Lecture
Getting acquainted with the published scientific literature on a topic begins with developing the idea. This approach makes it possible to search for literary sources on the chosen topic and to gain a deeper understanding of the material contained in the works of other scholars published in print, since the main aspects of a problem are almost always laid down in earlier studies.
Next, one should think through the order of the search and begin compiling a card index (or list) of literary sources on the topic. A well-compiled card index (list), even with a cursory review of the titles of the sources, helps to cover the topic as a whole. On its basis it is already possible, at the very start of the research, to refine the plan.
All types of sources whose content is related to the topic of the research must be reviewed. These include materials published in various domestic and foreign publications, unpublished documents (reports on research and development work, master's theses, deposited manuscripts, materials from foreign firms), and official materials.
The best way to begin assessing the state of knowledge of a topic is to start by familiarizing oneself with informational publications.
Self-check questions
What tasks does the scientific and technical information service perform?
What does the STI system include?
Which publications belong to published sources?
Which publications belong to unpublished sources?
What is the classification of secondary sources of information?
What institutions hold sources of information?
How is the systematization of documents carried out?
What is the essence of the UDC?
What elements does the UDC consist of?
10. Describe the classification of scientific documents depending on the method of presenting information.
11. What are the differences between primary and secondary documents?
12. Give examples of primary and secondary documents.
13. Give examples of periodical and continuing publications.
14. Give examples of published and unpublished documents.
15. Name the types of secondary scientific documents and their characteristics.
16. The cumulative nature of scientific information.
17. Organizing work with scientific literature.
18. How do you compile your own bibliography?
Studying the literature on the chosen topic should begin with general works, in order to gain an understanding of the main issues to which the chosen topic is adjacent, and only then proceed to search for new material.
Studying scientific literature is serious work. Therefore, an article or book should be read with a pencil in hand, making notes. If one has one's own copy of the journal or book, notes can be made in the margins. This significantly facilitates the subsequent search for the necessary materials.
It is advisable to study scientific publications in stages:
- general familiarization with the work as a whole, based on its table of contents;
- a quick review of the entire content;
- reading in the order in which the material is arranged;
- selective reading of a particular part;
- noting down material of interest;
- critical evaluation of what has been recorded, its editing, and a "clean" write-up as a fragment of the text of the future scientific work.
The following method of studying can also be recommended. The page of a notebook should be divided in half by a vertical line. On the left side, make notes from what has been read, and on the right, one's own remarks, underlining especially important parts of the text.
When studying literature, one should not strive merely to borrow material. At the same time, the information found should be thought through. This process should continue throughout the entire work on the topic; then one's own thoughts, which arise in the course of becoming acquainted with the works of others, will serve as the basis for obtaining new knowledge.
When studying literature on the chosen topic, not all the information it contains is used, but only that which has a direct bearing on the topic of the scientific work and is therefore the most valuable and useful. Thus, the criterion for evaluating what has been read is the possibility of its practical use in the scientific work.
When studying literary sources, one must very carefully monitor how notes are recorded, so that they can be used easily later on.
It is possible that some of the data obtained will prove useless; very rarely is it used in full. Therefore, careful selection and evaluation are necessary. Scientific creativity includes a significant amount of preliminary work associated with the selection of primary and supplementary information, its generalization, and its presentation in a form convenient for analysis and conclusions. Facts, to use a figurative comparison, do not lie on the surface but are hidden. Consequently, the selection of scientific facts is not a simple matter, not a mechanical one, but a creative process that requires purposeful work.
One should not collect just any facts, but only scientific facts. The concept of "scientific fact" is considerably broader and more multifaceted than the concept of "fact" as used in everyday life. When speaking of scientific facts, they are understood as elements forming the basis of scientific knowledge, reflecting the objective properties of things and processes. Regularities of phenomena are determined, theories are built, and laws are derived on the basis of scientific facts.
Scientific facts are characterized by such properties as:
- novelty,
- accuracy,
- objectivity,
- reliability.
The novelty of a scientific fact indicates a fundamentally new object, phenomenon or process that has hitherto been unknown. This is not necessarily a scientific discovery, but it is new knowledge about something we did not know before. The great cognitive significance of new scientific facts requires that their validity be taken into account and critically assessed.
The accuracy of a scientific fact is determined by objective methods and characterizes the set of the most essential features of objects, phenomena and events, and their quantitative and qualitative definitions.
When selecting facts, one must be scientifically objective. Facts must not be discarded simply because they are difficult to explain or to apply in practice. Indeed, the essence of what is new in science is not always clearly apparent even to the researcher themselves. New scientific facts, sometimes quite significant ones, may remain in science's reserve for a long time and go unused in practice because their significance is poorly understood.
The reliability of a scientific fact characterizes its unconditional, real existence, confirmed when analogous situations are constructed. If there is no such confirmation, then there is no reliability of the scientific fact either. The reliability of the source information can be evidenced not only by the nature of the primary source but also by the scientific and professional authority of its author and their affiliation with one or another scientific school.
In all cases, only the most recent data should be selected, the most authoritative sources should be chosen, and the source of the material should be precisely indicated. When selecting facts from literary sources, one must approach them critically. It must not be forgotten that life is constantly moving forward, and science, technology and culture are developing. What was considered absolutely accurate yesterday may today turn out to be inaccurate, and sometimes even wrong.
The selected factual material is carefully recorded. The forms of its recording are quite varied. Let us note only the most common ones:
a) records of the results of experimental research, various kinds of measurements and observations, entries in field diaries and notebooks;
b) extracts from the documents and literary sources being analyzed (articles, books, extended abstracts, dissertations, etc.). In doing so, it is essential to indicate precisely on such extracts the source from which they were taken, so that they can easily be found again if necessary.
Alongside the recording of the collected material, it should also be grouped, and the numerical data obtained should be compared and contrasted, etc. Classification plays a particularly important role here, since no scientific construction or conclusion is possible without it. Classification makes it possible to enter the circle of questions of the problem under consideration by the shortest and most correct route. It facilitates the search and helps to establish connections and dependencies that had not previously been noticed. Classification should be carried out throughout the entire process of studying the material. It is one of the central and essential parts of the overall methodology of any scientific research.
Self-check questions
How do you correctly choose a research topic?
Explain the concept of the relevance of a scientific work.
What is meant by approbation?
What is scientific novelty?
How is the practical significance of scientific results of a methodological and applied nature expressed?
How is the planning of scientific work carried out?
How does a rubricated plan differ from a prospectus plan?
Does the plan of a scientific study have a dynamic character?
How should the study of scientific literature be properly carried out?
Give a definition of the concept of "scientific fact".
What properties characterize scientific facts?
What characterizes the reliability of facts?
Indicate the forms of recording reliable facts.
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