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Conducting Research and Citing Sources

Secondary sources can help you support your analysis of
popular culture,

- Secondary Sources include a variety of published material, some examples:

- other essays from students
- interviews
- videos
- library
- the internet
- Sources like these will help develop fresh thinking about your topic.

- The internet has provided a variety of research options in a single page. Though it is
the writers responsibility to determine which sources should be trusted.
A Stand Against Wikipedia - Scott Jaschik
Wikipedia is a source that provides information about a certain subject or topic. It strives
to provide reliable information to the readers, but since the website is an open site
referring that anyone can add to the information, it ensures that the information given is
typically not accurate. School faculty are concerned about the variety of students using
Wikipedia. They claim that wikipedia information is inaccurate and are not quality
information.
Judging Quality on the Web
It is simple to look up a word or topic on the internet and find several websites with
information about it. The challenge would be finding a resource that provides the reader
with accurate information.

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Strategy to Identifying a good (reliable) website
The website:
1. States the author or organizational source of information
- Look up the organization which produced the Web site
- Look at the other works or qualifications of the organization
2. States the date the material was written and revised
- If the information is not current enough for your purpose it is not reliable
3. Provides accurate data that are clearly defined
- Compare the data found on the website with data found in other sources
- Ask a librarian or others who can provide you with important sources to
check for information
4. Provides a type and level information needed
- Decide whether the level of detail are acceptable
- if it does not provide depth coverage look elsewhere
5. Keeps bias to a minimum
- Be aware of what kind of webpage
- it might be someones personal opinion
6. Provides links to related high-quality Web sites
- Make sure links are capable of taking you to the website
7. If commercial site, it keeps advertising to a minimum
- Make sure website address is appropriate
- Websites with .com in it usually advertise
8. It is clearly organized and designed for ease of use
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- If the wording makes sense and it is well organized making it simple to
search through the sections
Coping and Pasting
The internet can be helpful when looking for ideas and information about a topic.
Because it is simple to gather an amount of information it can result as plagiarism.
Plagiarism and copyright has increased among students drastically. If someone is
taught to closely read sources and synthesize them into their own original argument
early in school then they wont be tempted to plagiarize in college.

Synthesizing and Citing Sources

How many sources do I need? It is up to you
As you write your arguments you should consider what interacts with the sources you've
chosen. Do you and the author of the sources agree with the topic or disagree? Think of
your paper as a conversation between you and your resources. Writing about the
agreements and disagreements will help your paper.

- Have you used the sources as evidence to support any claims you're making?
- Have you considered any counterarguments?
- Have you taken care to characterize your sources in a way that is fair and accurate?
- When you have finished your draft, have you reconsidered your thesis in light of the
source material you've used? Do you need to change your thesis to reflect any new
discoveries you've made?
Citing an authors work
When writing an essay and you are using another authors you need to cite the source
for the readers.

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Examples of Citations:

- In- Text Citations

- In the body of your essay, you should signal the reader that you've used a
source. Indicate with parenthesis where the reader can find the information. You don't
need to repeat the author inside the parenthesis.

- List of Work Cited

- They are at the end of an essay
- They include a list of all the resources you have cited in parenthetical
notation. The list is alphabetized by author, should provide full publication information
for each source. Also indicate the date which you accessed any online resources.

Summary:
The chapter mainly focuses on online resources. The author provides
an essay about Scott Jaschik Stand against Wikipedia informing that
students should not be using Wikipedia as a source for their writing.
He and school faculty claim that Wikipedia is inaccurate and not
quality information. The other section of this chapter explains the
consequences of plagiarism and why it is so simple to copy another
authors writing on the internet. These kinds of habits can later affect
students and their academic performance. Lastly it shows how and
why the writer should cite where they have found their information and
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the author. It gives examples of the way work cited should be written
depending from where the resource is from.