One of the most common misconceptions about
research is that it is something we do on subjects about which we know
absolutely nothing. Actually, this rarely happens. Instead,
we most often do research on a topic we are familiar with in some ways,
but about which we wish to know much more. Research, then, should
be understood as an extension of present knowledge.
To reinforce this basic principle we will
complete a research paper project in this course that builds upon
already
completed work, any one of the complete one-page papers you have
already
written. We will go to the library having already delineated our
present knowledge (the written essay) in a search for additional
information
(research).
This approach to research has a second
dividend:
it makes clear what material in a research paper needs to be
acknowledged,
through documentation, as deriving from the work of others. That
is, it makes plagiarism--the failure to attribute
information to appropriate
sources--almost impossible. If what is in the already written
essay
represents your present knowledge, almost everything that is added
later
must come from research and therefore will require
acknowledgment.
Such documentation will ensure against unintentional plagiarism.
The principles observed in conducting this research project can be
carried
forward into any later research assignments you face, as a student or
as
a graduate, insuring a logical method of developing a topic and of
avoiding
unintentional plagiarism.
Here is our schedule for the project:
April 15: We review the sources to be used in this project
(outlined below) and discuss the ways in which new material found
through
research can be integrated with the original essay in an expanded
format.
April 22: You may bring to class a printout of your original
one-page essay and whatever material from sources you've gathered to
that
point. We will use old and new material to outline a longer
paper.
That is, we will review how the material from research will be added to
the original essay (which will also be revised in the process).
April 25: Come to class to resolve any questions about
documentation
format or problems finding information.
April 27: Turn in the final product in printed format (so italics
and other special characteristics are visible).
The following directions govern the
research
and taking of notes on this project.
1. All library research must be done in the Longwood
library.
No books, however, will be checked out of the library. The amount
of material you can use is specifically limited, so you will not need
the
sources themselves, only time enough to look through them for
appropriate
information.
2. You may use only as many notes as will fit on one sheet of
paper, one side double spaced. This is to encourage you to gather
only information specifically related to the original essay, both
supporting
and contradicting your original argument. Quality, not quantity,
is the object of this assignment.
3. Put notes from each source together with the bibliographical
information on one fifth of a sheet of paper double spaced (that's just
six lines). The final one fifth of a sheet of paper will be
devoted
to what is called common knowledge on your topic (information that is
so
frequently cited by authorities writing on your subject that no
acknowledgment
is needed). Thus, you will have in the five different
sources.
5. You need to have the following different kinds of
sources:
at least one printed book; at least one magazine, periodical, or
newspaper
article in the library; at least one internet source.
6. You must have five different sources. (A book or other work
which contains more than
one article or essay is still considered only one source.)
7. Each source must have the bibliographical information
appropriate
to that kind of source (MLA style).
Pay special attention to how to handle material found through computer
services.
8. Notes can be of three kinds and must be clearly
hand-labeled:
direct quotations (which appear
within quotation marks and are the exact
words in the exact order as the original with nothing left out); paraphrase
(the same ideas as presented in the source, but entirely in your
own words);
and summary (which does not
appear in quotation marks but is
clearly marked in the margin as "summary"; unlike paraphrase, summaries
always condense material). Each entry must include the exact
single
page number(s) on which it was found in the source (except for internet
sources, which will include URLs).
Note: The most common excuse for incomplete work is that no
material
could be found on the topic. This excuse will not be
accepted:
you are required to find the best available information, even if it is
not what you had hoped to find. For example, if your topic is the
happiness you found from building log cabins, and you go to the library
looking for a book entitled The Joys
of Log Cabin Building, but
do not find it, you may not stop there. You must broaden the
range
of your search and take what you can find--information on log cabins in
general, on building traditional frame houses, on constructions of
other
structures, whatever is there. There is information in print and
on the Web that will add to your original essay. You must develop
the flexibility to find it and fit it into your expanding research
paper.
You must also begin your search in the library early enough that, even
if something comes up at the last minute and you are unable to continue
work in the library, you will already have enough accomplished that you
can go forward.