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The Curious Researcher
A Guide to Writing Research Papers
Bruce Ballenger Boise State University
Longman
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For Rebecca, who reminds me to ask, Why?
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ballenger, Bruce P.
The curious researcher: a guide to writing research papers/ Bruce Ballenger.–6th ed.
p. em. Includes index. ISBN 978-0-205-74526-5
1. Report writing-Handbooks, manuals, etc. manuals, etc. I. Title. LB2369.B246 2009 808′.02-dc22
2. Research-Handbooks,
2008028929
This book includes 2009 MLA guidelines.
Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States.
345678910-V069-121110
Longman is an imprint of
PEARSON ISBN 13: 978-0-205-74526-5 www.pearsonhighered.comISBN 10: 0-205-74526-1
…….
–
Contents
Preface xx
Introduction: Rethinking the Research Paper 1
E X ERe I S E 1 Collecting Golf Balls on Driving Ranges and Other Reflections 1
Learning and Unlearning 4
Using This Book 4
The Exercises 4
The Five-Week Plan 5
Alternatives to the Five-Week Plan 6
The Research Paper and the Research Report 7
Discovering Your Purpose 7
How Formal Should It Be? 9
When “Bad” Writing Is Good 10 :1:
Thinking Like an Academic Writer 10
“Essaying” or Arguing? 11
The Research Essay and Academic Writing 13
Becoming an Authority by Using Authorities 15
“It’s Just My Opinion” 15
Facts Don’t Kill 16
E X ERe I S E 2 Reflecting on “The Bothersome Beauty of Pigeons” by Bruce Ballenger 17
The Question Habit 25
v
vi Contents
Chapter 1 The First Week 27
The Importance of Getting Curious 27
Learning to Wonder Again 27
Getting the Pot Boiling 28
E X ERe I S E 1. 1 Building an Interest Inventory 29
Other Ways to Find a Topic 33
What Is a Good Topic? 35
Checking Out Your Tentative Topic 35
Making the Most of an Assigned Topic 36
EX ERe I S E 1.2 The Myth of the Boring Topic 37
Developing a Working Knowledge 39
Research Strategies 40
E X ERe I S E 1. 3 Seeing the Broad View 40
The Reference Librarian: A Living Source 46
Narrowing the Subject 47
Circling the Lighthouse 47
From Landscape Shots to Close-Ups 48
E X ERe I S E 1. 4 Finding the Questions 48
E X ERe I S E 1. 5 Finding the Focusing Question 50
EX ERe I S E 1.6 Finding the Relationship 51
Possible Purposes for a Research Assignment 52
E X ERe I S E 1. 7 Research Proposal 53
Reading for Research 55
EX ERe I S E 1.8 Ways of Reading to Write 55
Reading Rhetorically 57
Reading Like an Outsider 58
Contents vii
Chapter 2 The Second Week 61 Developing a Research Strategy 61
Google VB. the Library 62
A Complementary Research Strategy 64
Find Sufficient Information by Using the Best Search Terms 65
Controlled Language Searches Using Library of Subject Headings 65
Boolean Searching 67
Magic Words on the World Wide Web 68
Find Varied Sources 70
Primary vs. Secondary Sources 72
Objective vs. Subjective 72
Stable or Unstable? 73
Find Quality Sources 73
When Was It Published? 73
Why Journal Articles Are Better Than Magazine Articles 74
Look for Often-Cited Authors 75
Not All Books Are Alike 75
Evaluating Online Sources 76
A Key to Evaluating Internet Sources 77
Developing Focused Knowledge 81
What About a Thesis? 82
Suspending Judgment? 82
What Do You Presume? 82
What Are You Arguing? 83
Library Research Techniques 85
Finding Books 85
Understanding Call Numbers 86
viii Contents
E X ERe I S E 2. 1 Library Investigations 87
Coming Up Empty-Handed? 89
Checking Bibliographies 89
Interlibrary Loan 89
Finding Magazine and Journal Articles Using Online Databases 90
Finding Newspaper Articles with Online Databases 93
Advanced Internet Research Techniques 94
Types of Search Engines 95
E X ERe I S E 2. 2 Research on the Internet 96
Living Sources: Interviews and Surveys 99
Arranging Interviews 99
Finding Experts 99
Finding Nonexperts Affected by Your Topic 101
Making Contact 101
Conducting Interviews 102
Whom to Interview? 102
What Questions to Ask? 102
During the Interview 104
Notetaking 104
The E-Mail Interview 105
Finding People on the Internet 105
Making Contact by E-Mail 106
The Discussion Board Interview 106
Deciding What to Ask 107
Planning Informal Surveys 107
Defining Goals and Audience 107
Types of Questions 108
Survey Design 110
Avoid Loaded Questions 110
Ayoid Vague Questions 110
— Contents ix
Drawbacks of Open-Ended Questions 110
Designing Your Multiple-Choice Questions 111
Continuum Questions 111
Planning for Distribution 112
Conducting Surveys 112
Distribution 112
The Internet Survey 113
Chapter 3 The Third Week 115 Writing in the Middle 115
Becoming an Activist Notetaker 116
EX ERe IS E 3.1 Getting a Word in Edgewise 118
EX ERe I S E 3.2 “Say Back” to a Source 121
Recognizing Plagiarism 121
I Read What You Said and Borrowed It, Okay? 122
Why Plagiarism Matters 124
Sources Are from Mars, Notetakers Are from Venus 125
Paraphrasing 126
E X ERe I S E 3. 3 Paraphrase Practice 126
Summarizing 127
E X ERe I S E 3. 4 Summary Practice 128
Quoting 129
When to Quote 129
Quoting Fairly 131
E X ERe I S E 3. 5 Dialogic N otetaking: Listening In, Speaking Up 131
“Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism” by Christine Rosen 134
Notetaking Techniques 143
The Double-Entry Journal 144
x Contents
Other Notetaking Techniques 153
The Research Log: A Jay Leno Approach 153
Narrative Notetaking 157
First Layer: Story the Source 160
Second Layer: Rapid Summary 160
Third Layer: Narrative of Thought 160
Online Research Notebooks 161
When You’re Coming Up Short: More Advanced Searching Techniques 162
Advanced Library Searching Techniques 163
Advanced Internet Search Techniques 164
Thinking Outside the Box: Alternative Sources 166
Chapter 4 The Fourth Week 169
Getting to the Draft 169
When the Experts Disagree 170
Evaluating Conflicting Claims 170
EX ERe I S E 4. 1 Do Concealed Guns Reduce Crime? 171
E X ERe I S E 4. 2 Reclaiming Your Topic 174
An Application Example 176
Deciding Whether to Say 1 181
Getting Personal Without Being Personal 182
Beginning at the Beginning 182
Flashlights or Floodlights? 183
Writing Multiple Leads 185
E X ERe I S E 4. 3 Three Ways In 187
Deciding on a Voice 189
Considering Purpose, Audience, Subject, and Who You Are 190
Contents xi
The Differing Voices of Research 192
Writing for Reader Interest 193
Working the Common Ground 194
Topics for Which Common Ground Is Hard to Find 195
Putting People on the Page 196
Using Case Studies 197
Using Interviews 197
Writing a Strong Ending 198
Endings to Avoid 198
Using Surprise 200
Organizing the Draft 201
Delayed Thesis Structure 202
Question-Claim Structure 204
Essaying or Arguing: An Example 206
Writing with Sources 207
Blending Kinds ofWriting and Sources 207
Handling Quotes 208
Quick Tips for Controlling Quotations 211
Grafting Quotes 211
Sandwiching Quotes 211
Billboarding Quotes 212
Splicing Quotes 213
Handling Interview Material 214
Trusting Your Memory 215
Citing Sources 215
An Alternative to Colliding Footnotes 215
I Hate These Theses to Pieces 216
Driving Through the First Draft 218
A Draft Is Something the Wind Blows Through 218
xii Contents
Chapter 5 The Fifth Week 221 Revising for Purpose 221
EX ERe I S E 5. 1 Wrestling with the Draft 223
The Thesis as a ‘fool for Revision 226
E X ERe I S E 5. 2 Dissecting the Fish 227
Using a Reader 229
What You Need from a Reader 229
E X ERe I S E 5. 3 Directing the Reader’s Response 229
Attacking the Draft 230
EX ERe I S E 5.4 Cut-and-Paste Revision 231
Examining the Wreckage 232
Revising for Information 234
Finding Quick Facts 234
Revising for Language 235
Listening to the Voice 237
Avoid Sounding Glib 237
How to Control Information 238
Verbal Gestures 240
Scrutinizing Paragraphs 242
How Well Do You Integrate Sources? 242
Is Each Paragraph Unified? 242
Scrutinizing Sentences 242
Using Active Voice 242
Using Strong Verbs 244
Varying Sentence Length 244
Editing for Simplicity 247
EX ERe I S E 5.5 Cutting Clutter 247
Stock Phrases in Research Papers 247
— Contents xiii
Preparing the Final Manuscript 248
Considering “Reader-Friendly” Design 249
Following MLA Conventions 250
Proofreading Your Paper 250
Proofreading on a Computer 250
Looking Closely 251
EX ERe I S E 5.6 Picking Off the Lint 251
Ten Common Mistakes 252
Using the “Find” or “Search” Function 254
Avoiding Sexist Language 255
Looking Back and Moving On 256
Appendix A Guide to MLA Style 257 Part One: Citing Sources in Your Essay 259
1.1 When to Cite 259
The Common Knowledge Exception 259
1.2 The MLA AuthorlPage System 260
The Basics of Using Parenthetical Citation 260
1.2.1 Placement of Citations 262
1.2.2 When You Mention the Author’s Name 264
1.2.3 When There Is No Author 264
1.2.4 Works by the Same Author 265
1.2.5 Indirect Sources 266
1.2.6 Personal Interviews 267
1.2.7 Several Sources in a Single Citation 267
Sample Parenthetical References for Other Sources 268
1.2.8 An Entire Work 268
1.2.9 A Volume of a Multivolume Work 268
1.2.10 Several Sources for a Single Passage 268
xiv Contents
1.2.11 A Literary Work 269
1.2.12 An Online Source 269
Part Two: Format 270
2.1 The Layout 270
2.1.1 Printing 270
2.1.2 Margins and Spacing 270
2.1.3 Title Page 270
2.1.4 Pagination 272
2.1.5 Placement of Tables, Charts, and illustrations 272
2.1.6 Handling Titles 272
2.1.7 Italics and Underlinings 273
2.1.8 Language and Style 273
Names 273
Ellipsis Points 274
Quotations 274
Part Three: Preparing the “Works Cited” Page 275
3.1 Format 276
Alphabetizing the List 276
Indenting and Spacing 276
3.2 Citing Books 277
Title 277
Edition 278
Publication Place, Publisher, and Date 278
Page Numbers 278
Sample Book Citations 279
3.2.1 A Book by One Author 279
3.2.2 A Book by Two Authors 279
3.2.3 A Book with More Than Three Authors 279
3.2.4 Several Books by the Same Author 279
3.2.5 An Entire Collection or Anthology 279
3.2.6 A Work in a Collection or Anthology 280
Contents xv
3.2.7 An Introduction, Preface, Foreword, or Prologue 280
3.2.8 A Book with No Author 280
3.2.9 An Encyclopedia 281
3.2.10 A Book with an Institutional Author 281
3.2.11 A Book with Multiple Volumes 281
3.2.12 A Book That Is Not a First Edition 282
3.2.13 A Book Published Before 1900 282
3.2.14 A Translation 283
3.2.15 Government Documents 283
3.2.16 A Book That Was Republished 283
3.2.17 An Online Book 284
3.3 Citing Periodicals 284
Author’s Name 284
Article Title 284
Periodical Title 284
Volume Number 285
Date 285
Page Numbers 285
Sample Periodical Citations 286
3.3.1 A Magazine Article 286
3.3.2 A Journal Article 286
3.3.3 A Newspaper Article 287
3.3.4 An Article with No Author 288
3.3.5 An Editorial 288
3.3.6 A Letter to the Editor 289
3.3.7 A Review 289
3.3.8 An Abstract 289
3.4 Citing Nonprint and Other Sources 290
3.4.1 An Interview 290
3.4.2 Surveys, Questionnaires, and Case Studies 291
xvi Contents
3.4.3 Recordings 291
3.4.4 Television and Radio Programs 292
3.4.5 Films, Videotapes, and DVDs 292
3.4.6 Artwork 293
3.4.7 An Advertisement 293
3.4.8 Lectures and Speeches 293
3.4.9 Pamphlets 294
3.5 Citing CD-ROMs and Other “Portable” Databases 294
3.5.1 A Nonperiodical Database 294
3.5.2 A Periodical Database 295
3.6 Citing Online Databases 296
Other Recent Changes by the MLA 296
Is It Also in Print? 297
Long and Ugly URLs 298
Sample Online Citations 299
3.6.1 An Article 299
3.6.2 An Article or Abstract in a Library Database 299
3.6.3 An Online Book 302
3.6.4 A Web Site or Page from a Web Site 303
3.6.5 An Online Posting 303
3.6.6 An E-Mail Message 304
3.6.7 A Sound Clip or Podcast 304
3.6.8 An Online Video 304
3.6.9 An Interview 305
3.6.10 A Blog Entry or Blog Comment 305
3.6.11 An Online Image 306
3.6.12 Synchronous Communication (MOOS, MUDS, IRCS) 306
Part Four: Student Essay in MLA Style 307
“In Search of the Great White” by Amanda Stewart 308
Contents xvii
Appendix B Guide to APA Style 319
Part One: How the Essay Should Look 322
1.1 The Layout 322
1.1.1 Page Format 322
1.1.2 Title Page 322
1.1.3 Abstract 322
1.1.4 Body of the Paper 324
1.1.5 Handling Quoted Material 325
1.1.6 References Page 326
1.1.7 Appendix 327
1.1.8 Notes 327
1.1.9 Tables and Figures 327
1.1.10 Language and Style 328
Part Two: Citing Sources in Your Essay 328
2.1 The APA AuthorlPage System 328
2.1.1 When the Author Is Mentioned in the Text 328
2.1.2 When the Author Isn’t Mentioned in the Text 328
2.1.3 When to Cite Page Numbers 329
2.1.4 A Single Work by Two or More Authors 329
2.1.5 A Work with No Author 330
2.1.6 Two or More Works by the Same Author 330
2.1.7 An Institutional Author 330
2.1.8 Multiple Works in the Same Parentheses 331
2.1.9 Interviews, E-Mail, and Letters 331
2.1.10 New Editions of Old Works 332
2.1.11 A Web Site 332
Part Three: Preparing the “References” List 332
3.1 Order of Sources 332
3.2 Order of Information 333
xviii Contents
Author 333
Date 333
Article or Book Title 333
Periodical Title and Publication Information 333
3.3 Sample References 334
3.3.1 A Journal Article 334
3.3.2 A Journal Article Not Paginated Continuously 335
3.3.3 A Magazine Article 335
3.3.4 A Newspaper Article 335
3.3.5 A Book 336
3.3.6 A Book or Article with More Than One Author 336
3.3.7 A Book or Article with an Unknown Author 336
3.3.8 An Encyclopedia Entry 337
3.3.9 A Dictionary 337
3.3.10 A Book with an Institutional Author 338
3.3.11 A Book with an Editor 338
3.3.12 A Selection in a Book with an Editor 338
3.3.13 A Republished Work 338
3.3.14 AnAbstract 339
3.3.15 A Source Mentioned by Another Source 339
3.3.16 A Book Review 340
3.3.17 A Government Document 340
3.3.18 A Letter to the Editor 340
3.3.19 A Published Interview 341
3.3.20 A Film, Videotape, or Online Video 341
3.3.21 A Television Program 341
3.3.22 A Musical Recording 342
3.3.23 A Computer Program 342
3.4 Citing Electronic Sources 342
3.4.1 An Electronic Version of an Article Also in Print 343
Contents xix
3.4.2 An Article Only on the Internet 343
3.4.3 An Electronic Text 344
3.4.4 An Article or Abstract from a Library Database 344
3.4.5 A Part of a Work 345
3.4.6 An Online Journal 345
3.4.7 A Newspaper Article 345
3.4.8 An Entire Web Page 346
3.4.9 An Article on a Web Site 346
3.4.10 An Audio Podcast 346
3.4.11 A Blog 347
3.4;12 A Wiki 347
3.4.13 Discussion Lists 347
3.4.14 E-Mail 348
Part Four: Sample Paper in APA Style 348
“What’s Love Got to Do with It? Compatability and Marital Success” by Jennifer Suittor 349
Appendix C Understanding Research Assignments 359 Analyzing the Purpose of the Assignment 360
Argumentative Research: Open or Closed? 361
Audience 362
Emphasis on Formal Qualities 363
Types of Evidence: Primary or Secondary 365
Index 367
Preface Placing Inquiry at the Heart of the Course
Several years ago, the Boyer Commission offered a national report on the state of undergraduate education in America’s research universities. The report was sobering. Among other things, the com mission complained that undergraduates, particularly first- and second-year students, experience a curriculum dominated by knowl edge transmission-large lectures rather than seminars-and rarely get the chance to “enter a world of discovery in which they are active participants, not passive receivers.” Commission members called for a “radical reconstruction” of undergraduate education. “The ecology of the university,” they wrote, “depends on a deep and abiding under standing that inquiry, investigation, and discovery are the heart of the enterprise…. Everyone at a university should be a discoverer, a learner.” The freshman year, in particular, should provide “new stimulation for intellectual growth and a firm grounding in inquiry based learning.”
The Curious Researcher answers that call. It is a sad fact that most students misunderstand formal academic research. Because it often reports conclusions-the results of the process of inquiry students naturally assume that the research writer didn’t engage in an act of inquiry in the first place. They assume that the aca demic writer always sets out to prove rather than to find out, that she scrupulously avoids ambiguity and is more concerned with answers than questions. The conventional research paper in the composition course-often students’ first introduction to academic research-reinforces all of these mistaken assumptions about the nature of inquiry.
Teaching the Spirit of Inquiry
While The Curious Researcher features plenty of material on the conventions of research writing-citation methods, approaches to organization, evaluating sources, how to avoid plagiarism, and so on-a major emphasis of the book is introducing students to the
xx
Preface xxi
spirit of inquiry. The habits of mind that good research writers develop is something we can teach that is truly multidisciplinary. That spirit is charged with curiosity, of course-the itch to know and learn and discover. But it also involves the ability to ask researchable questions, the instinct to look in the right places for answers, a willingness to suspend judgment, and an openness to changing one’s mind. Embracing the spirit of inquiry must begin with the belief that one can be an inquirer, a knower, an active agent in making knowledge.
I think this affective dimension of critical thinking is under rated, especially when it comes to writing research papers. That’s why this book promotes the research essay, a potentially more sub jective, less formal, often more exploratory mode than the formal argumentative research paper. The research essay is, I think, a much better introduction to research and research writing and excellent preparation for more conventional academic research because it places the writer in the center of the discourse. As a result, he cannot avoid his role as the main agent of the inquiry nor can he escape the question of his own authority in the conversation about what might be true. When it’s a good experience, the writer of the research essay often adopts a new identity as a knower.
I am often amazed at what students do with this new freedom. I believe little is lost in not prescribing a formal research paper, particularly in an introductory composition course. As students move on from here to their declared majors, they will learn the scholarly conventions of their disciplines from those best equipped to teach them. In the meantime, students will master valuable library skills and learn many of the technical elements of the research paper, such as citation methods and evaluating sources. But most important, students will discover, often for the first time, what college research is really about: using the ideas of others to shape ideas of their own.
Ways of Using This Book
Since procrastination ails many student researchers, this book is uniquely designed to move them through the research pro cess, step-by-step and week-by-week, for five weeks, the typical period allotted for the assignment. The structure of the book is flexible, however; students should be encouraged to compress the sequence if their research assignment will take less time or ignore it altogether and use the book to help them solve specific problems as they arise.
xxii Preface
Students who follow the five-week sequence usually find that they like the way The Curious Researcher doesn’t deluge them with information, as do so many other research paper texts. Instead, The Curious Researcher doles information out week-by-week, when it is most needed.
The Introduction, “Rethinking the Research Paper,” chal lenges students to reconceive the research paper assignment. For many of them, this will amount to a “declaration of independence.” During “The First Week,” students are encouraged to discover topics they’re genuinely curious about and to learn to develop a “working knowledge” of their topics through library and Web research. This working knowledge will guide them as they decide on a tentative focus for their investigations. In “The Second Week,” students develop a research strategy, hone their skills in evaluat ing sources, and then begin working to develop a “focused knowl edge” of their topics by systematically searching for information in the library and on the Web. In “The Third Week,” students learn notetaking techniques, the dangers of plagiarism, and tips on how to conduct a search that challenges them to dig more deeply for information. During “The Fourth Week,” students begin writing their drafts; this chapter also gives tips on integrating sources, structure, voice, and beginnings. In “The Fifth Week,” students are guided through the final revision.
In this edition of The Curious Researcher, the details about citation conventions and formats for both the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Psychological Association (APA) are in Appendixes A and B, respectively. This organization makes the information easier for students to find and use. Sample student papers-one in MLA format and one in AP A format-are included as well.
Unlike other textbooks, which relegate exercises to the ends of chapters, The Curious Researcher makes them integral to the process of researching and writing the paper. Though techniques such as fastwriting and brainstorming-featured in some of the writing exercises-are now commonplace in many composition classes, they have rarely been applied to research writing and certainly not as extensively as they have been here. Fastwriting is an especially useful tool, not just for prewriting but for open-ended thinking throughout the process of researching and writing the paper. The exercises are also another antidote to procrastina tion, challenging students to stay involved in the process as well as providing instructors with a number of short assign ments throughout the five weeks that will help them monitor students’ progress.
Preface xxiii
Features of the New Edition
Writing a textbook is like discovering an aunt you never knew you had. She arrives unexpectedly one summer and stands at your door beaming and expectant. Naturally, you welcome her in. How charming she is, and as you get to know your aunt you get to know yourself. This is her gift to you. At some point, many months later, you see her luggage by the door, and with a certain sadness you send her off. “Come again,” you yell as she ambles off. “Come again any time. I’ll miss you!” And you do. Your fondness for this newly discov ered relative grows as you learn that others, people who aren’t even blood related, like her too.
Two years later, your aunt appears at your door again, and of course you’re glad to see her. She inhabits your house for the sum mer, and, while she does get a bit demanding, that doesn’t diminish your fondness for the old girl, at least not much. You’ve grown to know her well, and while familiarity doesn’t breed contempt you do develop a slight weariness. You’ve heard all the same stories a few times, and her voice, well, her voice can get a bit irritating at times. This time when she leaves you confess that you’re just a little bit relieved, happy to move on to other things.
