I was working on one of my many research reports last week and my colleague said, “Isn’t it great we have Microsoft Word and we can easily move around sections of your paper? I used a typewriter when I was doing my dissertation and it was a pain.”

Wow, I thought to myself, I really take for granted all this modern technology. I utilize a variety of technology tools on a daily basis while I’m conducting research.

1. I use RSS feeds to track academic articles from my nonprofit focused journals.

2. I search for articles and books on topics using google scholar and USD’s library databases.

3. I keep a detailed list of all the articles and books I’m reading in Zotero, which allows me to sort articles by topic and creates reference lists using any style (e.g. APA, Chicago).

4. I create and maintain survey’s using survey monkey.

5. I use SPSS to analyze survey data.

6. (This is a given) I use Word to create and edit my documents. Thank goodness for track changes!

What tools do you use while conducting and writing research reports?