Chapter 6 Review

I'm catching up on my reading here:  Chapter Six of the Bedford Researcher is on Managing Information and Taking Notes.  It begins with ideas on maintaining print research in a manageable way, be it in folders, binders, or folio's.  That way an unorganized stack of papers is not lost or slow.  The the book talked about electronic folders and folders within folders to manage research with any form of media.  Then the chapter transitioned to note taking.  The book emphasized using quotation marks in notes so that the researcher is conscious of sources and does not accidentally use plagiarism.  From notes the chapter moved to bibliographies: working bibliographies and annotated bibliographies.

Personally, I need to organize my print sources.  I plan to use separated sections of a binder for my things.  I will create the working bibliography and annotated bibliography on my computer.    This will help me create organized notes online and ready for use in my drafts.    Prior to this I did not know the difference between the two types of bibliographies, but they are a good thing to know.  Also, I was not aware of the actually meaning behind 'sic'.  This helps my comprehension greatly, and knowing when to correctly use parenthesis and brackets will greatly improve my writing.

Potential Sources

I am posting my 3 potential sources for my topic(s) here because I missed this day in class.

Topic: Is Haiti being made to suffer for its successful slave revolution?
Source: Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State
            "Milestones: 1784-1800 The U.S. and the Haitian Revolution, 1791-1804.

              Antislavery.org
              "At what price did Haiti win its freedom?

              Nations Encyclopedia.com
              "Haiti - A Country Study"


Topic:  Should the U.S. adopt the Finnish system?
Source:  National Education Association
              "What we can learn from Finland's successful school reform?
   
              Washington Post
               "5 U.S. innovations that helped Finland's schools improve but that American reformers now                   ignore."

               Scholastic Administrator Magazine
               "Finland's education success has the rest of the world looking north for answers."


Topic: Should the U.S. adopt the Cuban Health System?
Source:  Oxford Journals - International Journal of Epidemiology
               "Health in Cuba"

               Accademia.edu
               "Overview of the Cuban Health System"

              American Journal of Public Health
             "The Curious case of Cuba"


           

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 of the Bedford Researcher is about 'Reading Critically'.  It begins by showing initial research questions and the position statements that can stem from them.  Following that the chapter showed how to read each piece critically.  That is, who is the author, what are their credentials, are they primary or secondary sources, what is their stance on a topic, how do they support their stance, who is the audience that they are writing to, why are they writing about the subject?  The chapter gives detailed advice on paying attention to the arguments and appeals that sources use.  Each type of argument and appeal can indicate certain things within a written work. The main thing is to look for these clues and then use them to decide whether this source is applicable to the research.

For me, this chapter was almost a review of training that I received in the military.  It was training on looking at a written confession for indicators and signals of context and subtext.  Such as, if someone is saying that 'they did this, and they made me do this, and then we went there', the change in the pronoun from 'they' to 'we' usually shows that the writer was not forced at that time.  Critical evaluation and thinking about a source beyond just the written piece.  Chapter 4's segment on identifying the various types of evidence and analysis was informative, as well as making sure if a source is a secondary or primary source.  Definitely details to remember.

Where have I been?

This is an explanation of where I've been post.  Friday morning a kid ran a red light and ran into my car.  Minor physical injuries: back and knee sprains.  Worrisome, though, because I've had 3 knee surgeries and a major back surgery that fused six vertebrae.  The titanium in me is worth $101,000.  Seriously, I saw the bill. My car will be in the shop for another two weeks. Anyway, I've been kinda in shock and shook up, but now am catching up on stuff.  Everyone pay attention to the traffic lights!

Trace

Chapter 2!

Chapter 2 of the Bedford Researcher deals with exploring and focusing on a topic/issue for research.  The chapter says to make a plan of attack for exploring a topic, including finding and reviewing sources.  The second part of the chapter was about focusing on a topic, specific conversations within a topic, and disagreements within the conversation.  Putting together the topic and disagreements, your interests, the suitability for an assignment, and the available sources should form a good research thesis to work on.

First off, I recognize that my summary might be a bit short.  Oops.  While reading this chapter I learned that my first topic that I wanted to work with, but then thought flawed, isn't.  My first thesis was "More adults are joining the Catholic church".  But my initial research found articles that support the thesis, but others that argued against.  I thought that this was a problem.  But!  That disagreement is what I want and the goal of my paper is to prove that I'm right.  Yay!  The chapter also spoke on recording search results, which was not an idea I'd actively put into use before, but that trail of breadcrumbs IS necessary for good research.

In this post I am summing up the reading assignment of chapter 1 in The Bedford Research 4th edition.  This chapter is largely about picking a topic for research.  The also said to remember not only the audience, but also the format of the final report. The final report could be an interactive PowerPoint slideshow or a website on the selected topic.  Research papers are no longer the only format around.  The chapter also talked about brainstorming, free-writing, and other exercises to use in order to help synthesize a topic.  The important issue that the chapter discussed was the use of a research log and an outline/timeline for doing the entire project, so as to stay focused and on time.
The concept behind the research log is a good one to use this quarter because I have never had a quarter-long research project before.  Combining that with a blog is also helpful for the students and professors to easily view all our work and communicate feedback.  The last part of the chapter dealing with brainstorming on topics and polishing research ideas is a big help.  I feel, though, that the middle of the chapter when the book discussed different formats of presentations was distracting with all of the possibilities, since we are only writing papers.  Correct? 

Official first blog

This is the first post for my English 102 research paper blog.  I have set up my blogspot with my son, and now I am set to begin class in earnest.  Yay!  Peace,

Trace