Research Papers For Dummies
For Dummies (Verlag)
978-0-7645-5426-1 (ISBN)
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From blank page to final draft, this is your straightforward guide to research papers
You're sitting at your desk in a classroom or in an airless cubicle, wondering how many minutes are left in a seemingly endless day, when suddenly your teacher or supervisor lowers the boom: She wants a research paper, complete with footnotes and a list of sources. She wants accuracy, originality, and good grammar. And – gasp! – she wants ten pages! You may be 16 years old or 60 years old, but your reaction is the same: Help! Take heart. A research paper may seem daunting, but it's a far-from-impossible project to accomplish. Turning research into writing is actually quite easy, as long as you follow a few proven techniques. And that's where Research Papers For Dummies steps in to help. In this easy-to-understand guide, you find out how to search for information using both traditional printed sources and the electronic treasure troves of the Internet. You also discover how to take all those bits of information, discarding the irrelevant ones, and put them into a form that illustrates your point with clarity and originality.
Here's just a sampling of the topics you'll find in Research Papers For Dummies:
Types of research papers, from business reports to dissertations
The basic ingredients of a paper: Introduction, body, conclusion, footnotes, and bibliography
Note-taking methods while doing research
Avoiding plagiarism and other research paper pitfalls
Defining your thesis statement and choosing a structure for your paper
Supporting your argument and drawing an insightful conclusion
Revising and polishing your prose
Top Ten lists on the best ways to begin your research online and in print
Research Papers For Dummies also includes an appendix that's full of research paper ideas if you're stuck.
If you're tasked with writing a research paper, chances are you already have a lot of demands on your time. You don't need another huge pile of papers to read. This book can actually save you time in the long run, because it gives you the easiest, fastest, and most successful methods for completing your paper.
Geraldine Woods is the author of more than 40 books, including the popular English Grammar For Dummies. She has taught high school and middle school English for over 25 years.
Introduction 1
How to Use This Book 1
What You’re Not to Read 2
Foolish Assumptions 3
How This Book Is Organized 3
Part I: Figuring Out What You Are Writing and How to Write It 3
Part II: Finding Everything about Anything: Research 4
Part III: Collecting Pearls of Wisdom: How to Take Notes 4
Part IV: More Than Sharpening Pencils: Preparing to Write 4
Part V: Turn on the Computer, Fill the Fountain Pen: It’s Time to Write 5
Part VI: The Part of Tens 5
Appendix 5
Bonus Web Chapter 5
Icons Used in This Book 5
Where to Go from Here 6
Part I: Figuring Out What You Are Writing and How to Write It 7
Chapter 1: Running a Marathon in Sandals, or Writing a Research Paper 9
Writing Research Papers Is for Your Own Good, Honest 9
Cooking Up a Research Paper: The Basic Ingredients 11
The introduction 11
The body 11
The conclusion 12
Footnotes, endnotes, and parenthetical citations 12
Title page and front matter 12
Works cited or bibliography 13
Meeting the Family: Characteristics of Each Type of Research Paper 13
Report 13
Laboratory report 14
Science research paper 15
Term (or library) paper 16
Thesis 17
Dissertation 18
Business report 19
Business plan 20
Climbing the Steps to Successful Research Papers 21
Chapter 2: Getting on the Right Track: Tips for Saving Time and Effort 23
Making a Long Story Short 23
Recording your life as a researcher 24
Taking the research paper one step at a time 25
Timing Is Everything 27
I’ve got all the time in the world: The ten-week plan 28
I can take my time: The five-week plan 28
I’m in a hurry but not in a panic: The two-week plan 29
It’s due tomorrow! 30
Finding a Method That Suits Your Madness 31
Choosing a topic 31
Taking notes 31
Writing 32
Discovering a Method That Suits Your Authority Figure’s Madness 32
Asking the right questions 33
Using realism as a tactic 35
Chapter 3: What Am I Writing About? 37
Defining Terms: Subject, Topic, and Thesis 38
Subject 38
Topic 38
Thesis 39
Selecting a Subject for Your Paper: The Subject of Your Affection 40
When the choice is yours 40
When you’ve got no choice 42
Attending to the Topic of Topics 43
What information is available? 43
What structure will I use? 44
Is there anything left to write? 45
Moving from a Topic to a Thesis 45
Getting an idea 45
Developing the idea 46
Creating the thesis statement 46
Surveying the Territory: When Your Paper Doesn’t Need a Thesis 46
Part II: Finding Everything about Anything: Research 49
Chapter 4: Casting a Wide Net: Choosing Sources for Your Paper 51
Sourcing Your Paper: How Many and What Kinds Do You Need? 51
Stalking the Wild Source: A Field Guide 53
Books 53
Magazine and journal articles 54
Newspapers 55
Pamphlets and newsletters 56
Published research papers 58
Electronic sources 58
Real people 63
Audio-visual sources 64
Firsthand collection of data 64
Distrusting What You Find: A Guide to Evaluating Sources 65
Check the publisher 66
Check the date 66
Check the author 66
Check the organization 67
Check the language 67
Chapter 5: Surfing Safari: Researching Online 69
Creating an Effective Search 69
Simple searches 70
Advanced searches 71
Taking You Where You Want to Go: Search Engines and Subject Catalogues 74
Traveling Express: Metasearch Engines 75
Searching Online Databases 76
LexisNexis and Westlaw 76
Dialog 76
Dow Jones Interactive 77
OCLC FirstSearch 77
ProQuest, EBSCO, and InfoTrak 77
Other helpful online databases 77
Finding the Best of the Internet: Good Spots to Begin Your Research 78
General reference sites 78
Government sites 79
Literature and language 79
Science and math 80
Geography, history, politics, and social science 80
Business and economics 81
Arts 81
Current events 81
Drowning in Information? How to Swim to Shore 82
Chapter 6: Working from Traditional Sources 83
Researching from Library Books 84
Checking the catalogue 84
Gathering search terms 87
Locating the best reference books 88
Finding Books in Bookstores 92
Locating Newspaper and Magazine Articles 92
Making do with microform 93
Sorting through CDs 93
Investigating indexes 93
Searching online databases and bibliographies 94
Panning for Gold in the Pamphlet File 94
Finding Audio-Visual Sources: You Oughta Be in Pictures 95
Associating with Experts 96
Examining George Washington’s Letters: Researching from Special Collections 97
Chapter 7: Real Live People: Interviewing Techniques 99
Finding Interview Subjects: Where the People Are 99
Getting the Interview 101
Preparing for the Interview 102
Conducting the Interview 103
Keeping the interview running smoothly 103
Saving it for posterity: Tape or notepad? 105
Using a tape recorder 105
Working with a notebook 106
You’ve got interview: The e-mail connection 107
Cleaning Up: Changing Real Speech into Readable Quotations 108
Part III: Collecting Pearls of Wisdom: How to Take Notes 111
Chapter 8: One Size Does Not Fit All: Note-Taking Methods 113
Carding — the Old System 113
Note Taking on the Computer 116
Can’t We All Get Along? Combining Note Cards and Computers 118
Highlighting and Indexing 120
Indexing Audio-Visual Sources 121
Documenting Your Sources 122
Books 123
Magazine, journal, and newspaper articles 123
Pamphlets and unpublished documents 123
Electronic sources 124
Audio-visual sources 124
Special cases 125
Chapter 9: Note Taking: What to Write, What to Skip 127
Surveying the Field: Preliminary Notes 127
Note Taking with Focus 129
The preliminary stage 131
Zeroing in on a topic 131
When you have a thesis statement 132
Avoiding Common Pitfalls: Too Many, Too Few, and Repetitive Notes 133
Overwriters and repeaters 134
Underwriters 134
N Tkg W/ Abbr. 135
Common words 136
Personalized abbreviations 137
Taking Proper Notes: An Example 137
Chapter 10: Staying on the Right Side of the Law 141
Avoiding Plagiarism for Fun and Profit 141
Quote Unquote 142
Deciding When to Cite Sources 145
Ideas 145
Train of thought 147
Unique phrases 148
Structure 149
Facts 150
Illustrations 151
Seeing What You Don’t Have to Cite 152
Common knowledge 152
Your own ideas 153
Your Authority Figure’s ideas 153
Following the Golden Rule of Citations 154
Staying on the Right Side of the Copyright Law 154
Part IV: More Than Sharpening Pencils: Preparing to Write 157
Chapter 11: Forming a Thesis Statement 159
Laying a Firm Foundation for Your Paper 159
Forming a Thesis and Writing a Thesis Statement 161
Ask questions 161
If only 162
I recommend 163
Relationships 163
Avoiding Potholes: Too Broad, Too Narrow, or Self-Evident Theses 164
Too broad 165
Too narrow 166
Self-evident 167
Examining Quality Thesis Statements 168
Forming a Topic Sentence 169
Choosing a Title 170
Chapter 12: Choosing a Structure for Your Paper 173
Marrying Form and Content: The Right Structure with the Right Thesis 173
Considering the Options: Structures for Every Occasion 175
Chronological order 175
Comparison and contrast 176
Cause and effect 178
Pro and con 179
Interest groups 180
Hypothesis, test, and results 182
Organizing a Paper That Doesn’t Have a Thesis 183
Personalizing a Structural Framework 185
Chapter 13: Organizing the Information: Subtopics 187
Mining Research Notes for Subtopics 187
Matching Subtopics to Structure 189
Chronological order — time periods or stages 189
Comparison and contrast — paired elements and their characteristics 190
Cause and effect — actions and reactions 191
Pro and con — opposite sides of an issue 193
Interest groups — various viewpoints on one issue 194
Hypothesis, test, results — “I wonder ” and proof 194
Sorting Notes: Placing the Right Idea in the Right Basket 195
Chapter 14: The Battle Plan: Constructing an Outline 197
Drawing Up a Battle Plan: Why Outlines Are Necessary 198
Indenting by the Rules: How to Format an Outline 199
Turning Notes into an Outline: A Practical Guide 204
Index cards 205
Computer files 205
Notebook 206
Checking the Logical Path 207
Part V: Turn on the Computer, Fill the Fountain Pen: It’s Time to Write 209
Chapter 15: Allow Me to Introduce Myself: Writing an Effective Introduction 211
Setting Your Reader on the Right Path: What an Introduction Accomplishes 212
Creating and Placing the Essential Elements of the Introduction 213
The topic 213
Thesis statement 214
Thesis statement at the beginning 214
Topic sentence 216
The hook 217
Subtopics 220
Steering Clear of Vague Introductions 221
Writing Introductions for Science and Business Research Papers 223
Chapter 16: The Body of Evidence 227
Putting Meat on the Bones: Writing the Body of the Paper 227
Method 228
Style 229
Defining Paragraphs and Writing Topic Sentences 230
Staying on Topic: The Tuna Fish Defense 232
Connecting the Dots: Moving from One Subtopic to Another 233
Subheads 234
Transitions 234
Presenting Evidence and Relating It to a Thesis 237
Inserting Quotations 239
When to insert a quotation 239
How to insert a quotation 240
One Picture Is Worth 242
Answering Objections in Advance: Concession and Reply 243
Chapter 17: And in Conclusion 245
Summarizing versus Concluding: How to Tell the Difference 245
Packing the Essentials: What the Conclusion Must Contain 247
Thesis reference 247
Expanded idea 248
Dramatic last punch 251
Subtopics 252
Getting It Together: How to Combine the Essential Elements of a Conclusion 252
Concluding a Survey Paper 254
Concluding Science Research Papers 255
Chapter 18: The Picky Stuff: Citing Sources 257
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due: Documenting Sources 257
Citations in the text 258
Source list 260
Meeting the Major Players in the Citation Game 261
APA style 262
MLA style 265
Chicago Manual of Style 269
Chapter 19: It’s a Breeze: The Final Draft 273
Polishing Is Not Just for Shoes 273
Styling Your Sentences 274
Fixing Grammar Gremlins 276
Verbs 276
Pronouns 277
Punctuation 281
Other grammar errors 282
Capital letters 283
Putting It All Together 284
Chapter 20: Solving Special Problems 287
Adjusting Length: The Long and the Short of It 287
Shortening a long paper 288
Lengthening a short paper 289
Overcoming Writer’s Block 290
Surviving Research Disasters 291
Disaster #1: Missing source 291
Disaster #2: Contradictory information 292
Disaster #3: Duplicate ideas 293
Part VI: The Part of Tens 295
Chapter 21: The Ten Best Ways to Start Electronic Research 297
Designing a Search 297
Revving Up a Search Engine 297
Taxing Government Resources 298
Hitting the Library 298
Hitting the Other Library 298
Checking Your FAQs 298
Getting Down to Business 299
Reading the Paper 299
Opening Up a Subject Catalogue 299
Finding People 299
Chapter 22: The Ten Best Ways to Start Traditional Research 301
Asking the Boss 301
Asking the Librarian 301
Opening the Catalogue 302
Referring to Reference Books 302
Checking the Children’s Section 302
Reading the Reader’s Guide 302
Noting the News 303
Perusing the Pamphlet File 303
Browsing Bowker’s 303
Going Shopping 303
Appendix 305
Arts 305
Arts Topics for Younger Writers 306
History 307
History Topics for Younger Writers 308
Literature and Language 309
Literature Topics for Younger Writers 311
Science, Mathematics, and Technology 311
Science, Mathematics, and Technology Topics for Younger Writers 312
Social Science and Psychology 313
Social Science and Psychology Topics for Younger Writers 314
Interdisciplinary Ideas 315
Interdisciplinary Ideas for Younger Writers 317
Index 319
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 15.7.2002 |
|---|---|
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 183 x 229 mm |
| Gewicht | 476 g |
| Einbandart | Paperback |
| Themenwelt | Schulbuch / Wörterbuch ► Lexikon / Chroniken |
| ISBN-10 | 0-7645-5426-3 / 0764554263 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0-7645-5426-1 / 9780764554261 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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