Advanced Research

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Advanced Research

• The Trivium and
• Quadrivium

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The Liberal Arts

• Core curriculum
• Liber free person, not a slave
• From Plato, Socrates, and Pythagoras
• The Trivium and the Quadrivium

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The Trivium

• Grammar (learning information)
• Logic (evaluating information)
• Rhetoric (expressing your conclusions)
• (constitute basic learning skills)

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The Quadrivium

• Arithmetic
• Geometry
• Music
• Astronomy
• (the arts and sciences)
• Philosophy is the synthesis of all

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Grammar

• First stage of research and learning.
• Must come before evaluation or opinions.
• You must first read and learn the information.
• Must be open-minded avoid prejudice and mental
  filtering.
• In research, narrow the subject so that you can
  read everything available about it.

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Logic

• Evaluate the value and meaning of what you have
  read.
• Use critical thinking skills.
• Identify fallacies in thinking.
• Make connections between cause and effect.
• Identify bogus information

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Rhetoric

• Analyze and synthesize all information read make
  connections.
• Write a rough draft.
• Fully document develop a Works Cited page.
• Re-write several times, polishing your ideas and
  your paper.
• Have a friend read your paper edit.

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Reading Principles

• Read through the material.
• Note difficult passages.
• Read the publication information and the table of
  contents
• Do not read the preface unless the author wrote
  it (avoid preconceptions)
• Summarize each chapter or substantial section in
  one sentence.

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Reading Contd

• Note questions, reflections, connections as you
  read.
• Underline or note important passages.
• When finished, go back over notes and summarize
  what the author has done.
• Question the validity and reliability of the
  material.
• What questions should you ask?

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Reading Research Articles

• Typical pattern
• Introduction
• Methodology
• Data collected
• Statistical analysis
• Conclusion

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Research Articles contd

• Questions to ask
• Does the question make sense?
• Is the methodology valid?
• Is the data representative?
• Is the sample big enough?
• Was the correct analysis method applied?
• Does the conclusion make sense?
• Does the conclusion follow from the data?
• Beware of averages.

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Critical Thinking

• Keep an open mind.
• Insist on reasons being given.
• Demand sources.
• Compare different sources.
• Watch for errors in thinking.
• Watch for historical mistakes.
• Be suspicious.

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Strategies for CT

• Know yourself be honest and open to new ideas.
• Be observant like Sherlock Holmes.
• Clarify issues.
• State the issue in a clear, precise question
• Conduct an inquiry into facts and opinions.
• Interpret the evidence carefully.
• For details see http//lonestar.texas.net/colby/P
  hil1301/ctstrategies.htm

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Synthesis

• Involves combining, not taking apart
• Combining alternatives win/win
• The Quaker approach new alternatives
• Mind mapping
• Mind shift metanoia
• Once you have reached metanoia you actually have
  something to write about.
• For more on autodidactism, see http//lonestar.tex
  as.net/colby/trivium/autodidact.htm and
  http//lonestar.texas.net/colby/trivium/trivium.
  htm