TEXTBASED RESEARCH Using Published Sources TYPES Textbased Research
TEXT-BASED RESEARCH Using Published Sources
TYPES: Text-based Research Situating Research Questions All good research projects will begin by looking at what other scholars have already researched. You “situate” your research by finding sources that can lead to your research question. Reporting on Current Research Collect a number of sources to report on a topic. Compare or combine sources to summarize a topic. Interpretative Synthesis Use previous sources as a lens to look at a current topic Interpret a topic by looking at its history or origins.
PURPOSE: Text-based Research To provide background information for readers. To situate research as part of an ongoing conversation in a field, whether replicating, extending, or contradicting a previous study. To increase credibility by demonstrating familiarity with the topic and key sources. To define key terms or theories that influence the study. To corroborate data or analysis. To include counterarguments and increase credibility by considering alternative theories or interpretations. To demonstrate a research gap—some approach to or aspect of the research subject that has not been covered by other researchers. To analyze or synthesize previous texts to create new meanings or interpretations.
Means of support Invented Evidence (Rational Appeals) • Anecdote • Analogy/Compariso n • Consequences/Effe cts • Contrasts • Categories/Models • Examples Found Evidence (Hard Evidence) • Facts • Statistics • Surveys/Polls • Testimonies and Interviews • Experiments • Precedent • Textual Evidence
EVALUATING EVIDENCE
Different rhetorical situations and genres call for different types of evidence. Generally speaking… Academic writing privileges hard and textual evidence Popular writing privileges interviews and expert opinion
However… Remember that there are different types of academic writing. Humanities writing privileges textual evidence and rational appeal Science writing privileges primary sources and hard evidence Business writing privileges hard evidence and rational appeal
But it’s not that simple… It’s not as easy as just sticking in evidence. Sometimes evidence needs to be corroborated or supported by other types of evidence. Interviews and testimonies are far more valuable if there is corroborating evidence. Hard evidence such as surveys and polls require tests for mathematical significance and error; they also require large and diverse samples. Evidence also needs to be from a reliable and credible source, and there are mechanisms to suggest reliability and credibility
Reliability means that the evidence is consistent. Reliability is often shown in scientific studies through a literature review that shows that similar research has asked similar questions and gained similar answers. The same can be said of testimonies and interviews – if corroborating interviews or testimonies are similar to the original evidence, we can say that evidence is reliable.
Credibility means that the evidence has had some means confirming its authority. For example, we might rely on expert opinion in an interview about global warming from a scientist (in which we are looking for his or her credentials such as academic degrees, years experience on the topic, and past accomplishments), or an article published in an academic journal (which is peer-reviewed; other specialists on the topic review the article for its plausibility and accurateness)
Primary versus secondary sources A Primary source is one in which the information that is being reported was actually tested and collected by the person reporting it. Academic journals, investigative reporting in newspapers, and organizations that conduct polls are primary sources. Primary source research is also that which you, the writer have conducted through observation, survey, or interview. A Secondary source is one in which some primary source is reinterpreted for another audience or purpose. Magazines, television newscasts, and some reporting in newspapers is secondary source.
What’s the big deal? If you use lots of secondary sources as evidence, it is not as credible or reliable since the secondary source has already “reinterpreted” the data for its argument (and thus, has left some information out). So, no secondary sources ever? Not so fast. Secondary sources can be useful as corroborating evidence in some cases, and they can be useful for critique and analysis.
EVALUATING EVIDENCE
To tell when a source is a reliable, credible and primary, ask these questions: What does it look like? Where did you find it? What is its purpose? Who are its authors? Who published it? Was it documented? Was it reviewed?
Academic Journals Academic journals are often published by academic publishers (Routledge, Taylor and Francis, SAGE) or by organizations that are usually associated with universities. The articles take up almost the entire amount of the journals, with occasional advertisements for textbooks and academic conferences. The authors are almost always associated with a university as a professor, teacher or administrator. Articles will always be documented.
FINDING EVIDENCE
Online Databases Online databases offer electronic versions of print sources. The general databases will allow you to access magazines, newspapers, and academic journals. Sometimes, the databases offer books as well. Online databases should be your primary stop while doing research once you have a topic. They offer you the reliability and credibility of sources that the Internet can’t offer.
To get to the databases from the library
The major DBs Penrose library subscribes to many online databases. The ones that you should be most familiar depend on your major, but the most general is: Academic Search Premier (EBSCOHost) There are three more that you may need to rely on at DU, and they are: SAGE (the journal Games and Culture is here) Science. Direct Jstor CSA (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts) (search Technology)
Some More Library Advice Summon@DU is a feature that will search the library databases and book catalog for a term. Use this for article titles or authors.
RESEARCH STRATEGIES
Understand the interface Experiment with the interface of the search engine GOOGLE SCHOLAR Cite, fulltext, My Library, Related Articles Academic Search Complete Use filters: Peer-Reviewed, Full Text, and References Available
Browse Sometimes when you don’t know what to write about, it’s good to start browsing the web to see what is going on. You might start by typing in some preliminary topics in the news search of Google or Yahoo. If you are in need of primary source research, you can also browse academic journals. Browsing will help you come up with synonyms
Ask a Librarian – Most librarians will be very helpful in finding information for your topics. The library has a Research Center where you can sit with a librarian and they will help you find sources—they are the pros. However, they are there to help you not do it for you. Ask a Professor – Most professors, especially those who are in the field of your topic, will help you not only find an issue but suggest some sources as well. Depending on how well the professor knows you, he or she may also let you borrow articles or books on the topic.
Follow text trails (references/works cited in journal articles, bibliographies, news stories) If you find a good source, you should be able to find many more relevant sources. Academic journal articles will usually triangulate and synthesize past research on an issue. Use the Reference/Works Cited page as a way to get more sources. Newspaper articles, although secondary, often dumbdown primary source articles for a mass audience. If a news story interests you, follow the trail to the primary source. Search the Internet for bibliographies on your topic
Follow authors Most authors are experts on their topics, so they have written multiple articles on that topic. You might even Google the author to see if he/she has a webpage that has their résumé or CV (the academic version of a résumé) that lists all their publications.
The most important advice Find the best sources rather than the easy sources.
INTEGRATING EVIDENCE
Guidelines of using outside sources for evidence Always assume your reader has not read the articles you use for support. Even if you are responding to an article from a class, writing a letter to the editor in a newspaper, or writing a journal article, recognize that your audience needs to know where the source came from, what it is about, and how you are reading it. Corroborate evidence that is important to your argument with other sources Integrate the source with your own argument as evidence for your claims Give attribution
Assume your reader hasn’t read the sources you are using When writing in MLA, you should follow these guidelines: The first time you use a source important to your argument, provide a relevant background about the source. This background might one or more of the following: Credentials – the journal or original source something appears in. Objective – the “main point” of the article. Context – the particular detail you are taking away from the article. Thus: According to Miri Barak, Alberta Lipson, and Steven Lerman in a study published in the Journal of Research on Technology in Education, students found laptop computers in the classroom as “as most useful and efficient for their learning” (257).
Assume your reader hasn’t read the sources you are using When writing in APA, you should follow these guidelines: Science writing often just cites the name and paraphrases the argument; it very rarely uses quotations or cites the journal it comes from. You would only quote if interrogating the language and not the idea or data expressed. Thus: Studies have shown students prefer laptop computers in the classroom (Barak, Lipson, & Lerman, 2006).
Corroborate/Synthesize your evidence Corroboration or Synthesis provides reliability to your argument and evidence. It also opens up a place for you to enter a much larger conversation. Add like evidence with like evidence Continue a conversation Use external evidence in rational appeals “According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a college education’s effect on lifetime earnings is significantly positive. In addition, other studies have also shown that “even after college loans are paid, and entry-level jobs are accounted for, a college education still is a good return on investment (Smith 43). Although this may be the case, other studies have shown that a college education is not necessarily correlated with success (Jones and Roberts 186). The question raised, then, is how have we come to measure success? ” SIMPLE AND BUT
Integrate Sources (MLA) Sources should be a part of your argument, not just an object you cut and paste in. The following is not a good integration: Laptops are bad for students. “Students who allocate more cognitive resources to generating distractive rather than productive software windows exhibit lower academic performance” (Kraushaar & Novak, 2010)
Integrating Sources (MLA) Remember Credentials, Objective, and/or Context the FIRST time you list a source Always use a signal phrase and provide an author or source as agent. Use keywords from the quote to make it flow better in your text. When laptops are allowed in a classroom, student performance may be impacted. In one study, found that the cognitive load—the number of tasks that a laptop was asking of a student (e. g. , instant messaging, web browsing)—was inversely related to their academic performance (Kraushaar & Novak 249). However, another study found that laptop use can be beneficial when they were actively utilized for educational tasks (Skolnik & Puzo).
Attribute your sources The point of in-text parenthetical citation is so that your reader can find your sources on your Works Cited/References page, and can find the exact location where you are citing from.
MLA Citations If you have an author in your sentence, then just put the pg# in parentheses after the quote and before the period If the author is not stated, or it might be carried over from another sentence, then last name and pg # in parentheses after the quote and before the period He also states, “But first I need a beer” (Simpson 4). If it is a paraphrase, you still cite the page # and author, but make sure it is placed before “your” idea in a sentence. Simpson states, “I will survive” (4). Simpson believes that alcohol is required to survive (4). Simpson’s belief that beer is a precursor to survival (4) is an important lesson for college students. If you are citing a source within another source, you need to list the source that you have on your Works Cited page with the original source as “ctd. in” Simpson refuses to believe that excessive alcohol consumption “causes dementia in the elderly” (Davenport ctd. in Simpson 7).
APA Citations If you have an author in your sentence, then follow it with the year, then just put a p. and the pg# in parentheses after the quote and before the period If the author is not stated, or it might be carried over from another sentence, then last name, year, and pg # in parentheses after the quote and before the period He also states, “But first I need a beer” (Simpson, 2008, p. 4). If it is a paraphrase, you still cite the year, page # and author, but make sure it is placed before “your” idea in a sentence. Simpson (2008) states, “I will survive” (p. 4). Simpson (2008) believes that alcohol is required to survive. Simpson’s (2008) belief that beer is a precursor to survival is an important lesson for college students. If you are citing a source within another source, you need to list the source that you have on your Works Cited page with the original source as “ctd. in” Simpson refuses to believe that excessive alcohol consumption “causes dementia in the elderly” (Davenport, 2008, ctd. in Simpson, p. 7).
Long quotations Quotes of more than four typed lines are placed in block style. Block quotes should always be proceeded by a complete introduction of the quote. Block quotes are double spaced, just like the surrounding text (it’s not doubled spaced on this slide to save space). Simpson’s guide to survival includes many helpful tips. Among the most startling is his description of consuming alcohol at work: I drink when I get up. I drink on my way. I drink in the parking lot. I drink when I poor my coffee. I drink when on break. I drink before I talk to my boss. I drink after I talk to my boss. I drink on my way home. (5 -6)
All Citations Web pages often have authors, you just have to hunt for them. If you can’t find an author, refer to the webpage and/or sponsor as the author. You do not need a page number of a webpage. You would use an in-text parenthetical only if it is not clear from your signal where the material is coming from, or the agent of the quote is not the author of the article Never use a URL as an in-text citation: According to Coca-Cola’s website, they would “like to teach the world to sing. ” Bill Gates believes Windows Vista will “change your state of mind” (“Windows Vista Arrives”) Frederick’s scathing exposé of intern abuse was followed by a similar article in This magazine by Arthur Johnson (Bigge).
All Citations Online journals/databases and the like offer representations of print materials, and you would use the typeset page numbers in those cases.
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