Home > Subjects > English > English level 3 > 3.7 Research > Subject content > Recording information
- Subject: English
- AS: 90726
- Level: 3
- Credits: 4
- Internal
3.7 Complete independent research on a language or literature topic and present conclusions in writing
Recording information
Find and record only relevant evidence. You will know if it is relevant if it helps to answer one of your questions and it is new information for you. Useful information could be facts and figures, quotations, opinions from experts and your own observations. When recording quotations, make sure you select the quote by reading the material thoroughly first and selecting the most relevant 1–2 sentences to express your main idea. Write who, when, and where (or the page number) it was said as a heading before copying down the correct words and punctuation in your notes.
When you use a range of sources you may be confused when you read different things about the same topic. If there are conflicting views you must evaluate which source is the most reliable and why. Use this to your advantage and make some conclusions and judgments about these conflicting views.
Your teacher will tell you how to set out your notes. It is important to have a clear and easy-to-follow approach to recording your notes. You can head up a new page for each different source with the following bibliographical information:
- author/creator – put surname first followed by their initials of the writer, speaker, or designer
- title – underline the name of the source
- publisher/owner – name of company that produced the source
- date of publication – the year it was made.
Whatever note-taking techniques you use remember to put the information into your own words – don't copy. Plagiarism is when you copy notes instead of using your own words. This site shows the difference between copying and paraphrasing sources.
The basic skill of note taking is to summarise information by only selecting the main points for your purpose. Download "A Question of Language" (Word 277 KB) and scroll to page 10 for an example of notes presented in a data chart format. For a language topic you could use a grid to show the origins of words.
