Rules of Thumb for Research

by Silverman, Jay

• ISBN13: 9780072363319
• ISBN10: 0072363312
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-08-27
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Higher Education

Summary

The authors of the best-selling RULES OF THUMB handbook have now recreated their proven pedagogy for a RULES OF THUMB FOR RESEARCH. This concise, spiral-bound research guide is designed to give students the essential research skills that they need in college and beyond, researching both print and electronic sources. Everything a student needs to know to write a research paper (or to research a personal topic) is all here in plain, practical steps.

Table of Contents

Preface: Research Gives You Power	ix
A Note from the Authors	x
Part 1: First Steps
Before You Plunge In (A Few Tricks of the Trade)	3	(3)
Brainstorming (To Find a Topic You Care About)	6	(3)
Freewriting (To Find a Topic You Care About)	9	(3)
When You Face a ``Boring'' Topic (Finding Yourself a Home in Any Topic)	12	(3)
Formulating Your Questions (For a Direct Route to Your Destination)	15	(3)
In a Crunch 1 (Getting to Your Research)	18	(5)
Part 2: Becoming a True Researcher
Working with Subject Headings (Your First Search Strategy)	23	(3)
Sizing Up Your Sources of Information (All Sources Are Not Equal)	26	(5)
Taking Notes (The Bridge Between Your Sources and Your Paper)	31	(4)
Researching on Computers (The Basics)	35	(4)
How to Conduct a Computer Search (Using Search Strings)	39	(5)
In a Crunch 2 (Last-Minute Search Strategies)	44	(5)
Part 3: Exploring Different Avenues of Research
Sleuthing for Valuable Resources (Start Your Research Outside the Library)	49	(4)
The Library 1 (Getting Started)	53	(4)
The Library 2 (Tracking down Books and Articles)	57	(5)
Introduction to the Internet (The Basics)	62	(6)
Searching the Internet (Using Search Engines and Other Avenues)	68	(5)
Conducting Interviews (To Get Behind the Scenes)	73	(4)
Devising a Simple Survey (To Gather a Range of Opinions)	77	(3)
In a Crunch 3 (Limit Your Search)	80	(3)
Part 4: Telling What You've Learned
Making a Plan (Taming Your Information)	83	(5)
Traditional Patterns of Organization (Using a Formula)	88	(3)
Your First Draft (Writing Without Your Notes)	91	(4)
Your Second Draft (Incorporating Information from Your Sources)	95	(3)
Using Direct Quotations (Keep Them Few and Brief)	98	(6)
Using Paraphrase (Relate Information in Your Own Words)	104	(3)
Using Summary (Whittle Down Large Blocks of Information)	107	(3)
Incorporating Illustrations (Adding Visual Information to Your Paper)	110	(1)
In a Crunch 4 (Pulling a Paper Together)	111	(4)
Part 5: Documentation: Giving Credit to Your Sources
Plagiarism (Don't Steal Other People's Ideas)	115	(4)
Parenthetical Citation (MLA Style for English and Foreign Languages)	119	(8)
Works Cited (The MLA Style for Listing Your Sources)	127	(10)
Chart of Sample Entries for MLA Works Cited (Check Your Entries Here)	137	(13)
The APA Style (Social and Natural Sciences)	150	(6)
Three Other Styles (The ACS Style, Footnotes, and Endnotes)	156	(7)
In a Crunch 5 (Keep the Spirit of the Law)	163	(4)
Part 6: Finishing Your Paper
Large-Scale Revision (The Big Picture)	167	(3)
Small-Scale Revision (Details that Count)	170	(4)
The Finished Paper (Manuscript Preparation)	174	(4)
In a Crunch 6 (The Eleventh Hour)	178	(47)
Epilogue: Going Further
Collaborative Research (Working with a Team)	183	(2)
Research Papers About Literature (Incorporating Critics' Ideas into Your Own Analysis)	185	(6)
An Extended Research Project (Working Independently)	191	(5)
Appendix
Two Sample Student Papers	196	(21)
Student Paper Using MLA Style	197	(8)
Student Paper Using APA Style	205	(12)
A List of Important Sources	217	(8)
Index	225	(4)
About the Authors	229