So. People (me) I’m telling you to do informed research on things before coming to conclusions.
You have no clue how to do that. Don’t worry McAllister’s got you.
Here is a quick and easy guide to doing simple research.
Disclaimer: this doesn’t work always academic research. but these are the basic tenets I live by for all my complex research for anything including reporting. So.
Surface research - google the thing and click on the first couple links to articles and information. This may not give you the best information, but it’s gonna give you a good, jumping off point. (SAVE THESE BTW. It doesn’t matter if you need it for an academic paper, or just wanna be able to supply of people with information as to where you got your information, you should always have an idea of where information is coming from, and saving your sources is key for that.)
Scholarly research - google scholar is your friend. Search up scholarly articles for anything you’re interested in. Dig through these, find peer-reviewed studies about things. Wanna know how to tell a good study from a bad one? I got you. Click here.
Source Mining - Dig! Poke around the source is listed in previous articles you’ve read. Even if an article didn’t give you that much information on topic, if they have sources cited dig through those see who they reference see who they talk about. Find other articles listed here and keep going until you feel properly informed.
Consult a variety of sources - It doesn’t matter who you are. You have biases, and that’s going to reflect on your research. You’re gonna naturally tend to gravitate towards sources that reaffirm notions you have, do you like going to the same news source for all your information or going towards places that have keywords that you resonate with. What’s the solution for a biased research? Well, there’s no such thing as unbiased research, everything is written with some degree of bias in mind. So the solution, is to consult the other side. See people of the opposite perspective think, what they’re saying about it. It’s always good to consult every side of an argument before forming an opinion, that way you’re not missing key information that could review things that you previously didn’t know.
Don’t be afraid to change as you learn - New research is literally always coming out. New articles are being written, new perspectives are being sold out. If you find information that change the way you view a thing, don’t be afraid to admit your opinion on things have changed. Growth and change of opinion is entirely natural and actually expected as you become a more informed person. No one hold onto the exact same ideas forever.
“But McAllister,” you cry. “How do I tell source biases?”
Don’t worry.
Media Bias Chart
Article on how bad faith arguments
Another article on bad faith.
"McAllister, those articles are account locked!"
No they aren't. Not with THIS WEBSITE! Screw paywalls. Information should be FREE.
Got more questions about research? Talk to me here or at my reporting blog @breaking-controller for research advice and aid.
Research is like one of my whole things.