Wadsworth Guide To Research Answers
ENG 102
Wadsworth Guide to Research Summary
The Wadsworth Guide to Research book is separated into four parts. They are: Preparing for Research, Conducting Research, Reporting on Research, and lastly Formatting Your Research and further broken down into 15 chapters within these four parts.
Part 1: Preparing for Research
In preparing for research a student should consider how contextual factors will influence their research. These can include the topic, purpose, audience, and the author based on a rhetorical situation. By considering these elements you let the rhetorical situation influence how you research and the conclusions that you draw from your research.
The rhetorical situation has four parts: purpose, audience, topic, and …show more content…
author. All four of these parts intertwine with each other, they all influence each other. In knowing the rhetorical situation for your research it will help you answer your question most effectively. For example you research might be something you, the author are interested in finding out the answer to. But the audience of your research might have a different reason for wanting to see your research. This can influence the type of questions you ask during your researching.
The book goes on to talk about the myths about research. They include: You must complete each step in the writing process, each step is equally important and time-consuming, and the steps are linear. These are not true at all! The steps of the writing process are: prewriting, researching, drafting, peer reviewing, revising, editing, proofreading, and publishing. You may spend the most time on researching and little time on revising or proofreading. Or you may skip a step all together. You can also skip around the steps, go back if necessary.
Preparing for research requires you to analyze the situation. Anytime you find yourself in a situation where communication is necessary you are in a kairotic moment. Kairos moments inspire you to write, and their elements are present in both time and space. You can use these moments and apply kairos in your rhetorical situation.
Part 2: Conducting Research
When you begin to research you should first determine what you already know about the topic, decide what kind of information you need to find out about your topic, research specific things about your topic, and make a plan as to where you will look for that information. When you identify the type of information you need to research you’ll need to decide whether to conduct primary research or to use secondary sources. Primary research means going directly to the source for your answer. Secondary resources are by someone other than your primary focus.
There are three different types of resources.
Static resources usually do not change after they have been published, such as books, paintings, or films. Syndicated resources are under the same general title but are released over time. Such as magazines, TV shows, and blogs. Dynamic resources never get published in a final form and are always changing. Examples include: live plays, wikis, and field research.
If you choose to include primary research in your plan you can conduct observations and interviews with your subject. Another method of research is to conduct a survey. When you conduct a survey you will need to decide the group you will use, write the questions, and decide what you need to know from the participants. You also need to make sure to get permission to conduct your survey, either from the board at your school or for each individual person. This could be done by just including a letter to the student who is taking the …show more content…
survey.
A very important thing to keep in mind when writing a research paper is plagiarism. There are two kinds of plagiarism. Blatant plagiarism is when a person copies part of a resource and submits it as their own work. The second is careless plagiarism, which is when a person copies information and mistakes it for common knowledge. When you need to include information in your paper you can use quoted from your resources and you will cite the source. When you document a resource, you usually include an in text citation and an entry in a bibliography at the end of your paper. The format of your citations and bibliography depend on the style you are using.
Part 3: Reporting on Research
You have to take a look at your writing to make sure you know if you are just reporting your research or arguing for your position on the research. In general, reporting includes summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting, describing, and telling. Arguing includes your interpretations, analysis, conclusions, claims, and persuasion. Your argument in your research paper should be a response to your research question. In forming your argument you need to identify all the responses to your research question that may come up. Then you can decide according to your rhetorical situation which responses fit. They need to be reasonable, supportable, and feasible.
You need to develop a theses statement. A thesis statement is your answer to the research question! Your thesis for your argument should be a statement that makes a claim, and be clear.
Your paper needs to support the argument.
You made a claim in your thesis, the rest of your paper should support that claim with facts and evidence. You can do this by using an approach that specifically appeals to your audience using ethos, pathos, or logos. Ethos would be used to appeal to someone who relies on credibility and authority, pathos to appeal to emotions, and logos for an audience that appeals to logic and reason. Your paper should also offer evidence, Evidence can include: statistical data, experimental results, expert opinions, personal experience, and observations. You may find it necessary to include counter arguments in your paper. You can provide counterarguments using rebuttals and qualifiers.
When deciding what evidence to include in your paper you should consider who your audience is the timeliness and relevance of the evidence, and the resource of your evidence. You will then decide the pattern of your argument and how to organize your argument within your paper. For example, you can organize chronologically, or by most to least important. Some common argument patterns are evaluation, compare and contrast, cause and effect, definition, and proposal.
Your argumentative paper should include a introduction and conclusion. In writing an introduction you can ask yourself some questions including: why is your topic important, what is the audiences opinion of your topic, what is your authority on the topic, and how well does your audience know the topic.
After you’ve got all the pieces of your paper you’ll need to decide how to present it.
Part 4: Formatting Your Research
This section of the book has four chapters one for each of the citation style guidelines: MLA, APA, CMS, and CSE.
The MLA style has its own handbook called MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. MLA stands for Modern Language Association and is usually used by language, literature, and humanities writers. MLA requires that instead of a separate title page you include your name, instructor’s name, course title, and the date in the upper left corner and that the entire paper is double spaced, margins set at one inch, and paragraphs indented one inch. Headers should be on every page with your last name and page number, located on the right corner of the page. MLA requires that anytime you use visuals, tables or figures, that you put them as close to the relevant paragraph as possible. Tables should be labeled with the word table and a number, as well as a title. Figures should be labeled with the abbreviation Fig. then followed by a number.
MLA requires a number of citation guidelines. Quotations and Paraphrases require in text citation that includes the authors name and page number in parenthesis. Long quotations, more than four lines in length, must be presented in a block quote. Summaries and multiple resources require only that you provide enough information in the in text citation to refer the reader to the works cited list. MLA also requires a “works cited” page. This will include all of your resources and you need to include full bibliographic information. Information that is usually included is: author, title of text, publication information, and medium of the publication.
The official guide for the APA style is the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. APA style requires the use of a title page that includes the paper’s title, your name, and your institutional affiliation. You also need to include a running header. It should include a page number on the right and a running header with a shortened version of your title on the left. APA requires that you double space your entire paper, all margins should be set at one inch, and paragraphs should be indented to one inch. APA also allows the use of section headings. APA, like MLA, separated visuals into tables and figures. APA requires you to include an in text citation whenever you use outside resources in your writing. For quotations and paraphrases, APA style includes the author’s last name, the date, and the page number in parentheses. Long quotations, those that will be more than forty words, must be presented in a block quotation. At the end of your paper, APA requires you to include a list of references. The list should include the name of the author, copyright or publication year, title of text, and other publication information.
The next style is the CMS citation, the Chicago Manual of Style. You need to include a title page that has the full title of the paper, name of the author, course title, instructor’s name, and the date. All lines are centered on the page and in all capital letters. CMS requires that you double space your paper, Margins set at one inch, and paragraphs indented at one half inch. You header should include either your last name or a shortened version of your title and the page number. CMS also allows section headings. Visuals are also divided into two categories with CMS citation, visuals and tables. In Text citations are handled with superscript numbers and footnotes with the pertaining bibliographical information. Long quotes, more than 100 words or eight lines, require use of a block quote. At the end of the paper it is required that you include a bibliography. You include the name of the author, title of the resource, and the publication information.
CSE citation has an official style guide called Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers. You must include a title page that includes the title, author(s) names, authors affiliations (instructors name), and an abstract of the paper. The paper should be double spaced, margins at one inch, and paragraphs indented at half an inch. There are not any specific rules for headers. But your last name, a page number, and shortened title should be included on the right header. CSE uses three systems for in text citations: name-year, citation-sequence, and citation-name. The name-year method is like the APA method, in that you put in parentheses the authors name and the year. The citation-sequence method uses superscript numbers and footnotes, like the CMS style. The Citation-name method also uses superscript numbers and footnotes, but on the reference page are in alphabetical order. CSE also requires long quotes to be in block quote format. Your reference page will include all your resources and information included is: the mane of the author, title of the text, and the publication information.
Appendix
The appendix of the book talks about invention activities. Brainstorming, journaling, freewriting, looping, cluster mapping, outlining, and asking journalistic questions are all invention activities.
Wadsworth Guide to Research Summary
The Wadsworth Guide to Research book is separated into four parts. They are: Preparing for Research, Conducting Research, Reporting on Research, and lastly Formatting Your Research and further broken down into 15 chapters within these four parts.
Part 1: Preparing for Research
In preparing for research a student should consider how contextual factors will influence their research. These can include the topic, purpose, audience, and the author based on a rhetorical situation. By considering these elements you let the rhetorical situation influence how you research and the conclusions that you draw from your research.
The rhetorical situation has four parts: purpose, audience, topic, and …show more content…
author. All four of these parts intertwine with each other, they all influence each other. In knowing the rhetorical situation for your research it will help you answer your question most effectively. For example you research might be something you, the author are interested in finding out the answer to. But the audience of your research might have a different reason for wanting to see your research. This can influence the type of questions you ask during your researching.
The book goes on to talk about the myths about research. They include: You must complete each step in the writing process, each step is equally important and time-consuming, and the steps are linear. These are not true at all! The steps of the writing process are: prewriting, researching, drafting, peer reviewing, revising, editing, proofreading, and publishing. You may spend the most time on researching and little time on revising or proofreading. Or you may skip a step all together. You can also skip around the steps, go back if necessary.
Preparing for research requires you to analyze the situation. Anytime you find yourself in a situation where communication is necessary you are in a kairotic moment. Kairos moments inspire you to write, and their elements are present in both time and space. You can use these moments and apply kairos in your rhetorical situation.
Part 2: Conducting Research
When you begin to research you should first determine what you already know about the topic, decide what kind of information you need to find out about your topic, research specific things about your topic, and make a plan as to where you will look for that information. When you identify the type of information you need to research you’ll need to decide whether to conduct primary research or to use secondary sources. Primary research means going directly to the source for your answer. Secondary resources are by someone other than your primary focus.
There are three different types of resources.
Static resources usually do not change after they have been published, such as books, paintings, or films. Syndicated resources are under the same general title but are released over time. Such as magazines, TV shows, and blogs. Dynamic resources never get published in a final form and are always changing. Examples include: live plays, wikis, and field research.
If you choose to include primary research in your plan you can conduct observations and interviews with your subject. Another method of research is to conduct a survey. When you conduct a survey you will need to decide the group you will use, write the questions, and decide what you need to know from the participants. You also need to make sure to get permission to conduct your survey, either from the board at your school or for each individual person. This could be done by just including a letter to the student who is taking the …show more content…
survey.
A very important thing to keep in mind when writing a research paper is plagiarism. There are two kinds of plagiarism. Blatant plagiarism is when a person copies part of a resource and submits it as their own work. The second is careless plagiarism, which is when a person copies information and mistakes it for common knowledge. When you need to include information in your paper you can use quoted from your resources and you will cite the source. When you document a resource, you usually include an in text citation and an entry in a bibliography at the end of your paper. The format of your citations and bibliography depend on the style you are using.
Part 3: Reporting on Research
You have to take a look at your writing to make sure you know if you are just reporting your research or arguing for your position on the research. In general, reporting includes summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting, describing, and telling. Arguing includes your interpretations, analysis, conclusions, claims, and persuasion. Your argument in your research paper should be a response to your research question. In forming your argument you need to identify all the responses to your research question that may come up. Then you can decide according to your rhetorical situation which responses fit. They need to be reasonable, supportable, and feasible.
You need to develop a theses statement. A thesis statement is your answer to the research question! Your thesis for your argument should be a statement that makes a claim, and be clear.
Your paper needs to support the argument.
You made a claim in your thesis, the rest of your paper should support that claim with facts and evidence. You can do this by using an approach that specifically appeals to your audience using ethos, pathos, or logos. Ethos would be used to appeal to someone who relies on credibility and authority, pathos to appeal to emotions, and logos for an audience that appeals to logic and reason. Your paper should also offer evidence, Evidence can include: statistical data, experimental results, expert opinions, personal experience, and observations. You may find it necessary to include counter arguments in your paper. You can provide counterarguments using rebuttals and qualifiers.
When deciding what evidence to include in your paper you should consider who your audience is the timeliness and relevance of the evidence, and the resource of your evidence. You will then decide the pattern of your argument and how to organize your argument within your paper. For example, you can organize chronologically, or by most to least important. Some common argument patterns are evaluation, compare and contrast, cause and effect, definition, and proposal.
Your argumentative paper should include a introduction and conclusion. In writing an introduction you can ask yourself some questions including: why is your topic important, what is the audiences opinion of your topic, what is your authority on the topic, and how well does your audience know the topic.
After you’ve got all the pieces of your paper you’ll need to decide how to present it.
Part 4: Formatting Your Research
This section of the book has four chapters one for each of the citation style guidelines: MLA, APA, CMS, and CSE.
The MLA style has its own handbook called MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. MLA stands for Modern Language Association and is usually used by language, literature, and humanities writers. MLA requires that instead of a separate title page you include your name, instructor’s name, course title, and the date in the upper left corner and that the entire paper is double spaced, margins set at one inch, and paragraphs indented one inch. Headers should be on every page with your last name and page number, located on the right corner of the page. MLA requires that anytime you use visuals, tables or figures, that you put them as close to the relevant paragraph as possible. Tables should be labeled with the word table and a number, as well as a title. Figures should be labeled with the abbreviation Fig. then followed by a number.
MLA requires a number of citation guidelines. Quotations and Paraphrases require in text citation that includes the authors name and page number in parenthesis. Long quotations, more than four lines in length, must be presented in a block quote. Summaries and multiple resources require only that you provide enough information in the in text citation to refer the reader to the works cited list. MLA also requires a “works cited” page. This will include all of your resources and you need to include full bibliographic information. Information that is usually included is: author, title of text, publication information, and medium of the publication.
The official guide for the APA style is the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. APA style requires the use of a title page that includes the paper’s title, your name, and your institutional affiliation. You also need to include a running header. It should include a page number on the right and a running header with a shortened version of your title on the left. APA requires that you double space your entire paper, all margins should be set at one inch, and paragraphs should be indented to one inch. APA also allows the use of section headings. APA, like MLA, separated visuals into tables and figures. APA requires you to include an in text citation whenever you use outside resources in your writing. For quotations and paraphrases, APA style includes the author’s last name, the date, and the page number in parentheses. Long quotations, those that will be more than forty words, must be presented in a block quotation. At the end of your paper, APA requires you to include a list of references. The list should include the name of the author, copyright or publication year, title of text, and other publication information.
The next style is the CMS citation, the Chicago Manual of Style. You need to include a title page that has the full title of the paper, name of the author, course title, instructor’s name, and the date. All lines are centered on the page and in all capital letters. CMS requires that you double space your paper, Margins set at one inch, and paragraphs indented at one half inch. You header should include either your last name or a shortened version of your title and the page number. CMS also allows section headings. Visuals are also divided into two categories with CMS citation, visuals and tables. In Text citations are handled with superscript numbers and footnotes with the pertaining bibliographical information. Long quotes, more than 100 words or eight lines, require use of a block quote. At the end of the paper it is required that you include a bibliography. You include the name of the author, title of the resource, and the publication information.
CSE citation has an official style guide called Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers. You must include a title page that includes the title, author(s) names, authors affiliations (instructors name), and an abstract of the paper. The paper should be double spaced, margins at one inch, and paragraphs indented at half an inch. There are not any specific rules for headers. But your last name, a page number, and shortened title should be included on the right header. CSE uses three systems for in text citations: name-year, citation-sequence, and citation-name. The name-year method is like the APA method, in that you put in parentheses the authors name and the year. The citation-sequence method uses superscript numbers and footnotes, like the CMS style. The Citation-name method also uses superscript numbers and footnotes, but on the reference page are in alphabetical order. CSE also requires long quotes to be in block quote format. Your reference page will include all your resources and information included is: the mane of the author, title of the text, and the publication information.
Appendix
The appendix of the book talks about invention activities. Brainstorming, journaling, freewriting, looping, cluster mapping, outlining, and asking journalistic questions are all invention activities.