Reading purposefully, making notes strategically
The reading of your source material, and the strategic note-taking from it
will be made more efficient if you keep in mind the purpose of the piece of written
work, the components of your essay or assignment topic, and the tentative structure
you have formulated for the written assignment. We have listed some pointers below
to guide your reading and note-taking. These pointers will help you to quickly
identify the most relevant information, and facilitate your understanding of the
topic area.
| 1. |
Wherever they exist, first read the abstracts of articles or the introductory
paragraph or two, because they can help you to understand what the article or
chapter is about.
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| 2. |
Always remember to read only the source material that is directly relevant
to your topic. You may have to broaden your reading later, but it is efficient
to focus initially on the most useful source material. To do that, you should
prioritise or order your information from the most to the least relevant or useful.
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| 3. |
Always read each source at different levels. You should begin at the broadest
level, by browsing or skim reading to determine whether the source is relevant
or appropriate. If you decide that the text is relevant, you should then read
to get a general understanding of the text. Only after you have understood the
text and the information it contains, is it a good idea to then read more specifically,
focusing on the details.
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| 4. |
Keep in mind the specific assignment topic, with any question or questions
you are trying to answer, as well as the components of it that you have identified.
Your reading will be more focused if you are looking for the information that
will address the specific topic and question. Structure your note-taking around
these issues, so that when you go to write your piece of work all the information
you need on one issue will be in one place. If you are using your own photocopied
material, you can mark the text as you read, making notes next to the text, and
underlining the main points. A useful strategy is to colour-code the source material
and your notes according to the issues they address. For example, in note-taking
for the essay concerning Freud’s theories of personality development, you
have identified the broad topic area (that is, Freud’s theory of personality
development) and its specific components (namely, how personality differences
between boys and girls arise). You could colour-code your notes and source material
according to each of these components, where information containing Freud’s
theory is red, sex differences in personality are blue, and so forth. The colour
coding can also guide the notes you make as you read, whether you are summarising
or paraphrasing what you are reading.
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| 5. |
Depending on your assignment topic, you may need to focus on different parts
of a text. For example, if you are writing a laboratory report in psychology,
you may need to read the method and results sections in detail. If you are preparing
a critical review paper, on the other hand, the introductions and conclusions
may be of most value.
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When you are reading for a laboratory report or a research paper, you need
to ask yourself some additional questions, including whether the article adds
"new" knowledge, whether it supports "existing" knowledge,
or whether it "contradicts" existing knowledge. An understanding of
the article in relation to what we already know about an area and what we still
do not know about an area, will help you to address your research question or
topic.
Having read your material purposefully and taken notes strategically, you should
now have a good understanding of the topic area in general, and the specific points
you want to make. You are ready to review the notes you have taken strategically
within the context of the tentative structure you formulated.
- Practising reading purposefully is the most useful activity
for this topic.
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