1Unit IILesson 2 Finding Reliable SourcesIntroducti.docx

1
Unit II
Lesson 2: Finding Reliable Sources
Introduction
When gathering research for your paper, you want to be sure
that you are collecting only the most academically valid and
most relevant research about your topic. Sometimes, what is
acceptable in a public sphere is not acceptable in an academic
sphere, so you want to be certain that when you put your time
and energy into reading, annotating, and using a source, it is the
best choice for the type of genre that you are writing in—the
academic argumentative research paper.
In EH 1010 and in previous lessons, we have discussed the ways
in which different spheres of knowledge have different
expectations about what makes for a reliable source. However,
now that we are firmly rooted in the academic sphere, we need
to think about audience and have audience awareness as a
result.
Choosing Argument Over Opinion
Sources that you collect should make arguments based upon
supporting evidence. Opinions have their place, but not in
argumentative writing, such as the kind you will do in academic
writing situations.
Opinion: An opinion is a belief or judgment that rests on
grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty. People can
have opinions about situations—social, political, economic,

etc.—without having all the facts or without weighing all the
facts because an opinion can be based upon someone’s personal
view, attitude, or appraisal.
EXAMPLE 1:Peanut butter is the best food.
Obviously, in this example, we can see that there are faults in
the statement. After all, food preferences are highly subjective.
Even if you were able to find a food expert who was willing to
state that peanut butter is the best food, it would still not be
sufficient evidence upon which to base an argument.
EXAMPLE 2: NASA’s Space Shuttle program was a waste of
taxpayer dollars.
In this second example, you can see that there is potential for an
argument here. It is not always clear what is an opinion and
what is an argument. The main thing to remember is that an
opinion does not have backing, but an argument does. So if we
were to take the statement above and add support to it, then it
could become an argument because it would then have a
correlation between the evidence being presented and the
statement itself.
EXAMPLE 3 (revision):NASA’s Space Shuttle program was an
unreasonable use of taxpayer dollars, with the final 22 flights
averaging a cost of around $1.0 billion each (Pinchefsky, 2012).
As you can see here, the above example is an argument because
it supplies evidence to support its claims.
Argument: An argument can be a statement, reason, or fact for
or against a point. Typically, an argument is intended to
convince or persuade an audience to adopt the writer’s
argument.

In both of the examples below, the writer makes an assumption
about what the evidence means and asserts a claim as a result.
EXAMPLE 1:Peanut butter is an excellent source of protein,
with eight grams per two tablespoons.
In the example above, there is an assumption being made that
eight grams is an “excellent” source of protein. This is the
reasoning claim, reasoning that the writer will no doubt make
clear in the following lines.
EXAMPLE 2: The justification for the shutdown of the Space
Shuttle program is sound because the Space Shuttle was 30
years old, and it is time to focus on new technologies that take
us on more long-term missions.
In this example, the assumption is that technology is old at 30
years, and therefore, should be shut down to make way for
newer technologies.
These are examples of claims with support and the assumption
that connects the two. As you are looking for arguments, you
should be looking for the assumptions that connect the claim
and the evidence.
Seeking Sources with Credibility
Credibility is built over time through the attainment of
expertise; a credible person is trustworthy. People become
experts through professional means either by the acquisition of
academic degrees or through experience working with a certain
thing. An expert can be someone who experiences something
firsthand as well, but it should be noted that someone with on-
the-job experience or someone with an academic degree is more
credible than someone without these. You want to seek sources
that are written by credible and expert authors only. Sources

that are the most reliable have the following characteristics:
Expertise: The author(s) of the source is an expert in his or her
academic field of knowledge. Many times, an expert will have
the following characteristics:
· Hold a degree in the field, such as a doctorate, master’s
degree, or other terminal degree
· Hold a position at a college or university, such as a
professorship
· Produce research that contributes to the field, such as
experimentation, research, and analysis that is published
An expert might be someone who has extensive knowledge in a
particular field, such as an engineer. Further, reputable news
sources, established organizations, and government entities are
considered reliable sources.
Source type: Sometimes the type of source will help you
determine whether or not a source is reliable. We have often
used the web-log or blog as an example of a disreputable source
because these types of websites are often written and
maintained by nonexperts with opinions. So what does a reliable
source look like? The following list shows a few of the most
reliable source types. No matter what, a writer must be
cognizant of possible fakes, frauds, or impersonations:
· Reputable news sources (print and electronic)—These include
AP News, The Economist, BBC, NPR, PBS, The Wall Street
Journal, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, CNN, USA
TODAY, Google News, The New York Times, and The
Washington Post. These fourteen news sources are the most
trusted for accurate reporting, so these are excellent places to
find information.
· Official websites for organizations—These websites usually
end with the .org suffix. An example is the American Cancer

Society (www.cancer.org).
· Institutional websites—Trustworthy institutions, including
government entities, universities, etc., will host institutional
websites. An example of such a website is the U.S.
government’s official web portal (www.usa.gov).
· Journal articles found through the CSU Online Library (CSU
OL)—These articles will mostly be found through the databases
available in the CSU OL, including Academic OneFile,
Academic Search Complete, General OneFile, GreenFILE,
Opposing Viewpoints in Context, and more. When you find an
article in one of these databases, you know it is reliable.
· Books and e-books—For the most part, books and e-books that
are available in libraries (on-the-ground or online) are reliable.
Please see the CSU Online Library’s ebrary for more on e-
books.
· Book chapters and edited collections—Sometimes you will
want to use only a book chapter from a book found in a library.
That is perfectly acceptable. The same is the case with edited
collections, which are collections of essays written by experts
around a particular subject area. There are usually one or two
main editors who facilitate the collection, and contributors
submit their independent or cowritten articles to the collection.
Collections can be a good way to find multiple perspectives on
a particular topic.
Publishing: Where, when, and how something is published is
also important when determining reliability. Sources should be
printed on reputable presses and published recently (within the
last 10 years). To a lesser extent, how something is published
could be a factor in determining reliability.
· Where:The publisher should be considered. If the publisher is
an institution, organization, government entity, or reputable
publisher, then chances are that the source is reliable. If an
article is published in a journal, then it is likely a reliable
source because the journal is usually published through an

academic press. As for books and e-books, if the press is a
university press, then it is very likely reliable. Just because a
book is not published on a university press does not mean that it
is unreliable, but the list of publishers that are considered
legitimate and less legitimate is far more nuanced for our
purposes here.
· When:The question of when something is published depends
upon the discipline and also the genre in which you are writing.
For disciplines in the humanities, a source can still be relevant
even though it is 40 years old. For the social and behavioral and
hard sciences, date has everything to do with relevance.
Generally, to be safe, a source should be no more than 10 years
old.
· How:If a source’s publishing is questionable, then seek a
different source that provides the same material. There should
be no spelling, grammar, or style errors in a source. If you
cannot tell who wrote the article or what the supporting agent
is, then you should consider finding another source. The
publishing world has become much friendlier to electronic
publishing because such publishing is the future. However, if
the source is printed electronically only, then you should ask
yourself if the document meets the other requirements for
reliability.
References: The sources you collect should absolutely have
references throughout the document and at the end. Further, the
references should be to sources that also have references. In this
way, you will know that all writers involved relied upon
research in order to make their claims.
Review: All of the previously described attributes will be
present in sources that have been peer-reviewed and carefully
edited. For many academics, to have an item peer-reviewed is to
hold it to the highest standards of academic scrutiny.
Check for Understanding

(Answer Key is Below Review)
1. Opinion/Argument: The Things They Carried, by Tim
O’Brien, is the single greatest piece of war literature ever
written.
2. Opinion/Argument: Joan Didion’s memoir The Year of
Magical Thinking is about more than just the loss of her
husband; it is a book about coping with loss of all kinds.
3. True/False: The following is neither an opinion nor an
argument: Svetlana Alexievich was awarded the 2015 Nobel
Prize in literature.
4. True/False: A person can be an expert in a field even if he or
she does not have an advanced degree in the subject.
5. True/False: A firefighter could never be an expert without a
degree.
6. True/False: A person’s self-published e-book posted on his or
her blog is probably a reliable source.
7. True/False: A news article does not have a references list, so
it is not reliable.
Review
1. When gathering research for your paper, you want to be sure
that you are collecting only the most academically valid and
most relevant to your topic.
2. Sources that you collect should make arguments based upon
supporting evidence.
3. An opinion is a belief or judgment that rests on grounds
insufficient to produce complete certainty, and opinions should
be avoided as supportive source material.
4. An argument can be a statement, reason, or fact for or against
a point. Typically, an argument is intended to convince or
persuade an audience to adopt the writer’s argument.
5. Credibility is built over time through the attainment of
expertise; a credible person is trustworthy.
6. Having expertise means that the author(s) of the source is an

expert in his or her academic field of knowledge.
7. The following source types are considered reliable:
a. Reputable news sources (print and electronic)
b. Official websites for organizations
c. Institutional websites
d. Journal articles found through the CSU Online Library (CSU
OL)
e. Books and e-books
f. Book chapters and edited collections
8. Sources should be printed on reputable presses and published
recently (within the last 10 years).
9. The sources you gather should both (a) contain references or
acknowledge sources and (b) cite sources that also contain
references.
10. All of the described attributes above will be present in
sources that have been peer-reviewed and carefully edited.
Answer Key
1. Opinion: There are many factors that make something
“great,” but to state that something is the greatest is a matter of
subjectivity and, therefore, opinion.
2. Argument: The thesis is that the book is about “coping with
loss of all kinds.” The expectation is that the writer will go on
to provide evidence to support this statement.
3. True: This statement is a fact; therefore, it is informational
only.
4. True: An expert could be someone who has extensive
knowledge in a particular field due to his or her many years
working in that field.
5. False: If a firefighter has extensive knowledge of fires and
several years of experience, then his or her knowledge is
considered expertise.
6. False: Self-published materials do not go through a peer
review process, so while they may be informative, you do not
want to base your assertions and argument on something that

has not been peer reviewed.
7. False: If the article cites sources in-text through
acknowledgment (e.g., “Smith went on to state…”), then it can
still be reliable. Public sources are not held to the same
standard of citation as academic sources.
Reference
Pinchefsky, C. (2012). 5 horrifying facts you didn’t know about
the Space Shuttle. Forbes. Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolpinchefsky/2012/04/18/5-
horrifying-facts-you-didnt-know-about-the-space-shuttle/
Running head: TITLE OF PAPER (DO NOT EXCEED 50
CHARACTERS) 1
The running
head is a
shortened
version of the
paper’s full title,
and it is used to
help readers
identify the
titles for
published
articles (even if
your paper is
not intended for
publication, your
paper should
still have a
running head).

Title of the Paper
Student Name
Columbia Southern University
The title
should
summarize
the paper’s
main idea and
identify the
variables
under
discussion
and the
relationship
between
them.
The author’s
name and
institution
should be
double-spaced
and centered.

The title
should be
centered on
the page,
typed in 12-
point Times
New Roman
Font. It
should not be
bolded,
underlined, or
italicized.
Blue boxes contain
directions for writing
and citing in APA style.
Since this is a Review
of Literature with the
reference listed above
the summary, only
page numbers are
needed for quoted
material. Please check
with professors for
preferences on using
direct quotes.
Green text boxes
contain explanations
of APA style guidelines.
TITLE OF PAPER (DO NOT EXCEED 50 CHARACTERS) 2

Title of the Paper
Etherington, M. (2008). E-Learning pedagogy in the primary
school classroom: The
McDonaldization of education, Australian Journal of Teacher
Education, 33(5), 3, 1-48.
Etherington describes the dehumanization of primary students
as a direct result of
online pedagogy. He goes on to illustrate the potential problems
that will stem from this:
“isolation, lack of community and decreased socialization of its
learners….repetitive
stress injuries, eyestrain, obesity, and social isolation” (p. 43).
His research also notes that
human advancement led them to create better technology. This
technology led humans to
become reliant on machines solely, which in its brilliance
demands social isolation.
“When a child gets on their computer….there is no sense of a
physical connection – there
is only a mask that lies on top of a set of computer instructions”
(p. 34). Further research
indicated that if a teacher were absent from the classroom, but
were elsewhere conducting

an interactive activity, the children would not only leave the
computer, but would have no
interest in the computer during this activity.
Lahey, B. B. (2007). Psychology: An introduction (9th ed.).
Chicago, IL: McGraw-Hill
Companies.
In this book, psychology is defined as “the science of behavior
and mental
processes” (p. 5). Further, it breaks down the terms that define
psychology, and how they
are used to accomplish the goals of psychology. Science is the
act of “psychologists
attempt[ing] to understand people through careful, controlled
observation” (p. 5).
Behavior is considered any direct action that can be observed.
Mental processes are any
“private thoughts, emotions, feelings, and motives that others
cannot directly observe” (p.
5). Additionally, this book goes into detail regarding the
“nature versus nurture” debate,
Notice the header and page numbers on this
page. The actual words Running head are not
on any other pages after the first page.
The full title of the

paper is repeated
here and centered.
Notice the header and page numbers on this
page. The actual words Running head are not
on any other pages after the first page.
In the
Annotated
Bibliography
the
references are
listed in
alphabetical
order with the
summary
following. The
references are
formatted
with a
hanging
indent. The
summary will
be formatted
with a block
indention and
also be
indented. Pay
close
attention to
the
indentions.
Notice the
only in-text
needed is

page #s for
direct quotes.
This is how you cite a secondary source. It shows that Mead
was quoted in a book by Macionis.
This is how to use Mead’s quote and still give credit to
Macionis, who is the author of the book.
Notice the placement of the author and year and the page
number after the quote.
in which two researchers studied the effects of early social
deprivation on monkeys by
taking a group of infant monkeys and raising them for the first
few months of life in
isolation. The monkeys were then introduced to other monkeys,
and later placed in
breeding cages. “It was then that the Harlows noticed that the
social, sexual, and
emotional behavior of these monkeys was distinctly abnormal”
(p. 319). Their research
was further proven by the birthing of baby monkeys.
Macionis, J. J. (2009). Society the basics (10th ed.). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice
Hall.

This book defines socialization from an industry perspective:
“sociologists use the
term socialization to refer to the lifelong social experience by
which people develop their
human potential and learn culture” (p. 72). Further, this book
states that “humans need
social experience to learn their culture and to survive” (p. 72).
According to Mead (as
cited in Macionis, 2008), who developed social behaviorism and
the central concept of
self, “the self develops only with social experience” (p. 77).
Socialization is also critically
enhanced by children attending school. In school, they begin to
recognize cultural, racial,
social, and gender differences. During this time, children also
begin to form peer groups,
which permit “escape [from] direct supervision of adults” (p.
81) and they first begin to
learn to establish relationships outside the family. Also, this
book illustrates the physical
manifestations that can result from a lack of socialization:
become “more passive, less
physically fit, less likely to use imagination” (p. 82).
Nevid, J. S., Rathus, S. A., & Greene, B. (2009). Abnormal

psychology in a changing world
(Custom ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Avoidant personality disorder (similarly, social phobias),
increased proneness to
phobias: terrified of rejection and criticism that they are
generally unwilling to enter
relationships. As a result, they do not often have close
relationships outside their family.
Separation-individuation: a process by which children learn to
“differentiate their own
identities from their mothers” (p. 456). This can create a
personality disorder in an adult
who has not been socialized outside the home and lead to
separation anxiety. This type of
anxiety could lead to a borderline personality disorder in which
people are not overly
confident about their personal characteristics, leading to
feelings of emptiness and
boredom. Additionally, there are several communication
disorders that can develop in
children who are not taught how to properly enunciate and

articulate different letters,
from expressive language disorder, mixed receptive/expressive
language disorder, and
phonological disorder, to stuttering.
Ross, W. E. (2000). The promise and perils of E-learning: A
critical look at the new technology.
Theory and Research in Social Education, 28(4), 482-492.
To put into perspective the current popularity of online
learning, Ross indicates
that “over 85% of Fortune 500 companies use remote training”
(p. 482). Additionally,
Ross’s research has found that while some high schools have
already converted to the
online format, in Pennsylvania, there is “currently a proposal
for a cyber-school that
would enroll children as young as 5 years old” (p. 482). Adults
might be able to see how
destructive that is, but in Toronto, the Wired Culture Forum was
hosted in which more
than 400 high school students expressed concern regarding
technology taking over their
lives – an increasing reliance on machines, the internet isolating
them individually, and

“how technology threatens their privacy and ability to relate to
others” (p. 483). This is
especially disconcerting because, adults might be expected to
notice an effect like this,
but as humanity continues to evolve, the younger generation
(high school students) is
beginning to notice the possibility of the dangerous effects of
primary children being left
to teach themselves in a fully online environment.

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