Research Skills

Facts, Opinions, & Bias Facts can be proven to be true Opinions are judgments that people make based on their beliefs Bias is an unfair “slant” that a writer gives to a topic ***Do not to use bias in your informational writing

Web versus Print: Web anyone with web access can publish author/affiliations and qualifications may be unclear may not clearly identify external information may be biased/misleading publication info may not be listed A number of differences exist between information published on the Internet and information published using traditional print methods. Although there are exceptions to these observations, in general these guidelines hold true of web and print sources.

Plagiarism To steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own To use (another's production) without crediting the source To present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward.

All of the following are considered plagiarism: Turning in someone else's work as your own Copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit Failing to put a quotation in quotation marks Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation Changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit Copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not

Search Engine Results Different search engines might return different results in a different order Can include results from paying advertisers: Because each search engine is coded differently, and told to follow different “rules” for retrieving and listing, different search engines might return different results in a different order. This is why it’s often a good idea to try a search in multiple search engines—you might find something using one search engine that another one missed. Some search engines also include results that are paid advertising, so it’s wise to look at the results carefully to determine which results are normal and which are paid results.

Consider: keep notes Conducting a Search keywords that apply what kinds of information you need multiple angles keep notes When conducting a search online, it pays to be creative. Before you start, you might consider brainstorming about words and phrases that could be associated with your project. You might also consider making a list of different kinds of information that might be helpful to your project—for example, you might need information about the number of dining halls in the United States, as well as nutritional information about the food served in dining halls. These two angles would probably need at least two different searches. Because you will most likely find a large volume of information, it’s a good idea to keep notes or bookmarks of sites that seem particularly helpful. When going through pages and pages of results, it’s easy to forget which pages were the most helpful.

Using Search Terms Do multiple searches Try keyword variations e.g. try “dining hall,” “cafeteria,” and “campus food service” Be specific as you learn more e.g. change “dining hall” to “Midwest university dining hall” Boolean Operators: words added to a search to make it more specific There are several strategies for using search terms that will help you find the most useful sources for a project. One highly helpful strategy is to do multiple searches using different terms, and different combinations of terms. Think about it this way: some writers might use the term “dining hall” when writing about the quality of on-campus food, while other writers might have used the term “campus food service.” If you only did a search using the term “dining hall,” you’d miss all the content that only used the term “campus food service.” As you look through your results, you might come across terms used by writers that would help you in your search. Be alert for terms that might help you find new results. If you get too many results in a search, it might be helpful to make your search terms more specific. For example, if you’re writing about the quality of dining halls in Indiana, you might want to use “Midwest university dining hall” instead of just “dining hall.” “Midwest university dining hall” is more likely to return content about university dining halls, while just “dining hall” is more likely to include results about elementary dining halls all over the world, which are irrelevant to your project.

Defining a Search: Boolean Operators AND finds pages with all of the search terms used e.g. “dining hall” AND “student workers” OR finds pages with at least one of the search terms e.g. “dining hall” OR “cafeteria” OR “campus food service” NOT excludes pages that include the second term e.g. Henry VII NOT Shakespeare Boolean operators are useful for tailoring search terms to get the type of results you want. Boolean operators are one-word connectors that are placed between keywords or keyphrases in a search. Using AND will find pages that include all of the search terms used. For example, “dining hall” AND “student workers” will return pages that include the phrases “dining hall” and “student workers” OR will find pages that include pages that include at least one of the search terms. For example, “dining hall” OR “cafeteria” OR “campus food service.” OR is useful for expanding search results if there aren’t enough using just one term, and for when there are multiple terms that might be used to describe a subject. NOT excludes pages that include the second phrase listed. For example, Henry VII NOT Shakespeare would be useful if you wanted to find content about Henry VIII the historical king, but not the Shakespeare play by the same name. NOT is useful for limiting results when there are too many. Most search engines have more advanced search options in addition to Boolean operators, so keep your eyes option for “advanced” search options in the search engines you use.

Defining a Search: Quotation Marks Return pages with exact matches enter dining hall Get: “As I was dining, I heard a noise coming from the hall” enter “dining hall” Get: “Dining hall food quality is assessed in this paper.” Putting quotations marks around multiple word phrases can be helpful if you want to find an exact phrase. It can also be helpful in weeding out unrelated content. For example, entering dining hall without quotation marks might return a page with the phrase, “as I was dining, I heard a noise coming from the hall, ” while entering “dining hall” in quotation marks will only return pages in which the words “dining” and “hall” appear next to each other. Quotation marks can help limit the results of a search.

Evaluating Search Results Some results won’t be helpful wrong topic not enough information incorrect or outdated information shallow or untrustworthy source wrong tone for your project (e.g. an opinionated article when you need a basic overview) Even if you have used search terms wisely and effectively, there will inevitably be results that are not appropriate for your project. Strategies for evaluating the content you find will help you determine which content is helpful and which isn’t.

Evaluating Search Results Have a clear idea of type of content needed general overview different viewpoints in a debate in-depth explorations of a topic with numbers and statistics Knowing what type of content you’re looking for will help you decide which results are helpful. Evaluating online content is not a simple matter of deciding what content is “credible” and which is “not credible,” although credibility is an important consideration. You might be writing a paper that analyzes different viewpoints on an issue, in which case a source that might be “not credible” for another purpose because it is too opinionated might be perfectly acceptable here. On the other hand, a highly opinionated piece might not be the right thing for a different project, or even for a different part of the same project. Know what you’re looking for—these are just some examples of the types of content you might need.

Evaluating Search Results No precise formula Find out: purpose who is responsible when last updated whether information is corroborated in other places There is no formula for deciding whether a site is “credible” or not, although answering a set of questions may help you to better understand whether a given site is what you’re looking for. But be wary: a site that has an author, is updated often, that looks professional, and is sponsored by an organization could still be full of information that’s not helpful for your project. Use common sense and don’t rely on static credibility measures. Some questions you should consider when evaluating the usefulness of a site: -What is the purpose of the site? (Is it a blog? A product site? The web-page of a non-profit organization?) -Who is responsible for the site? (Who wrote it? What is the sponsoring organization? Is it the work of an individual, a corporation, or an organization, etc.?) -When was it last updated? -Do other sources corroborate the information on the site? Do the other sources you’ve found seem to agree with the site in question?

Some Clues to Determine a Site’s Purpose Tone and language used Assumptions/Generalizations Commercial/Non-commercial Advocating a particular opinion Copyright notice Links/Sources cited But how do you figure out who is responsible for a web site, or what its purpose is? Sometimes figuring these things out can be tricky, because websites can be misleading about their purpose. Take several moments to carefully look over a site. Don’t take what any site says at face value. Some strategies: -Pay attention to the tone and the kind of language used. Is it informal? Is it exaggerated or sensational? (Is it written like a tabloid cover?) Does the language appeal to the emotions? -What kind of assumptions does the page make? Does the page make generalizations that oversimplify the matter? Does the page clearly explain where its information came from? -Does the site seem to be selling something? (Note that there is a difference between sites that have outside advertising on them, and sites whose purpose is to promote a product.) -Is the site trying to convince users to adopt a certain opinion? (Does the site seem one-sided? Does it acknowledge other perspectives?) -Look for a copyright notice (usually found at the bottom of the page), note who the copyright belongs to, and do a quick search about that individual/organization. This can help you determine who is responsible for the page. -What other sites does the site in question link to? Which, if any, other sources does the site reference? Do these links and sources seem to be trustworthy?

Evaluating Search Results Domain name extensions anyone can register .com, .net, .org domain names not a great way to tell whether a source is “credible” .edu and .gov can only be used by educational institutions and governmental institutions still not necessarily reliable Domain name extensions used to be a fairly reliable strategy for determining the credibility of a website. This is no longer the case. Anyone can register .com, .net, .org domain names, meaning that a .org extension does not mean that the site belongs to a legitimate organization, or that the information presented is guaranteed to be valid. While it’s true that .edu and .gov can only be used by educational institutions and governmental institutions, this doesn’t mean that information found at a .gov or .edu is reliable: for example, many universities offer students and faculty web space, and users may post information that is not correct

Evaluating Search Results: Visuals Good design NOT an indicator of reliable information Bad design not an indicator of unreliable information might be more likely to indicate an outdated website or one run by an individual Don’t rely on the way a website looks to determine whether it’s a good source of information. Although a bad design might be more likely to indicate an individual with a personal website, free well-designed templates are becoming increasingly common and accessible. Organizations with biases that might not be helpful to a project can also simply pay a web designer to make a site look professional.

Often one of the first results listed Check for instructors’ policies Wikipedia Articles Often one of the first results listed Check for instructors’ policies Can be useful for: getting an overview generating new ideas pointing to other sources Wikipedia articles often come up as one of the first results in a search engine for many topics. Instructors differ about whether Wikipedia is a valid source that can be cited, so make sure you know your instructors’ policies. Although Wikipedia may not be fully accepted as a citable source in academic projects, it can still be a useful online research tool. It can be helpful for getting a general overview of a topic that can then guide later research. It can also be help generate ideas and angles on a topic that you might not have been aware of. Many Wikipedia articles also contain extensive sources and external links at the end of the article. Even if you cannot cite a Wikipedia article, the bibliography and external links at the end of an article might lead you to a source that might be helpful to your project and considered acceptable for academic projects.

Evaluating Sources: Using Wikipedia Example of sources and further reading in the Wikipedia Henry VIII article: