Chapter 12 summary

Calvin Gurtler

4/27/14

English 102

                  In chapter 12 of the Bedford Researcher we discussed important ways  to properly develop your argument. When supporting your argument it is important to first support your thesis statement. The first step you should take when trying to support you thesis statement is to choose a reason. The kinds of reasons you choose will change based on the type of document you intend to write. For example, readers of reflective documents, such as blog posts and academic essays, will expect you to focus on a particular subject. While readers of informative documents, such as reports, essays, and articles, expect you to help them understand something about an issue. You should then select evidence to support your reasons. You can draw evidence from your sources in the form of quotations, paraphrases, summaries, numerical data, and visual images. Again, you should be considering the type of document you intend to write. You also need to decide how you want to appeal to your readers, whether you want to appeal to authority, to emotion, to principles, values, and beliefs, to character, or to logic. The final main step in supporting your argument is to assess its integrity. You check your arguments for fallacies. the four major fallacies that arise in a document are fallacies based on distraction, fallacies based on questionable assumptions, fallacies based on misrepresentation, and fallacies based on careless reasoning.           

Chapter 11 Summary

Calvin Gurtler

4/19/14

English 102

In Chapter 11 of the Bedford Researcher we discussed developing a thesis statement.  When developing your thesis statement it is important to review your position statement, review your notes, consider your purpose and role, and reflect on your readers. As your review your notes you should identify important information, consider whether the information will allow you to pursue your interests, review and elaborate on ideas that you’ve come up with as you think about the subject, and consider how your own ideas might allow you to pursue your interests. As you consider your purpose and role you should be asking yourself the following questions. Have your purposes changed since you started? Has your role as a writer changed since you started your research writing project? When drafting your thesis statement identify important information, ideas, and arguments associated with your position. One way to do this is to identify key words and phrases in your research question. Another way to establish a thesis statement is to draft several alternatives. You should create a statement that asks readers to learn something new, changes their attitudes or beliefs, or asks them to take action. By experimenting with different approaches you can efficiently determine which one works best for you. You should also be considering the type of document you plan to write as you create your thesis statement. The type of document you write can have an effect on how you present your thesis statement. 

Chapter 10 Summary

Calvin Gurtler

4/19/14

English 102

In chapter 10 of the Bedford researcher we discussed searching for information with field research methods. Field research is sometimes the best way to learn about an issue or collect information to support a position. You should consider using field research if published sources address your issue from a perspective you don’t find useful, if you are interested in an issue that most people think of as settled, if you find yourself considering an aspect of an issue that hasn’t been addressed yet, or if you just find that your line of argument can be strengthened by correspondence. One of the forms of field research is the interview. In order to decide whether a interview is necessary you have to think carefully about the role it might play in your research project.  Once you decide, it is important to plan your interview. You should decide who to interview based on what kind of information you want for your research project. Your interview questions should also focus on the issue you want to address. You should be thinking about the role you are adopting and the information you want to collect. Your questions should be in depth and require more than a yes or no answer. You should also prepare follow up answers. After the interview it is important to analyze you results. Look for new ideas, information, and arguments. Look for statements that confirm or contradict information from your other sources. Look for inconsistencies within the interview. Ask whether the information was relevant and credible. Ask whether you consider the person as qualified as you’d expected. Look for statements that might be useful in providing context. The other big form of field research is observations.    

Chapter 7 Summary

Calvin Gurtler

4/18/14

English 102

                 In Chapter 7 of the Bedford Researcher we discussed plagiarism and how to avoid it. Plagiarism is a form of intellectual dishonesty. It involves, whether intentionally or not, using someone else's work without properly acknowledging where the ideas or information came from. There are three types of plagiarism, unintentional plagiarism, intentional plagiarism, and plagiarism in group projects. Unintentional Plagiarism is the most common form of Plagiarism. Unintentional plagiarism often comes from mistakes such as quoting a passage in a note but neglecting to include quotation marks and then later inserting the quotation without remembering that it is a direct quotation. Intentional plagiarism includes actions such as "patchwork writing," which involves piecing together passages from two or more sources without acknowledging the sources and without properly quoting or paraphrasing. Plagiarism in group projects might happen when another writer suggests changes to your document and you subsequently incorporate them into your document. With group projects what is and isn't plagiarism often varies based on the situation. 

             We also discussed the ethics in research that keep the notion that writing is an honest exchange of information, ideas, and arguments among writers and readers who share an interest. To follow the research ethics you must always acknowledge the sources of information, ideas, and arguments used in your document. Accurately and fairly represent the information ideas and arguments in order to ensure that you do not misrepresent that work to your readers. Provide citation information for your sources.            

Chapter 6 Summary

Calvin Gurtler
English 102


              In chapter 6 we discussed how to save and organize information in relevance to the research question we have developed. It is suggested the you create a filing system in order to keep track of all the print documents that you collect throughout your research. However, this filing system must have a organizational scheme that you stick with throughout all of your research. Next, you have to decide how to organize all of your digital information. There are multiple ways to do this, one suggested tactic is to copy and paste all your digital info into a saved and labeled file. This can help keep your records straight. You can also download web pages and pictures you find for later viewing. Emailing yourself notes and links is a good way to keep track of sources you find in case you are working from multiple computers. Bookmarking websites is also important because it keeps a record of the sources you have found. You can also record information using your smartphone using a variety of apps to take notes, bookmark webpages, and even record interviews.

            When you are taking notes it is important to be consistent. In some cases you must remember to quote directly in order to avoid plagiarism.

Chapter 3 Summary

Calvin Gurtler
English 102

             
               In Chapter 3 of the Bedford Researcher we discussed how to develop a research question. Most research questions start with the question what? Why? When? Where? Who? How? You can generate good research questions based on information, history, assumptions, goals, outcomes, and policies you find in your research. Questions can lead to the following kinds of thinking processes, definitions, evaluations. comparison/contrast, cause and effect analysis, problem and solution analysis or advocacy, sequential analysis, inquiry, and reporting. Using the questions and your research you can refine your research question so that it is specific to your topic. Once you have a refined research question you can start a research proposal.

               A research proposal should identify your topic, issue, and research question. Your research proposal should include a title page, an introduction, a review of literature, an explanation of how you will collect information, a project timeline, and a working bibliography. Your research proposal should also identify relevant types of sources and identify appropriate search tools and research methods. You should also compile a Working or Annotated Bibliography that conforms to your documentation system. You also must clarify and elaborate on your core proposal. There are multiple ways to do this you can write an abstract or executive summery, an overview of key challenges, or a funding request and rationale.
           
           

Chapter 4 summary

Calvin Gurtler
4/9/14
English 102


            Chapter 4 discusses reading critically and how it can help you work with your sources. Reading critically differs from evaluating because when you read critically you question what your source is saying and thinking about what it means, focusing on making sense of the source. You don't take anything for face value. While evaluation focuses more on determining how reliable the source is at presenting its information and whether or not it meets your needs for a research writer of your topic. You can use your research question to think critically by forming position on your issue to answer you research question. Reading critically s reading with attitude, regardless of where you are in you research writing process you should always adopt a critical attitude. Ask questions, look for similarities and differences among sources, and examine the implications of what your are reading as it relates to your research topic. The most important part of reading critically is being open to ideas and arguments.

           When critically reading sources you should keep in mind your reader's needs, interests, values, and beliefs. You should also keep in mind the design of your document and the context in which it will be read as you critically read your sources. If your document is going to be read on a cramped smartphone you should find information that is easy to read and fits that context.    

Chapter 2 summary

Calvin Gurtler
4/9/13
English 102


        In chapter 2 they discuss steps to take in order to properly explore your topic. One of the major ways you can explore your topic is to discuss it with others who have been affected by it, whether through formal interviews or phone calls and emails. Conducting preliminary observations is another good way to explore your topic. The biggest way to explore your topic is through sources whether they are online articles in scholarly journals or books from your local library. There are a few different resources when it comes to searching for sources, news-stands and bookstores, databases, web directories, blogs, forums, web discussions, and wikis. Some of these are can be risky and contain sources of disinformation. In order to stay organized it is suggested that you record your searches made using these resources. It is also suggested that you skim your sources so that you can get a general idea of it and see whether or not it is relevant to your topic. By checking the table of contents, index, glossary, works cited list, and pull quotes you can quickly explore your topic.


       It is important in you research paper to focus on a issue. You can do this by identifying conversations about issues in your topic with repeated concepts, broad themes, and disagreements among sources. You than have to assess you interest in the issues and choose one.

 

Chapter 1 Summary and Discussion

Calvin Gurtler
4/7/14
English 102

           In Chapter 1 of The Bedford Researcher they discussed good ways to get started on your research paper. They stress the importance of having the ability to research and write with confidence. Their major points for researching and writing with confidence were taking ownership of your project, understanding the research writing process, learning how to work with sources, learning how to develop a position, understanding genre and design, understanding the importance of readers and context, being aware of new technological opportunities and challenges, and managing your time. 

           They also suggest creating a project timeline that lays out an outline of steps to complete your research paper. Next they give you a series of steps to follow in order to choose an appropriate topic. They give you a variety of things to consider such as who you readers are and what will influence them. You also have to consider what type of document you are writing, this stresses the differences between different genres of work. They give you a variety of exercises to generate ideas about appropriate topics. Exercises such as brainstorming, free-writing, looping, and clustering. For the final step to finding the appropriate research topic you must consider you writing situation.