{"id":296,"date":"2025-09-03T14:41:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T18:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opentextbooks.concordia.ca\/practical-guide-to-technical-writing\/?post_type=chapter&p=296"},"modified":"2026-02-20T18:26:40","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T23:26:40","slug":"chapter-12-technical-research","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbooks.concordia.ca\/practical-guide-to-technical-writing\/chapter\/chapter-12-technical-research\/","title":{"raw":"Chapter 12: Technical Research","rendered":"Chapter 12: Technical Research"},"content":{"raw":"
\u00a0Chapter Contents<\/span>The Role of Technical Research in Engineering<\/a>Gathering Reliable Information<\/a>Understanding the Structure of Abstracts<\/a>Summarizing and Paraphrasing Sources<\/a>Synthesizing Sources<\/a>Citing and Referencing Sources<\/a>Writing Annotated Bibliographies<\/a>Writing a Review of Library Sources<\/a>Key Takeaways<\/a>Practice Task<\/a>References<\/a><\/div>\r\n

The Role of Technical Research in Engineering<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1039\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"243\"]\"\" Photo by Jason Leung<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a>[\/caption]\r\n

As an engineer in training, developing strong research skills is one of the most important steps you can take toward becoming an effective problem-solver. Engineering isn\u2019t just about applying formulas. It\u2019s also about investigating real-world challenges, exploring possible solutions, and making well-informed decisions based on evidence. To do this, you need to know how to gather reliable information, analyze data, synthesize findings, and come up with convincing recommendations based on your work.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Gathering Reliable Information\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h1>\r\n

Gathering reliable information ensures that your analysis is based on accurate, relevant, and up-to-date evidence\u2014the foundation for decisions that withstand scrutiny. Consider the following tips as you prepare to gather sources:<\/p>\r\n

Start with a clear research question.<\/b> The first step is to clearly define the problem you\u2019re trying to solve, and then clearly articulate this in a research question. The wording is extremely important because you use these words\u2014along with their synonyms\u2014to limit your search to the most relevant and useful sources. A poorly articulated research question will almost certainly lead to time lost on unrelated information.<\/p>\r\n

Identify precise search terms:<\/b> Once you have a clear research question, the next step is to identify the keywords that will help you find relevant information. Start by highlighting the main concepts in your research question, then list synonyms, related terms, and variations in spelling or phrasing. These search terms will form the foundation of your online searches and database queries.<\/p>\r\n

Imagine that your research question is the following:<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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How does smartphone addiction impact the sleep quality and cognitive performance of university students?<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

This research question includes the following four key elements: (1) smartphone use, (2) sleep quality, (3) cognitive performance, and (4) engineering students.<\/p>\r\n

Combine search terms:<\/b> After selecting your keywords, you can refine your search by combining them with AND, OR, or NOT within the search field of the library catalogue or academic database.<\/p>\r\n\r\n