CHANGE AGENTS:
USING OUR APA PAPERS TO SPEAK OUT ABOUT THE WORLD.
You must be the change
you want to see in the
world.
- Mahatma Gandhi
Indian political and spiritual leader (1869 – 1948)
TOPICS TO WRITE ABOUT:
• DO YOU SEE A LOCAL, STATE-WIDE, NATIONAL, OR GLOBAL PROBLEM THAT YOU WISH YOU
COULD CHANGE – OR AT LEAST KNOW MORE ABOUT?
• IS THERE A CONCERN THAT INTERESTS YOU ABOUT THE WORLD?
• ARE THERE ISSUES IN THE FIELD OF WORK YOU WILL BE PURSUING?
HOW TO CHOOSE A TOPIC:
• BRAINSTORM
• OBSERVE
• READ
WHAT IS APA?
• APA STANDS FOR AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
• APA IS USED WITHIN MANY SCIENCE FIELDS, ESPECIALLY SOCIAL SCIENCES LIKE EDUCATION,
PSYCHOLOGY, NURSING, ETC.
• APA IS VERY CONCERNED WITH DATES – WHEN FINDINGS WERE NOTED IS VERY IMPORTANT
TO THOSE WRITING, READING, AND USING APA. BECAUSE OF THIS, THE IN-TEXT CITATION
REQUIRES DATES.
• WHILE BOTH MLA AND APA UTILIZE THE SIMILAR CONVENTIONS, THE FORMAT OF THESE
DOCUMENTS IS VERY DIFFERENT.
GENERAL GUIDELINES
• 12 PT. FONT TIMES NEW ROMAN, HEADER IS THE TITLE OF THE PAPER WITH PAGE NUMBERS,
1-INCH MARGINS
• THERE MUST BE A TITLE PAGE
• THERE MUST BE AN ABSTRACT
• THERE MUST BE A REFERENCES PAGE AND IT MUST SAY “REFERENCES”!
SAMPLE PAPER
• IDENTIFY HOW THIS PAPER DIFFERS FROM THE MLA PAPERS YOU HAVE DONE BEFORE.
IN-TEXT CITATIONS
• LONG (50 WORDS OR MORE) (SINGLE TAB):
• JONES'S (1998) STUDY FOUND THE FOLLOWING:
STUDENTS OFTEN HAD DIFFICULTY USING APA STYLE,
ESPECIALLY WHEN IT WAS THEIR FIRST TIME CITING SOURCES.
THIS DIFFICULTY COULD BE ATTRIBUTED TO THE FACT THAT MANY
STUDENTS FAILED TO PURCHASE A STYLE MANUAL OR TO ASK
THEIR TEACHER FOR HELP. (P. 199)
• SHORT:
• ACCORDING TO JONES (1998), "STUDENTS OFTEN HAD DIFFICULTY USING APA STYLE,
ESPECIALLY WHEN IT WAS THEIR FIRST TIME" (P. 199).
• SHE STATED, "STUDENTS OFTEN HAD DIFFICULTY USING APA STYLE" (JONES, 1998, P.
199), BUT SHE DID NOT OFFER AN EXPLANATION AS TO WHY.
AUTHORS
• 2 - (ALVINE & NORRIS, 2010)
• 3 – ( ALVINE, NORRIS, & SELL, 2011)
• 6+ - (ORCHARD ET AL., 2012)
• UNKNOWN – (“CORRELATIONS OF PRE-SERVICE AND IN-SERVICE TEACHER EVALUATION”)
STEPS IN YOUR WRITING:
• 1) SELECT A TOPIC; WRITE A STUDY INTRODUCTION THAT DISCUSSES WHO ARE AND WHY
YOU CHOSE THE SPECIFIC TOPIC
• 2) RESEARCH A TOPIC; FIND 3-6 REPUTABLE SOURCES; CREATE AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
• 3) ORGANIZE YOUR INFORMATION INTO THE BASIC SECTIONS OF THE APA PAPER:
BACKGROUND, PROBLEM, RESPONSES TO THE PROBLEM SO FAR, WHAT YOU THINK SHOULD
BE DONE, CONCLUSIONS – THIS IS YOUR OUTLINE
• 4) CREATE AN ABSTRACT: IN 50 WORDS OR LESS ADDRESS THE PURPOSE OF THE PAPER
• DRAFT AND FORMAT YOUR FINAL PAPER
A NOTE ON REPUTABLE SOURCES
1.
USES MULTIPLE, CONFIRMED SOURCES; ESPECIALLY PRIMARY SOURCES
2.
CITES REFERENCES IN DETAIL
3.
CONSIDERS THE INTERNAL LOGIC AND MOTIVATION OF EACH SOURCE.
4.
DOCUMENTS EVENTS TO CONFIRM EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY.
5.
PUBLISHER IS REPUTABLE
SOURCE TYPES
• TWO SOURCES OF YOUR PAPER MUST BE JOURNAL, REFERENCE BOOKS, OR OTHER
SCHOLARLY MATERIALS.
• INTERNET SOURCES MUST COME FROM AN INSTITUTION, ASSOCIATION, OR OTHER
ORGANIZATION OF PROFESSIONAL SPECIALISTS IN THE AREA OF YOUR STUDY.
• RESEARCH ALSO MEANS (BECAUSE THIS IS APA) THAT YOU MAY HAVE TO CONDUCT A STUDY
FOR YOURSELF.
• COLLECT DATA
DATA TYPES
• QUALITATIVE DATA
• INTERVIEWS
• OBSERVATIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS
• QUANTITATIVE DATA
• NUMBERS AND THE MEASUREMENT OF NUMBERS
• SURVEYS, DATA SETS, STATISTICS
STYLE
• APA IN MANY WAYS IS DIFFERENT FROM MLA. BECAUSE IT IS A SCIENTIFIC FORMAT, WE OFTEN
STEER CLEAR OF STYLE, OPINION, OR OTHER PERSONAL MARKERS. THERE IS A TIME AND A
PLACE IN WRITING FOR THESE TYPES OF STYLES. FOR INSTANCE, WRITING FOR A TEACHER’S
JOURNAL ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL QUALITATIVE DATA WOULD BE ONE EXAMPLE WHEN A
PERSONAL TOUCH IS DESIRED. WE MUST THINK OF AUDIENCE AT ALL TIMES. AUDIENCE DRIVES
OUR WRITING.
• WHILE TALKING ABOUT CHANGES WE COULD LIKE TO SEE IN THE WORLD, FOR THE PURPOSE
OF THIS PAPER, THE PERSONAL “I” AND THE PROXIMITY OF THE WRITER MUST BE REMOVED.
RHETORICAL TRIANGLE
• THE AUDIENCE, THE PURPOSE, THE GENRE
• WRITING REALLY HAS NO RULES, BUT YOU MUST WRITE FOR
THE EXPECTATION.
THE EXPECTATION OF THIS PROJECT IS NOT THAT WE
RANT ABOUT THE PROBLEM, NOT THAT WE IDENTIFY
THE PROBLEM, THAT WE PONDER OVER A POSSIBLE
SOLUTION TO WHAT WE SEE AS THE GREATEST
ISSUE OF OUR TIME.
PLAGIARISM
• DUE TO THE NATURE OF THIS PAPER, WE WILL BE SUBMITTING OUR WORK TO TURN IT IN.
• DO NOT COPY SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK AND PASS IT OFF AS YOUR OWN.
• PROPERLY CITE ALL INFORMATION. THIS MEANS, EVEN IF THE IDEA IS NOT DIRECTLY
QUOTED, IF IT IS NOT YOURS, IT MUST BE DIRECTLY ATTRIBUTED TO THE STUDY, THE
PERSON, OR THE INSTITUTION THAT ASSERTED THE POINT.