Research Process Review

1. Research Process Review Strategies and Models for Effective Research

2. Using Books: 3 types • Book • One author • Two authors • No authors (editors) • Article in an Encyclopedia • Usually no authors • Article in a Book • Separate authors

3. Previewing a Book • Scan the front and back covers. • Glance through the table of contents, keeping your research question in mind. • Skim the preface in search of a statement of the author’s purposes. • Using the index, look up a few words related to your research question. • If a chapter seems useful, read its opening and closing paragraphs and skim any headings.

4. Where do I find that information in a book? In the inside pages: • Additional information on the inside pages:

5. Previewing an Article • Look for an abstract or a statement of purpose at the beginning. • For a newspaper article, focus on the headline and the opening sentences known as the lead. • Skim headings and look at charts, graphs, diagrams, or illustrations.

6. Searching the Web • Carefully select your search terms (Shakespeare vs. “Shakespearean Drama and Elizabethan Culture) • quotations for word strings • addition symbol or and • not will exclude ideas • or will generalize your search

7. Now that you’ve done a search • Who authored the Web page? If you can’t identify the individual or organization responsible for the information, don’t use it. • What are the author’s qualifications for writing on the subject? (Credibility) • Has the article passed through an editorial process designed to ensure quality and accuracy? • What is the website’s purpose? Look out for motives, like selling products and winning votes, that could result in biased or incomplete information. • Is the information accurate? Is it up-to-date? • Where did the author get this information?

8. Restrict your domain search • .com (commercial) usually indicates a for-profit business. Dot-coms include well-known and respected newspapers, as well as businesses whose main concerns are profits. • .edu (education) indicates a university website. University sites are also considered very trustworthy. However, anyone associated with a school, whether a world-renowned scholar or a freshman, can be given space on its server. Professors sometimes put student course work up on the Web, but that doesn’t mean they’re vouching for the information’s accuracy. • .gov (government) indicates a federal government website. The government is a good source of statistics and its sites are widely considered among the most reliable. • .mil (military) indicates a military web site. The official United States military website ends with this domain. • .net (network) probably means that you’re looking at a personal website. A tilde (~) in the address is another strong clue. Remember: anyone can write something and post it to the Web. • .org (organization) usually indicates a not-for-profit organization. Many dot-orgs present unbiased information, but others have political agendas, focus on debatable issues instead of facts, and might not present all sides of an argument.

9. Questions to ask yourself to detect bias • Who created the site? Institutions such as government agencies and museums often provide more accurate and objective information than individuals do. If the author is an individual, can you tell whether that person is an expert in the field or just someone interested in the topic? One way to find out may be to see what else, if anything, the author has written. • What is the purpose of the site? Is it designed to educate, to entertain, or to sell something? If the site is designed to promote a product or a specific point of view, the information on it may be biased or incomplete. • Can you find the same information on any other sites? Just as you should use more than one book when doing research, you should check facts from the Web by looking at more than one site.

10. Read Between the Lines • Anyone can write something and post it to the Web. You’ll need to make some judgment calls based on your own analysis of the site and the article. • Look for facts you know or can check out with a trusted source. If the article has those right, it’s more likely that information new to you is also accurate. • Study the language the writer uses. Is it angry, satiric, ironic, overly impassioned? Or is the language appropriate for an unbiased source of information? • Are the arguments logical? Are they backed up by evidence? Do the conclusions make sense given the evidence? • Does the author acknowledge sources? Expect a bibliography for scholarly writing. • As always, presentation counts. Consider everything from design to spelling. A clean, thought-out site indicates a certain degree of professionalism.

11. More Tips • Finally, look beyond the article for more clues. • Check out the home page and the About Us page. Look for a mission statement to learn more about the site, its purpose, and the organization sponsoring it. • Look for a biography of the author that discusses the author’s education, profession, and other relevant background. If there is no bio, look for one elsewhere on the Web. • Use the traffic rankings search box on Alexa, a Web navigation tool, to search for sites that link to the site you’re investigating. Do any reputable directories link to the site?

12. Taking Notes and Formatting into the paper • Quotations (exact words) • Use quotation marks for exact wording • If necessary, include the author’s name and a brief comment about who that person is. • Paraphrases (same length): • Translate a difficult or complex passage into your own words so that the audience of the essay will understand the passage • Summaries (shortened): • Translate the essential ideas from a longer passage of a text ALL THREE FORMATS MUST INCLUDE A PARENTHETICAL CITATION TO AVOID PLAGIARISM.Effective researchers use all three formats after carefully considering the most effective use for each passage.

13. Blending Research into the researcher’s discussion • The reader of your essay should be able to distinguish your writing from researched passages. • Proper MLA in-text citations will make this distinction.

14. In-text Citations • The Basic Format includes the author’s last name and online • (Smith online). • No author? Use a shortened version of the web site title • (Achebe: A Life online). • What about an online article? • “Achebe’s Reaction to Heart of Darkness” • (“Achebe’s Reaction” online).

15. In-text Citation Models "I teach grammar with the understanding that it helps us express our thoughts precisely" (Petruzzella online). "'[A]n experimental study at grades four through six showed that students who were taught the conventions of language in the context of their writing generally made better use of writing mechanics than did students who had studied these skills in isolation'" (Issues and Controversies online).

16. Works Cited Page • Appears at the end of your research paper • Gives publication information for each sources cited • Start on a new page and title your list “Works Cited” • List in alpha order all sources cited • Alphabetize the list by the last names of the authors (or editors) • If a work has no author or editor, alphabetize by the first word of the title other than A, An, or The • Do not indent the first line of each works cited entry • Indent any additional lines on-half inch • Cut and paste additional lines if your computer automatically formats an indention • Follow each unit in the entry with a period and one space.

17. Works Cited Page: Web Site Author(s). Name of Page. Date of Posting/Revision. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site. Date of Access <electronic address>. Martinez, Dina. Undergraduate Guide to Literary Theory. 17 Dec. 1999. Purdue University. 15. Nov. 2000. <http://omni.cc.purdue/edu%7E martinez/theory2.html>.

18. Works Cited: Article on a Web Site Author(s). “Article Title.” Name of web site. Date of posting/revision. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site. Date of access <electronic address>. Poland, Dave. “The Research Process.” Writing Strategies for the College Bound. 26 Oct. 1998. University of Texas. 28 Oct. 1998 <http://www.univoftxwritingproject.edu>.

19. Model Works Cited Page Salcido 3 Works Cited Issues and Controversies: Assisted Suicide Update. 21 Nov. 1997. A World Almanac Education Group Company. 25 May 2000. <http://www.facts.com/icof/i00057.htm#I00057_09>. "On Not Teaching Grammar." English Journal Online. 85 (1925): 32-37. Petruzzella, Brenda A. "Grammar Instruction: What Teachers Say." English Journal Online. 7 Dec. 2000. National Council for the Teachers of English. 25 May 2000. <www.engljourn.org>. Weaver, Constance. "Teaching Grammar in the Context of Writing." English Journal 85 (2000): 15-23.