Reading and researching

Skimming involves reading key parts of the text. You can use it when you need to get an overview of an author's main line of argument.

Two basic skim-reading techniques

Start-finish

This strategy is based on the idea that all well-written articles, essays and chapters of books are structured in the following way:

• introduction
• body
• conclusion.

This means that the central ideas should be presented three times:

• noted briefly in the introduction
• discussed in detail in the body of the text
• reviewed briefly in the conclusion.

The beginning and ending paragraphs of a text should provide summaries of its central ideas.

The strategy here is to carefully read:

• the first few paragraphs of each chapter or section
• the final paragraph or conclusion of each chapter or section.

First sentences

This strategy assumes that the first or opening sentence of each paragraph introduces the main point(s) to be discussed in that paragraph.

Reading only the opening sentence of each paragraph often gives you a clearer understanding of the author's reasoning and the structure of the argument than just relying on the introduction and conclusion.

Once you have established that the material is what you need then you can re-read it.

First sentence technique

The first sentence technique is also an effective strategy to use when note taking from books (and/or chapters of books) and articles. It can be used to create effective summaries of other people's writings - remembering, of course, that the sentences are still the author's words.

Once you have created the summaries you will still have to rewrite them in your own words. This is known as paraphrasing.

Most people use scanning to read web pages when surfing the internet. Scanning helps you establish where in a book or article specific information is located.

How do I scan?

Suppose you have found a book whose title looks very promising in terms of the information that you are seeking.

Step one

Open the book and look at the table of contents, located at the front of the book. It will list most, but not necessarily all of the following subsections:

• a preface
• a list of diagrams or tables or illustrations
• an introduction
• the various chapters in sequence from 1 to n
• a conclusion
• a bibliography
• an index.

Step two

Read the chapter headings. Do they contain the information that you are looking for? If not, then go to the index at the back of the book.

Step three

Search the index for relevant topics or keywords. If this also draws a blank, then the put the book away and look for another that might be more fruitful for your topic.

Step four

When you find a relevant reference:

• in the table of contents go to the appropriate section of the book and read the first two paragraphs. These often contain a statement about what information will be covered. This will help you to assess whether the material is relevant for your topic. If you are still uncertain about the usefulness of the material, then read the final two paragraphs of the summary
• in the index go to the appropriate page or pages in the book. Find the paragraph in which the reference appears. Read the paragraph. If necessary, read the paragraph before and after the one specified by index entry.

Looking for key information involves looking in a given paragraph of passage of words for the key words that are relevant for your topic. It is a process that can be used in conjunction with scanning.

Finding key information

Keywords and ideas are often found in the opening paragraphs of a chapter or subsection of a chapter. Pay particular attention to the opening sentence and the opening paragraph.

Look for any hints given by the author. These might include:

• underlining
• bolding
• italics
• subheadings
• section breaks.

Reading in detail helps you to:

• gain a full understanding of material
• analyse and evaluate what you have read
• follow instructions or directions
• understand difficult terms or ideas.

Analytic reading involves reading in an active and systematic way so that you gain an understanding of what you are reading.

Two approaches to understanding what you read are:

1. the SQ3R technique
2. thinking through reading.

The SQ3R technique

S - Survey

• Glance through the whole chapter, section, or article
• Read the introduction
• Read the headings and subheadings (How is the text organised?)
• Read any content overview, chapter summary or ...
• Skim for key questions, key information

Q - Question

For each section ask:

• What is the main point?
• What evidence is there to support that point?
• What examples explain the main point?
• How does this section fit in with the rest of the text?

R1 - Read

Begin to read the material section by section. Actively search for the answer to the questions you have asked yourself. Make notes about important points.

Link the information with what you already know and use this to help evaluate the author’s statements.

R2 - Recite

After reading each section, recall the important points – say these aloud and write them down in the margins of the text. Make your notes in short phrases rather than full sentences. You may also highlight key information.

R3 - Review

Look back over the whole chapter or article at the way the information fitted together and how it addressed each of your questions. Think about what you have understood from the reading. Summarise the main ideas of the text in writing. Rewrite the notes you have taken (or paraphrase underlined sections) for easy review/reference later.

Thinking through reading

This technique involves enhancing your understanding of what you read by recognising the level of information that it contains. This involves three levels of recognition:

• What does the writer say?
  • This is literal recognition. It is concerned with the surface information conveyed by the writer's words.
• What does the writer mean?
  • This is interpretive recognition. We infer meaning from what the writer says. This is what is usually meant when we talk about reading between the lines.
• How do I connect this with what I already know or need to know?
• This is connective recognition. We look for connections between the literal and interpretive meanings with what we already know or need to know. In this way, we can:
  • find new solutions for problems
  • reach a new understanding
  • change our view.

Critical reading involves exercising your judgement about what you are reading. It involves you evaluating the arguments or positions presented by the writer. You ask questions of the claims or statements made by the author, and then seek to provide answers for those questions.

Common questions include:

• What is the evidence for this argument?
• Do I agree with it?
  • If so, what is my evidence for agreement?
  • If not, what is my evidence to counter the author's argument?
• What alternative perspectives are possible here?

Make a note of your answers and any other relevant questions and challenges that you think of.

Reading and thinking critically involves more than claiming that some idea, argument, or piece of writing is faulty. It involves presenting a reasoned argument that analyses what you are reading. Being critical, in a scholarly sense, is concerned with advancing our understanding, not closing it off.

The most effective way to read a difficult text is to break the task into parts, and only work on one section of the text at a time.

For each section:

1. scan the section checking headings and subheadings and look at how the text is organised
2. read the introductory and concluding paragraphs to get a general idea of what is in that part of the text
3. read the text, shorter sections at a time. As you read, Look up any key words that you don’t understand and can’t guess from the context;
   at the end of each part:
   • look away and try to restate what you think the text is saying
   • write down a few notes
   • mark any parts that you do not understand and come back to them later.
4. even if you don’t understand very well what you are reading, keep on going as the ideas may become clearer later in the text
5. reread parts of the text that are still not clear to you
6. if you are still finding the text difficult, leave it for 24 hours and come back to it. You may find that a second or third reading will give you a better understanding of the text.

A useful tool for this is a mind map. This will help you to clarify and understand the key concepts of the topic

Don’t forget to include any readings or lecture/tutorial content that fit this topic.

Looking for key information involves looking in a given paragraph or passage of words for the keywords that are relevant for your topic. It is a process that can be used in conjunction with scanning.

Keywords and ideas are often found in the opening paragraphs of a chapter or subsection of a chapter. Pay particular attention to the opening sentence and the opening paragraph.

Look for any hints given by the author. These might include:

• underlining
• bolding
• italics
• subheadings
• section breaks.

Once you have established what the key information is, you will need to read it in detail.

Reading in detail helps you to:

• gain a full understanding of material
• analyse and evaluate what you have read
• follow instructions or directions
• understand difficult terms or ideas.

You need to get a broader understanding of the task by testing your key words in a Boolean search.

Look for information in:

• books
• journals (databases)
• online dictionaries and encyclopaedias.

Have you found too much information? Have you found too little information? Review your research results and decide if you need to narrow or widen your search terms. It might be necessary to repeat steps 2 and 3.

The researching skills (CDU Library) workshop explains periodicals (journals) databases, Boolean search strategies and ways of reviewing your search.

When you find information, it won’t all be suitable. Use skimming and scanning techniques to decide which items you will use and which you will discard.

Active readers make notes.

Your notes should include:

• title (book/ chapter, article/ journal, website)
• author(s)/editors
• date published.

Always note page numbers against individual notes. This will save you a lot of time when you are actually writing your paper.

Learn how to transform a journal reference to an APA 7th referencing style.