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The Craft of Research (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) (Paperback)

by Wayne Booth (Author), Gregory G. Colomb (Author), Joseph M. Williams (Author)
Key Phrases: viewers overestimate, prospective intention, entire biosphere, Quick Tip, Using Sources, Revising Style (more...)

4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Skillfully done, research can be the solid cornerstone of your term paper (or dissertation, essay, or article); inadequately executed, it can cause your whole project to crumble and fall. Yet essential as research is to the ultimate success of your work, performing it is not an innate talent. The precepts, steps, and skills of solid research are readily acquired if you spend some time with The Craft of Research before you start on your outlines and thesis statements. Written by three distinguished professors in 1995, published by the University of Chicago, and winner of the 1995-96 Critics' Choice Award, The Craft of Research teaches how to plan, carry out, and report on research for any field and at any level. Aimed at assisting student researchers, from raw beginners to accomplished graduate and professional students, the book shows how to choose a topic, plan and organize research, and how to draft and revise a report of findings such that a convincing solution is offered to a significant problem.

The Craft of Research is more than just another instruction manual getting you from topic to outline to notes to report. Recognizing that good research is rarely a simple, sequential procedure, but is instead a complex and intricate process, it discusses the subtle ways in which asking questions about your topic can influence how you draft your report, how a quality introduction can send you back to the library, and how the process of drafting can highlight flaws in your argument that need to be addressed. Clear and explicit, sophisticated and practical, The Craft of Research encourages high standards of scholarly achievement, and spells out the steps by which to get there. --Stephanie Gold

Product Description

This manual offers practical advice on the fundamentals of research to college and university students in all fields of study. The Craft of Research teaches much more than the mechanics of fact gathering: it explains how to approach a research project as an analytical process. The authors chart every stage of research, from finding a topic and generating research questions about it to marshalling evidence, constructing arguments, and writing everything up in a final report that is a model of authority. Their advice is designed for use by both beginners and seasoned practitioners, and for projects from class papers to dissertations.

This book is organized into four parts. Part One is a spirited introduction to the distinctive nature, values, and protocols of research. Part Two demystifies the art of discovering a topic. It outlines a wide range of sources, among them personal interests and passions. Parts Three and Four cover the essentials of argument—how to make a claim and support it—and ways to outline, draft, revise, rewrite, and polish the final report. Part Three is a short course in the logic, structure, uses, and common pitfalls of argumentation. The writing chapters in Part Four show how to present verbal and visual information effectively and how to shape sentences and paragraphs that communicate with power and precision.

"A well-constructed, articulate reminder of how important fundamental questions of style and approach, such as clarity and precision, are to all research."—Times Literary Supplement

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Product Details

Paperback: 301 pages
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; illustrated edition edition (October 2, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0226065847
ISBN-13: 978-0226065847
Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces

Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #307,069 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
viewers overestimate, prospective intention, entire biosphere, working introduction, naming power

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Quick Tip, Using Sources, Revising Style, Communicating Evidence Visually, United States, Supreme Court, Making Good Arguments, Library of Congress, Holy Land, Family Structure, Peter the Great, Foreign-born Residents

Citations (learn more)

47 books cite this book:

Writing Theology Well: A Rhetoric for Theological And Biblical Writers by Lucretia B. Yaghjian on 6 pages
The Academics' Guide to Publishing (Sage Study Skills Series) by Dr Rob Kitchin on 4 pages
Successful Research Careers: A Practical Guide by Sara Delamont in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
Visualizing Research: A Guide To The Research Process In Art And Design by Carole Gray on page 65, page 90, and page 157
Supervising the Doctorate 2nd Edition (Society for Research into Higher Education) by Sara Delamont in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)

See all 47 books citing this book

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	64% buy the item featured on this page: The Craft of Research (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) 4.7 out of 5 stars (43)
	27% buy The Craft of Research, Third Edition (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) 4.4 out of 5 stars (16) $11.56
	3% buy A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Seventh Edition: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) 4.6 out of 5 stars (40) $11.56
	3% buy A Rulebook for Arguments 4.2 out of 5 stars (46) $7.95

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Customer Reviews

43 Reviews

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (43 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for dissertations, September 27, 2001

By	Zechristof "zechristof" (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews

I used this book as the text for a freshman-sophomore course, Introduction to Christian Academics. It is very clearly written, and the information it presents will help anyone understand what they are reading. It is not just for people writing dissertations. To understand and to be able to analyze what you read, you need to know how arguments are constructed -- what constitutes evidence, what are the steps of reasoning, what is the role of the warrant of an argument. My students liked the book a lot. We later used it as a reference in a graduate course. It was worthwhile there, too. This book is one of the half dozen or so that belong on the desk of every person who is serious about what he reads and about what he writes.

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63 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mandatory for all researchers, June 13, 2000

By A Customer

This is a great book on writing a research report, useful for both beginners and seasoned researchers. It walks you through all the phases of your research project, starting from picking up your topic, through the actual research, note-taking, to writing up your findings, down to sentence level structure and style. For me a most useful part of the book was the beginning: finding a topic, defining your research problem, qualifying it, and determining your warrants; especially revealing was the relationship between your research problem and a wider body of theory, and how you must be explicit about your "warrants" to make a real contribution to "knowledge" or to "solving a practical problem." Even though I had read many other books on writing such as "The Clockwork Muse" or "Writing Your Dissertation in 15 Minutes a Day" none was as explicit as this one on how to combine both Research and Writing (the other books assume that writing a research project entails a progressive, smooth process: you pick a topic, you research it, and you write up your conclusions/findings), nothing farther from the truth; as I learned from painful experience and as was made explicit by this book, to my relief, a research project is a dynamic process in which research and writing go together; they complement and reinforce each other. This book teaches you just how to do this and it was the greatest lesson I learned.

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50 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good book for the right audience..., March 17, 2004

By	Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Craft of Research, 2nd edition (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) (Paperback)

I picked up the book The Craft Of Research by Wayne Booth, Gregory Colomb, and Joseph Williams at the library awhile back, and I finished it over the course of this week. Not quite what I was expecting, but useful if you buy it for the right reason. I was looking for something more geared towards doing research for articles and such. This is geared towards the college student or professional researcher who has to produce research papers on a regular basis. It teaches you how to formulate your argument and properly research your material to make and prove your points. Probably very helpful if you have an actual project to do at the time you're reading it. Definitely a reference book you'd want to have on your shelf.

That's not to say that you couldn't gain some insight on article writing from this book. It's just, in my opinion, a bit too advanced for the type of writing I would do. But because it covers the target audience well, I can't complain.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful Resource for Research Papers
This has been an extremely helpful resource for framing and developing a good research paper. It takes the reader step-by-step through the process of finding a topic of interest,... Read more

Published 14 months ago by Jeff DeSurra

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful tool for novice
It is very useful reference book for the person who want to write a paper for researching. It clearly describes the procedure for each step and gives some key points or thoughts... Read more

Published 15 months ago by Josephine Y. Fang

4.0 out of 5 stars Decent book
This book was on my book list for a college writing course. It is helpful but some of it is just tedious and common knowledge. Read more

Published 21 months ago by Janet

5.0 out of 5 stars Craft of Research
This book is so well- written, that I actually enjoy reading it. All it talks about is how to be a good writer, but it was written as if the reader is having a conversation with... Read more

Published 22 months ago by morgan

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have!
As a seminary student in the midst of a master's thesis, 'The Craft' is a joy. It is helpful, and both easy to navigate and understand.

Published 23 months ago by D. M. Whitaker

4.0 out of 5 stars Very comprehensive but not easy to remeber and follow
The book is really great if you are persuining any degree. The only problem is that the authors did not lay out the guidlines as clear and strainght forward as I would expected... Read more

Published on June 2, 2007 by Hussein Mohamed

5.0 out of 5 stars An authentic jewel.
This book is a complete and authoritative guide to do sound academic research in any field at any level. It is stupendously well organized and brightly written. Read more

Published on March 14, 2007 by Ernesto Sep�lveda-Villarreal

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Arrived quickly with no problems at all. The condition of the book is as described.

Published on January 18, 2007 by The Student

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Job
I received the book as promised in excellent condition and before promised.

Thanks!

Published on January 15, 2007 by James A. Jackson

5.0 out of 5 stars Craft of Research
For those who want to enter or who have entered the art and craft of research there is no better guide than Booth et al. Read more

Published on January 11, 2007 by H. P. van Dalen

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