Essay #3—Literature Review and Report

1. Essay #3—Literature Review and Report • Long title—but it is ONE document! : ) • A literature review and research report is more than just a simple summary of the sources. It has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis. • As you begin, you should read Chapters 5 and 6, pages 109-143 in your Compose, Design, Advocate textbook—all about research

2. First Step Decide on a subject/ topic area that interests you. • As you read widely but selectively in your topic area, consider instead what themes or issues connect your sources together: --Is there a raging debate on your issue? This might provide you with the focus you need. --How is the subject discussed? How do different genres discuss the issue differently? --Do they present one or different solutions? --Is there an aspect of the issue that is missing or not discussed?

3. 2nd Step: Your Research Question • Decide on what you want to focus on—a specific question you want to ask about your subject/topic (and smaller questions as well) • Pages 147-149 in CDA can help with research questions • Sample from literature review example

4. Sex Education 1. Is kindergarten an appropriate age to begin sex education in schools? 2. What information is usually taught in sex education? 3. What are the potential conflicts that may arise?

5. Milk and the Body • Does milk really do a body good? • What is the purpose of consuming cow’s milk? • What are the benefits? • What are the potential dangers?

6. Sex Offenders and the Death Penalty • Should the death penalty be an option of punishment for sex offenders? • What is the purpose of the death penalty? • How serious a crime is sex offense? • Would the death penalty be a viable deterrent?

7. 3rd Step: Do Your Research! • Primary and Secondary Research • Primary research is research you create—interviews, surveys, focus groups • Secondary research is research you have to find—library research, databases—its already been published.

8. “Good” Research

9. Librarians! • One of the best places to start is with the librarian believe it or not! : ) • There is no one on campus at a university that knows more about research, how to access it, and what is valid and reliable than them. • At minimum they have a Masters in Library Science—and many at UTEP have PhD’s!!!

10. What is “Good Research?” • Means it is valid and reliable! • It comes from a credible/reputable source, and has been researched itself. For printed research, make sure it has its own Works Cited or Bibliography (which by the way, can help you find more sources!)

11. Internet • Many students begin by searching the internet—one of the WORST places for research. • WWW sites are usually commercial, corporate, or personal—places for second-hand information. We want primary sources!

12. How the internet is useful… • It does have its benefits in its ability to ACCESS research. • We can go to direct source. (Ex. CNN.com, newsweek.com, wallstreetjournal.com). You can access magazines and newspapers we usually don’t have access to. And you can access the libraries of other universities if you want as well.

13. How the internet is useful… • It’s greatest use is the ability to access journal databases—you can get to these from any university library homepage (here at UTEP, you may have to set up your access from home by going to library in person if you’ve never used them before) I recommend: Academic Search Premiere, ERIC/EBSCO, JSTOR---these are great journal and magazine databases—easy to use and usually have full-text access online—just print out the article!

14. If you just can’t help it… • If you do use the World Wide Web (WWW), make sure the website ends in: .edu (this will indicate it comes from a university) .org (this will indicate it comes from a non-profit organization—though you still have to worry about credibility) .gov (this will indicate it comes from government) Also—use Google Scholar as a search engine!

15. Books • Make sure they are current (within last 5 years) and that they are academic. A couple of ways to tell: • If they have a bibliography/Works Cited you know they’ve been researched. • Publishing company has University of __ Press, or another academic publishing company (like Pearson for example).

16. Magazines and Newspapers • Make sure magazines are reputable (Newsweek, Time, Discover, National Geographic, etc.) If it has articles about Paris Hilton—that should be a big clue it sucks! • Newspapers—not just the El Paso Times. For local issues try other Texas newspapers (Austin Statesmen, Houston Chronicle). For national issues (Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, LA Times, NY Times)

17. More on newspapers… • A current trend is for journalists to attach their e-mail addresses to articles they write. Why not send them an e-mail asking for more articles or even some of their research sources? You’d be surprised at the potential help some of willing to offer! (not all—but it doesn’t hurt to try!

18. Action Research • Interviews with people is perfectly legitimate—you just need to make sure they are credible towards the issue you are writing. • Short survey—compile results and table your findings

19. Media • Television shows—Dateline, 20/20, 60 Minutes, etc. Make sure valid and reliable. They usually have text versions of their shows online as well! It’s better to use the research references they make and then get the research yourself! • Documentaries—be careful with these—fine line between academic and entertainment.

20. 4th step: Write your report! • APA format—format and citations • Integration of direct quotes more effective than paraphrases • Answer your research questions with various points of view that you’ve gathered from your research (see samples in Additional Materials)

21. Questions? I am, as always, willing to give you feedback… All you have to do is ask!!! : ) -Steve