Badke’s explanation of how to read for research in chapter 8 sparked a great interest to me. While the tips presented to the reader about analytical reading (be ruthless, get to know the materialnwithout reading it all, etc.) from section 8.0-8.2 were very helpful, the sections following 8.2 became very thought provoking. I began to noticed my own traits for reading sources weren’t up to par. Section 8.3 of this chapter was completely relevant. I was one of those people who only used one or two sources for my data while referring to others to seem like I did more research than I actually did. I always knew that my research was “half way done” but it always seemed to work, giving me no reason to try harder. This is one thing I hope to change, and will change with the help of this class. One question that was placed into my mind while reading Badke’s section on paraphrasing when he stated (188), “this method leaves you particularly open to a charge of plagiarism, since you are still reproducing the writer’s work, thought for thought if not word for word,” was what if you are thinking the same thought as the author. The author can’t be the only person in the world who thought about a certain topic that specific way. I never thought expressing your own thought in your own words as paraphrasing, even if it was similar to the author or not. I may have been misinterpreting the concept of paraphrasing throughout my high school years. I will now try to avoid it. Through reading the preface, chapter 1 & 2 of “Research Strategies” by William Badke, I already see the significance of the text; we shall use it to see what we’ve been doing and to understand the advantages and disadvantages of these techniques. Also, to learn new techniques and become an analytical reader.
-Destiny Modeste
