for the topic as well as feels a need to listen. This will
bring your topic to a strong denouement and allow the audience to enjoy
every moment.
II: Be particular. Now that we understand audience as a
key component, we must find a topic. I find that designing a topic is more than
a choice. It stands to reason many quantitative and qualitative questions. You
must sift through your experiences, your cares, your knowledge and emotions.
With so much to labor through, choosing becomes difficult but is imperative to
the reader. You must not simply throw facts their way. You must make it
condensed into one topic. This topic then forms one question. Firstly, finding
topics in your interests can help. Do you truly care about your topic?
Secondly, narrowing the topic is vital. “A topic is probably too broad if you
can state it in four or five words:” (39) Penultimately, the topic must mean
something—it must become a question. This will allow your research to take
roots. I believe this to be both the hardest and the most rewarding step. It
focuses the project. Lastly, the topic must make a difference. The audience
needs to know why it is significant to them. You must also know so you
can write. Finding the question will focus your topic into a problem that the
audience wants to solve.
III: Make it significant. Why is there a need for your
topic? Will it make a difference in the real world? This may be the most
important focal point. All designs should be much grander than a pretty object
placed neatly for the audience to view; it must make them marvel. So deciding a
problem for your topic to revolve around is vital. This problem also needs to
be solved. In your design, what will it produce that solves this problem in the
real world? I find that the greatest projects are grandiose enough to reach for
the moon, but personal enough to be solved simply, easily and in a well to-do
manner. The choice of economy is important as well. Will this project be solved
by the wealth of a ‘prince’ or is there a design with the same prowess that is
cheaper? All problems can be solved multiple ways. Finding that solution is
something you must work towards. The problem though must first be found.
In Final Response, all parts of the design process are
holistic and intertwined. They respond to each other, change & morph and
progress to an ultimate closure. Researching is the first step in the project.
This allows you to find the seed that forms something powerful. You can do this
through your audience, your topic and a solvable problem. So let the research
reign as it is crafted from the depths of experience.
