Research Methods for Writers

Quick Facts

Delivery Method Online
Professional Certificate
24hrs Suggested Study Time
3 Months Access
Tutor Support
Study On Any Device
2912 Students

Learn the most efficient and effective methods to conduct research for any writing project.

Attention all writers! Learn how to efficiently and effectively conduct research for any writing project: fiction, nonfiction, business . . . even term papers and dissertations. Modern research techniques are boundless. The trick is to know where to look and what to look for.

This self-paced online course teaches the best methods for mounting a search on any subject.

You'll take a virtual guided tour of the library and how to maximise its precious resources, and you'll discover how to access public records, conduct successful Internet searches, and explore other similar treasure troves of information.

Personal interviews, public reports, surveys and polls, and historical research are introduced and dissected. A special lesson on Guerilla Research reveals secrets for the undercover researcher. As a plus, detailed instructions are offered for getting organised before embarking on research and getting the most out of information once it's gathered.

This course will give you the tools you'll need to successfully gather and incorporate all the information any polished and professional writing project requires.

Courses are delivered to you through expertly executed lessons, online instruction and interaction with like-minded students. Our courses are designed to deliver all of the benefits of studying in a classroom whilst giving you the flexibility to study at a time and place to suit your needs. You can access your classroom 24/7 from any device with an internet connection.

This course has a 3 month duration. You'll complete comprehensive lessons, quizzes and assignments before submitting your final exam at the end of the course to achieve your certificate. Courses must be completed within the 3 month access period.

In this introductory lesson, you’ll learn why good research skills are necessary for effective writing. You’ll unleash your creativity with the exciting “Mind Mapping” tool to identify your subject—in both a general and specific way—to help refine your research before you even begin. You’ll also learn the importance of understanding jargon and technical terms specific to your subject, which will leave you much better prepared to begin your project.

You probably already know that much time can be wasted if research is conducted in a disorganized manner. In this lesson you’ll learn how to organize a plan for your research and how to keep organized once your research is underway. We’ll identify the first steps of research, including choosing between academic and anecdotal research, primary and secondary sources, and which resources will be the most productive for you in the early stages of research.

The library is still the most all-inclusive resource for research, but many people aren’t aware of the treasure trove of information residing within its walls. This lesson will take you on a virtual field trip through the many library sections and departments, introducing and reviewing the materials available, including periodicals, microfilm records, Lexis-Nexis, rare books, reverse directories, government reports, maps, old telephone books, and many others. You’ll discover resources that you never knew existed.

One of the most productive resources for researches is the personal interview, but it can be intimidating. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to find experts and how to prepare for an interview. You’ll learn the keys to formulating questions designed to get the very best from your subject. By the time you finish this lesson, you’ll feel confident and competent to approach your interview subjects with ease.

Perusing reports can seem about as much fun as a root canal, but it’s worth it when you find nuggets of information essential to your research. This lesson will introduce you to numerous valuable reports, including census reports, public company reports and a multitude of government reports. You’ll learn how to separate the wheat from the chaff, winnowing out the pertinent information, and how to assess a report not only for its content but also for the reliability of its source. As a bonus, you’ll be given some guidelines for turning statistics into prose.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to incorporate history into your writing, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction. You’ll discover what you’ve probably suspected all along: the truth of history is often shaped by the perspective of the historian. This lesson will teach you how to evaluate different perspectives, how to spot “rewritten history,” and how to zero in on fact versus mythology.

Today’s lesson will introduce you to the numerous public records that are waiting to reveal information about persons, places, and things. Real estate records, birth, marriage and death records, civil and criminal trial records, bankruptcy filings, construction records, and political campaign information are but a few of the many records available to the public. By the end of this lesson, you’ll know what’s out there and how to get to it.

Conducting research on the Internet can be a valuable time-saver. It can also allow researchers to fall into the trap of believing everything they read. This lesson will discuss Internet reliability: what you can trust and what you should mistrust. You’ll also learn skills for effectively using search engines for your research, for both general and specific topics. You’ll find many useful research links, and we’ll discuss issues such as when you should and should not pay for your information. The Internet has as many pitfalls as benefits, and this lesson will show you how to avoid the pitfalls.

Some researchers can’t resist the lure of using information that has never before existed. This lesson discusses the value of collecting your own data by way of surveys, studies, interviews, polls, and questionnaires. You’ll learn how to effectively create these instruments of data-gathering, and you’ll learn the difference between valid statistical sampling versus informal, nonscientific results, and when the use of each is appropriate.

Have you ever had difficulty finding cooperative sources of information? This lesson will reveal the secrets of Guerilla Research; i.e., how to get answers when the questions are being evaded. You’ll learn techniques for gaining the confidence of reluctant interview subjects, as well as methods for digging and snooping. In other words, you’ll learn how to get what you want when the direct approach isn’t working.

Once your research has been compiled, much of it will be quoted or paraphrased within your manuscript. In today’s lesson we’ll discuss the importance of proper attribution as well as the technical methods for crediting your sources. You’ll learn how to painlessly create a bibliography, and you will also learn how to decide between citations, footnotes, and endnotes for your work. You can easily avoid copyright violations by gaining a basic understanding of copyright law, along with the fundamentals of fair use and permissions. Writers know how important it is to protect themselves, and in this lesson you’ll learn how.

Your research is complete, your facts are gathered; now what? In this final lesson, you’ll learn what to do with all the research materials you have accumulated. You’ll learn how to identify what is valuable and what should be discarded. You’ll gain insight on both the writing and the editing process, and as a bonus, you’ll learn how to avoid some of the most common word-usage mistakes. This lesson will give you the final skills you need to produce a well-researched, polished manuscript.

Jacquelyn Landis

Jacquelyn Landis holds a bachelor's degree and has worked as a nonfiction editor for over 15 years. Her editing repertoire includes books, articles, and business manuals written by best-selling authors such as Eva Shaw, George Carpozi, Anthony Rob... Read more

Read Jacquelyn Landis's Profile

Frequently Asked Questions

Once you've made the payment, we'll send you a confirmation email with a link to start your course. Feel free to get started whenever you're ready!

You'll have 3 months access to your course. In that time you are free to study at your own pace. The course duration is 24 hours.

Online learning is a flexible way to study that fits around your schedule, giving you the freedom to learn at your own pace from anywhere in the world. You'll have 3 months to complete the course and can take the multiple-choice questions and final exam whenever it suits you.

If you need help, you can contact us anytime. You can also join the discussion area where you can interact with other students. The discussion area for each lesson is open for the entire duration of the course.

Of course! We offer a 7-day money back guarantee. As long as you haven't completed the course, you can get a full refund within 7 days of enrolling.

We do not offer extensions or transfers for this self-paced course. However, you will have 3 months to complete the course, and if you need to cancel within the first 10 days of enrolment, we offer a money back guarantee.

What people are saying about our courses

Excellent class. Very useful information. Has already saved me tons of time and money on research projects.

Verified Student

Excellent; thoroughly enjoyed a subject that ought to have been this well taught in high school.

Verified Student

I have been a professional writer for many years, but I still found plenty to learn in this practical, comprehensive, and fun course. The instructor was knowledgeable and helpful, and I recommend the course to anyone who needs to write and conduct research at any level.

Verified Student

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The Learning Environment

From the moment that you enrol in the Research Methods for Writers you will become an integral part of our learning community. You'll find yourself with the freedom to learn at a speed that suits you, on any device, from anywhere in the world. Achieving your career goals no longer has to mean compromising family and work commitments.

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Education should be accessible to anyone who wants to learn. That's why we offer some of the most competitive prices in the industry with payments plans for just $25 per week. Investing in your future is a smart choice and doesn’t have to break the bank.

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Six Sigma: Total Quality Applications

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Quick Facts

Delivery Method Online
Professional Certificate
24hrs Suggested Study Time
3 Months Access
Tutor Support
Study On Any Device
4370 Students

Learn to apply the elements and methods of Six Sigma to achieve the highest possible quality.

Learn how to effectively apply the elements and methods of Six Sigma. Understand how more than 25 tools and methods relate to the DMAIC (define, measure, analyse, improve, and control) model. Determine the relationship of basic statistics to Six Sigma and learn about the Six Sigma business case including strategic planning, the voice of the customer (VOC), quality function deployment (QFD), benchmarking, and financial investment methods. Discover how to use brainstorming, Pareto charts, and critical to quality help define processes, problems, and opportunities. Master the use of other key tools such as cause and effect diagrams, checksheets, scatter diagrams, failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), and force field analysis.

In this self-paced online course, you will learn how to apply the DMAIC model each step of the way. You'll learn how to define, plan, implement, and close a Six Sigma project. You'll also know how to use process capability and how to apply lean thinking. And you'll understand the basics of advanced Six Sigma tools such as sampling, design of experiments (DOE), analysis of variance (ANOVA), hypothesis testing, control charts, and probability distributions.

In our first lesson, we'll start off by investigating DMAIC, the most popular acronym within the Six Sigma body of knowledge. It stands for define, measure, analyze, improve, and control. Then, to set the stage for the remaining lessons, we'll explore basic statistics. Since many of the Six Sigma methods and tools that we'll be discussing require that you have a basic knowledge of statistics, I want to make sure that you're well-prepared. I'll show you how to apply the measures of location—median, mode, mean—and the measures of dispersion—range, mean absolute deviation (MAD), variance, and standard deviation (SD).

In this lesson, we'll take a look at the business side of Six Sigma. We'll start off by discussing strategic planning—a concept that looks at internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. We'll move onto two methods of identifying customer requirements—the voice of the customer (VOC) and quality function deployment (QFD). Next, we'll explore benchmarking, a technique that helps you determine how your company matches up to the competition and industry standards. Finally, we'll look at a few financial methods to help you keep track of key objectives.

You can't improve something unless you first define it. To help us identify what we're dealing with, we'll begin this lesson by reviewing the first element of the DMAIC model: define. We'll move on and cover the basic Six Sigma metrics—defects per unit (DPU), defects per million opportunities (DPMO), yield, and rolled throughput yield (RTY). Next, we'll investigate a few team techniques to help define conditions and situations—brainstorming, brainwriting, nominal group technique (NGT), and affinity diagrams. We'll finish up by seeing how Pareto charts and critical to quality (CTQ) relate to process and problem definition.

In our next two lessons, we'll tackle the measuring aspect of DMAIC. Along with defining a process, problem, or opportunity, if you don't measure something, you can't improve it. You'll learn about different types of data and gain an understanding of sampling by seeing how it's used to analyze and observe populations. We'll conclude the lesson by examining three graphical methods to measure a population: histograms, stem and leaf diagrams, and box and whiskers plots.

As we continue our discussion on the measure component of DMAIC, we'll begin today by looking at probability distributions, failure methods and effects analysis (FMEA), and physical measurement. The probability distributions that we'll review (binomial, Poisson, and chi-square) are discrete. We'll study their formulas and see how their distributions compare to the normal curve. FMEA is one of the most popular and effective Six Sigma tools. I'll help you learn about FMEA's risk priority numbers (RPN) and also provide a form to help you use FMEA. We'll wrap-up the lesson by examining a few members of the physical measurement family—metrology, tensile strength, micrometers, and optical comparators.

In this lesson I'll present several tools that relate to the third component of DMAIC: analyze. Our first order of business today will be learning how to make sound decisions and assess risk. After that, we'll look at tools to help you investigate the processes, problems, and opportunities you defined and measured in the earlier lessons. I'll share how to use regression analysis and cause and effect diagrams. We'll also spend time on force field analysis, storyboards, decision trees, why-why diagrams, and finish up with checksheets and scatter diagrams.

Are you familiar with the old saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words?" Since we're going to be spending a large portion of the lesson discussing flowcharting, I believe this quotation is very relevant. Flowcharts are a fine tool to define processes and analyze what's taking place. We'll look at the ins and outs and the subtleties of creating and using flowcharts. After we discuss flowcharting, we'll jump back into the world of statistics and examine hypothesis testing and analysis of variance (ANOVA).

In this lesson and the next one, we'll discuss project management as an essential vehicle to help you achieve your Six Sigma plans. We'll begin by discussing the different phases of the project life cycle. Then we'll move on and examine deliverables. Since they represent what customers expect, you need to know how to create and manage them. We'll also define stakeholders and talk about what they expect. I'll give special emphasis to the words "customers" and "stakeholders" to represent those inside and outside your organization.

Now that you have a good understanding of the different phases of a project and know all about deliverables, you're ready to learn how to "scope" and schedule a project. Scoping refers to making sure that you set the original boundaries for your project. When you understand all the variables of your project and define the scope properly, your plan and the results that follow have a much better chance of meeting stakeholder expectations. In this lesson, we'll talk about what is arguably the most valuable item in your project management toolbox—a work breakdown structure (WBS). We'll discuss two different versions of WBS and then we'll look at ways to schedule your project.

If you like playing games and solving puzzles, you'll enjoy today's lesson. I'll address the "I element" (improve) of DMAIC by introducing design of experiments (DOE). Although DOE has been around since the 1920s, it's taken a while for organizations to accept it. We'll begin with an overview and discuss what a design and an experiment are. You'll learn about the history of DOE and its nature. I'll identify the principles of sound experimental design and help you work on three DOE problems: one factor at a time (OFAT), full factorial, and fractional factorial DOE.

Today we'll finish our examination of DMAIC by featuring the final letter—C for control. I'll share three tools to help you control your operations: run charts, control charts, and process capability. We'll discuss how to create run charts, go through an overview of control charts, and create two different types of control charts. I'll wrap things up by showing you how to use process capability.

You've just about completed all course requirements except for learning how to think lean—our topic this lesson. Whenever I hear people talk about lean manufacturing or lean thinking, for some reason I think about going on a diet. When I give this notion some thought, it does make sense. Lean thinking means doing more with less. I guess this is how companies succeed: providing more satisfaction and more quality with less effort and less frustration. Our focus on lean thinking will consist of eliminating waste, reducing lead time, and minimizing the impact of constraints.

Tony Swaim

Tony Swaim has helped many clients, colleagues, and students reach their professional and personal goals. He has been an online instructor since 1998 and has taught at colleges and universities across the United States since 1981. His focus areas ... Read more

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Frequently Asked Questions

Once you've made the payment, we'll send you a confirmation email with a link to start your course. Feel free to get started whenever you're ready!

You'll have 3 months access to your course. In that time you are free to study at your own pace. The course duration is 24 hours.

Of course! We offer a 7-day money back guarantee. As long as you haven't completed the course, you can get a full refund within 7 days of enrolling.

What people are saying about our courses

I thought the instructor did an amazing job in writing the lessons. They were up-beat, easy to understand and they kept my interest throughout the entire lesson. I would definitely take another course with this instructor in the future.

Verified Student

Great course! Instructor very knowledgeable on the subject.

Verified Student

I consider this an excellent resource to get familiar with all the concepts and techniques of the Six Sigma Body of Knowledge. The lessons are very clear and well presented. Absolutely great!

Verified Student

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The Learning Environment

From the moment that you enrol in the Six Sigma: Total Quality Applications you will become an integral part of our learning community. You'll find yourself with the freedom to learn at a speed that suits you, on any device, from anywhere in the world. Achieving your career goals no longer has to mean compromising family and work commitments.

Ready to get started?

Enrol Now