English 1301 - Bell, Yon Hui: Consumerism

An I-Search paper is a mindful introduction to doing research.

Instead of focusing on finding sources that support a thesis, an I-Search paper is all about the process. Through documentation and reflection, students can compare how their understanding of the pair of objects evolves as their knowledge about it deepens. They can examine their search strategies, to become better researchers in the future.

For experienced researchers, the I-Search paper is a way to reflect and improve upon your current research skills.

To write an I-Search paper, you pick a subject to which you have a personal connection, and write about it from a personal point of view. Your paper will consist of three major parts:

• The story of your search.  This section tells readers what you knew about your subject before you began your research, what you wanted to know, and the research steps you went through to find out what you wanted to know-including both the steps that led to useful information and the steps that turned out to be dead ends.
• What you learned. In this section, you give readers the results of your search-both the answers you found and the answers you did not find.
• Your reflections on the search.    You use this final section to tell readers what the experience has taught you about conducting and documenting a search.

Credit: Univ of Wisconsin - Stevens Point