Citations and References

It is impossible to memorize or learn all the possibilities of references (citations are just author and year of publication, plus a page number if using a quotation). You will likely never be expected to memorize all the different sources to use in a citation -- book, speech, journal, podcast, etc. There are too many! But keep a guideline like the textbook handy when writing and you can always look up the information. It is what all of us who do a lot of research do.

Research proposals

The research proposal may seem a bit bogus in the whole writing of a research paper, but it is a way to get thinking about your paper and firming up where you are going. In essence, it is a map or a guide to get you to the end of the process perhaps a bit more smoothly. It is part of the preparation process, as well as gives you some indication if you've gone off track. The APA manual I created has a broad version of the proposal as I'm trying to make the manual applicable across a variety of courses. But the main elements are:

• Title of paper (this is a working title and may change)
• Purpose -- what is the problem that you want to study
• Background/Significance -- why are you interested and what makes this topic worthy?
• Description/Methodology -- how are you going to conduct your research -- primary or secondary research (most initial research is secondary)
• References

Fact or fiction

A fact is verifiable and can be "proven" via evidence of some kind. This could involve numbers, dates, testimony, etc. If there is some measuring device or record or memory that can back up the data, then we can consider it a fact. But facts can be manipulated and turned around. For instance, I can saythe U.S. has a 5% unemployment rate; but I can also say, 95% of the employable population has a job. Both are true, but one sounds better than another, what we know in politics as spin.

An opinion is a judgment that is based on facts. Opinion is more than a belief, it is a reasonable conclusion drawn from factual evidence. If you say your significant other is a drunk, it may be your belief; but if he/she was convicted of 5 DUIs then you have the evidence to support that opinion. Not only must we state our opinions as such in a paper, but we also have to provide evidence as to where the information came from.

Both facts and opinions require the same thing -- evidence.

Know about data collecting

We can often be fooled into what is factual information from the providing source. For instance, most of us have heard about the unemployment rate in the U.S. In December 2008, it was around 7.2%. But where does this information come from? The Bureau of Labor statistics at http://www.bls.gov/ collects the information and that's a credible agency. However, how they collect the data leaves much to be desired. Here's what they note on their website (with a bit of digging):

"Because unemployment insurance records relate only to persons who have applied for such benefits, and since it is impractical to actually count every unemployed person each month, the Government conducts a monthly sample survey called the Current Population Survey (CPS) to measure the extent of unemployment in the country. The CPS has been conducted in the United States every month since 1940 when it began as a Work Projects Administration project. It has been expanded and modified several times since then. As explained later, the CPS estimates, beginning in 1994, reflect the results of a major redesign of the survey.

"There are about 60,000 households in the sample for this survey. The sample is selected so as to be representative of the entire population of the United States. In order to select the sample, first, the 3,141 counties and county-equivalent cities in the country are grouped into 1,973 geographic areas. The Bureau of the Census then designs and selects a sample consisting of 754 of these geographic areas to represent each State and the District of Columbia. The sample is a State-based design and reflects urban and rural areas, different types of industrial and farming areas, and the major geographic divisions of each State" (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2001, para. 6-7).

While they are using a large enough sample base for statistical data, the data is actually a scientifically-based guess. There are other ways to collect the data, such as gathering unemployment checks sent out by the different states, but even that information leaves out those who have gone off unemployment via maxing out their benefit. This too would be a scientifically-based guess.

When researching and writing your papers, it helps to understand where the data came from and how it was collected. It also helps to determine if the information can be verified by others.

Reference:
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2001). How the government measures unemployment. Retrieved February 2, 2009, from http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm

PowerPoint and Speeches and APA

In many cases you may not only write a research paper for a class, but will have to prepare an PowerPoint ® presentation or speech to present to the class. Even though a presentation or speech are not formal research papers, you still must follow the conventions of citation and references in order to avoid plagiarism. Not only does this include taking the words and ideas from another source, but the graphics – art, photos, charts – from another source. Here are a couple examples of citations and of a reference page to be used in a slide program.




Notice that the citations and references are done exactly as in a research paper. You should include a reference slide at the very end of your presentation to allow your viewers (and those who have received paper copies) of the slide show the ability to look up the information you provided.

In a speech, while you may mention the author of a particular source of information you used, you should include a reference listing for your instructor when turning in any and all documentation of your speech. It is just as easy to plagiarize a speech as it would be a reference paper.

Research is like a treasure hunt...

You won't know what you'll find, and sometimes it isn't even what you were looking for! As I said in class, you've got to fill that basket with eggs you have found before you can make the omlet (or research paper in this analogy). If you can't find any purple eggs, you will have to go back and collect all the green and yellow eggs you can instead!

For those who haven't had my Lit class yet, the eggs stands for key words and key phrases, the basket full of eggs stands for your research articles collected.

Okay, so this narrowing down the topic using keywords is pretty tough -- it often requires us to go back and get rid of a couple words or phrases, add some new ones, and try researching again. Finding the right keywords can be particularly frustrating if you are researching a new-to-you area. That's why I encourage students to pick a topic they are interested in and one that focuses on your major. You then become more of an "expert" as you go through your core classes.

Experiment -- get three eggs together and then do some research in the library databases. See what you can find. If nothing works, go back and try to come up with a new topic area. It takes work. If you get frustrated (and you know who I'm talking to!), then walk away, or talk to a friend, or drop me an email. Bounce some ideas of others as to what you think is a topic you can stick with.