Research Methodology

Paper Code: 
ENG 141
Periods/week: 
5

Research in Literature:
Meaning and Scope of Research  (MLA Handbook p. 3)
Literary Research as ‘Vocation’  (Altick  pp. 15-18)
Primary and Secondary Sources  (MLA Handbook  p. 3)
‘Finding Materials’  (Altick  pp. 155-160)
Identifying the research area/ selecting a topic, narrowing the focus  (MLA Handbook  pp. 6-7)
The Research Paper as a form of Exploration         (MLA Handbook  pp. 3-5)
The Research Paper as a form of Communication  (MLA Handbook  p. 5)  
 

Resources:
Libraries (MLA Handbook  pp. 8-9)
Internet for web sources  (MLA Handbook  pp. 24-26 & 28-31)
Research centres, multimedia resources, etc.  (MLA Handbook  pp. 24-31)
 

The Process of Critical Reading:
Preparing cards (for Notes: MLA Handbook pp. 38-40  &  for Bibliography: pp. 31-33)
Close reading
Making notes  (Altick, pp. 205-218)

Writing a Research Proposal/Paper:
Outlining (MLA Handbook  pp. 41-46)
The Philosophy of Composition (organizing material/ ideas, developing an argument, coherence and cohesion)       (Altick  pp.  220-21, 223-25, 227-30, 233, 236-37, 242-44, & 246)
 

Documentation:
Use of quoted material/ citing sources in the text  (MLA Handbook  pp. 213-232)
Plagiarism  (MLA Handbook  pp. 52-58)
Preparing the list of works cited  (MLA Handbook  pp. 123-212)
Compiling a Working Bibliography (MLA Handbook  pp. 31-33
 

Source Books: 
  1. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, East-West Press, 2009    (Seventh Edition)
  2. The Art of Literary Research, Richard D. Altick with John J. Fenstermaker,  W.W. Norton & Co., 1992
  3. Literary Research Guide, James L. Harner, The Modern Language Association of India, 2008 (Fifth Edition).    
  4. Extracts from ‘Facilitating Coherence across Qualitative Research Papers’. Ronald J. Chenail & Maureen Duffy (Nova Southeastern University, Fort Landerdale, Florida, USA) and Sally St. George & Dan Wulff (University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada).