an introduction to research techniques

1、<p>　　An Introduction to Research Techniques</p><p>　　A research paper presents the results of your investigations on a selected topic. Based on your own thoughts and the facts and ideas you have gather

2、ed from a variety of sources, a research paper is a creation that is uniquely yours. The experience of gathering, interpreting, and documenting information, developing and organizing ideas and conclusions, and communicat

3、ing them clearly will prove to be an important and satisfying part of your education.</p><p>　　There are many approaches to research — an essential part of every business and profession — and many ways to do

4、cument findings. The library has books which will help you, and most English composition textbooks contain chapters on research techniques and style. It is important to follow consistently and accurately a recommended fo

5、rmat that is clear and concise and that has been approved by your teacher.</p><p>　　Gathering Materials</p><p>　　Once your topic has been approved, begin to gather information from authoritative

6、 reference sources: pertinent books, encyclopedias, and articles in magazines, journals, and magazines. Librarians will be happy to show you how to use the various research tools within the library and may suggest other

7、sources of information. Important new resources are now available to you through electronic services which provide many learning and reference tools as well as access to the Internet, where you can o</p><p>

8、　　Taking Notes</p><p>　　As you examine each source, make a separate note of each fact or quotation you might want to use in your paper. Unless you are really good at manipulating text with your computer or l

9、aptop, it might be wise to use index cards when preparing notes. Be sure to identify the source of the information on the listing (include the author's name and page number on which the information appears). Try to s

10、ummarize the information in your own words (paraphrasing); use quotation marks if you copy the inform</p><p>　　Preparing and Using Outlines</p><p>　　Using an outline can help you organize your m

11、aterial and can also help you discover connections between pieces of information that you weren't aware of when you first conceived the plan of your paper. It can also make you aware of material that is not really re

12、levant to the purposes of your paper or material that you have covered before and should therefore be removed.</p><p>　　A Working Outline might be only an informal list of topics and subtopics which you are

13、thinking of covering in your paper. Sometimes, however, an instructor might require that a working outline be submitted at the beginning of your work; then your instructor might suggest ways in which the work needs to be

14、 further developed or cut back. Your instructor might also see that you're trying to accomplish too much or too little for the scope of the assignment he or she has in mind. The working outline</p><p>　　

15、A Final Outline should enhance the organization and coherence of your research paper. Instructors sometimes require that a final outline be submitted along with the final version of your paper. Material that is not relev

16、ant to the purpose of your paper as revealed in your outline should be excised from the paper; if portions of your outline seem weak in comparison to others, more research may be required to create a sense of balance in

17、your argument and presentation.</p><p>　　Outlines can be organized according to your purposes. Are you attempting to show the chronology of some historical development, the cause-and-effect relationship betw

18、een one phenomenon and another, the process by which something is accomplished, or the logic of some position? Are you defining or analyzing something? Comparing or contrasting one thing to another? Presenting an argumen

19、t (one side or both)? </p><p>　　In any case, try to bring related material together under general headings and arrange sections so they relate logically to each other. An effective introduction will map out

20、the journey your reader is about to take, and a satisfactory conclusion will wrap up the sequence of ideas in a nice package.</p><p>　　A final outline can be written as a topic outline, in which you use only

21、 short phrases to suggest ideas, or as a sentence outline, in which you use full sentences (even very brief paragraphs) to show the development of ideas more fully. If your instructor requires an outline, follow consiste

22、ntly whichever plan he or she prefers.</p><p>　　The MLA Handbook suggests the following "descending parts of an outline":</p><p>　　Logic requires that if you have an "A" in y

23、our paper, you need to have a "B"; a "1" requires a "2," and so forth</p><p>　　Working with Quotations</p><p>　　Quotations that constitute fewer than five lines in

24、your paper should be set off with quotation marks [ “ ” ] and be incorporated within the normal flow of your text. For material exceeding that length, omit the quotation marks and indent the quoted language one inch from

25、 your left-hand margin. If an indented quotation is taken entirely from one paragraph, the first line should be even with all the other lines in that quotation; however, if an indented quotation comes from two or more pa

26、ragraphs</p><p>　　If quotation marks appear within the text of a quotation that already has the usual double-quote marks [ “ ” ] around it (a quote-within-a-quote), set off that inner quotation with single-q

27、uote marks [ ‘ ’ ] . Such a quote-within-a-quote within an indented quotation is marked with double-quote marks.</p><p>　　In the United States, the usual practice is to place periods and commas inside quotat

28、ion marks, regardless of logic. Other punctuation marks — question marks, exclamation marks, semicolons, and colons — go where logic would dictate. Thus, we might see the following sentences in a paper about Robert Frost

29、: </p><p>　　The first two lines of this stanza, "My little horse must think it queer / To stop without a farmhouse near," remind us of a nursery rhyme. </p><p>　　(Note, also, the slash

30、 mark / (with a space on either side) to denote the poem's line-break.) But observe the placement of this semicolon: </p><p>　　There is a hint of the nursery rhyme in the line "My little horse must

31、think it queer"; however, the poem then quickly turns darkly serious. </p><p>　　Pay close attention to the placement of commas and periods in the use of citations.</p><p>　　For further help

32、 with the use of quotation marks, see the appropriate section in the Guide to Grammar and Writing and our English faculty's Suggestions for Writing Papers for Literature Courses.</p><p>　　Your Research P

33、aper's Format</p><p>　　Recommendations here are based on the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. It is important to note, however, that individual instructors and institutions or departments may

34、 vary from these recommendations somewhat and that it is always wise to consult with your instructor before formatting and submitting your work.</p><p><b>　　Paper:</b></p><p>　　Use w

35、hite, twenty-pound, 81/2- by 11-inch paper. Erasable paper tends to smudge and should be avoided for a final draft. If you prefer to use erasable paper in the preparation of your paper, submit a good photocopy to your in

36、structor.</p><p><b>　　Margins:</b></p><p>　　Except for page numbers (see below), leave one-inch margins all around the text of your paper -- left side, right side, and top and bottom

37、. Paragraphs should be indented half an inch; set-off quotations should be indented an inch from the left margin (five spaces and ten spaces, respectively, on standard typewriters). </p><p><b>　　Spacin

38、g:</b></p><p>　　The MLA Guide says that "the research paper must be double-spaced," including quotations, notes, and the list of works cited.</p><p>　　Heading and Title:</p>

39、;<p>　　Your research paper does not need a title page. At the top of the first page, at the left-hand margin, type your name, your instructor's name, the course name and number, and the date -- all on separate

40、, double-spaced lines. Then double-space again and center the title above your text. (If your title requires more than one line, double-space between the lines.) Double-space again before beginning your text. The title s

41、hould be neither underlined nor written in all capital letters. Capitalize onl</p><p>　　Page Numbers:</p><p>　　Number your pages consecutively throughout the manuscript (including the first page

42、) in the upper right-hand corner of each page, one-half inch from the top. Type your last name before the page number. Most word processing programs provide for a "running head," which you can set up as you cre

43、ate the format for the paper, at the same time you are establishing things like the one-inch margins and the double-spacing. This feature makes the appearance and consistency of the page numbering a great co</p>&

44、lt;p>　　Tables and Figures:</p><p>　　Tables should be labeled "Table," given an arabic numeral, and captioned (with those words flush to the left-hand margin). Other material such as photographs,

45、 images, charts, and line-drawings should be labeled "Figure" and be properly numbered and captioned.</p><p><b>　　Binders:</b></p><p>　　Generally, the simpler the better. W

46、hy spend money on gimmicky, unwieldy, slippery binders, when instructors prefer nice, flat stacks of papers they can stuff into their briefcases and backpacks? A simple staple in the upper left-hand corner of your paper

47、should suffice, although the MLA Guide suggests that a paper clip can be removed and this facilitates reading (which suggests to us that it's been a long time since the people at MLA have had to deal with stacks of s

48、tudent papers). Your instruc</p><p><b>　　Samples:</b></p><p>　　A sample research paper (with embedded commentary) is available in the Principles of Composition section of the Guide t

49、o Grammar and Writing. The same essay is available on the Guide to Grammar and Writing Forms of Communication page in an Acrobat Reader (.pdf) format.</p><p>　　Alphabetical Order</p><p>　　When t

50、here is no author listed for a work, you still have to list that work alphabetically in your Works Cited page by using the first significant word of the title. Generally, that means ignoring a, an, and the. The Encyclope

51、dia of Bioethics would thus be alphabetized by the word Encyclopedia.</p><p>　　Putting people's names in alphabetical order is done on a letter-by-letter basis. Omit titles (such as Lady, Sir, Sister), d

52、egrees (M.D., Ph.D.), etc., that precede or follow names. A suffix that is an essential part of the name — such as Jr., Sr., or a roman numeral — appears after the given name, preceded by a comma. (Ford, Henry J., III or

53、 Pepin, Theophilus, Jr.) The following names are in alphabetical order (based on the MLA Handbook):</p><p>　　Beethoven, Ludwig van (The van or von in Dutch or German names, if not capitalized by family usage

54、,appears after the first name; if capitalized, it appears before the last name and determines the alphabetical order.)D'Annunzio, GabrieleDante Alighieri (Some Italian names of the 15th century or before are alphab

55、etized by first name)D'Arcy, Pierrede Gaulle, Charles (With French names, the de goes before the last name when the last name contains only one syllable. See de Maupassant, below.)Des</p><p>　　A Write

56、r's Practical Guideto MLA Documentation</p><p>　　Documentation will take two forms in your final paper:</p><p>　　In the Works Cited section, where all the sources you've used should be

57、listed alphabetically, and </p><p>　　Within the text of your paper, where parentheses should show your readers where you found each piece of information that you have used. These textual citations allow the

58、reader to refer to your Works Cited page(s) for further information. </p><p>　　This guide contains many examples of the kinds of resources that you might use in a research paper. Items set apart in a blue bo

59、x like this one</p><p>　　For the Works Cited Page</p><p>　　Cassatt, Mary. Sara Handing a Toy to the Baby. Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT.</p><p>　　show how the documentation for

60、that particular kind of resource should look on the Works Cited page. Items set apart in a red box (with a dotted border) like this — </p><p>　　In-text Citation</p><p>　　The sculpture entitled F

61、amily, given to the college in 1991 and permanently exhibited in the college's Woodland Street lobby, was carved from an enormous cherry tree that grew in the sculptor's back yard (Rosen).</p><p>　　—

62、 show how this citation should appear in your text.</p><p>　　A Note on Footnotes and Endnotes</p><p>　　Footnotes (including citations at the bottom of each page) have not gone entirely the way o

63、f the dinosaurs. In fact it is ironic that footnotes were declared outmoded just before the era of the word-processors which make using footnotes so much easier. Still, because of its relative ease in both writing and re

64、ading, parenthetical documentation is greatly preferred by most instructors.</p><p>　　Endnotes (gathering citations and reference lists at the end of each chapter or at the end of the paper) have enjoyed a p

65、opularity among academic writers, primarily because they make the transition from a submitted manuscript to published resource so much easier. Even so, parenthetical documentation has supplanted both footnotes and endnot

66、es in most academic disciplines.</p><p>　　For writers in some disciplines, however — most notably in some of the humanities disciplines such as music, art, religion, theology, and even (sometimes) history —

67、footnotes are still widely in use. A wise student will check with his or her instructor to make sure that parenthetical documentation is an acceptable method of citing resources.</p><p>　　Using either footno

68、tes or endnotes, writers refer their readers to citations and reference lists by means of a number at the end of a sentence, phrase or clause containing the language or idea requiring citation. The number appears as a su

69、perscript.15 No space appears between the period and the superscript number. There should be four spaces between the last line of text and the first footnote on each page. Footnotes should be first-line indented and sing

70、le-spaced with a double-space between eac</p><p>　　Footnotes and endnotes appear with their corresponding superscript number and are written with the first line indented. The author's name will appear in

71、 normal order (not reversed), separated from the other information with a comma. Publication data (City: Press, year) appears in parentheses, and no period is used until the very end of the citation.</p><p>

72、　　15Ronald E. Pepin, Literature of Satire in the Twelfth Century (Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 1988) 78.16Christie, John S. "Fathers and Virgins: Garcia Marquez's Faulknerian Chronicle of a Death Foretold&qu

73、ot; Latin American Literary Review 13.3 (Fall 1993): 21-29.</p><p>　　Preparing a Works Cited Section</p><p>　　Once you have found the sources you intend to use, you will need to identify them fo

74、r your reader. For each BOOK you use, write a separate listing (on an index card or in some handy format available in your laptop computer or your notebook — whatever is convenient and cannot be lost), giving:</p>

75、<p>　　the name of the author or authors; </p><p><b>　　title; </b></p><p>　　editor, translator, compiler, if any; </p><p>　　edition, if it is not the first (i.e., 2

76、nd ed., rev. ed.); </p><p>　　place and date of the book's publication; and </p><p>　　the name of the book's publisher. </p><p>　　You might also note on this listing how this

77、 source was (or could be) particularly helpful in your research. </p><p>　　For example:Mumford, Lewis. The Highway and the City. New York: Harcourt Brace and World, 1963.Pikarsky, M. and Christensen, D. U

78、rban Transportation Policy and Management. Boston: D.C. Heath, 1976. </p><p>　　Write a separate listing for each article from a magazine or journal. Include</p><p>　　the name(s) of the author(s)

79、; </p><p>　　the title of the article; </p><p>　　the title of the periodical; </p><p>　　the date of the issue in which the article appears; </p><p>　　and the pages on wh

80、ich the article you are referring to appears. </p><p>　　For example:Prin, Dinah. "Marriage in the '90s." New York 2 June 1990: 40-45.</p><p>　　You might also use reference books,

81、newspapers, electronic resources, audio-visual materials, and other sources of information. In preparing listings for those sources, refer to The Writer's Practical Guide to Documentation in this document to see the

82、kinds of facts you should record for each.</p><p>　　If you have to produce an annotated bibliography, a list of resources that includes commentary on the relative usefulness of each resource, click HERE for

83、advice on that subject.</p><p>　　A Statement on Plagiarism</p><p>　　Using someone else's ideas or phrasing and representing those ideas or phrasing as our own, either on purpose or through c

84、arelessness, is a serious offense known as plagiarism. "Ideas or phrasing" includes written or spoken material, of course — from whole papers and paragraphs to sentences, and, indeed, phrases — but it also incl

85、udes statistics, lab results, art work, etc. "Someone else" can mean a professional source, such as a published writer or critic in a book, magazine, encyclopedia, or j</p><p>　　In APA style, the s

86、ources in a paper are listed alphabetically on a separate page headed References. It follows the final page of the text and is numbered. Entries appear in alphabetical order according to the last name of the author; two

87、or more works by the same author appear in chronological order by date of publication date. When there are two or more books or articles by the same author, repeat the name of the author in each entry.</p><p&g

88、t;　　When using the examples hyperlinked below, it is important to follow the suggested pattern closely, even to the spacing of periods, commas, etc. </p><p>　　What does a reference look like for a SINGLE-AUT

89、HOR BOOK? (West Hartford, CT) </p><p>　　What about a book written by MORE THAN ONE AUTHOR? (Lincoln University, PA) </p><p>　　What if I'm not using a first edition? (Manchester, CT) </p&g

90、t;<p>　　How do I list an EDITED VOLUME? (Danby, VT) </p><p>　　What happens if my book has NO AUTHOR OR EDITOR listed? (Whitehead, NH) </p><p>　　I have a SEVERAL-VOLUME WORK here. How do I

91、 list that? (Cambridge, MA) </p><p>　　What if I'm using a quote that I discover in a SECONDARY RESOURCE? (Orange, CT) </p><p>　　I've used some important definitions from a reputable DICT

92、IONARY. How should I cite that? (Fort Lauderdale, FL) </p><p>　　I've found some good information in a DOCTORAL DISSERTATION. How would create a reference for that? (Sandusky, OH) </p><p>　　W

93、hat's the proper format for a Magazine or Periodical? (Colchester, CT) </p><p>　　I've used an article published in a prestigious SCHOLARLY JOURNAL. How would I cite that? (Centreville, Kentucky) <

94、/p><p>　　How would I handle a NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ? (Jackson, NJ) </p><p>　　Can you give me some examples of how to handle NON-PRINT MATERIALS? (Philadelphia, PA) </p><p>　　I have import

95、ant, reliable information from PERSONAL INTERVIEWS and PHONE CONVERSATIONS. How do I document those resources? (East Hartford, CT) </p><p>　　My professor just gave us some great information in a CLASSROOM LE

96、CTURE. Can I use that? (Bloomington, IN) </p><p>　　I have several documents from the GOVERNMENT and ERIC to list. What's the proper format? (Buckland Hills, CT) </p><p>　　I have discovered s

97、everal resources using the INTERNET and CD-ROM RESOURCES. How do I document that material? (Farmington, CT) </p><p>　　I've been asked to create an ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY. How do I go about that? (an Amer

98、ica Online user) </p><p>　　Two major types of research papers.</p><p>　　Argumentative research paper:</p><p>　　The argumentative research paper consists of an introduction in which

99、the writer clearly introduces the topic and informs his audience exactly which stance he intends to take; this stance is often identified as the thesis statement. An important goal of the argumentative research paper is

100、persuasion, which means the topic chosen should be debatable or controversial. For example, it would be difficult for a student to successfully argue in favor of the following stance.</p><p>　　Cigarette smok

101、ing poses medical dangers and may lead to cancer for both the smoker and those who experience secondhand smoke.</p><p>　　Perhaps 25 years ago this topic would have been debatable; however, today, it is assum