We were asked, this week, to identify an example of good research – of a piece we might like to emulate with regard to writing and approach. I started with a search for articles in my area of interest, hoping to narrow things down. I’m not sure, in the end, that this was the best strategy because it left me far less sensitive to the writing and mechanics of the pieces than to their topics.Nonetheless, taking a closer look at one of the “also-ran” articles in my stack helped me refine some thoughts about what I consider good research and good writing.

I initially selected an article from Canadian Journal of Media Studies on the way issues of gender influenced media coverage of the debate around child care in a national election. The subject really appeals. I’m very interested in finding a way to marry two big interests – media and child care – and this piece offers an example of one way to achieve that. But ultimately, the piece seemed more to me like commentary – albeit strong and insightful and effective commentary – than it did research.  Stepping back to think about my conceptions of the two and the differences I see between them helps me better sculpt an idea of the kind of research and writing I’d like to do here. That the author is a practicing journalist helped in a similar way – providing a strategy for drawing the clarity, precision and fluidity I consider part of good journalistic writing into scholarly writing, and further clearing a path to explore similarities and differences in these two forms of inquiry: research and reporting.