Research

Finding and Using Sources

How do I find information?

“Knowing a great deal is not the same as being smart; intelligence is not information alone but also judgment, the manner in which information is collected and used”

- Carl Sagan

4 Categories of Information Sources:

Electronic Sources Websites Full text

databases Books and Similar

Publications Fiction and

nonfiction Pamphlets Reference

Articles and Other Publications in Print Periodicals Articles Reviews Editorials

Additional Sources Sound recordings Video Unpublished writings (private

letters, manuscripts, etc.)

But I can find everything on Google?!?

Why do I need anything else?

Because sometimes you can get too much of a good thing...

A search for "Abortion" returned:

24,000,000 hits on Google 159,000 hits on Yahoo 5,801,000 hits on Ask 17,900,000 on Bing

 

Anyone can post on the internet, so you have to sift through the MILLIONS of hits to find something useful; OR you can use the academic databases available to you in the library where the good articles have already been sifted out for you.

  194 hits on Gale Opposing Viewpoints 457 hits on SIRS Knowledge Source

Okay, so I know where to go, but how do I search for my topic?

Author searches Title searches Subject searches

use synonyms (for abortion you might also search for: emergency contraception, pro-life, pro-choice, or reproductive rights) 

use Boolean terms (and, or, not, +, -) use quotes to search exact phrases ("emergency

contraception") use advanced search options (limit search to

specific types of media or publication date, etc.)

How do I decide which sources are worth my time?

RelevanceWhich source provides information that best

answers your research question?

Credibility Which source provides information that you

can trust to be unbiased and factual?

Determining Relevance

Skim the article for the thesis and supporting details

Consider the author’s audience and purpose

Determining Credibility

Is enough evidence offered to support the thesis?

Is the language objective or emotional? Are there broad generalizations that overstate

or oversimplify the matter? Are arguments one-sided without

acknowledging  other viewpoints? Does the author reference or cite other

sources? If the source states opinion, does the author

offer sound reasons for adopting that stance?

Detecting a Hidden Agenda

What is the author's purpose for writing?Who pays for the publication of the

source, and who buys it?Who benefits from the information the

source delivers?

Plagiarism: What is it?

Plagiarism is the un-credited use, both intentional and unintentional, of somebody else's words and/or ideas (owl.english.perdue.edu)

Neither dishonesty nor ignorance is acceptable; both types of plagiarism are serious violations of the principles of academic integrity

Keep the following rules in mind:

You must credit all summarized, paraphrased, and quoted material with parenthetical documentation. Direct quotes require quotation marks.

You must list all sources summarized, paraphrased, and quoted in alphabetical order on a Works Cited page.

Rules continued:

When conducting research, your goal is synthesizing the information that you find, interpreting it in a new, fresh way. Do not simply string together paraphrased information and direct quotations without attempting original interpretation or analysis.

Plagiarism Examples:

Original:

Greek religion was developed not by priests nor by prophets nor by saints nor by any set of men who were held to be removed from the ordinary run of life because of a superior degree of holiness; it was developed by poets and artists and philosophers, all of them people who instinctively leave thought and imagination free, and all of them, in Greece, men of practical affairs ( Hamilton 174).

Plagiarized:

Greek religion was developed by poets and artists and philosophers, all of them people who instinctively leave thought and imagination free.

Plagiarism Examples:

Original:

Greek religion was developed not by priests nor by prophets nor by saints nor by any set of men who were held to be removed from the ordinary run of life because of a superior degree of holiness; it was developed by poets and artists and philosophers, all of them people who instinctively leave thought and imagination free, and all of them, in Greece, men of practical affairs ( Hamilton 174).

Plagiarized:

Greek religion was not developed by prophets and saints who were removed from ordinary life, but by poets and philosophers who were engaged in practical affairs (Hamilton 174).

Paraphrased material is too similar to original text; extent of indebtedness is not clear.

Acceptable Examples:

Original:

Greek religion was developed not by priests nor by prophets nor by saints nor by any set of men who were held to be removed from the ordinary run of life because of a superior degree of holiness; it was developed by poets and artists and philosophers, all of them people who instinctively leave thought and imagination free, and all of them, in Greece, men of practical affairs ( Hamilton 174).

Acceptable:

According to Edith Hamilton, Greek religion was developed by active and pragmatic men who understood the political and economic realities of the world they lived in and still did not allow their imaginations to be limited by convention (174).

Acceptable Examples:

Original:

Greek religion was developed not by priests nor by prophets nor by saints nor by any set of men who were held to be removed from the ordinary run of life because of a superior degree of holiness; it was developed by poets and artists and philosophers, all of them people who instinctively leave thought and imagination free, and all of them, in Greece, men of practical affairs ( Hamilton 174).

Better:

Many of the Greeks’ deepest spiritual insights were not the result of divine revelation or commandment but of human imagination and reason. Greek religion, as Edith Hamilton has suggested, was developed, “by poets and artists and philosophers…people who instinctively leave thought and imagination free” (174).

Using Quotes

Anytime you use an author’s exact words, you are required to use quotation marks.

You should always lead into a quote with your own words:Greek religion, as Edith Hamilton has

suggested, was developed, “by poets and artists and philosophers…people who instinctively leave thought and imagination free” (174).

Acceptable Lead-ins:

John said, “I can’t wait to see Lady Gaga in concert. She rocks!”

Cinderella always did what she was told; “she scoured the dishes and tables, and scrubbed madam's chamber and those of her daughters” (SurLaLunefairytales.com).

Cinderella “scoured the dishes and tables” without complaint; she even “scrubbed madam’s chamber” (SurLaLunefairytales.com).

Parenthetical Citations

You must cite summarized, paraphrased, or quoted material.

In MLA, you cite information with parenthetical documentation.

You put whatever appears first on the Works Cited page in parenthesis at the end of the sentence.

Citation Examples

Works CitedGlobalWarming.org. Cooler Heads Coalition, 2007. Web. 24 May 2009.

Leroux, Marcel. Global Warming: Myth Or Reality?: The Erring Ways of Climatology. New York: Springer, 2005. Print.

Scientists agree “that global gas emissions need to decrease to 60 percent below present levels by 2050” (GlobalWarming.org).Period goes outside the parenthesis.

Citation Examples

Works CitedGlobalWarming.org. Cooler

Heads Coalition, 2007. Web. 24 May 2009.

Leroux, Marcel. Global Warming: Myth Or Reality?: The Erring Ways of Climatology. New York: Springer, 2005. Print.

Global leaders are seeking political solutions to global warming, while “warnings from the scientific community are becoming louder, as an increasing body of science points to the rising dangers greenhouse gases” (Leroux 22).

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References

Purdue Online Writing LabSnow, Malinda. “Use and

Acknowledgement of Sources.”