Get the Big Picture
Step 2: Get the Big Picture
The big picture a general understanding of your topic. How do you get this?
- Read about your topic - using textbooks, general books, information from professional associations, whatever.
- From your reading, find the main ideas of your topic and terms/keywords scholars use to describe them...you may find them in the text, the citations, or the reference list.
Remember, not all of this reading is scholarly - but it should all have some references or citations to start going deeper. And you'll use the main ideas in the next steps:
- Going Deeper: learn what those terms mean to better understand them. (Example: "Retrieval Process" is about memory and learning)
- Joining the Conversation: you'll use those terms (that you now understand) to search for more articles.
See below right for an example.
Fun Big-Picture Info!
Did you know you can find Big Picture information from lots of places?
In-depth magazine articles, websites, and podcasts are in everyday language can help you understand complex concepts. Just check to make sure they mention specific studies or authors or articles that you can look up on your own.
Take a look at these:
- Professional Association Websites like the Association for Psychological Science's Latest Research News. Scroll down and you can find articles about Psychological Science in published in newspapers and magazines that are easy to read.
- Podcasts like Two Guys on Your Head (my favorite, from NPR), The Hidden Brain (also good, from NPR), Under the Cortex and Current Directions in Psychological Science (from APS).
- Publishing websites like Everyday Research Methods Blog from W.W. Norton & Co. that collect research about a single topic from multiple locations. Lots of topics in the lower right column.
Research is a Process
Get the Big Picture: Example
