Writing The Research Paper Winker - Ch 6 doing the research Winkler McCuen-Metherell Seventh Edition

1. 6
Doing the Research

2. What Information to Look For
• The kind of material you need to look for depends on
your topic, thesis, and point of view
• Can be: essays, book chapters, magazines, newspapers,
journal articles, pamphlets
• At the beginning of the search: aim is to find sources
• By the end: agree with some sources, not others, evaluating
their relevance and scholarly worth
• 3 Broad categories of research:
• Single-fact information
• General information
• In-depth information

3. What Information to Look For
• Single-fact information:
• Answers specific factual questions
• What year was Barack Obama born?
• Who assassinated Julius Caesar?
• How many cantons does Switzerland have?
• Answers can be found in dictionaries, almanacs, encyclopedias,
magazines, or ask the reference librarian

4. What Information to Look For
• General information:
• Provides an overview of a subject or a particular topic
• Example: Zionism – movement to create a Jewish national
state in Palestine - Columbia Encyclopedia a good source
• When did the movement start?
• What brought it about?
• Who were the leaders?
• Encyclopedias and other general-information reference sources
are found in a library reference room/section/online databases

5. What Information to Look For
• In-depth Information:
• Found in several sources that cover the topic in detail
• Mainly found in books, but articles and essays can also be
useful
• Research Papers generally blend all three kinds of
information
• Single-fact information
• General information
• In-depth information

6. Where to Look for Information
• Today, most libraries are electronic
• Various databases (ask librarian)
• Look up your topic in an online encyclopedia
• Check Library of Congress online catalogue for books on
your subject (catalog.loc.gov)
• Appendix B of text book has useful reference sources
• Search topic in internet search engine (Google)
• Check bibliography at the end of the encyclopedia articles
• Computerized library catalogue
• Check Book Review Digest
• Check Who’s Who for information on noteworthy people

7. Where to Look for Information
• General Indexes
• General index catalogue information published in
magazines, newspapers, and journals
• Up to date information can be found in recently published
magazines like:
• Time U.S. News and World Report
• National Geographic Harper’s
• Psychology Today Newsweek
• Or found in recently published newspapers like:
• New York Times Washington Post
• Wall Street Journal Atlanta Constitution
• Scientific American

8. Where to Look for Information
• General Indexes
• Stored and presented electronically in a database
• Typical electronic entry:
• Readers Guide to Periodical Literature (See Text pg. 72)
• http://www.ebscohost.com/academic/readers-guide-to-periodical-literature
• Many online databases index only recently
published materials
• New York Times Index (Archives)
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/nytarchive.html
• 1851–present

9. Where to Look for Information
• Specialized Indexes
• Catalogues information on specific subject
• Social Sciences Index http://ip-science.thomsonreuters.com/
• Humanities Index http://www.ebscohost.com/public/humanities-international-index
• Education Index
• Art Index
• Art Abstracts http://www.ebscohost.com/academic/art-abstracts
• Psychological Abstracts

10. Where to Look for Information
• Using Interviews and Surveys
• Interviews with experts found on campus can be an
important source of information on every topic
• Often overlooked as a source
• An expert is someone who is acknowledged as an authority
in a particular subject or has unique experience (ex. Air
crash survivor)
• Ask for their CV (curriculum vitae) to establish their
credentials/legitimacy
• Surveys – can also add another dimension to your
paper (not all papers need a survey)

11. Where to Look for Information
• Corresponding by Email
• Can email an expert to ask questions
• Identify yourself, and the research project and ask specific questions
• Read Example email, pg. 76

12. Where to Look for Information
• Attending lectures, concerts, art exhibits
• Famous lecturer, artist, musician may pass through
your city/campus
• Attend performance of musician – take notes on themes
and stories
• Lecturer – try to obtain copy of lecture beforehand
• Art Exhibit – take notes, obtain brochure about artist
• Make a bibliographic card for accurate citation

13. Assembling a Working Bibliography
• Bibliography - a list of sources on the research
topic
• Working Bibliography – sources you consulted for information
• Final Bibliography – is an alphabetical list of the sources you
actually used in the paper
• Bibliography Card – write down promising sources on 3” X 5”
card Review example text Pg. 77
• Contains information about source and notes on why they may be useful
• Not necessary to used card format

14. Assembling a Working Bibliography
• Bibliography Card – reasons to use:
• Know where bibliographic references are located
• Can shuffle the cards to put citations in order you like
• Less likely to lose
• Easy to use and convenient
• Two Kinds of Cards:
• Title on smaller bibliography card
• Notes from the sources on the larger card

15. Assembling a Working Bibliography
• Bibliography Card Process
• Record each source in ink on a separate 3” X 5” card
• Use same format as you will later use in Final Bibliography
• List the following basic information on each card:
• Name of Author
• Title of Work
• Facts of Publication
• Page(s) of Information
• Upper right-hand corner: write name of library, or where source found
• Upper left-hand corner: cite library call number of source or full URL
• Will have more sources in working bibliography than in
final bibliography (as expected)

16. Selecting Your Sources: Skimming
• Seldom have time to read every book or article written
about subject
• Skim the source to determine usefulness
• Check if source appears to be dated, irrelevent or otherwise useless
• Keep bibliography card for future reference

17. Selecting Your Sources: Skimming
• Skimming:
• Glance at the preface (author states what book is about)
• Look at the subject in the index of book regarding how much
information there is on your topic
• Read the chapter headings – subject headings also useful
• Read the first and last two sentences in a paragraph to find
information contained – main idea
• Glance at opening paragraph of an article, essay or book chapter
– thesis is often stated in first paragraph or two
• Glance at concluding paragraphs in an article, essay or book
chapter – sums up discussion and restates major ideas.
• Run eye down page, reading every fourth or fifth sentence to get
idea of material content

18. Selecting Your Sources: Skimming
• Primary and secondary sources (should use both)
• Primary Sources – original writing by an author, documents,
artifacts, laboratory experiments, or other data that provide
firsthand information
• Secondary Sources – writings, speeches, and other documents
about a primary source
• Examples:
• Opinions of critics are important secondary source
• Experiment is a primary source
• Commentary on experiment is secondary source

19. Selecting Your Sources: Skimming
• Evaluating sources
• All sources are not created equal
• Quality of scholarship, useful, accurate? Silly? Misleading?
Hoax?
• Choose sources that cover your subject in-depth
• Recognize the point of view (opinion) in sources
• Verify one opinion against another (authors often comment on
the work of their peers) – look for consensus of expert opinion
• Note the date of the evidence – natural and social sciences
change rapidly; put greatest importance on most recent data
• Journals tend to more accurate/ up-to-date than magazines

20. Selecting Your Sources: Skimming
• Evaluating sources - continued
• Exercise your editorial judgment
• Evaluate logic and authenticity of source – look for contradictions/
errors
• Check your evaluations against those of professionals
• Literary critics (ex. Review Digest),
• Check credentials of critics (Who’s who)
• Beware of statistics
• Questions the credibility of any source that cites statistics
• Often used carelessly, exaggerated

21. Selecting Your Sources: Skimming
• Reliable statistics:
• General Statistics  World Almanac, Current Index to
Statistics
• Statists about the United States  Statistics Abstract of the United
States
• World Statistics  United Nations Demographic
Yearbook, UNESCO
• Public Opinion Polls  Gallup Poll, Public Opinion Poll
Online
• Census Statistics (U.S.)  U.S. Census Bureau
• Other National Statistics Agencies

22. Note-Taking
• Note-Taking:
• Eventually turn the information found into notes
• Many students use computers to take/edit notes
• Text recommends using 4” x 6” note cards, which can be
added/deleted/reshuffled
• A research paper should contain a variety of material
taken from different sources / as well as your
conclusions

23. Note-Taking
• Choosing the number of notes:
• How much of paper should consist of original writing vs.
drawn from sources?
• No exact rule – ideally should consist of information from
sources blended with your own commentary and
interpretation
• Say what you think, what evidence, other opinions exists to
support your opinions, why those of a different opinion are
probably wrong

24. Note-Taking
• Formatting the note cards:
• Use 4” X 6” cards for note-taking. These are large enough to
accommodate fairly long notes (not like smaller bibliography
cards).
• Write in ink rather than pencils, so cards can be shuffled
without blurring
• Write one idea or quotation on each cards (staple two together
if necessary)
• Identify the source in upper left-hand corner of the card
(bibliography card already lists complete source information)
• General heading on upper right-hand corner (pencil so it can
be changed)

25. Note-Taking
• Using the computer to take notes:
• Can print out material and highlight passages
• Keep electronic sources on computer organizing by
folders/files and copy/paste
• Number each note sequentially
• Identify page/bibliography information if not using
bibliography cards

26. Note-Taking
• Using a copy machine/camera to take notes
• Can photocopy/scan pages from books or magazines
• Now, can just take a picture with phone
1. Always write down/record details about the source on the top
of the page immediately after scanning/taking picture
• Take picture of pages that include necessary bibliographic information
1. Be neat with organizing copies/photos/scans of pages

27. Note-Taking
• Kind of Notes - Notes must blend into body of your paper to
support thesis
• 4 Kinds of Notes:
a. The Summary – condensation of significant facts from an original
piece of writing
• Chapter condenses into a page, a page into a paragraph
• Read text pg. 85 Figure 6-5
b. The Paraphrase – restates a passage in approximately the same
number of words as original, using syntax/vocab of paraphraser
• Read text pg. 85 Fig 6-5
• Achieves two purposes:
1. Shows you have mastered the material well enough to be able to rephrase
it
2. Gives your paper an even, consistent style in your own words

28. Note-Taking
• 4 Kinds of Notes, cont’d:
c. The Quotation – reproduces an author’s words exactly as they were
spoken or written
• Justified when evoking authority of writer, original material is very well
expressed/splendid
• Rule of Thumb: quoted material should be no more than 10% of paper
• Quotation Rules:
• Read text, pg, 86, Fig 6-7
• Put Quotation Marks around the quotation
• Introduce the quotation or place it in proper context
• Copy quotations exactly as they are written
• Sometimes a summary or paraphrase is combined with a quotation
• Read text, pg, 87, Fig 6-8

29. Note-Taking
• 4 Kinds of Notes, cont’d:
d. The Personal Comment – are ideas, conjectures, or conclusions that
occur to you during the research
• Notes generally are used to:
• explain fuzzy statement
• stress a particular point
• draw a conclusion
• clarify an issue
• identify an inconsistency
• introduce a new idea
• Read text, pg, 87, Fig 6-9

30. Plagiarism and How to Avoid It
• Plagiarism - the act of passing off another’s words
and ideas as your own
• Everyone plagiarizes in daily life, ex. proverbs, language
• Blatant Plagiarism involves deliberately stealing from
someone else’s words and ideas, generally with motive
of undeserved reward
• Ex. Student copying a friend’s paper
• Ex. Student steals an idea from a book, rewords it, and passes off as
original thought
• Plagiarism can be grounds for dismissal or expulsion
from a class, school or job

31. Plagiarism and How to Avoid It
• Conventions of writing research paper - must acknowledge
the source of any idea or statement not truly your own
• Made a note specifying the source, author or material
• All summaries, paraphrases, or quotations must be documented
• Only personal comments can remain undocumented
• Summary:
• Provide a note for any idea borrowed from another
• Place quoted material in quotation marks
• Provide a bibliography entry at the end of the paper for every source
used in the text or in a note
• Not necessary to document common knowledge

32. Plagiarism and How to Avoid It
• The following must be accompanied by citation specifying
author and source:
• Any idea derived from a known source
• Any fact or data borrowed from the work of another
• Any clever expression that is taken from someone else
• Any information that is paraphrased, or summarized,
and used in research paper
• Applies to both printed and electronic sources
• Read text examples, pgs. 89-90