Where Do I Begin?

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Where Do I Begin?
Getting Started with Your Research Assignment
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How to Start

• Think of ideas for a subject or topic,
  something you are interested in
• Come up with keywords

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Most research projects follow a step by step
pattern

1. Plan the project
2. Select and refine your topic
3. Find sources/locations
4. Evaluate your sources
5. Organize your findings
6. Present your findings

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Concept Map - Web
5
Looking for Information

• Check the library for
• Books
• Periodicals
• Government documents
• Newspapers
• Videos
• Human expertise

6
Time Management
Start early. Break your assignment into
manageable chunks of work. Give yourself lots of
time.

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Do

• Use your own words and ideas
• Keep track of all the sources you used
• Give credit for
• ideas, photos, diagrams, graphics, multimedia by
  citing the source
• direct quotes using quotation marks and citing
  the source
• Paraphrases, restating the authors words or
  ideas in your own words, must be cited
• Cosmetic changes still require a citation, i.e.,
  reversing order, changing layout, etc.

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Evaluate your Sources

• Accuracy
• Does the source seem correct? Do you need to
  check the information with a second source?
• Currency
• Is this source up to date?
• Objectivity
• Is this source unnecessarily biased?
• Coverage
• What is the purpose of this source?
• Authority
• Who is the author / publisher of this source?

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Thesis Statement

• States the topic / main idea of the paper
• Shows the purpose of your paper
• Shows the direction of your argument
• Written in focused, specific language
• It is interesting

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Come up with a thesis statement for your essay

• This states the topic/main idea of the paper
• It shows the purpose of your paper
• It is interesting

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Writing the Rough Draft

• Introduction
• Be very clear about what the main idea is
• Body
• Turn the key ideas in your outline into
  paragraphs
• Conclusion
• Sum up your thesis show you have proven
  something

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Introduction

• 8 ways to introduce your topic
• Background information
• Definition
• Story
• Question
• Quotation
• Contradiction
• Fact or statistic
• Surprising statement

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Body of the Paper

• Topic sentence at the beginning of each paragraph
• Supportive ideas follow the main idea
• With each new big idea, start a new paragraph
• Sentences and paragraphs should be smooth and
  logically connected

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Conclusion

• Ways to conclude your paper
• Review key points and restate your thesis in a
  new way
• Recommend a course of action
• Make a prediction
• End with a relevant quotation

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Plagiarism and APA styleapastyle.orgWhat is
Plagiarism?

• Taking credit for work that isnt your own!

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1. Quotations

• Double quotation marks around short quotations
  (lt40 words).
• Longer quotations (gt40 words) block indent and
  omit quotation marks.

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In Text Short Quotation (lt40 words)

• An honor code usually consists of a signed
  statement in which students promise not to cheat
  and not to tolerate those who do (Harris, 2001,
  p. 117).

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Long Quotation (gt40 words)

• Athletes are searching for anything that will
  make them more competitive including
• nutritional supplements, such as vitamins,
  energy bars and drinks that may compensate for
  dietary deficiencies, and over-the-counter
  products like shark cartilage and amino acids,
  which purport to increase muscle mass, boost
  energy and endurance, prompt weight gain (or
  loss), or reduce recovery time between
  workouts. (Jollimore, 2004, p. 54)

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Reference List

• Acknowledges all the sources you have cited in
  your project
• Organized in alphabetical order
• Strictly follows citation style format (APA, MLA
  . . . )

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Reference List Rules to Remember

1. For journal articles, books, videos, and
   websites Only capitalize the First letter of the
   title, proper nouns first word after a colon.
2. Authors names must be inverted, using only the
   first middle initials. For more than one
   author use the before the final name.
3. Indent each line after the first line.

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• There is no period at the end of a website
  citation.
• Personal communications are only cited in text,
  not in reference list.

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Rules of Italics

• Italicize the titles of journals, magazines,
  newspapers, books, videos and web documents
• Italicize the volume number of a journal but not
  the issue number Canadian Art, 24(3)
• Do not italicize article titles from journals and
  magazines

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References

• Anderson, D. (2001, August 3). Statement by
  Environment Minister David Anderson on Arctic
  National Wildlife Refuge. Retrieved July 24,
  2004, from http//www.ec.gc.ca/Press/2001/010803_s
  _e.htm
• Blicq, R. (2001). Guidelines for report writing.
  Toronto Pearson Education Canada.
• Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., Williams, J. M.
  (1995). The craft of research. Chicago
  University of Chicago Press.
• Harris, R. (2001). The plagiarism handbook. Los
  Angeles Pyrczak.
• Health Canada. (2004). West Nile virus. Retrieved
  July 19, 2004, from http//www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english
  /westnile/index.html
• Jollimore, M. (2004, June 21). Fuels gold Why
  Canadas athletes pay so much attention to what
  they eat. Time, 163(25), 52-61.
• Reitman, J. (2004). The Baghdad follies. Rolling
  Stone, 952/953, 110-117.