On 02/05/06, Steve Block steve.block@myrealbox.com wrote:
But what, in this instance, is original research? Is sourcing from public archives original research? Is reading a book original research? Is looking at a map original research?
Original research is doing research in an "original" (or novel, or imaginative, non-standard, creative...) way. We've discussed this quite a lot on this list. It's generally hard to interpret a map creatively. It's much easier to claim that a book supports your proposition.
Basically it comes down to: your source should say exactly what you want it to say. You shouldn't have to interpret it, read between the lines, take context into account, bear in mind that the author was homosexual, or that he was running for president at the time. If any of that stuff is required, you should be using a secondary source to perform that interpretation for you.
Steve