The Research Process

The Research Process Mr. Lamar English 10 Honors

Components • The Question • Gathering and evaluating sources • The Proposal • Organizing your information (note cards) • The Outline • Citation (MLA) • The Research Paper format

The Question • How do you develop a usable research question? Choose an appropriate topic or issue for your research, one that actually can be researched. • Once you have chosen your topic, focus your topic so that the scope of your research and analysis is manageable (not too broad or too narrow.)

Practice Exercises • Which of these questions cannot be easily or fully researched (given that you are writing a research paper right now, at the beginning of the 21st century?)

Too broad, too narrow, or just right? • Question A: Do children sent to day care or preschool start kindergarten with more developed skills? • Question B: Do children sent to day care or preschool start kindergarten with more highly developed language skills? • Question C: Do children sent to day care or preschool start kindergarten with larger vocabularies?

Too broad, too narrow, or just right? • Too broad. It focuses on all skills (e.g., language, social, small motor skills, large motor skills, etc.--you get the idea). • Just right. • There might not be enough information to answer this question.

Can it be researched? • Question A:Do the economies that result from a trash burning plant outweigh or not outweigh its environmental impact? • Question B:Is sexual preference a result of nature (physically based) or nurture (socially-culturally based)? • Question C: Does McDonald's or Burger King make a better burger? • Question D:Is Prozac a good way to treat clinical depression in certain cases? • Question E:Is there a link between hours of television viewing and violent behavior in children aged 8-14?

Can it be researched? A: Yes B: Somewhat C: No, not the way it is currently worded. D: Yes. Keep the cases being studied manageable. E: Yes

Too broad, too narrow, or just right? • Question A: What are the 14 different disease-causing genes that were discovered in 1994? • Question B: What is the importance of genetic research in our lives? • Question C: How might the discovery of a genetic basis for obesity change the way in which we treat obese persons, both medically and socially?

Too broad, too narrow, or just right? A: Far too narrow B: Too broad C: Just right

Evaluate your question 1. Does the question deal with a topic or issue that interests me enough to spark my own thoughts and opinions? 2. Is the question easily and fully researchable? 3. What type of information do I need to answer the research question?E.g., The research question, "What impact has deregulation had on commercial airline safety?," will obviously require certain types of information: statistics on airline crashes before and after statistics on other safety problems before and after information about maintenance practices before and after information about government safety requirements before and after 4. Is the scope of this information reasonable (e.g., can I really research 30 online writing programs developed over a span of 10 years?) 5. Given the type and scope of the information that I need, is my question too broad, too narrow, or okay? 6. What sources will have the type of information that I need to answer the research question (journals, books, Internet resources, government documents, people)? 7. Can I access these sources? 8. Given my answers to the above questions, do I have a good quality research question that I actually will be able to answer by doing research?

Gathering and evaluating sources Important Notes: • The Rowland High School library has some great online resources to help guide you in evaluating sources. • The librarian is generally happy to guide polite, intelligent young researchers in finding the information they are looking for.

Gathering and evaluating sources The web • The internet has been referred to as the worlds largest library, BUT all the books are scattered on the floor! • Learning to navigate and evaluate this information can be quite a task. • If you find an article that provides relevant information for your research topic, you should take care to investigate the source to make sure it is valid and reliable. It is your responsibility as a researcher to find and use the trustworthy sources. There are several ways to investigate your source.

Gathering and evaluating sources Author • In most cases, you should stay away from Internet information that doesn't list an author. While the information you find may be true, it is more difficult to validate information if you don't know the credentials of the author. • If the author is named, you will want to find his/her web page to: • Verify educational credits • Discover if the writer is either published in a scholarly journal • Verify that the writer is employed by a research institution or university

Gathering and evaluating sources URL • If the information is linked to an organization, try to determine the reliability of the sponsoring organization. One tip is the url ending. If the site name ends with .edu, it is most likely an educational institution. Even so, you should be aware of political bias.

Gathering and evaluating sources • If a site ends in .gov, it is most likely a reliable government web site. Government sites are usually good sources for statistics and objective reports. • Sites that end in .org are usually non-profit organizations. They can be very good sources or very poor sources, so you'll have to take care to research their possible agendas or political biases, if they exist.

Gathering and evaluating sources Online Journals and Magazines • A reputable journal or magazine should contain a bibliography for every article. The list of sources within that bibliography should be pretty extensive, and it should include scholarly, non-Internet sources. • Check for statistics and data within the article to back up the claims made by the author. Does the writer provide evidence to back up his statements?

Gathering and evaluating sources News Sources • Every television and print news source has a web site. To some extent, you can rely on the most trusted news sources, but you should not rely on them exclusively. After all, network and cable news stations are involved in entertainment. Think of them as a stepping stone to more reliable sources.

How to evaluate a website? • Believe it or not, the Web does not always contain accurate information. In fact, every once in a while, you might come across something that (gasp!) is not true.

How to evaluate a website? Who’s In Charge? Determine Authority • Is it absolutely clear which company or organization is responsible for the information on the site? • Is there a link to a page describing what the company or organization does and the people who are involved (an “About Us” page)? • Is there a valid way of making sure the company or organization is legit – meaning, is this a real place that has real contact information (email only is not enough)?

How to evaluate a website? Are You Telling Me The Truth? Determine Accuracy • Can I easily figure out who wrote the information? • Are all factual claims clearly substantiated, that is, are there cited (linked) sources? • Are there any glaring grammatical and spelling errors? This could indicate that the content is not credible. • How long ago was the page updated? Is there a date stamp on the article somewhere? You’ll need this especially if you’re using MLA-style citation. • Can you verify the expertise of the author? Are the writer’s qualifications clearly stated somewhere on the site?

How to evaluate a website? • Are You Selling Me Something? Determine Motivation • Is there an overwhelming bias in the information? Does the writing seem fair and balanced? Or is the writing overly slanted towards a particular point of view? • Is the URL appropriate to the content? You should be able to figure out from the site address who the site belongs to, since most organizations and businesses put their name in the URL. This is a good way to determine quickly if the site is legit for your purposes; for example, if you’re researching mad cow disease you probably don’t want to get information from the Beef Farmers of America. • Are the ads clearly separated from the content?

How to evaluate a website? Evaluating Sources on the Web – Use Common Sense • Use common sense when considering a Web site for inclusion in your research project or academic paper. Just because something made its way on to the Web absolutely does not mean that it’s credible, reliable, or even true. • Teachers DO check your bibliographies and if they find a source that does not meet these standards, you’ll have to pull a do-over. It is absolutely essential that you put any Web site through the evaluation hoops mentioned above before you cite it as a source.

Bad Sources • Blogs • Personal Web Sites • Wikis • Movies • Historical Novels

Source Cards and Note Cards • There are no MLA standards for source cards and note cards. Follow the instructions of your teacher. • Source cards have three purposes: 1. To record all the information needed to find the reference in the library or online. 2. To record the information needed for the parenthetical citations for the paper. 3. To record the information needed to prepare the final Works Cited for the final paper.

SAMPLE SOURCE CARD #1 1 Garcia, Elizabeth. "Herzog: a Life." Online Film Critics Corner. The Film School of New Hampshire, 2 May 2002. Web. 8 Jan. 2009. <www.onlinecritics.fsnh.edu>

SAMPLE SOURCE CARD #2 2 Palmer, William J. Dickens and New Historicism. New York: St. Martin's, 1997. Print.

SAMPLE NOTE CARD #1 Identifies the source Blank verse 3-1 Blank verse = “lines of iambic pentameter which are unversed” - Abrams, p. 24 Q Give each card a unique title to help you identify the type of information it contains Quote = Q Paraphrased = P Facts/Stats = F Your note. This can be a quote, paraphrased information, or facts and stats. Author and page #. This is the part that goes into your in-text citation

The Research Process