Bedford Researcher-Chapter 17

Revising and editing are ongoing through the research paper process.  Revising is to assess and look at whether evidence is strong enough and the paper is well organized and appropriate to who will be reading it.  Editing is paying close to the mechanics of writing and word usage.

For revision you want to look at whether your purpose is effectively supported and do I look credible.  Are the sources selected fresh and reflect the beliefs and values of my audience?  Look at whether you are meeting the requirements and expectations of this assignment.  Have you used field opportunities and any other types of ways to access good information?  Review your thesis statement and look at each paragraph and see if it supports it effectively.  Do your argument and ideas make sense and will they be acceptable to your audience?

Pay attention to whether your document is easy to navigate through and if the design is appealing to your reader.
Be sure to save drafts along the way for reflection
You can highlight your main point, reasons and evidence in different colors
Challenge your paper as a devil's advocate.  Does it stand up to scrutiny?
Ask yourself why your readers should care about this topic and what you have to say about it.

Asking feedback from other people is helpful as they have fresh eyes and may notice something you don't.

For editing you should:
Check your facts and figures for accuracy
Check quotes and whether citations are correct
Check for correct spelling on names

Be sure to remove unnecessary words, modifiers, stock phrases in order to be concise.

Check for Consistency in concept presentation, the way you spell out numbers, deal with sources  and formatting.

Judge your style as to how you choose wording, sentence length and structure, use of transitions and avoiding sexist type language.

Lastly, check your grammar, spelling and punctuation for any errors. This is obvious and necessary.

Read carefully through your document.  Read it aloud and in reverse order.  Look at each individual sentence.

Highlight and mark through your document.

Do not rely on spell check or any other tool to do this for you.

Always ask for honest feedback.

Bedford Researcher-Chapter 14

Drafting is an important step to do before writing your document.  You must first write out an outline that will include the main points in the order you will put them in your paper along with the evidence to support each one of them.

You have to be clear on what your purpose is and whether you have enough evidence to represent both sides of your issue.  As you write you may find that you switch the previously planned order to accomplish whatever the goal you have set while being aware of the expectations of your audience.

By creating an informal outline it will provide you a list of bullets that you can create into topic sentences.  If you do a formal outline it will provide main topic ideas and supporting ideas for those.  This is a flexible skeleton for your paper that keeps you on track but allows you to change things as needed.

It should be obvious in each paragraph what the idea is from the start and it should be followed by evidence from a source or two and state the concluding fact.  Paragraphs should be arranged by chronology, cause/effect, pro/con, multiple views, comparison/contrast, strengths/weaknesses, costs/benefits, problem/solution, definition or description.  It must be a predictable pattern for your reader.

Details that are concrete and supported by evidence will create interest and clarity for your audience.  

Using sources effectively by paraphrasing, quoting or summarizing it will strengthen your point you are trying to bring across.  

Transitions are important.  They create flow and rhythm to your paper.  The lead the reader into introductions to new pieces of your topic.

Intros are key in engaging your reader and telling them why your paper is important to read.  Some strategies to use are:
Stating the topic
Establishing context
Stat your thesis
Define a problem
Surprising Statement
Ask a question 
Tell a story
Provide a historical account
Draw a contrast
Leading with a quotation

There are ways that you can make your paper easy for a reader to navigate through.  Some writers use a real obvious statements that tell the reader the topics being covered.  Many use headings and subheadings to mark the place.  Forecasts and cross references can be used to warn the reader of what is coming up next.  If it is digital, a menu may provided. Design principles are key in this process from the font chosen, possible bullet lists to headers and footers.

A conclusion needs to be strong.  You are to state your purpose one more time and share your thoughts. There are strategies for this:  
Offer additional analysis
Speculate about the future
Close with a question
Close with a story
Close with a quotation
Call to Action
Link it to your introduction

By using these intro and concluding strategies along with organized paragraphs and a flexible outline you will be able to create a well informed and easy to navigate research paper.   

Bedford Researcher-Chapter 18

First impressions are important not only for people but this saying can be applied to your research paper.  When designing your document, you need to pay attention to five important principles in regards to creating your document; they are balance, emphasis, placement, repetition and consistency.

Balance is deciding whether you will do a conservative symmetrical alignment of text and illustration.  if you decide to go with a more asymmetrical design it will create a feeling of movement.  Another design principle is emphasis.  This focuses on headings, subheadings, color or the type of font you will use.  Placement is organizing where you may put a photograph or other related illustrations.  Repetition includes page numbering, logos, web navigation menus and other ways to navigate through your document.  Consistency is important.  It gives the reader a feeling that you are knowledgeable, credible and take pride in your product.  Everything in your paper should match and take all elements into consideration.

When designing your document step outside of yourself and view it as if you are the reader.  Is it easy to locate information and ideas?  Headings and subheadings should be consistent and easy to identify.  Is it easy on your eyes to navigate and read?  The font should be simple and the line spacing should be the same.  Are the illustrations clear and helpful? You can insert photographs, digital images, charts and graphs.  You can add borders and shaded boxes to add additional information.  The possibilities are endless with technology and the programs we have available.

When inserting illustrations be sure that they have a function and a purpose for your topic.  You can add captions to them or put them at a relevant part of your paper.

Bedford Researcher-Chapter 15

This chapter covers ways to effectively use sources to your advantage in writing a research paper.  Sources are helpful in bringing ideas to the reader's attention, adding evidence and support to the ideas you are stating, give credence to your idea and set the tone towards your subject.  Sometimes sources can bring visual images that you can include or bring understanding to a complex subject.  Quotes or phrases can be inserted and so can statistics from a source.

The strategy of using a quotation, summary or parapharasing a point or the opposing side can be effective sparking the curiosity of the reader and luring him in to read your paper.  You can use sources this way to your advantage by either strengthening your side or creating awareness of what the opposing argument's stand is.

You can create conversation between your opposing sources by using partial quotes and then refuting it with another source.

Sources are key in strengthening your view by noting results of a study, words from an expert in the field and visual sources can help your reader understand what you are wanting to prove.

If there is an expert in the field of your topic you can add to your credibility by linking your similar views to someone that has recognition as a figure.  

Sometimes a borrowing a quote or an illustration from your source can create emotions or a mood for your reader.  

Examples you find in sources can give you a little meat for your paper and back up your view or the opposition's standpoint on your topic.

First, you have to identify the sources you will use. Annotate each one identifying what it is about and how it may be useful to you.  After that, you can organize them into subtopics or categories.  

Whenever a writer uses information from sources, it must clearly show the difference between their ideas and yours.  It is important that you use attributions and in text citations to make this obvious.  By making citations it allows readers to be able to look up and read up on additional information on the topic.  

Writers have to know the situation they are writing for so they can provide introductions to and context for the sources they are inserting into their paper.  Be sure to make clear why this quote or paraphrase is relevant and credible.

A writer must be selective on what quotations they use and judge what type of effect it will have on their reader.  For example, you could share a story or testimonial of someone affected by your issue in order to create emotion, urgency or assign importance to your subject.  Another example would be to write the results of a study done by an expert to support your case.

There are three types of quotations, partial, complete and block.  Partial is us using a single buzz word or phrase or part of a sentence.  Complete is using full sentences.  Block is using is using four or more typed lines that require indenting.  

You can modify a quote by using brackets around the word you are changing to make the quote more clear.  It is very important that you punctuate quotes accurately and pay attention to the rules of where quotation marks go.  Ellipsis should be used when words are omitted or dropped off.

Do not confuse paraphrasing with summarizing.  Paraphrasing states the same idea with different words, order and usually is as long as the sentence it is replacing.  A summary is when you pick out the main points of an article or source and briefly state what the point is.  It is factual and free of needless details.  You can do this with a source in order to use it for support.  You want to focus on the main idea and key points from your source.

Sometimes you can group many sources together that are in agreement and summarize them.  It is very important that all of them are cited.  

You can cite sources within the text of the document.  This helps you to give credit to the source and protects you from plagiarism.  It also creates a record of sources a reader can take advantage of and you are able to refer to it as well.

Bedford Researcher-Chapter 16

The style an author chooses to write in is important to consider as this will affect whether readers will engage in wanting to hear what the topic is about or the position that is being taken on the issue.  The first thing you should take into account is who is my audience.  Is it people who are familiar with my subject?  Is my issue current and well known in the mainstream?  Do I write conversationally or in a formal way to scholars?  Once you decide who your audience is, next there are some writing tips that are good to abide by when writing a research paper.

 One of the tips is to be clear and brief in your writing while keeping words to a minimum and eliminating modifiers, like very, really, great, etc.  Another tip is to eliminate introductory phrases and get to the point.  Stock phrases such as, as a matter of fact or in the event of and others like it are not necessary for this type of writing.  it just clutters the paper up with additional words.

A writer must decide whether they will be writing their paper in an active voice or a passive voice.  An active voice always states who is doing the action.  For example:  Iraq's army bombed the school full of children.
A passive voice would say, A school was damaged.  When writing in a passive voice it does not always say who or what did the action.

Staying with a consistent point of view is important in order for the reader to be able to follow what happened.  Pick whether you will speak in first, second, or third person and stick with it all of the way through the paper.

Word choice should be carefully scrutinized.  Ask yourself if you are writing formal enough and if you are using the specialized language necessary for your topic in order to connect with your readers.  Pay attention to whether you are writing too technical for your audience as well.  Keep your language interesting and engaging.  Sentence structure should vary.  If you are beginning too many sentences with the same word and not using pronouns, that can become annoying for readers.  Short and choppy sentences can sound robotic and dull.  By mixing up different types of sentences it will add rhythm to your paper.

Good transitions move a paper along and are pleasing to the reader.  You can do this by using transitional words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs that move the reader to the next subtopic. I like to end some of my paragraphs with a sentence that refers to what was just read but leads to what is next.

This chapter also addressed the way we introduce sources or authors in our paper.  We need to be careful to stay neutral if that is our intent. If we are intending to persuade, the language we use can give credence to the sources that are supporting the stance we want to take.

Sexist language should never be used in a paper.  Common stereotypes should never be a part of the wording in your paper.  Readers will get a bad impression of you.

Reading often and a wide variety of all types of literature can only help improve how an author writes!

Bedford Researcher-Chapter 20

In Chapter 20 of The Bedford Researcher it talked about how important it is to assign credit to those sources that have helped you during the process of writing your paper.  It also provides a trail to help others to follow on that topic and protects you from plagiarism.  An honest writer follows these rules closely in order to be credible and fair to those in the academic community.

There are many documentation systems.  The one you choose to use will bear heavily on the field you are writing for.  Different rules are set up for various organizations of how they prefer to document and organize the huge amount of information that is shared worldwide.  The four most common formats are:

• MLA-Modern Language Association-It is used for the humanities
• APA-American Psychological Association- It is used for the social sciences.
• Chicago-Created by the University of Chicago Press-It is used in the humanities, history and journalism.
• CSE-Council of Science Editors-It is mainly used for physical and life sciences and mathematics

The format you choose is guides by this list or what your professor tells you they prefer.  For this essay we will be using the MLA format that we just did a lab on this past Thursday.

The Bedford Researcher has this list of information to include in a citation.

• Author or editor
• title
• publication date
• publisher or city of publication
• periodical name, volume, issue and page numbers
• URL and access date for online publications

I will be referring closely to my handouts from class and the handbook in order to get this right.

Bedford Researcher-Chapter 19

In chapter 19 of  The Bedford Researcher it addressed the decision you need to make on how you will design your document.  This is important as first impressions are important to a reader but of utmost importance to an instructor grading it.  Have you followed their guidelines?

You have to take into consideration the type of writing it is.  For example, a piece for a newspaper would look much different from a formal essay.  You have to decide on the font, where you will place images, look at the guidelines of expectations and how you will use headers and footers in it.  You will want to correctly cite your sources in the right format.

 In this chapter it went over the expectations of a multimedia essay.  This is very reliant on visual images and layout, rather than text.  I think of PowerPoint and Key note when I think of this.  Some tips are to keep transitions from being distracting, make slides look clean and font big enough to read.  Keep color scheme, fonts, lay out very consistent.  Bullets are best used and keeping wording concise.  If this presentation was to be designed to be orally presented you would rely heavily on bullets, minimal wording, visual engagement and your dynamic speaking skills.

This chapter also covered the design of articles.  You have to take into consideration your audience, key points, mood and the type of publication you are writing for.

Web site design can be instrumental to promote businesses, inform people. allow access to other sources related to the subject and are designed for a much broader audience than a research paper is.  You have to consider the diversity of the group you will be reaching and how you will organize and design your website to meet those needs.  Many of the tips are similar to what you would use in a PowerPoint as far as consistency in fonts and removing distracting features. With a website design I feel it is most important that it is easy to navigate a labeled well.

It talked about designing oral  essay presentations.  When doing this you are inserted as part of the selling feature of your idea.  It is important that you look presentable, your gestures are kept to a minimum, you are articulate and can make eye contact with your audience and you are able to connect through all of that and your choice of words.  When doing this you have to think of who you are speaking to so you are able to meet expectations. Evaluate their common knowledge on the topic and focus on what they may not know in order to narrow it down.  You cannot possibly cover every bit of evidence in your research without putting them to sleep.  Grab their attention, Establish your main point,  talk about key points with evidence to support it, walk them through it with good transitions and close it by restating your main point.  I always invite questions.

For speeches it is encouraged to use speaker's notes rather than formally writing it out.  It is a bullet point list for you to cover in your talk.  It allows for you to speak in your own voice with ad libs and not like a robot.

Poster presentations were covered in this as well and the take away was much similar to the rules for making a nice PowerPoint slide.  Focused, consistent in font, clear in purpose and a good representation  of what you intend to share with your audience is the most important points.

Bedford Researcher-Chapter 12

After deciding where you stand on your topic and creating a thesis, you are ready  to search for ways to support your way of thinking on your issue.  You have to take into account the audience you are writing for, common knowledge and beliefs, and what strategy you will take to prove your point.

In informative papers writers narrow their reasons to less than five.  An argumentative paper will be written to persuade those viewing it while a blog post may be written to clarify a topic.  You will have to use some of the tools shared in previous chapters to come up with these, such as clustering, looping, freewriting and brainstorming.  For each kind of document readers expect different different things.  For example, if I were to write an informative paper, a reader would be expected to be taught something about the topic but, on the other hand, if I were writing a reflective document, my reader would be interested on my personal experience on the subject.  It is very important to think about what the reader will gain from your writing piece and whether that is what your intentions are.

Every reason you state supporting your thesis should always be followed up with evaluated evidence.  You can get it from your own experiences, quote from sources, visual images and other various information you have found during the gathering data phase of your project.

Another important decision you have to make is what mode of appeal will you use to capture your reader's interest.  Will you use scholarly people to endorse your idea, create emotion from the subject, tap into people's belief system, or draw from those that are trusted in the particular field you are writing about?  One other way you can appeal to readers is to lay the situation out in a logical fashion as if you were a lawyer.  In this case you would use deduction and induction to achieve this.  Deduction relies on using general principles to support it and induction uses observations to draw their conclusions.  You don't have to be devoted to one method because they can work together.

Make sure your argument does not stray from your subject.  They call this a" red herring."  Discrediting other groups is not usually effective.  That makes me think of negative, backstabbing political campaigns.  Those are called ad hominem attacks.  Make sure you history you use to support it is relevant.

You need to remove from your paper any generalizations you may have included, misrepresentations of opposing arguments, avoid citing unqualified experts and never insult your reader with the idea that if "everyone" believes your argument to be true, he should.

In your paper you should do your best to present both sides of the issue honestly, be honest about statistics and make educated comparisons and not silly ones.  Be sure to pay attention to whether your reasoning is educated and avoid being careless in trying to prove your argument.

The first 10

1.  Rearranging the Deck Chairs or Reallocating the Lifeboats? Homelessness Assistance and Its Alternatives

Dennis P. Culhane, Stephen Metraux
Journal of the American Planning Association 
Vol. 74, Iss. 1, 2008

2.  Dennis P. Culhane. "The Cost of Homelessness: A Perspective from the United States" European Journal of Homelessness 2.1 (2008): 97-114.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/dennis_culhane/82

3.  Greenberg, Brian, et al. "Supportive Housing Best Practices in a Mid-Sized US Urban Community." Housing, Care and Support16.1 (2013): 6-15. ProQuest. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

4.  Culhane, Dennis P., Stephen Metraux, and Thomas Byrne. "A prevention-centered approach to homelessness assistance: a paradigm shift?." Housing Policy Debate 21.2 (2011): 295-315.

5.  Transporting Homeless Students to Increase Stability: A Case Study of Two Texas Districts

Barbara Wand James and Patrick D. Lopez

The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 72, No. 1, Student Mobility: How Some Children Get Left Behind (Winter, 2003), pp. 126-140

Published by: Journal of Negro Education

Article DOI: 10.2307/3211296

Article Stable URL: http://

6. The Failure of Liberal Homeless Policy in the Koch and Dinkins Administration

J. Phillip Thompson

Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 111, No. 4 (Winter, 1996-1997), pp. 639-660

Published by: The Academy of Political Science

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2152088/stable/3211296

7. Redefining Transitional Housing for Homeless Families

Ellen L. Bassuk

Yale Law & Policy Review, Vol. 6, No. 2 (1988), pp. 309-330

Published by: Yale Law & Policy Review, Inc.

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40239285

8.  Dennis P. Culhane. "Tackling Homelessness in Los Angeles' Skid Row: The Role of Policing Strategies and the Spatial Deconcentration of Homelessness" Criminology and Public Policy 9.4 (2010): 851-857.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/dennis_culhane/98

9.  Housing First: Considering Components for Successful Resettlement of Homeless People with Multiple Needs

Carol McNaughton Nicholls, Iain Atherton
Housing Studies 
Vol. 26, Iss. 5, 2011

10.  Johnson, Bethany and Toohey, Sarah. Moving from what to how: The key service elements for ending homelessness [online]. Parity, Vol. 26, No. 8, Sep 2013: 27-29. Availability: <http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=739452019930881;res=IELFSC>ISSN: 1032-6170. [cited 24 Apr 14].

Incorporating Sources Effectively-Lab-April 17

Quotations:

A.  According to Kay Young McChesney, Professor at the University of Missouri, she said that "...any program or policy that will increase the supply of low cost housing or decrease the number of poor families will help to prevent homelessness" (7).

b. An article "Transporting Homeless Students to Increase Stability. A Case Study of Two Texas Districts,"  in the Journal of Negro Education, the authors, Barbara Wand James and Patrick D. Lopez stated, "Families and youth in these situations are often concerned with basic survival needs, and school is low on the list of immediate priorities than food or shelter."

Paragraphs highlighting credibility of sources and quotes.

1.  In the 2010 research manuscript titled, "A Prevention-Centered Approach towards Homelessness Assistance: A Paradigm Shift," compiled by two University of Pennsylvania P.H.D. professors, Dennis P. Culhane and Stephen Metraux, and a University of Pennsyvania Doctoral student, Thomas Byrne, MSW, stated in their concluding statement, " A reformed homelessness assistance system alone will not solve the underlying problems of housing affordability, income, insecurity, and the inaccessibility of supportive services" (39).

2. According to authors, Brian Greenburg, Sophia Korb, Kristen Cronan and Robert Anderson, who are professors at Monmouth University in California, in the article titled,  "Supportive housing best practices in a Mid-Sized US Urban Community," published in the 2013 issue of Housing, Care and Support,they concluded that, "This study suggests that in addition to visibly reducing homelessness on the streets of San Mateo, this model of permanent supportive housing promotes clients' health, increases their level of self-sufficiency, and encourages community" (15) which supports my argument that providing homes first will encourage independence.

Bedford Researcher-Chapter 11

After gathering plenty of resources, from your research question you will work towards developing a good thesis.  After viewing many different types of documents critically while writing notes on them, it may become clear what your position is on your chosen topic.  

A thesis statement should state clearly what the topic is and your opinion or stance on it.  A writer must review their notes, develop a clear purpose and make note of any changes from the original research question.  By doing this it will allow you to revise your position statement.  Most importantly, take in to consideration who your readers are and what do you need to do in your writing piece to either change their view or enlighten them.

Look for key phrases and words in your notes and in your research question that can help you develop your thesis statement.  Decide what kind of statement you need to make.  Is it one of informing, position, persuasion or taking action on your topic?  Draft up different approaches until it feels right.

Make sure it is narrowed, pointed and focused.  You can start our broad and tailor it down to meet the needs of your topic.

In my opinion, thesis statements are the heart of your paper.  Everything after it holds it up.  Without one your paper will have no structure, clarification or weight.  It is so important that it is easily identifiable and that a lot of effort has been put into it to get it just right.

Bedford Researcher-Chapter 10

Research writers find field research helpful when gathering information on an issue in many cases.  Some of the reasons it can be valuable is when you cannot find enough published sources that give information on a less popular view.  It can also breathe new life on an old issue.  Through interviews, observations, surveys and other ways, sometimes you can bring a different perspective out front that has never been considered in the past.

Field research can help you to decide what side of the issue you support and want to write about.  It can give a writer first hand knowledge shared from those living it.  For example, if I were to interview people running a homeless shelter and those that are homeless, it may bring to light what interventions are most useful, not helpful and need to be created.  It is important to plan your interview out in order to maximize the opportunity.  Decide on the location and time you can meet.  Have a good estimate of how long your interview will be so you can inform them.  Make a script of how it will go.  Prepare 8 to 20 main questions that are not the yes-no type. Interviews can be face to face, on the phone, in an email or other written ways.

When interviewing you will have to decide on the note taking method you will use.  Will you record with the permission of the person you are interviewing?  Will you use the transcript method?  Either of these are great but you should always take notes no matter what.  After the interview analyze and record your results and opinions of how it was helpful or not.

Observation can take time and some additional effort.  It may take a few different times to get a clear picture of what you are observing to develop some conclusions and opinions from what you are viewing.  Getting permission and setting up observation can be the hardest part.  It encourages you to be organized and pay attention to detail.  After an observation you must analyze the results of it.  You may highlight key individuals to bring understanding of your issue to the reader.  You will right down actions and look for patterns that support your issue and may be unusual.

Surveys data can be helpful in gauging the attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of a select representative group of people.  This tool is best used when you are tracking a large group rather than a few people.  It takes some preparation as you will need to develop concise questions that can be answered with short responses, decide how you will select your group of people and if you are doing it by gender, age or area.  Using friends or classmates to test your survey out on would be good to see if it gets the answers you need or if you need to clarify your questions or narrow them.  They can be electronic, on paper or done over the phone.  You have to check if surveying is legal before you do anything on the phone or in the public.  Again, analyze the results and decide if it is helpful for your research.  Tips to keep in mind are short, appropriate, clear purpose, being respectful to respondents and make it easy to turn in.

Correspondence is any kind of written responses, such as emails, faxes, letters or communicating through social media.  You may engage with experts, government, businesses and people experiencing your topic.  It must be done in a cordial manner so people will want to respond.

Attending public events, such as conferences, lectures, hearings and other events that may apply to your subject can inform you on your subject.  Broadcasts and special news programs can be helpful as well.  You can watch or listen to archived recordings of shows and watch streamed events online.  

There are lots of options that can be used in research outside of scholarly sources that a person can seek out if they are motivated and organized.

Bedford Researcher-Chapter 7

Plagiarism is quite common in the schools I work in.  It seems to occur from lack of vocabulary in regards to my ESL students, being in a time crunch, not thinking anyone will notice or simply not caring.  In the world of computers it is so easy to copy and paste stuff into a document forgetting to properly give credit to the source. 

 Although, those are the obvious reasons, sometimes plagiarism happens by it accident and the intentions were good.  A writer can forget putting quotes or a parenthetical citation. Sometimes phrasing can be worded to closely while summarizing. In this chapter it says to do your best to avoid summarizing as it can become an accidental trap.  Most plagiarism falls in this category.

The intentional offenders will create fake citations. purchase a document and submit it as their own, copy one and turn it in as their own or they will engage in "patchwork writing" (Bedford Researcher) using many sources without giving credit.

Plagiarism is a serious offense in the academic world.  It can cause a student to lose credibility and go as far as possibly being failed in a course. Plagiarism is considered to be dishonest and  a violation of passing ideas or information off as your own when it is someone else's work.

Plagiarism in group projects is different in regards to th e situation and the instructor's rules.  It encourages that you acknowledge your teammates on the project.

By having research ethics, you will always cite sources that have helped you, fairly represent the information you are showcasing and always acknowledge those that have helped you shape your paper.

You do not need to cite common knowledge As you read sources, you eventually become aware of what is commonly known about your topic.  If you are new to the subject you may need to do more research to be comfortable in judging what is common knowledge.

A writer can avoid plagiarism by deciphering what you know and don't know about your topic, take good notes, evaluate whether this is your idea or someone else's idea, cite sources in the paper, in a works cited document and a reference list and be aware of misconceptions about plagiarism.  Every source should be documented, including graphs, pictures, etc.

Plagiarism is dishonest and by understanding how to avoid it a writer can be successful in creating his own work while giving credit to those who have helped him.

Bedford Researcher-Chapter 6

In chapter 6 of The Bedford Researcher  it gave a lot of tips on how to manage information and effective ways to take notes on sources.  It highly encouraged creating some type of filing system from the very beginning of your project.  You have to decide how you will group together your information, remember to date all notes and verify that publication information is on each document.  It also encouraged writing a small note on sources to remind you of why it is relevant to your topic.  You will also have to decide how you will save all of your digital information.  Will you copy and paste all URL to a word document in order to have a hard copy.  It also talked about ways that you can save a source to your computer by using certain commands.  You can also email yourself your sources.  You can bookmark helpful websites, record information in your smartphone using the recorder or ap organizers.

This chapter covered the importance of taking notes and finding a consistent method to do it.  It helps you to keep track of information, opposing arguments and other ideas.  It saves you time if you are able to reflect back on organized notes to aid you in creating a first draft.  By paraphrasing and summarizing sources you are able to connect to your issue and draw some conclusions.

It also covered how to properly quote passages and correctly use ellipsis and brackets.  This chapter gave great tips on how to paraphrase, summarize and avoid plagiarism.  

It went over how to manage and classify sources.  As time goes on in your research you will notice sources   arguing your issue.  You will be able to find sources that are connecting to the original ones that captured your interest.  Bibliographies are good to keep track of sources by doing a complete documentation of them.  You can do it as a working one or make an annotated one.

Bedford Researcher-Chapter 3

In chapter 3 of  The Bedford Researcher it addresses the importance of a well developed research question and how to craft a clear and concise proposal for your research project.  A research question needs to be narrowed down, specific, and reflect your writing situation so you are able to effectively meet the deadlines for your project.  You will begin your question with who, what, where, when, why, would, could or how.  In a more analytical piece you may ask a should question in regards to a police or decision that has been made.  This question may become different as you dive deeper into the research of your topic.  During this process you must always be open for revision until you have developed a solid position on the issue in your piece of writing.

During the process of fact finding, interviews, reading, learning both sides of the issue, you may change your mind from your original position.  Most writers begin with a set of biases, beliefs or standards that they bring with them.  In this chapter it encourages you to ask yourself some questions in regards to your writing situation, such as what kind of document are you writing?  Are you informing, persuading, evaluating or analyzing a subject?  What sources will be used and what opportunities or limitations will you come up against?  What will be accomplished with this?  Most importantly, can you keep an open mind or are your biases too strong on this issue?

The next step is to generate potential research questions.  Figure out if your focus is informational, historical, political, based on an outcome or a goal.  After that, you develop your questions that relate to your specific topic.  Will it be should, would, what, and so on type of question?  List your questions and select the best one.

Selecting and refining your question is important because it will point out societal assumptions or bring attention to a problem in regards to the selected issue.  Using conditional words and phrases aids in this task.  This encourages a writer to narrow their focus on their chosen issue.

You  can test out your research question by doing some preliminary searches online  through the internet and credible library sources.  If you can't find enough on your issue, you may need to widen your focus.  Most first drafts are not successful.  It usually takes two to three times to refine your question.

After doing this you create a research proposal or a prospectus.  This proposal is addressed to your instructor, supervisor or organization.  It includes title  page, introduction to your topic, literature review, explanation of evidence collection, timeline and a bibliography.  In reviewing sources you will want to select opposing ones for both sides of your issue.  Online, print and interviewing people is the main ways to research a topic.  You have to decide if scholarly journals, interviews or newspaper articles are the right route to go with the selected topic that has been chosen.

Brainstorming Possible Research Topics

1. Providing shelter for the homeless vs. programs to help them live on their own
2.  Modern day slavery-Sex trafficking, immigration workers, etc
3.  Opening up the borders for immigrants that have the intention to work
4.  The right to end life if enduring a terminal illness
5.  Should we legalize civil unions for anyone instead of legalizing gay marriage?  Should the government get out of the marriage business?
6,  Does violent video games played by small children encourage aggression in play?
7.  Should there be laws set up for privately owned drones?
8. Should vaccinating your children be required by law?

Bedford Researcher- Chapter 4

In Chapter 4 of The Bedford Researcher it focused heavily on critical reading in order to develop a position on your issue.  Critical reading is the act of reading with the intent to make sense of what the source's meaning is.  This chapter encourages you to develop a research question prior to reading sources to help you to develop a future position on your subject which will eventually lead to a strong thesis statement.

Reading with a critical attitude is encouraged.  By doing this it will encourage you to question what is  written in a source, open your mind up to other views and identify the validity in the opposing view.  During this process it is important to evaluate your sources and make sure they meet the criteria for your research to move forward.

This chapter says that it is important to read actively, meaning that you should identify key ideas, write questions in the margins, annotate, take notes and link up similar sources.    It also mentions that you need to pay close attention to the type of source you are reading and whether it is a primary or secondary source.    Primary sources should be sought after so the writer is able to form opinions and conclusions on their own.  When reading a source you do need to be aware of the type of evidence that is being provided to support the issue and look for what it is trying to appeal to or persuade the reader to think.

In this portion of the book it touches on how to read a source.  It says to skim it and find out the general idea of what it is about.  It cautions to avoid skipping data that is difficult to understand because you may miss out on something that may be important for your research.  It says to note it and make time for it later.

After deciding on which sources are of value, that is the time to reread it gain a more detailed opinion on it and decide if it can be used.  While doing this it will benefit the writer by gaining more knowledge on both sides of the issue, help develop stronger support for the side of argument you are taking and weed out sources that are not useful.

Bedford Researcher- Chapter 2

In Chapter two of The Bedford Researcher it listed the steps in exploring your chosen topic.  It suggested creating a plan of a variety of ways to gather research, such as knowledgable people to discuss it with, places you may go, web searching and other resources.  It stressed again that a writer needs to have a system of tracking this information.

It listed a variety of ways to gather information.  One example is a writer can read one piece of research and go to the works cited list and gather sources from that or you could check for pull quotes or bolded words in sources that draw attention to details within the topic. When skimming through sources it highly encourages taking brief notes along the way by highlighting, underlining and annotating.

During research a writer will notice conversations on issues, patterns in information,  disagreeing points of view and new ideas.  Knowledgeable authors will appear often on the subject that will lead you to read from them and learn from their expertise on the subject.

After a good deal of research it will be time to choose the view that speaks to you the most and work towards supporting it.  You will ask yourself many questions like does this meet the requirements for the project? Will readers want to hear about this?  Is there enough information to support a ten page essay?  Do I need to narrow this subject further?  After evaluating it, your work begins.

Bedford Researcher -Chapter 1

In chapter 1 of the Bedford Researcher it addresses how to get started and begin a research paper.  It emphasizes how important it is to find a topic that you are interested in and engage in a sense of ownership of it.  It also mentions that a writer needs to know whether they are writing it to provide information on the topic or if the paper is designed to support a specific side of the topic.  It provided ideas for selecting a topic.  It stated that you need to take in to consideration what is suitable, engaging and something readers may be interested in.  The strategies suggested were to brainstorm, freewrite, loop or cluster.  Using these techniques can help you to narrow your topic and eliminate ideas that don't hold enough interest for you.  After going through this process you then will finally select the best candidate that holds your interest and judge whether it is a good selection for who you are writing for.

In writing a research paper a person will be identifying and locating a wide variety of sources.  It is important to develop a way to catalogue it and keep track of all you are learning.  Some ideas were to write information in a notebook, computer, a recorder or some type of handheld electronic device.  The chapter stressed how important it is to have a research log to refer to right from the start.  After you have developed a system good writers learn how to take a position on a topic.  Sometimes after research your original position may change as you analyze and evaluate your information you have taken in.  On the other hand, you may find that your position remains strong and you have found even more examples to back it up.

Genre and design is important in creating your writing project.  Depending on what you are writing for it may suit a certain style, such as a blog, facebook page, magazine article or a formal essay, to mention a few.  The font, layout, pictures and type of paper or medium you choose will affect how it is received by your projected audience.  It is also important to be aware of the genre of readers that will be viewing your writing and the context they will be reading it in.  You need to make a note of whether it is something to be scanned through quickly or thoroughly studied.

One of the most important tips that was stated in this chapter, at least for me, was to manage my time effectively.  It suggested creating a timeline of milestones within your project to reach and hold yourself accountable to them.