AARP

I'm using this acronym to denote the Aspin Approach to Researching Papers, illustrated below.

(note my goofy computer turned everything backwards)

1. Read anything and everything you can find on your topic, including the footnotes of the articles footnoted in the first round of articles you read.
2. Create a file of cut-and-pasted content, trying to build a reference list at the same time.
3. Write an index capturing the points made in your 20-30 pages of cut-and-pasted material.
4. Color code the index based on simplistic ideas ("bad" "reform" "history").
5. Start writing. Avoid anything you don't know how to footnote (case law in Northern Ireland courts or the European Commission, for instance).

If I were a professor honestly critiquing my work, I'd say: "You quote from and cite far too many articles, reports, and websites hoping that the volume of collated content will obscure the lack of original thought and analysis. Please go six inches wide and six feet deep rather than six feet wide and one inch deep."

So far, my method has resulted in good grades. The professors obviously give marks for effort, of which there has been a great deal in the past week.
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