Wordscapes® (David Turner, Registered Trademark Owner) Best Research Methods

Before you start gathering the information you'll need to make some decisions about the direction you're heading, you'll need to answer some questions. What am I trying to find out? What are my options? What are my skills and interests? what are my needs? what do I expect?

There are many different methods you can use to gather the information you need to land on target. Some methods work better than others. It helps to organize yourself so that you'll know what kinds of information lists you need to make, which research method you'll want to use and how you're going to keep track of all the information gathered. The lists you make will answer questions such as what you're trying to find out, what are your interests, needs, skills and values, who are the people you contact and what kinds of questions you can ask.

To use the information you've gathered, you'll need to keep track of it. It's easier than you might think. First, you need to find a system that works for you. Then you need to try it out to see if it fits your style.

Index Cards:

Index cards are a useful way to organize information. Index cards are also one of the more popular ways to keep track of information. They're small, easy to file and easy to find. They also come in a variety of colours, making it easier to colour code types of information. Blue can be for information gather by phone, yellow can be for in person information interviews and so on.

Personal Journals:

Keeping a personal journal is a powerful way to chart your course. Journals work really well for writing down ideas. Thoughts and feelings can flow through the pen on to the paper. It's not a bad idea to try to devote an hour a day to free-ramble writing to your higher power, or whoever. You'll be surprised at the release of creative and conflict resolving thoughts you'll conceive over the following months. A book "The Artist's Way" is highly recommended reading, and pertains to this concept of personal release on paper, as well as a work book "What Color is Your Parachute", updated yearly.. Both these books are worth exploring and well worth the effort you put into them.

Binders:

Binders work in a similar way as index cards. Loose leaf paper is larger so more information can be written down. Binders also make it easy to file and retrieve information.

Scrapbooks:

Scrapbooks are great places to paste information from magazines and newspapers. Scrapbooks collect prospects that are interesting, everything from jobs to future trends.

Media Leads:

Sometimes you will hear about an interesting prospect on radio or television or read something in a magazine at the doctor's office. These are all important leads to keep track of. One of the ways to keep track of this information is to use index cards or a binder.

Collect information on what interest you.

Contact Card:

Once you've made your list of contacts, you'll need to think about what you're going to say to each of the people you contact.

Here is a sample of what a contact card might contain:

Name:______________________	Phone:________
Date of call: _________________
What you said:
What contact said:

Organize information as:

	Contact Person:
	Where to Contact the Person:
	Source of the Lead:
	Date:
	Topic:
	Follow-up Contact:

Keeping Track of Ideas:

Getting an idea of what interests you is one of the best ways to find out where you can look to find out more information. You can use a scrapbook or a binder to keep track of media clippings from magazines and newspapers. One scrapbook can be used for future trends, another can be used for occupations and careers that interest you.

Collect clippings that are interesting.

Collect career and job clippings to find out what occupations are out there and what qualifications are being asked for.

Collect clippings on future trends to find out what direction the labour market is heading.

Collect articles that give you ideas or other points of view on the direction you are heading.

Keep track of the date of the clipping, where it came from (source) and what interests you about the clippings so that later you can look back and get the information quickly.

	Date of the clipping:
	Source of the clipping:
	What interests you about this clipping:

	Research Methods:		Keeping Track:
	Information interviews		Index cards
	Job interviews		Personal journals
	Collecting ideas		Binders
	Job shadowing		Scrapbooks
	Volunteering		Media lead cards
	Part-time experience		Contact sheets/cards
	Apprenticeship training
	Part-time small business ventures
	Preparing for a job interview