#### [[How to Read in Grad School]] --- I almost never read beginning to end. Instead, I start with the abstract and introduction, then skip around a bit, with a few strategic goals in mind. Here are some suggestions for what that looks like. First, read as much of each article or book as it takes to identify: - The central research question - The data/methods used to answer the research question - The central argument/answer - The key patterns that support the central argument/answer - The evidence that points to those larger patterns (e.g., statistical correlations, examples from field notes or interview transcripts) - The limitations (i.e., what questions it doesn’t answer; what perspectives or possibilities it doesn’t consider) - How you would cite the article/book/chapter in your own work (e.g., as an example or explanation of a particular method, to define a specific concept or term, or to highlight key findings from empirical research) Second, figure out how each reading relates to other things you’ve read, especially other things by the same author or in the same subfield/genre. Does this particular study: Support, explain, clarify, extend, or challenge what’s been said before? Develop a new theoretical model? Use a new method? Add a new case/population? Third, decide if this is a book, article, or chapter that you’ll need to read in full. Some readings are going to be highly relevant to your own research, and those readings deserve a more in-depth read. In that case, you’ll want to read carefully, and you’ll want to take more detailed notes. In addition to noting the pieces of information outlined above, you’ll also want to be able to articulate how these books, articles, and chapters inform your work and also how your work is (or will be) different from the research reported in the studies you’ve read. --- Tags: Reference: Related: [[Flowchart of methods of research]] [[Grad School Essentials]] [[A Field Guide to Grad School]] [[Questions about relationships as jigsaw puzzle]] [[Zkn Questions Relevant Meaningfulness]]