Why research? Where do I find reliable sources?
Where do I go on the Web? What about plagiarism? What are
APA and MLA styles? These questions can easily take books
to answer, in fact two books are suggested below. However,
this web page attempts to answer or point to the answers
to these questions.
If you would like to link to this page from
your own website, please do so; but please also send me
an e-mail letting me know about your link – it will make
me feel good and, if I do need to move the page, I can let
you know.
I’d like to extend a big thank you to Jennifer
Saxton, Laurie Hime, and Vernon Hooks,
Kendall Campus Librarians who took to the time to review
a draft and make several suggestions for improvement. Please
note they did not review the final draft and all errors
are my own.
A printable PDF file may be found here, Researching_With_Style.pdf.
Researching With
Style
References
Research is used to identify interesting topics,
to find arguments, and to find evidence.
Not all information is equal. Facts can be verified
or proved. Opinions may use facts to support them but are
open to interpretation and discussion. You need to distinguish
between fact and opinion and you need to guide your reader
to form their own opinion. Readers will be more likely to
agree with you if you use high quality information in your
arguments.
Primary Sources: Examples are original
documents (treaties, laws, plays), original data, and official
records. These are the most reliable sources.
Secondary sources: These are usually
articles written by people based on primary sources. Most
are found in refereed, scholarly journals. While not as
good as primary sources, these are the most commonly cited
in student papers.
Tertiary Sources: These are second (or
third or more) hand information, based on secondary sources.
Typically these are newspapers and magazine articles written
by people who don't know the subject and edited by people
that didn't even talk to the source. Books which summarize
or review a topic are usually considered tertiary sources.
These sources may be interesting to read for background
but are unreliable and are mistrusted by informed readers.
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Trust: Peer reviewed articles, reputable
authors, up-to-date articles, academic press, and non-emotional
writing style.
Don't trust: Popular press, anonymous
articles, authors with fixed point of view, out-of-date
or dateless articles, sarcastic, angry or insulting writing
styles, and web sites.
An excellent website that can help you decide
what is trustworthy is Critically Analyzing Information
Sources (http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill26.htm
). Another helpful website that provides a quick list to
distinguish between Scholarly and Popular articles is http://www.accd.edu/sac/lrc/librns/celita/scholarly.htm.
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The WWW is a powerful tool but very unreliable.
If you examine www.whitehouse.gov, www.whitehouse.org and www.whitehouse.com you will find that one
is the official government site, one is a satirical site
and one is a pornographic site. On a more serious note www.globalwarming.org
and www.globalwarming.net
both appear to be good serious sites about the global warming
issue. However; if you examine them closely you will find
that they support opposite opinions. Good information is
out there but you must use your judgment and evaluate each
website.
How do you evaluate a website? The following
questions from Baker (2004, http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLibGuides//Internet/Evaluate.html)
provide an excellent beginning:
- What can the URL tell you?
- Who wrote the page? Is he, she, or the authoring
institution a qualified authority?
- Is it dated? Current, timely?
- Is information cited authentic?
- Does the page have overall integrity and reliability
as a source?
- What's the bias?
- Could the page or site be ironic, like a satire
or a spoof?
- If you have questions or reservations, how can you
satisfy them?
Another useful web page is Evaluating Information
Found on the Internet at http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluating/index.html
.
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A big issue with the WWW is the sheer quantity
of information. Search engines such as Google are a good,
quick way to see if information is out there but they are
not a good way of finding reliable information.
An alternative approach is to use subject
guides and directories. These directories provide annotated
links to reputable sites and can greatly speed your research
time. The page at http://www.mdc.edu/libraries/links.asp
is an annotated list of recommended links organized by subject.
The MDC Kendall campus library website, http://www.mdc.edu/kendall/library/internet_r_search_eng.asp
, lists several good search engines and subject directories.
The page http://www.ithaca.edu/library/training/find.html
currently lists five good starting directories (Henderson,
2004) along with suggestions on how to use them effectively.
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1) Use the web as a tool to reach primary
and secondary sources. Instead of surfing the web,
use your web browser to reach online bibliographic databases.
These databases give you access to information that is not
available via normal web “surfing.” Not only is do they
provide more information, most of the time it is
from more reliable sources. These databases are powerful
tools and it is worth your time to learn how to use them.
In many cases a database will provide the full
text of a printed article. You should note that "full
text" is not necessarily the full article. If illustrations,
charts and diagrams are an important part of the article,
you may still need to find a copy of the printed version.
Start with LINCCWeb Databases on the college's website (http://www.mdc.edu/libraries/). Librarian
Laurie Hime has graciously allowed me to post her handout
on using these databases here.
2) When using search engines, often it is a
good idea to use more than one engine. Abilock (2004) provides
a page http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html
that helps you choose the best search engine for your particular
needs. Many people currently like Google (http://www.google.com/
) and Dogpile (http://www.dogpile.com/
).
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Government agencies provide all three
types of information (primary, secondary, tertiary) and
are increasingly going online; see http://miamidade.gov/ (county), http://www.myflorida.com/ (state) or http://www.firstgov.gov/ (federal). For many
topics, especially localized topics, it can be worthwhile
visiting agency sites. However, you still need to evaluate
each source carefully.
Citeseer (http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/)
good for full-print articles on Science and Technology
Congressional Research Service. Part
of the Library of Congress that produces background reports
for legislators. These are usually well-researched, high-quality
reports with good leads to additional information. Although
the CRS does not publish the reports online, some agencies
and organizations republish them online. An online search
will help you find them.
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MDC through LINCCWeb also provides
access to books that have been converted to electronic format
(e-Books). A directory of e-book resources may be found
at http://www.mdc.edu/kendall/library/internet_r_elec_books2.asp.
Project
Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.net/)
can also provide free online access to many books, especially
clasics that you may need to use as a primary source for
humanities papers.
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First and foremost be sure you can find it
again – keep a trail of your research. When using the
web, bookmark the sites you visit. When using print materials
use note cards. If you are using public computers, web bookmarks
can be copied to a floppy disk for later use.
Skim each source first before spending a lot
of time with it. Read its abstract if available. Once you
decide that a source is good, take BRIEF notes. DO NOT WASTE
TIME copying paragraphs!
Quotations are used for accuracy, authority,
conciseness and vividness (Maricopa English Department,
slide 28) and should be used sparingly. When you encounter
an especially quotable statement you may wish to copy it
into your notes. Don't overuse quotes.
When working at a computer I find it helpful
to keep open at least two word processing files. I keep
one to hold my bibliographic information and the other for
jotting down notes and copying quotes. When using an online
database it is often quite simple to copy the citation directly
into the bibliographic file -- the database citations usually
have the information necessary for the APA reference listing.
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It is a good idea to gather a considerable amount
of information before you begin writing. How can you know
if you have gathered enough information? One measure that
you may have found all that you can is that your research
is beginning to find repeated information referring to the
same primary sources. One measure that you may not have
found enough information is that you have not found an opposing
view (if it is a controversial subject) or an alternative
interpretation of the data (if it is not controversial).
Once you are confident that you know the topic,
don't attempt to write the paper in a single pass. If you
are using a computer I strongly suggest you use the outlining
feature of your word processor to sketch out a rough draft.
You can think more clearly and write faster if you are not
worried about the final form. Once you have your ideas,
arguments and evidence sketched out, begin the final writing
process. Each paper I write generally has at least four
word processor files associated with it: Notes, Bibliography,
Original Outline and Current Draft. The current draft is
created by using Save As… on the Original Outline.
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Every audience has expectations. For your work
to taken seriously in an academic setting you need to meet
the expectations of the academic audience. An academic audience
not only expects grammatically correct writing, logical
arguments and intellectual honesty; the audience expects
you to present your paper in a predictable style. A predicable
style lets the reader read faster and to focus on the content
rather than on the details of the presentation.
There are two major academic styles APA and
MLA. This is actually makes writing easier since all formatting
decisions have already been made; it lets you focus on the
writing rather than the formatting
Although the official APA Guidebook is available
for sale from the APA (for about $30) there are many websites
that may assist you. I recommend the following sites as
starting points:
Using American
Psychological Association (APA) Format (Updated to 5th Edition)
(http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_apa.html)
APA Style
Essentials (http://www.vanguard.edu/faculty/ddegelman/index.cfm?doc_id=796)
A
Guide for Writing Research Papers based on Styles Recommended
by The American Psychological Association (http://webster.commnet.edu/apa/index.htm)
APA
Research Style Crib Sheet (http://www.docstyles.com/apacrib.htm)
If you use Microsoft Word to write your paper,
APA Style templates are available for downloading to make
the job even easier. Some are free and may take some work
to install; others are available for sale and include an
installer program.
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"To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit
whenever you use
- another person's idea, opinion, or theory;
- any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings--any
pieces of information--that are not common knowledge;
- quotations of another person's actual spoken
or written words; or
- paraphrase of another person's spoken or written
words."
(Writing
Tutorial Services, p. 1)
All students should visit at least one of these
sites before starting on their paper:
Plagiarism:
What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It (http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html)
How
Not to Plagiarize (http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/plagsep.html)
MYTHS
ABOUT PLAGIARISM (http://www.nv.cc.va.us/home/dashkenas/PLAGIARISM.htm)
One important benefit of using the APA (or MLA)
style is that it provides a consistent means of identifying
other authors' ideas and a consistent means of leading your
readers to the original material.
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If you are planning to continue in college,
I highly recommend the book The Craft of Research
by Booth, Colomb and Williams. This covers every aspect
of developing, researching and writing a research paper.
It focuses on the process rather than the details of APA
style. I wish I had it when I was an undergraduate.
In addition to the book above, there are many
websites providing suggestions about the overall process
as well. One of the best I've come across is Steps in
the Research Process (http://www.andover.edu/library/rprocess/rprocesssteps.htm)
by the Phillips Academy Andover.
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- Research is used to identify interesting topics,
to find arguments, and to find evidence.
- Not all information is equal, you must screen it.
- Whenever possible use primary and secondary source
of information.
- Mistrust most websites. Learn how to evaluate them.
- Use online subject guides and directories as an
alternative to search engines
- Use the web to reach online bibliographic databases.
- Use the search engine that best matches your needs.
- Keep a trail of your research.
- Gather the right amount of information.
- Don’t overuse quotations, it is your paper not
a ransom note!
- Write drafts!
- Use a standard (APA or MLA) style.
- Always give credit to others work that you include.
- Avoid plagiarism.
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Abilock, Debbie (2004) Choose the Best Search
for Your Information Need. Retrieved June 15, 2004 from:
http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html.
Asmus, Edward P. (no date) APA Style Sheet,
University of Miami. Retrieved June 15, 2004 from http://www.music.miami.edu/research/APAstyle/
Barker, Joe (2004, January 7) Evaluating Web Pages:
Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask in Finding
Information on the Internet: A Tutorial Retrieved June 15,
2004 from http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., & Williams,
J. M. (2003). The Craft of Research, 2ed. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Darling, Charles (2004) A Guide for Writing Research
Papers based on Styles Recommended by The American Psychological
Association, Humanities Department and the Arthur C.
Banks Jr. Library, Capital Community College, Hartford,
Connecticut. Retrieved June 15, 2004 from: http://webster.commnet.edu/apa/index.htm
DeArmond, Celita (October 3, 2003) Scholarly Journal
v. Popular Magazine Articles. San Antonio College Library
& Media Services. Retrieved June 15, 2004 from: http://www.accd.edu/sac/lrc/librns/celita/scholarly.htm
Degelman, Douglas, Ph.D., and Harris, Martin Lorenzo,
Ph.D. (2004) APA Style Essentials, Vanguard University of
Southern California. Retrieved June 15, 2004 from: http://www.vanguard.edu/faculty/ddegelman/index.cfm?doc_id=796
Henderson, John (2004, Febuary 10), How Can You
Find Anything on the World Wide Web? Ithaca College
Library. Retrieved June 15, 2004 from: http://www.ithaca.edu/library/Training/findgoog.html
Karper, Erin and Neyhart, David (2002) Using American
Psychological Association (APA) Format (Updated to 5th Edition),
Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University. Retrieved
June 15, 2004 from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_apa.html
Kirk, Elizabeth E. (2001) Information and Its
Counterfeits: Propaganda, Misinformation and Disinformation.
Sheridan Libraries, John Hopkins University. Retrieved June
15, 2004 from http://www.library.jhu.edu/elp/useit/evaluate/counterfeit.html.
Maricopa English Department (no date) Finding,
Evaluating, and Recording Material. Glendale Community
College. Retrieved June 15, 2004 from http://www.gc.maricopa.edu/English/ppt/research_files/frame.htm
OWHL Web Team (2003) Steps in the Research Process,
OWH Library at Phillips Academy Andover. Retrieved June
15, 2004 from: http://www.andover.edu/library/rprocess/rprocesssteps.htm
Procter, Margaret (2004) How Not to Plagiarize,
University of Toronto. Retrieved June 15, 2004 from: http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/plagsep.html
Writing Tutorial Services (no date) Plagiarism:
What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It, Indiana
University Bloomington. Retrieved June 15, 2004 from: http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html
NOTE:
This page does NOT use APA Style. Specifically it is not
double spaced and the heading styles are not correct.
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Greg
Ballinger 12/04
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