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Chapter 13 –
Conducting Research
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© Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

2. © 2016. Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Opening Activity
The process of researching for college writing can be somewhat similar to how you might conduct research for a decision you have to make in your everyday life. Reflect on that, and then discuss the following questions:
What type of things have you recently researched?
What steps did you take to conduct your research?
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Learning Outcomes
By the time you finish reading and studying this chapter, you should be able to:
LO1 Understand research.
LO2 Understand and evaluate sources.
LO3 Take effective notes.
LO4 Summarize, paraphrase, and quote.
LO5 Cite sources.
LO6 Understand plagiarism.
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wavebreakmedia, 2014/Used under license from Shutterstock.com
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4. Understanding Research
You include research in your writing to accomplish three important goals:
1. To add authority to your writing
2. To allow readers to follow up on a topic
3. To credit others for their work and thoughts
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5. Understanding and Evaluating Sources
Primary sources provide information based on firsthand experiences, such as:
Matej Kastelic, 2014/Used under license from Shutterstock.com
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6. Understanding and Evaluating Sources
Secondary sources provide information you collect indirectly, through the work and thoughts of others. Examples include:
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7. Understanding and Evaluating Sources
Carefully evaluate secondary sources. The quality of your research writing depends on your sources and how you use them.
The Author’s Reputation
The Publisher’s Reputation
The Timeliness
Original Sources
Opposing Viewpoints
Tone
Always Consider
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8. Taking Effective Notes
Think more deeply about your research
Focus your attention on essential ideas and details
Record your sources so you can locate them for further research
Integrate sources into your research writing
Provide publication information for your readers
Taking notes while researching helps you . . .

9. Taking Effective Notes
To annotate, or make notes or comments in, a text:
Write questions in the margin
Underline or highlight important parts
Summarize key passages
Define new terms
Make connections between ideas
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10. Taking Effective Notes
To help you grasp the structure of a source, try:
Making an outline of the source, especially for long, challenging texts and other complex sources
Using clusters or webs to help you see the interconnections between ideas and details
Creating two-column notes, using a narrow column (for summary headings, quotations and citations) and a wide column (for further details)

11. Summarizing, Paraphrasing and Quoting
You can use sources in your research writing by:
Involves creating a shorter version of a source, with the basic ideas in their original order and about a third of the original length
Summarizing
Shows your understanding of the ideas in the source since you restate them in your own voice and by using your own words
Paraphrasing
Adds authority to your writing as long as you do not use too many and the quotes are smoothly and accurately integrated
Quoting
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Citing Sources
1. Use in-text citations to give credit to sources and to avoid plagiarism, which is using the words or thoughts of others without giving them credit.
2. Select an appropriate style guideline for crediting your sources, such as:
The Modern Language Association (MLA)
The American Psychological Association (APA)
NOTE: Refer to the complete table in Chapter 13.
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13. © 2016. Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Citing Sources
At the end of your research writing, you must list your sources. Follow MLA or APA guidelines for how to format that list.
Works Cited
List
References
List
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14. Understanding Plagiarism
Your research writing should be free of common types of plagiarism:
You copy word for word from the original source without giving any credit
Copying Text Without Credit
You forget to place quotations marks around exact words borrowed from the source
Neglecting Quotation Marks
You paraphrase information from a specific passage without identifying the source
Paraphrasing Ideas Without Citing Them
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15. Closing Activity
Since research writing is such an important part of college writing, practice secondary research by completing the following steps:
1. Locate a recent news article. It can be online or paper-based.
2. Annotate the article.
3. Summarize it, and use one direct quote from the article in your summary.
4. Use the appropriate MLA or APA style guideline to help you format your direct quote and create a listing for the source at the end of your summary.
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