Please post your two questions and response to your peers' questions
about chapter 5 of the Bedford Book of Genres by commenting on this
post!
Remember: post your questions no later than 10pm the night before our class meets to actually receive credit!
How does the insight of another person help with research?
ReplyDeleteWhen researching your topic, usually you focus in on one main idea that flows through your mind first. As you brainstorm, you then begin to explore different possibilities, but you're still limited since only your brain is being involved. Once you add another insight of a new person to the equation, your research possibilities are endless. The new insight of the person will give you a different angle on your research. They may even bring in a viewpoint that you never thought of that better suites your assignment or research. This new viewpoint opens doors you didn't even know existed which can complete your research.
DeleteWhat are some important aspects that you need to consider in order to choose the right topic for you?
ReplyDeleteTo choose the right topic, a person must first be interested in what they are researching. If a person has to write a paper on something they are not interested in, the paper will evidently lack passion, and the person may have regrets on their choice. Another important aspect is that the research paper topic should be an open-ended question. The research topic should not be able to be answered with a simple "yes" or "no". A person should do research on their topic prior to deciding if that topic is the one they are choosing so that they know what they are getting themselves into before they delve too deep into a topic they find to be dull.
DeleteWhat brainstorming method works the best for you and what are some other methods that the book did not mention?
ReplyDeleteHow can you distinguish the reliability of a source?
ReplyDeleteThere are multiple ways to determine a source's credibility, or lack thereof. 1. Its author: Credible sources are written by authors respected in their fields of study. 2. Age of the source: A rule of thumb I go by is that if a source is over 10 years old, its best not to use it, because it's likely outdated. This rule would depend on if your topic was more contemporary or historical. 3. Neutrality: Aim for using sources where the author is neutral and presents the information in a non-biased way. Avoid sources where the author is trying to persuade you to believe what he/she believes because the source could be funded and lack credibility. 4. Are Peer Reviewed Sources used?: These are the most credible sources because they are sources where the author, often a scholar, subjects his work to other scholars and experts in the same field to critique and verify the validity of the work. 5. Internet sources: Aim to use sources that end in a .org, .gov, .edu, or .mil. They are often created and used by reliable people (a non-profit org, the government, an educational institution, and the military respectively). Avoid sources where the author cannot be determined and the content can be changed by anyone, like Wikipedia.
DeleteWhat challenges might someone with unreliable sources meet?
ReplyDeleteA person may face many challenges if they choose to get their information from unreliable sources. The most obvious challenge a person would face is their work being unreliable. If a person bases their entire work off of unreliable sources, it automatically makes their paper untrustworthy. People will be very skeptical about the information they are given when reading a paper with unreliable sources. It also calls into question the credibility of the author who picked those sources. If one of their works is based off of “bad” sources, it could make all of their other works questionable too. Audiences will not want to read other work by this author if they are known to use unreliable sources to generate an argument. Using reliable sources is extremely important if you want people trust the information you have put in your paper and if you want them to trust you as an author.
DeleteSome challeneges that come up with using unreliable sources include, unreliability in the research and loss of credibility in the authors research as well. Using reliable sources is very important in creating a research based project, because if the information in your evidence is reliable then the arguments you are making are now not just opinions, but opinions that are backed up by reliable sources of information. Readers will trust your information if you back it up with reliable sources, but if using unreliable sources, you run into many challenges. If your sources are unreliable, you lose credibility in the opinions you are trying to argue, and therefore your research project becomes less reliable with the more unreliable sources you use. If you have unreliable sources people will have trouble trusting your work and therefor you lose credibility.
DeleteWhat are some ways a person can stay organized while composing a research essay?
ReplyDeleteThere are several ways in which a person can stay organized while composing a research essay. It really starts off with the preparation. They could write down all the topics that they want to cover in the essay, so that they know exactly what they are looking for. That way they can write a general outline. An outline is another way to help you stay organized. It allows you to gather your thoughts, and keeps you from going off track of what you are talking about. Another thing that is important to keep in mind is your sources. When researching, one should always write down the source in which they retained the information from. That way they know later on which sources they actually decided to put into their paper. They should also create a separate document to put in links to the websites so that they can reach them later when creating their works cited page.
DeleteHow does a person determine if an argument is just too "out there" or irrational? Are there any identifiers to look for whilst reading their perspective(s)?
ReplyDeleteAn argument tends to be considered "out there" or irrational if their statement is based on false information or if the argument isn't based on any information at all. People writing irrational arguments tend to search for information that they can bend to fit their statement or belief. Irrational arguments also tend to ignore information that disproves their belief, even if the information contains proven facts. If researched information really does not back someone's argument, the final product of an essay or article might not include very many facts at all. Someone can identify an irrational argument by checking the sources. If most of the sources are not trustworthy (meaning that they are student blogs or papers) or are other opinion pieces making the same argument, it might be clear to a researcher that the argument was too irrational to be backed up by trustworthy, peer-reviewed information. One can make a similar observation if a piece has little to no sources.
DeleteAn argument can only be had if both sides are fighting with logical and factual content. Of course arguments are often times opinion based, however it does not change the fact that without substance behind the words an argument is irrational. If I were to try to argue to you that the sky, is in fact not blue for whatever reasoning my mind had come up with, and believe what I am trying to tell you one hundred percent. No matter how much logic you put in front of my face, you taking the time out of your day to try to correct me is simply pointless because I was wrong in the first place. It does not matter how factually correct someone may be, if they are arguing with someone who believes in false content it becomes a losing argument for anyone who tries to tell them otherwise, thus making an argument irrational.
DeleteWhat types of challenges are presented if you use a close-ended research question?
ReplyDeleteOne challenge you will face with a close-ended research question is lack of resources, especially for topics that are very new or recent to science. If you are not able to find enough resources, you will struggle with writing a paper, and even with coming up with a research question. It's important to pick a topic that allows you to find extensive amounts of information, so this way you are able to narrow it down to what you would like your research paper to focus around. Definitely stay away from topics that don't have at least ten sources you can read from.
DeleteThere can be many challenges faced if you use a closed-ended question. One of those being that the topic is very specific, so there's a limited amount of information able to be discussed. Closed-ended questions can be answered by a simple "yes" or "no" where as an open-ended question needs more information to reach a conclusion. When it comes to writing a research paper, its key to have an open-ended question as your research topic. The reason for that is because you want to be able to have a question that can't be answered by a one word answer. You want a question that required time and effort to reach a verdict.
DeleteWhat makes a source reliable?
ReplyDeleteWhat makes a source reliable is if it has been peer reviewed. This means that other people have gone through and verified anything that has been said. This is what prevents people claiming fake facts and research.
DeleteAre there any restrictions when choosing a research topic?
ReplyDeleteResearch is conducted all the time. New evidence of topics are constantly being found and articles are continuously being posted all over the internet each and every second of the day. Research papers are one example of research being presented to media and in a tangible hard copy way. When choosing a topic there could be restrictions placed on it from other people, but in general you make your own restrictions. The only restrictions could be from the possible assignment itself. If the assignment says you can only do a certain type of research paper or only chose a specific topic than that is the restriction, but besides that there are no “real restrictions.” You can easily write a research paper on anything that is appealing to what you are interested in. In fact, I would suggest that, considering that the more passionate you are about the topic the better the paper will be. The catch is that not always what you are interested in is easy to formulate into a research paper. You will have to think about things such as, will you be able to easily find information on the topic you have chosen? Even if you can find research on it, are those sources valid therefore, reliable to use? So while there are no specific restrictions to a research paper it is important to do some research beforehand to assure the success of your paper.
DeleteWhat are some other benefits (not stated in the book) of annotated bibliographies?
ReplyDeleteWhat is the full importance of making a research proposal?
ReplyDeleteWhat are some of the things you must consider when choosing a research topic?
ReplyDeleteWhen choosing a topic is important to consider if there are enough sources, information to gather research from both academic sources and other non academic sources. Its also extremely important to be interested in your topic. Writing a research paper can already be pretty boring but it would be unbearable if you were writing about a topic that you couldn't relate to or more importantly that you are just blatantly not interested in learning about. A research paper, obviously necessitates a lot of research and trying to find helpful information can be harder to do when you already don't want to be looking things up for your topic in the first place. Another important thing to consider when choosing a topic for a research paper is making sure that its not already something that has been talked about excessively or something that is not TOO new where you cant find many, if any, academic sources to cite information from.
DeleteHow does a research proposal help you to prepare for your research paper?
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think is most critical when forming a research question? Being interested or having a lot of information to use for your topic?
ReplyDeleteDo you think all steps stated in the book are necessary when completing a research proposal or are some redundant or can be excluded?
ReplyDeleteI believe many steps of the writing and research process are unnecessary and can be excluded. Scouting many sources is vital in composing a research paper and getting information from various modes of communication is important. However, looking to every single type of information provided is often overwhelming and may distract you from your specific question. By remaining focused on your topic and looking to just the amount needed may prove beneficial. Mind mapping is something that I believe to be entirely optional. All writers think and compose differently. Some may use bulleted outlines, others just jot down a mess of ideas. Mind mapping may prove unnecessary for those with more abstract minds like myself.
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ReplyDeleteWhat steps do you take to choose a topic? Do you have any suggestions that the book did not mention?
ReplyDeleteWhat method do you find most effective when moving from a research question to a proposal?
ReplyDeleteWhat separates a reliable source from an unreliable source?
ReplyDeleteDo you think it is important to have variety when it comes to your sources? Is it necessary to include primary, secondary, and tertiary sources?
ReplyDeleteWhat is the key differential between a source that is reliabe and one that is not? Who decides what makes a source reliable?
DeleteHow does the topic of a research paper effect how one composes their research proposal?
DeleteThe use of a variety of sources is very important in any research because any one source has its own strengths and weaknesses! The variety in types of sources provides a strength in the research's reliability that couldn't exist with any of them on their own or even paired with another. Primary sources allow for a level of closeness to the time and situation one is researching, but it is probably not objective and therefore is not reliable in that way, and it can't really be verified for accuracy, so a large variety of primary sources would be necessary for a well-rounded conclusion. A secondary source is very helpful in interpreting primary sources and is much more easily available than primary sources, but you can't always trust someone else's interpretation. Tertiary sources are very helpful in finding simplified accounts of primary and secondary sources, but they often can be over simplified. So I believe that the inclusion of all three types is very important for a good argument!
DeleteIn what cases might a source that might traditionally be considered credible become unreliable?
ReplyDeleteHow can we check a primary source for credibility?
ReplyDeleteDo you think it is possible to write a successful research essay while using unreliable sources?
ReplyDeletewhat are the most essential steps moving a research question to a proposal?
ReplyDeleteHow do you think starting with a freewrite benefits your writing?
ReplyDeleteFreewriting is the tool I personally use for my writing. In my opinion, it is beneficial for individuals who are more confident in explaining a view, opinion, or argument in a face to face situation. During the freewriting stage, there is no need to worry about rhetorical appeals or eloquent explanations. The easiest way to generate ideas is to use the casual language you use everyday. Because freewriting is meant to only be read by yourself, do not be worried about straying off topic; there is a possibility that the off-topic ideas are more interesting and easier to write on than what you originally planned on using. By writing with little pressure or limits, you will find that it is easier to write more in a short amount of time, but do realize that most of the writing from freewrite will be reconstructed or deleted entirely in the first draft.
DeleteWhy is it important to research conflicting views and how do these affect your view?
ReplyDeleteWhich brainstorming technique is the most productive, in your opinion?
ReplyDeleteA mind map seems to be specific details stemming off from a general topic. How is a mind map a better tool than a bullet point outline that also includes general topics with subtopics?
ReplyDeleteWhen choosing a topic, what type of content do you look for that you can build off of into a complete project?
ReplyDeletePlanning out your proposal can dramatically improve the effectiveness of your writing. It allows you to get all your thoughts down on the page, think about which ones are important and which are not, and form them all into a cohesive order that makes sense. One effective way of doing this is doing a freewrite. This is where you write nonstop for ten to thirty minutes everything you can think of about the topic. This helps you form your ideas and understand how you feel about it. Getting everything into order is extremely important because thats how you form a paper that makes sense to the reader. It is crucial that you figure out everything you need to say and put it in order in the beginning because it can sometimes be difficult to go back in and add sections if you forget about them. Planning your essay out is important for forming a good piece of writing!
ReplyDeleteHow can you research what others have to say on the subject without having it form or affect your own personal ideas?
ReplyDeleteHow many sources should you consult when composing a research paper?
ReplyDeleteDo you believe mind mapping to e an effective form of planning an essay? Why or why not?
ReplyDelete