Research Paper Revision
Day
Citing Images, Use of Sources, Effective Use of
Statistics,
MLA Rules to Remember for
Citing Images
• Give credit for the image to the person who created
it, if you know who that was.
• Let your audience know where to find the image if
they want to see it for themselves in context.
• Unlike other essays where I have allowed you to
insert images without referring to them, you MUST
mention each image you use in the text of your
paper.
Tips for Choosing Images for Use in
Your Research Paper (via the OWL)
• Choose images that are directly relevant to the
argument you are making. Look for illustrations
that enhance your audience’s understanding of
your topic or illustrate a point you are trying to
make in a powerful way.
• Use quality versions of the images. If your images
are low quality or distorted, this distracts your
reader from your argument.
How Do I Cite an Image?
• Each image will be assigned a number, in the order
in which it is mentioned in the essay.
• In MLA format, photographs, charts, graphs, and
other images are all called “figures.” This is
abbreviated in the text of your paper to “fig.”
• When you mention the image, direct your audience
to that image at the end of the sentence that
mentions it by writing (see fig. #) at the end. (Note:
replace # sign by the number assigned to the
image.)
How Do I Cite an Image?
• Each image must have a caption below it that does
three things:
• Tells the image’s figure number.
• Briefly describes the image and why it is relevant to
your argument.
• Gives credit to the source of the image, either with
an in-text citation (author’s name in parentheses) if
the source is on your works cited page, or by simply
telling the audience all information about the
source of the image in the caption.
Example Image Use When You
Know the Photographer/Creator
• The following example uses an image from an
article called “'Required Reading': As Textbook
Prices Soar, Students Try to Cope”
• Here is how you might mention the image in the
body of your essay.
The high price of textbooks is especially tough
for bright students who are pushing themselves
academically. Students who double major in difficult
fields find themselves paying even more for
textbooks than their peers with a single major (see
fig. 1).
Insert the image at the end of the paragraph
where you mention it. Try to center the image.
Fig. 1: A student who is majoring in pre-med, biology, and Spanish sits next to a few of
her textbooks. Photograph by John Breecher for the article “'Required Reading': As
Textbook Prices Soar, Students Try to Cope” by Martha C. White.
Example Use of Images in
Textbook
• See example in Everyone’s an Author on p. 451. The
author uses the in-text (fig. 1) in the middle of the
second paragraph on p. 450, and Fig. 1 is located at
the top of p. 451 with a brief description below it,
including information about where the image came
from.
• A second image with caption is located on p. 459.
• Notice that because the author has given credit to
the site where the image came from in the caption,
imdb.com does not appear on the works cited
page.
General Guidelines:
• Give your audience enough information in the caption
to find the image for themselves.
• If you can’t find the name of a photographer or creator,
leave it out, but give your audience some other
information to help them find the image.
• Use google image search to see if you can find a copy of
the image accompanied by more information.
(images.google.com) Simply drag and drop the image
you want more information about into the search bar,
and it will find similar images and give you any
information google can find about it.
Do I HAVE TO have an image in
my research paper?
• No, but images are incredibly powerful rhetorical
tools.
• You will want to consider whether your argument
would be strengthened by including at least an
image or two that were relevant to your main
points.
• I will not take away points if you do not have
images, but excellent use of images can help you to
earn more points in categories where I am grading
you on use of rhetorical tools.
Workshop on Use of Sources
• Step 1: Mark quote or paraphrase in your essay
(underline, highlight in yellow, whatever works for
you).
• Step 2: Mark all of the places where you
INTRODUCE your quotes or paraphrases, or give
context for them, in a different way (different color,
dotted underline, etc).
• Step 3: Highlight all of the places where you
RESPOND to quotes by explaining, giving an
additional example, or agreeing/disagreeing, in a
THIRD way.
Look at your highlighting.
• Are there any places where you have a lot quote,
but not a lot of introduction and explanation?
• Do you need to remove some of the quote?
Remove any bits of the quote that aren’t relevant
to your response.
• Do you need to add more to your introduction or
response?
• Make sure that your response addresses any important
issues the quote brings up.
Double check for in text citations.
• Look back at your quotes/paraphrases. Mark or
highlight the place where you give credit to the
author (or, if you don’t know the author, the
article/source). Every quote should have SOME
marking/highlighting that indicates a citation.
• You might give credit in an in-text citation (the
author or article name in parentheses).
• You might give credit in a “signal phrase.” (The
author’s name mentioned in the introduction of
the quote.)
Digging Deeper…
• Each introduction of a quote should:
• Connect the quote to the point you are currently making.
• Prepare your readers to notice what you want them to take away
from the quote.
• Give your readers any context that they need in order to
understand the quote.
• Each response to a quote should:
• Deal specifically with the issues that are raised in the quote. It
might also…
• Explain an idea from the quote further. (Not just repeating the ideas
from the quote in new words.)
• Give a new example of an idea from the quote.
• Agree or disagree with an opinion displayed in the quote and
explain your agreement/disagreement.
• Connect the quote to a point your have made somewhere else on
the paper, or to another quote.
Effective, Honest Use of Statistics
and Facts
Logos Review
• One of the ways you will be making your
argument is through the use of logos.
• Logos appeals to logic, reason, and “common
sense.”
• Arguments that use logos use facts and interpret
those facts for the reader to show how those
facts support the claim.
Using Facts Effectively
• “You are entitled to your own opinion, but you
are not entitled to your own facts.” – U.S.
Senator Daniel Moynihan
• We have practiced agreeing and disagreeing
with sources, and we have learned how to
respond to a quote we disagree with.
• However, it is not possible to disagree with a
fact.
Using Facts Effectively
• FACT: Children of divorce are more likely than
other children to experience psychological
problems.
• So, if you say, “Many studies say, ‘Children of
divorce are more likely to experience
psychological problems,’ but I disagree,” you hurt
your own credibility because you have introduced
research that proves the fact, and offer no reason
that these many studies were wrong.
Disliking a Fact is not Disagreement
• Believing that a fact needs to change is not the
same as disagreement.
– Example: According to research done by the Chronicle
of Higher Education, only 25.3% of all students at
California community colleges who were seeking a
two-year degree had completed their degree within
three years.
– I may not like this fact, and I can certainly argue that
something needs to be done to change it, but this fact
does not invite agreement or disagreement.
Then what CAN I do with facts?
• In your research, you will find facts presented in two
different ways:
• Informative sources simply give you the facts and let
you draw your own conclusions. There are no beliefs
about the facts in informative sources, and it is up to
you to interpret the facts and explain why they fit your
claim.
• Persuasive sources will use facts in order to support a
claim. These types of sources will have beliefs about
what the facts mean and what should be done because
of them. These are the sources you can agree or
disagree with.
Informative/Persuasive: to Sum Up
• So, to sum up: if a fact is from an informative
source, it is up to YOU to interpret it.
• If a fact is from a persuasive source, you have
a choice.
– Use the fact without responding to your source’s
ideas about the fact.
– Quote the fact and the ideas, and then
agree/disagree with the ideas about the fact, not
the fact itself.
Example Fact and Idea
• “Studies show that children of divorce are
more likely to experience psychological
problems, so states should make divorces
harder to get.”
• THIS is a persuasive source that gives you
room to argue. You can disagree with the USE
of the fact to argue for making divorces more
difficult, but you can’t say the fact isn’t true
without proof.
Logos and Statistics
• Many appeals to logos are based on research that has
statistical results.
• For example, if I am arguing for increased funding for
academic counselors and student support services in
community colleges, I might say…
• According to research done by the Chronicle of Higher Education,
only 25.3% of all students at California community colleges who
were seeking a two-year degree had completed their degree
within three years. While many of the students who did not
complete their degree did not finish because of family or
employment issues, better access to counselors and student
services would help many of the 75% who did not graduate in
three years to navigate the community college system and achieve
their educational goals more quickly.
Questions to Ask About
Statistics/Research
• Who conducted the research? Are they
credible?
• How recent is the research?
• How many individuals were included in the
study?
• What methods were used to conduct the
study? Were they fair and effective?
• If the statistics are interpreted/explained, who
is doing the interpretation?
Give Your Facts/Statistics Context
• The fact “74.7% of CA students don’t finish their
community college degrees in three years” needs context.
• Which students were included in the study?
– “First time, full-time degree seeking students.”
– This means that students who took a break and then graduated
in a reasonable amount of time aren’t counted.
– Part time students who later became full time aren’t counted.
• 25.3% graduate in 3 years in California, but how does this
compare to other states?
– The national average is 20.4%, so California is performing
BETTER than the national average in Community college degree
completion.
– California has the 16th highest completion rate (the highest is
South Dakota, with 52.9% graduating in 3 years).
Questioning Facts: The Exception
• Remember how I said “you can’t argue with
facts”? There is one exception.
• If you find out that the research that provided a
statistic was not well done, you can question the
research.
• Point out a flaw in the study’s methods that you
discovered.
• Point out an unethical or unfair practice by the
study’s authors.
• Remember, though, you can only do these things
if you are ready to prove that the study is flawed.
A Problems to Watch out For
• Correlation is not causation (the verb
is “correlate”)
– Just because two things are happening at the same time, or
changing at the same rate, does not mean that they one is the
cause of the other.
• If you believe that two things are changing at the same
time or at the same rate because they are related, you
need to do much more to argue for the connection than
present statistics that say they are both changing.
• There are several amusing graphs about trends that prove
this point here, as well as a video that explains the issue in
more depth.
So what does all of this mean for my
research paper?
• Use facts and statistics wisely.
• When you are interpreting and explaining facts and
statistics, make sure you are doing so in a way that is
logical and fair.
– Let your audience know where the fact/statistic came
from, and argue for its credibility.
– Remember that correlation is not causation.
• When you are responding to your sources’
interpretations of facts, be sure that you are arguing
for or against the interpretation of the facts, and not
the facts themselves, unless you have proof that the
study is flawed.
Specific Details, Sentence
Variety, and Conclusions
Writing Strong Conclusions
• Remember, a strong conclusion does much more than restate
your thesis and main points.
• Your conclusion might…
• Remind your reader of the big picture – how all the points you have
made are connected to one big claim (your thesis).
• Say something that you couldn’t have said at the beginning of your
essay because your reader didn’t have the context/information to
understand it yet.
• End with a call to action since this is a persuasive research paper.
• Look ahead to the future of your topic.
• Examine your conclusion. Is it only a restatement/rewording of
points you’ve already made? If so, you need to improve your
conclusion by using one of the techniques above.
• If you are struggling with your conclusion, feel free to raise your
hand and speak with me about it.
Checking for Specific Details
• Go through your research paper and highlight places
where more specific description or detail is necessary.
• Watch for vague words/phrases
• “In a certain way” (or other uses of the word “certain”)
• The words “some,” “someone,” “something,” or “several”
unless you go on to say who/what you mean.
• The words “impact,” “influence,” and “affect,” unless you
describe how the impact/influence is working immediately.
• The words “things,” “stuff”
• Most phrases that contain the word “society,” such as “in
society today”
• Phrases about the past “Back then” or “Back in the day” that
do not say when in the past you are talking about.
Checking for Specific Details
• Improve the places you have highlighted by changing
vague words to specific ones.
• Say what you mean by phrases like “In a certain way”
• Say who you mean by “some people.”
• Say when you mean by “back in the day.”
• These are not the only weak, vague phrases. If you
need help identifying phrases that need improvement,
raise your hand and I will go through one paragraph
with, pointing out vague sections that need
improvement.
Checking for Sentence Variety
• Refer back to the discussion of sentence types on p.
553-557 of Everyone’s an Author. Also, you may wish to
open the notes from that day.
• Can you find at least one of each sentence type?
• Do all of your paragraphs have a good variety of
sentence types?
• For instance, if a paragraph has all simple sentences, or all
complex sentences, or all compound sentences, it will get
boring.
• Experiment with changing the sentence type for at least
THREE sentences in your essay. Highlight your changes. (If you
hate the changes, you can change them back later.)
Checking for Sentence Variety
• Refer back to the discussion of cumulative and
periodic sentences on p. 553-557 of Everyone’s an
Author. Also, you may wish to open the notes from
that day.
• Do you already have at least one or two cumulative
and periodic sentences in your paper?
• If not, find a place where these sentence types
would be effective and make one of your sentences
into a cumulative sentence, and one of your
sentences into a periodic sentence. Highlight your
changes.