In a previous lesson, you spent some time researching a culture other than your own. Since you wrote research questions related to several aspects of that culture, you should have several sets of facts. And each set of facts should relate to a slightly different aspect of the culture you chose to study.
As you probably know, bringing all of the facts together and arranging them in a way that makes sense is exactly what you need to do when you write a research report. However, when you have dozens of facts in front of you, instead of just a few, it can be challenging to fit everything into one report―and to do it in a way that makes sense to your readers.
Fortunately, there are some strategies you can use to get started. Click each strategy to learn more about it and to see how Dev applied the strategy to his research about Japanese culture.
Look back through your notes, and make a list of all the details that seem important for helping someone understand the culture you chose to research. Here are some of the details that Dev listed after he reviewed his notes.
Most of Japan’s festivals celebrate religious holidays.
Most Japanese festivals are sponsored by Buddhist temples.
The religion of Shintoism is very important to many Japanese people.
Japan’s respect for the elderly is directly tied to the religion of Shintoism.
Shinto beliefs include a duty to welcome and care for guests to your home.
Japanese people can and usually do practice both Shintoism and Buddhism.
Read through your list of details, and identify some that could be grouped together in your report. Write a sentence or two describing how the details in each group are related. Here’s how Dev explained the connection between two facts related to Shintoism.
Beliefs that are part of Shintoism inspire Japanese people to treat the elderly with great respect. These beliefs also lead them to welcome visitors and treat them kindly.
Review the sentences you wrote showing connections between related ideas. Look for a big idea that might sum up everything you found out about your topic. Here’s what Dev concluded after looking at all of the details he listed.
Shintoism and Buddhism have influenced Japanese culture in different ways. These two religions have had a huge impact on Japanese culture.
Your research report will be fairly short, so it should focus on just one big idea―something like the big idea that Dev discovered when he tried to draw bigger conclusions. Of course, your report will also include several main ideas and lots of details that support that big idea. To decide on your report’s big idea, open a new word-processing document, and follow these steps.
| Step 1 | Look through all of your notes, and list facts or details that could help your readers understand the culture you researched. |
| Step 2 | Look through your list, and identify facts or details that could be grouped together in your report because they are related in some way. Cut and paste these details to group related ones together. |
| Step 3 | Write a sentence or two for each group of details, showing they’re related. You may be able to copy and paste some of the text from Step 2―and then add words to make your sentences easier to read. |
| Step 4 | Read the sentences you just wrote, and look for an even bigger idea that might sum up all of them (or at least most of them). Write that bigger idea as one sentence, and label it My Big Idea. |
When you have completed all 4 of these steps, save your document with the file name Culture Research Report. Keep the file open, though, so you can add to it as you work through this lesson.
