Page 242 - Essentials of Human Communication

Step 3: Research Your Topic 221

copyright page), though many authors are now including their e-mail Communication
address. Choice Point
● Secure an appointment. Phone the person or send an e-mail requesting an interview. asking a favor
State the purpose of your request and say that you hope to conduct a brief interview You’re preparing a speech on
by phone or that you’d like to send this person a series of questions by e-mail. the growth of the independent film and want
● Create a cheat sheet. A cheat sheet is a list of what you want to say during the interview. to ask some directors a few questions so you
If this is a phone or chat interview, you can keep the cheat sheet in front of you; if this is can integrate their most recent thoughts (and
interject a more personalized note) into your
a face-to-face interview, review the cheat sheet immediately before the interview. speech. What are some of your options for ac-
● Ask open-ended questions. Generally, ask questions that provide the interviewee complishing this? What would you do?
with room to discuss the issues you want to raise. Avoid questions that can be an-
swered with yes or no.
● Ask for permission to tape or print the interview. It’s a good idea to keep an accurate record
of the interview, so ask permission to tape the interview if it’s in person or by telephone.
● After closing the interview, follow-up with an expression of appreciation. Even though you
thank the person at the end of the interview, it’s polite to follow up with a thank you note,
later that day or the next day. Or perhaps you might send the person you interviewed a
copy of your speech (e-mail would work well here) with a note of thanks.

research evaluatiOn
All research materials must be evaluated. This is especially true of online materials simply
because anyone can “publish” on the Internet, making it essential that you subject everything
you find there to critical analysis. An article on the Internet can be written by world-
renowned scientists or by elementary school students; by fair and objective reporters or by
people who would spin the issues to serve their own political, religious, or social purposes.
It’s not always easy to tell which is which. Table 11.3 presents five criteria you’d want to use
in evaluating research from the Internet or from any other place.

TABle 11.3 evaluating research, especially on the internet
This table identifies five essential criteria that need to be examined when evaluating research of all kinds but perhaps
Internet research in particular. These are some of the questions you’d want to ask and the precautions that you should take.
criteria Questions to ask Precautions to take
Qualifications Does the author have the necessary credentials? For exam- Do an Internet search to check on the writer’s expertise
ple, does the author have enough of a background in sci- and credentials.
ence or medicine to write authoritatively on health issues?
Currency When was the information published? When were the To ensure currency check important figures in a recent
sources that are cited in the article written? almanac, in a newspaper, or at a frequently updated
source, such as FedStats which lists statistics from over
100 government agencies.
Fairness Does the author of the material present the information It’s often useful to go to the home page and look for in-
fairly and objectively, or is there a bias favoring one posi- formation on the nature of the organization sponsoring
tion? Some websites, although objective on the surface, are the website. Reviewing a range of research on the sub-
actually arms of political, religious, or social organizations. ject will help you see how other experts view the issue.
Sufficiency Is the information presented sufficient to establish the The broader your conclusion, the more information you’ll
claim or conclusion? The opinion of one dietitian is insuf- need to meet the requirements for sufficiency. If
ficient to support the usefulness of a particular diet; sta- you claim the usefulness of a diet for all people, then
tistics on tuition increases at five elite private colleges are you’re going to need a great deal of information from
insufficient to illustrate national trends in tuition costs. different populations—men and women, old and
young, healthy and sickly, and so on.
Accuracy Is the information presented accurate? (Although accu- Check to see whether the information is consistent with
racy is not always easy to determine, the more you information found in other sources and whether the rec-
learn about your topic, the more able you’ll be to judge ognized authorities in the field accept this information.
its accuracy.) Is the information primary or secondary?
If it’s secondary information, you may be able to locate
the primary source material (often a link in the Internet
article or a reference at the end).