Research Strategies

Here’s how this process might look:

Consider the question “Does playing violent video games increase violence in children?”

• Ask other questions about the subject to see if the subject has enough breadth for the paper topic. For
  example:

How are we to determine if kids have become more or less violent? Do we look at their interactions with each other? Do we study the way they speak to each other or to their parents?

• Consider the topic of video games themselves.

Which games are considered violent? How many games would have to be played and for how long to have this effect?

You should also consider the following points:

What question do you want answered?

• Is there any controversy surrounding this topic?
• What are your arguments regarding the topic?
• How easy will it be to research this topic?
• What research will you have to do?
• What are your possible/probable sources of information on the topic?

Researching the Topic

After deciding on a research topic, your next step is to track down the appropriate research materials. Some of these materials include reference texts, books, the Internet, periodicals, and databases. Reference books like these are a great place to start:

Encyclopedia

With definitions, descriptions, photos, and illustrations of thousands of subjects, this is a good place to start for basic topic research.

Encyclopedia of World History

This volume, by historian Peter N. Stearns and thirty other historians, organizes their combined expertise in a chronology of over 20,000 entries covering prehistoric times up to the year 2000.

The Columbia Gazetteer of North America

A thorough and comprehensive encyclopedia of geographical places features over 50,000 entries.

The World Factbook

This resource, compiled by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), is a complete geographical handbook. The Factbook includes profiles of every country in the world, provides facts about population, ethnicity, and literacy rates, as well as political, geographical, and economic data.

American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language

Sought after for its clear, lucid definitions, elegant design, and wealth of information about the history of the English language, this dictionary features over 90,000 entries, 900 full-page color illustrations, and 10,000 new words.

Roget’s Thesaurus

This thesaurus contains 35,000 synonyms, 250,000 cross-references, and clear-cut definitions to aid in finding the right word quickly.

American Heritage Book of English Usage

This usage guide provides a detailed look at grammar, style, diction, word formation, gender, social groups, and scientific forms.

Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations

This reference includes over 11,000 famous quotations.

The Cambridge History of English and American Literature

Widely considered to be the most important work of literary history and criticism ever published, the Cambridge History contains over 300 chapters and 11,000 pages, with topics including poetry, fiction, drama, essays, history, theology, and political writing.

The Oxford Shakespeare

This edition of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare includes the 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and miscellaneous verse that are widely considered to be the benchmark of Western literature.

The Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction

This twenty-volume anthology of classic fiction from around the globe contains elements necessary to a well-rounded liberal education. The Shelf also features an index to interpretations and criticisms.

The Elements of Style

This classic—and slim—reference contains helpful, straightforward advice on style and grammar.

For another great primary source, try the Oxford English Dictionary, which is an excellent resource for word definitions.

The OED, however, has a different way of organizing words than other dictionaries. Since the OED is an historical dictionary, its entry structure is quite different from a dictionary of current English. Traditional English language dictionaries include only present-day word meanings organized so that the most common meanings or senses are described first. With each word in the OED, the various groupings of senses are included in chronological order according to the quotation evidence. The meanings with the earliest quotations appear first; those that have developed more recently appear farther down the entry. The OED is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half-a-million words, both present and past. The OED traces the usage of words through 2.5 million quotations using a wide range of international English language sources, including classic literature and specialty periodicals, films, and cookbooks. The OED is particularly helpful for sorting out whether words are contextually accurate and appropriate as it traces the usage of words in quotations pulled from a wide range of international English language sources and classic literature.

More Sources

There are plenty of other reputable sources of information beyond the ones listed above.

There are numerous news sources that can be accessed. These include periodicals and newspapers. It is imperative that you use reputable news sources when researching a paper topic. For instance, don’t look to People magazine if you’re researching breakthroughs in flu vaccinations. Pick the right journal for your specific topic.

While online news sources can be good for some source material, do not substitute these sources for other material found in books or professional journals, which may be more reputable. You can find online professional journals through online databases such as JSTOR, the “scholarly journal archive.”

While usage of microfiche has waned since the emergence of the Internet, microfiche is still an important source of information. Microfiche is a compact analog storage media that provides comprehensive research in small spaces. Microfiche normally contains copies of books, periodicals, and newspapers. It has the advantages of compact size, lower cost than paper copy, stable archival form, and is easy to view with special readers. However, it has the disadvantage that the images cannot be reproduced.

Databases, which are available online and through libraries and universities, are also a good source of information. They can be searched through a variety of means and contain texts, images, and more.

All Sources Are Not Created Equal

While there are plenty of sources on the Internet that are perfectly legitimate, there are plenty more that are shady at best. That’s why it’s important to consider the following when researching topics on the Internet.

Is your source credible?

• Make sure that your source is credible. Check the author’s credentials and research his or her authority in the field.

Is your source accurate?

• Check to make sure that the source you’re using is up to date. The source should be detailed, accurate, current, and factual.

Is your source reasonable?

• Check the text to make sure that the source is fair, objective, and balanced. Make sure that it is using thoughtful and reasonable arguments that don’t push a viewpoint while forsaking accuracy.

Is your source supported?

• Make sure that your source lists contact information, corroboration, documentation, and sources for its research and claims.

Searching Online

Two important components of Internet research are indices and search engines. There are two main types of indexes. One type of index is hierarchical (leading from one general topic to a more specific one); the other type lists sources in a specified order (usually alphabetically). The first type of index often contains a broad range of topics while the second usually contains sources designed to address a particular topic or concern.

Setting Your Cites High

There are a number of reasons why you need to cite your references. It’s a form of professional honesty that shows your readers that your work is reputable and that you stand by your sources. Citing sources strengthens the authority of your work by showing that you’ve incorporated experts’ ideas and opinions into your work. It also gives the reader valuable information regarding where she or he can look for more information on the topic. It’s important to be accurate in your references, so others can locate the material you used for your research. This passage, from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , gives a good explanation of the importance of citing references.

Because one purpose of listing references is to enable readers to retrieve and use the sources, reference data must be correct and complete. Authors are responsible for all information in their reference lists. Accurately prepared references help establish your credibility as a careful researcher. An inaccurate or incomplete reference “will stand in print as an annoyance to future investigators and a monument to the writer’s carelessness” (Bruner, 1942, p. 68). (p. 216)

Since citing references is so important, there are several different types of reference styles that have been agreed upon by the academic community. These styles, which may be found in style manuals, should be referred to when you’re compiling a bibliography or citing a reference. Here are some of the most common, and widely agreed upon, style manuals.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA)

• APA style is a widely accepted format for writing research papers. This style specifies the arrangement and punctuation of footnotes and bibliographies and is maintained by the American Psychological Association, the main scholarly organization for academic psychologists in the United States. You can refer to The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association for details. Some of the disadvantages of this style include the fact that the style forbids authors to number section headings, which is a common practice in science journals that allows for cross referencing. It also cites authors by their initials alone, instead of by first names, which makes it more difficult to look up sources.

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers

• The Modern Language Association’s (MLA) style manual is an academic style guide that employs a writing style that is most often used in literary criticism, foreign-language, comparative literature, English studies, and other humanity fields. The MLA uses a Works Cited Page that lists works at the end of a paper. This includes brief, parenthetical citations including an author and the page that is listed in the text. An example of this is (Danielson 247). Here are some examples of how citations should be listed.

The Chicago Manual of Style

• This highly regarded style guide for American English deals with questions of style, manuscript preparation, and usage. The Chicago Manual, which is published by the University of Chicago Press, is used by publishers and editors.

ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors and Editors

• This manual is intended for authors and editors working on papers in scientific disciplines. It is the essential desk reference for authors, editors, and publishers of scientific research. Topics covered are grammar, style, copyright, lists, units of measure, illustrations, and other issues associated with maintaining consistency in scientific publications.

Understanding, Recognizing, and Detecting Plagiarism

Before we look at ways to detect plagiarism, it’s important to recognize why students plagiarize in the first place. There are many things to consider before you begin to point fingers at a student for plagiarizing.

By definition, to plagiarize means to steal and pass off the ideas or words of another as one’s own. There are a few reasons why students may plagiarize.

Students may commit plagiarism because they might not understand what plagiarism is. They may not realize that what they’re doing is something wrong. Because of this, it’s important to emphasize to students that they must be responsible for their own work. Enforce rules in your classroom related to plagiarism, and make students accountable for their own work.

If students understand what plagiarism is and still decide to plagiarize, they may do so because they think they won’t be caught, or because they worry that their writing ability is poor and they will get a bad grade. Oftentimes, plagiarism is a result of waiting until the last minute. Students don’t plan their time well enough and then panic and rely on a paper that they find online or through a friend.

One of the most effective ways to prevent plagiarism is to openly discuss what plagiarism is with your students. Define plagiarism. Explain that plagiarism is wrong because it violates the trust between writer and reader, as well as between student and teacher. It is also an illegal use of intellectual property.

Explain to your students how they can legally use sources. Before the students start writing their first papers, include a review of how to use resources in one of your discussions. Taking a trip to the library and discussing research with the librarian might also be helpful. Tell students that, as a teacher, you have resources that will help you to detect plagiarism in their papers if they choose to plagiarize.

To stop plagiarism before it starts, assign papers that are difficult to plagiarize. Portion an assignment into parts that must be submitted over the source of a few weeks or even a semester. Require students to include:

• written proposal
• rough drafts
• notes
• annotated bibliography
• research journal
• submission of all sources
• discussions of papers in class

I’m Still Not Convinced that This Student’s Work Is Original

While the Internet has proven to be incredibly useful in some ways for writers, it has done them a disservice as well. Plagiarism is rampant, thanks to different Web sites that sell term papers or even offer them for free. It’s essential that plagiarism be discouraged, and towards that end, it’s necessary that teachers know how to detect plagiarism.

Here are some questions that you should ask about a paper that looks suspicious:

• Is the formatting strange?
• Is the formatting what was required for the assignment?
• Are there odd line breaks or page breaks?
• Is there an article number or URL at the end of the paper?
• Are there odd sentences that indicate that the paper is from an online article (such as “click here” or “graphic here”)?
• Are the citations out of date?
• Are the citations consistent with the content?
• Does the paper lack citations?
• Is the writing style consistent with the student’s previous work?
• Are past events referred to in the present tense?
• Is the paper in the style (such as creative or expository) that was required by the assignment?
• Does the paper match the assignment?
• Does the paper seem pieced together?
• Are sentences suspiciously long or well written?

If you suspect that a student has committed plagiarism, you can try a variety of strategies to determine whether or not the paper is plagiarized. You can ask the student to verbally summarize the paper. Also have the student describe his or her research process. You can also select suspect phrases from the paper and copy them into the search window in an Internet search engine or article database. Put the phrase that you select in quotation marks, which allows you to do an exact phrase search. Check out the student’s sources, visiting URLs that the student has cited. Here are some good search engines and Internet databases to try.

Review

• Knowing how to properly research your paper, starting from the very beginning, will help to ensure that your paper is focused and deliberate. Make sure that your paper topic is narrow enough to delve deeply into your subject matter, while also ensuring that it is not too narrow. This might prevent you from actually having enough to say in your paper.
• Knowing about the resources available to you, including such references as encyclopedias, indexes, microfiche, periodicals, and Internet resources, will help ensure that your paper is well researched and accurate. You’ll want to make sure that all of these references are properly documented, so use a recognized style based on the paper topic, such as Chicago, MLA, APA, or ASC.
• Whether you’re writing or reviewing a paper, you should be aware of the possibility of plagiarism. Review the importance of maintaining originality in your work or your students’ work, and recognize that there are many ways to detect plagiarism if it is used.