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Featuring an engaging, direct writing style and inquiry-based approach, this popular research guide stresses that curiosity is the best reason for investigating ideas and information.
An appealing alternative to traditional research texts, The Curious Researcher stands apart for its motivational tone, its conversational style, and its conviction that research writing can be full of rewarding discoveries. Offering a wide variety of examples from student and professional writers, this popular guide shows that good research and lively writing do not have to be mutually exclusive. Students are encouraged to find ways to bring their writing to life, even though they are writing with “facts.” A unique chronological organization sets up achievable writing goals while it provides week-by-week guidance through the research process. Full explanations of the technical aspects of writing and documenting source-based papers help students develop sound research and analysis skills. The text also includes up-to-date coverage of MLA and APA styles.
Introduction: Rethinking the research paper Exericse 1 This I believe
Unlearning 101
Using this book The exercises The five-week plan Alternatives to the five-week planThe research paper versus the research report Discovering your purposeHow formal should it be?The question is you Thinking like an academic writerA method of discoveryFiring on four cylinders of informationFacts don’t kill
Exercise 2 Reflecting on Theories of Intelligence by Bruce BallengerCreative research papers?
Chapter 1: The First WeekThe importance of getting curious Seeing the world with wonder
Getting the pot boliing
Exercise 1.1 Builing an interest inventory Other ways to find a topic What is a good topic? Where’s Waldo and the organizing power of questions
Exericse 1.2 The myth of the boring Making the most of an assigned topicDeveloping a working knowledge Case study on developing working knowledge: Theories of dog training Research strategies for developing working knowledge Software to manage your research The reference librarian: A living sourceNarrowing the subject Exercise 1.3 finding the question
Crafting your opening inquiry questionPossible purposes for a research assignment
Exercise 1.4 Research proposalReading for research Reading rhetorically Strategies for reading rhetorically
Chapter 2: The Second WeekWhat are your research routines? Google vs. the library
Planning the dive Find enough information by using the best search terms Index searches using the Library of Congress subject headings Keyword searching in library databases Keyword searches on the world wide web Find varied sources Primary vs. secondary sources Objective vs. subjective Stable or unstable? Find quality sources When was it published? Why journal articles are better than magazine articles Look for often-cited authors Not all books are alike Evaluating online sources A key to evaluating Internet sources Developing focused knowledge What about a thesis? Suspending judgment? Testing assumptions? What are you arguing? Keeping track of what you find: Building a bibliography
Searching library databases for books and articles Finding Books Understanding call numbers* Coming up empty-handed? Checking bibliographies Interlibrary loan Article databases Saving search resultsAdvanced Internet research techniques Types of search engines
Exercise 2.2 Academic research on the InternetLiving sources: Interviews and surveys Arranging interviews Finding experts Finding nonexperts affected by your topic Making contact Conducting interviews The e-mail interview Planning informal surveys Avoid loaded questions Avoid vague questions Drawbacks of open-ended questions Designing your multiple choice questions Using scaled responses Conducting surveys
Fieldwork: Research on what you see and hear Preparing for fieldwork Notetaking strategies Using what you see and hear
Exercise 2.4 DataViz: Tell a story with facts
Chapter 3: The Third WeekWriting in the middle
Conversing
Exercise 3.1 Getting into a conversation with a fact Plagiarism: What it is, why it matters, and how to avoid it Plagiarism Q & A
Exercise 3.2 Saying it back to a source Why plagiarism matters A taxonomy of copying, quotation, paraphrase, and summary Paraphrasing Summarizing Quoting Notetaking
Exercise 3.3 Dialogic notetaking: Listing in, speaking up “What? I Failed” by Thomas Lord Notetaking techniques The double-entry journal The research log Narrative notetaking Online research notebooks When you’re coming up short: More advanced searching techniques Advanced library searching techniques Advanced Internet search techniques Thinking outside the box: Alternative sources
Exercise 3.4 Building an annotated bibliography
Chapter 4: The Fourth Week Getting to the draft Exploration or argument?
Exercise 4.1 Dialogue with Dave S.O.F.T. Organizing the draft Delayed thesis structure Question–claim structure Exploring or arguing: An example Preparing to write the draft Refining the question
Refining the thesis
Exercise 4.2 Sharpening your point Deciding whether to say I Getting personal without being personal Starting to write the draft: Beginning at the beginning Flashlights or floodlights? Writing multiple leads Exercise 4.3 Three ways in
Writing for reader interest
Whose steering and where to? Working the common ground Putting people on the page Writing a strong ending Using surprise Writing with sources The weave of research writing Handling quotes Other quick tips for controlling quotations Citing sources Driving through the first draft
Chapter 5: The Fifth WeekRevising is re-seeing (or breaking up is hard to do) Global revision: Revising for purpose, thesis, and structure Writer- to reader-based prose Exercise 5.1 Wrestling with the draft Reviewing the structure
Exercise 5.2 Directing the reader's respose Using your thesis to revise
Exercise 5.3 Cut and paste revision Examining the wreckage Other ways of reviewing the structure
Re-researching Finding quick facts Local revision: Revising for language Who are you in the draft Tightening seams between what you say and what they say Scrutinizing paragraphs Scrutinizing sentences Exercise 5.4 Cutting clutter
Preparing the final manuscript Considering a “reader-friendly” design Using images Following MLA conventions Proofreading your paper
Exercise 5.5 Picking off the lint Ten common mistakes in research papers Using the “find” or “search” function Avoiding sexist language Looking back and moving on
Appendix A: Understanding Research Assignments
Appendix B: Guide to MLA Styles. Appendix C: Guide to APA Style.
Index.
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