Transcript Conducting a Research Project

Writing a Research Paper
Clarify the Assignment
 Length
 Audience
 Type of research paper
 Informational paper summarizes factual
information from a variety of sources
 Analytical or evaluative paper analyzes
the information and presents conclusions;
displays some of the elements of
persuasive writing
Set a Schedule
 Ten weeks to complete the paper
Choose a topic
one week
Locate sources
three days
Take notes
two weeks
Write a working title
and thesis statement
three days
Write a final outline
one week
Write the first draft
one and a half weeks
Document sources
two days
Revise
two weeks
Proofread
two days
Prepare the final
three days
Select a Topic
 Choose a topic that meets the following requirements:
You can find enough material on the topic, but it is
limited enough to be covered in the time and space
available to you
The topic interests you
The topic is objective, not subjective
 An objective topic is factual
 A subjective topic is personal and influenced by
your opinions, feelings, and ideas
 Word your limited topic as a research question (or
questions) that you will investigate
Locate Sources
 Source: anything that supplies information (books,
periodicals, web sites, etc.)
 Primary Source: an original text, document, interview,
speech, letter, eye-witness account
 Secondary Source: not an original text or document;
someone’s comments or an analysis of a primary source
 DO NOT depend solely upon the Internet for sources
and thoroughly evaluate each source before you cite it!
Where to Find Sources
 Online catalog in the library
Search by author, title, and subject
 Some online catalogs will allow a Boolean search, which
uses key words
 Boolean operators: or, and, not
 Or will locate any title with either search term
 And will locate only titles with both search terms
 Not will locate only titles with the first search term
Boolean operators can also be used online and in
databases
 Reference section in the library
 encyclopedias, periodicals, atlases, almanacs, government
publications, specialized books
Microfilm and microfiche—back issues of periodicals
 Online Sources
Databases and Encyclopedias
EBSCO Host available through the Carnegie Public
Library
If you are taking classes through TSJC, other databases
and encyclopedias are available free of charge
Free online encyclopedias and dictionaries
 Encyclopedia.com
 Wikipedia.com (great place to locate more reliable
sources)
Periodicals—newspapers, magazines, journals
Websites found through search engines such as Google
Specialized Google searches: books, blogs, patents,
finance, scholar, search trends
Library of Congress <www.loc.gov>
 Online Sources, cont.
Pay attention to the domain in the URL (universal resource
locator)
 <.gov> = information posted by a government agency or
group
 <.edu> = an educational source; it may have been
created by a second grade class or someone associated
with a college or university
 <.org> = a nonprofit organization; usually reliable but
look carefully for any bias
 <.com> = a business; be wary of businesses that are
trying to sell you a product; most major news
organizations are reliable but look carefully for any bias
 <.net> = network; used by a wide variety of
organizations that offer Internet services
 Other Sources
 Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature—index of articles in
magazines and newspapers
 Personal interviews
 Contacting an expert via letter or e-mail
 Conducting a survey
 Visiting a local museum or government office
 Documentaries
Evaluating a Source
 Check the relevancy of the source
 Is it related to your topic?
 Is it recent? Does it need to be recent?
 Who created the message of the text?
 Do you know who wrote it and what their qualifications are?
 Can you contact the organization or the author?
 On a website, are there advertisements?
 What creative and/or persuasive techniques are used to
attract your attention?
 How might different people understand the message of the
text differently?
 What values, lifestyles, and points of view are represented in,
or omitted from, the message of the text?
 Is the information presented without bias or opinion?
 Why is the message being sent?
 Check for accuracy
 Can you find the information in any other source
 On a website, it is clear who the site belongs to?
 On a website, is the site well written and free of errors?
Bibliography or Source Cards
 For every source that you will possibly consult, create a
bibliography or source card on a 3” x 5” index card
 Only one source should be recorded on each card
 record the author, title, and publishing information
 write each bibliography entry according to the style
required
 do no rely upon citation creators
 You may also record your own notes or comments about
the source
 You will use these source cards to create your “Works
Cited” page or “References” page, so recording information
correctly now will save you time later
 Assign each source card a number
Note Cards
 Read each source with your research questions in mind
 Formulate new questions as you gather information
 You may want to create a working outline to organize your
research questions
 Avoid plagiarism!
 Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of
the language and thoughts of another author and the
representation of them as one's own original work
 Intentional plagiarism
 Accidental plagiarism occurs when you forget you are
quoting a source and don’t give proper credit
 Avoid accidental plagiarism
Cite: to quote, summarize, or paraphrase a source; to
give credit to the sources you have borrowed information
from
Paraphrasing: restating information in your own words; a
paraphrase will be approximately the same length as the
original source
Summarizing: telling the main ideas of a piece of writing
briefly in one’s own words, omitting unimportant details
Direct Quotation: records the exact language used by
someone in speech or writing
Common Knowledge: a body of information that is
commonly known and that can be found in a variety of
sources; information that is common knowledge does not
need to be cited; the rule of thumb is that if you can find
the information in at least five credible sources, it is
common knowledge
Guidelines for Taking Notes
 Use 3” x 5” index cards
 Write the source number in the upper-right or upper-left-hand
corner of the card, and assign each card its own letter or
number (1.1 or 1.a). On each card, take notes from only one
source.
 It is strongly recommended that you only write on one side of
each card.
 Write about only one main idea, fact, or detail on each card.
 Write a heading—a key word or phrase—at the top of the note
card. The heading indicates the main idea discussed on the
note card and will usually be one of the topics or subtopics in
your working outline.
 Make an effort to use your own words. It may help to turn away
from the source, explain to yourself what the author has written,
then write that explanation on your note card. You do not need
to use complete sentences; use abbreviations and symbols that
are clear to you.
 Enclose direct quotations in quotation marks. Make sure you
have quoted word for word. If you wish to leave out any
material, you must show that you have done so by inserting
ellipses marks (more on this later).
 At the bottom of each note card, write the page number(s)
where the information was found.
 Always double-check to see that you have written down the
source number and any page numbers.
In-text Citations
 An in-text citation allows you to give credit to your sources in
the body of your paper.
 Most in-text citations will include the author’s name and a page
number (if available).
 If there is no author, you should put the title of the article.
 There are two means of writing in-text citations:
 A signal phrase: begin your sentence with a reference to
the author of the article and the title of the article; at the end
of the sentence, put the page number in parentheses
 Example: According to Clara Rights, the author of “Why
80’s Music Rocks!,” there has been no real music since
December 31, 1989 (5).
 A parenthetical reference: at the end of the sentence, put
the author’s last name and the page number
 Example: There has been no real music since December
31, 1989 (Rights 5).