Writing and Information Competency in Small Bytes

As information is gathered and recorded in various forms, you can begin the important writing task of evolving an organizational plan to keep the material organized. Keep a few things firmly in mind:

1. Strive to relate each "piece" of information to your overall research question or objective
2. Remember to build your Works Cited page as you go with complete bibliographic entries
3. Record clearly the source and location (e.g., page number) for every "piece" of information

As you gather the information, try to find logical groupings of ideas and facts that can be put together and developed as points in your paper. The nature of your material should be a good guide to such groupings. Several traditional patterns for information can be useful:

• Chronological: Some facts can be ordered by in a time. Note key dates and use them to group pertinent information. For example, part of your paper may detail the sequence of events in the history of the Civil Rights Movement.
• Spatial: Some facts and ideas can be arranged by their physical proximity or relationship to one another, such as geography. For example, in a paper on Mexican culture, you might group your material on the basis of regions in Mexico with common characteristics.
• Cause-effect: Some information can be grouped into facts about causes and facts about effects. In a paper on drug use, you might first discuss the effects on drug use and then discuss the causes for this drug use. In a paper on crime in Los Angeles, you might discuss the role of drug abuse as a cause of part of criminal activity, and then you might first document the nature and extent of various criminal activities.
• Problem-solution: Some facts document the nature of a problem and others relate to possible solutions.
• Topical: Some facts need to be enumerated or broken down into parts. What are the reasons for high school dropouts?
• Comparison-contrast: Facts about two things can be grouped for comparison on various specific characteristics or aspects. For example, you might do a paper comparing the experiences of two immigrant cultures in terms of economics, employment, education, and religion.

In Chapter 3, the four stasis issues were introduced as tools to frame the initial question. In this later stage in evolving a written paper or essay, the same issues can be used for grouping your information:

Policy: What should be done to solve the problem?

These same patterns for organization of your research information can be useful in writing stage in which you begin formally planning the organization of your paper.