The Research Process

by Maner, Martin

• ISBN13: 9780767411394
• ISBN10: 0767411390
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Spiral Bound
• Copyright: 1999-10-15
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages

Summary

The Research Processexplains, models, and analyzes the recursive process of conducting research and writing research papers. The text - along with the dedicated website and free student CD-ROM - provides exceptional guidance on writing substantive research papers using print and electronic sources and emphasizes the enjoyment and rewards that research writing offers.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction: Research—Who Needs It?

1. THE NATURE OF RESEARCH WRITING

The Purpose of Research Writing / Research as New Knowledge / Defining the Necessary Degree of Doubt / Describing, Narrating, Explaining, and Arguing / Prewriting / Using a Research Journal to Develop the Argument / Avoiding Mistakes in Choosing a Topic

2. FINDING AND NARROWING THE TOPIC

Start with Ideas and Questions in Your Journal / Overview of the Research Writing Process / State Your Hypothesis Before Source Hunting / Finding Evidence to Support Your Hypothesis / Must an Objective Library Paper Have an Argument? / Topics and Stages of Writing / The Learning Spiral / Subject Areas and Narrow Topics / Using Indexes and Subject Headings to Formulate a Topic / A Twenty-Question Method of Topic Formulation / A Five-Question Method of Topic Formulation / How to Make an Assigned Topic Interesting

3. GENERATING AN ARGUMENT

Avoiding Passive Information Gathering / Using Exposition Effectively / Arguing with Yourself / Making the Argument Develop / Can I Really Challenge Experts? / The Three Bases of Persuasion / Toulmin’s Approach to Argument

4. FINDING SOURCES

How Many Sources Am I Looking For? / Magic Solutions / Starting a Bibliographical Card File / Preliminaries / Step One: Using Encyclopedias / Step Two: Using Library Catalogs / Step Three: Using Indexes / Step Four: Searching the Internet / After Step Four: What Next? / Items to Record When Copying Citations / Interpreting Title Pages, Copyright Pages, and Computer Screens

5. WRITING A SHORT PLAN

A Prospectus and Its Advantages / Formats for a Prospectus / An Abstract / Using a Short Plan to Guide Your Research

6. GATHERING INFORMATION

Active Reading / Evaluating Sources / Note-Taking Methods / Three Types of File: Journal, Notes, Bibliography / Using Topic Headings to Organize Your Notes / Avoiding Plagiarism: Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing / Sample Journal Entries, Notes, and Bibliography Cards / Notes on Disks / Using Photocopies Responsibly to Avoid Plagiarism / Using Interviews

7. RESEARCH PAPER FORMATS: MLA AND APA

Overview of Research Paper Formats / All Formats: The Function of Documentation / Plagiarism and Common Knowledge / MLA Format: General Appearance / MLA Format: Parenthetical Documentation / MLA Format: The List of Works Cited / APA Format: General Appearance / APA Format: Parenthetical Documentation / APA Format: The List of Works Cited

8. RESEARCH PAPER FORMATS: CBE AND CHICAGO

CBE Citation Sequence Format: General Appearance / CBE Citation Sequence Format: Documentation / CBE Citation Sequence Format: The List of Cited References / Chicago Format: General Appearance / Chicago Format: Documentation / Chicago Format: The List of Works Cited

9. WRITING THE ROUGH DRAFT

Outlines / Starting the Rough Draft / Assembling the Rough Draft from Notes / Assembling the Rough Draft on a Word Processor / Style and Usage: “To Whom Am I Speaking” or “Who Am I Speaking To?” / Developing Good Working Habits / Strategies for Introductions and Conclusions / Avoiding the Bad Habits of Academic Writers: An Editor’s Advice

10. REVISING THE ROUGH DRAFT

Guidelines for Revision / Using the Topic Outline as a Guide to Revision / Generating a Sentence Outline While Revising the Rough Draft / Examples of Outlines Used in Revision / Revising to Improve the Argumentative Focus / The Hook Paragraph Transition / Other Types of Transition / Adjusting the Length of Paragraphs / A Sample Revision / Revising as Self-Criticism

11. EDITING

Collaboration in Editing / Criteria for Editing / Edit for Coherence / Three Common Mistakes That Destroy Coherence / Edit for Conciseness / Punctuate for Clarity / Proofread for Mechanical Errors / Use Global Searches to Edit Details

12. SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN RESEARCH WRITING

Trying to Do Too Much / Special Problems in Finding Sources / Copyright Law and the Ethics of Research

13. MECHANICS

All Formats: General Appearance / MLA Format Mechanics / APA Format Mechanics: Differences from MLA Format / CBE Format Mechanics: Differences from MLA Format

In each chapter:

Quick View

Exercises

Glossary

Credits

Index