After reading the assignments for the week my view on researching has changed quite a bit. When I research something I am naturally biased; I only look for information that would "suit my fancy" or my bias. After reading pages 143-159 I realized that researching this way can lead to an unsuccessful paper. Also whenever I am assigned a research paper, the first resource I run to is the internet; this is not necessarily the best resource option. I could research not only on the internet, but also in libraries or somewhere I never even consider, an organization or even within my neighborhood.
Research bias
It's very easy to fall into this trap, Kristin; I think we're all guilty of it at some point or another. It is a good idea to go into research with an idea of what you want; naturally, you want people to back up your hypothosis, your original thesis or topic concept. This is easier to do, I think, in papers for humanities classes; English, communications, etc. However, what happens when you are doing actual action research, and the data you collect doesn't say what you want it to?
For example: I did a vocabulary project with my 8th grade students last semester. I had methods laid out and had developed ideas about how my students would perform on quizzes after a certain amount and type of instruction. For the most part, the students improved over time -- but one week, their performance actually decreased. I could speculate as to why this happened, and was still able to make claims about my research, but this variable made my argument more difficult. Sometimes, the data or research just doesn't say what you want it to, and this can put you between a rock and a hard place in your writing!