RESEARCH PAPER AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY —TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY
Mini Proposal: Due Feb. 23
Extended Paper Proposal: Due Feb. 27
Annotated Bibliography: Due March 8
Pecha Kucha Presentations: March 1, 2, and 5
First Two Pages: Due March 12
Rough Draft: Due March 14
Research Paper: Due March 20 (10 a.m. class) or March 21 (12 p.m. class)
ASSIGNMENT:
This will be an analytical Research Paper, which means that your research will strive to answer a
focused, significant question about the relationship between technology and society. Your thesis
statement will be a response to that question.
Therefore, like the synthesis essay, the research paper is an iterative process. This means that
you’ll a) do exploratory research to focus your topic, b) begin to find a more specific, focused
research question, c) do more research and reading to find answers to that question, d) use
that research and acquired knowledge to formulate a focused, argumentative thesis, and e) use
that thesis to organization the information (research) in your essay.
Expectations:
Your final essay will be 6-7 pages, double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman font. It will be
formatted according to MLA guidelines and include a Works Cited page at the end.
In this paper, you will also be required to incorporate at least 6 sources that help you to address
and expand on your thesis. At least one of these sources must be from a scholarly or peerreviewed journal and at least one of them should be a multimedia source. (These sources can
be the same as the ones that you use in the Annotated Bibliography, but you can also switch
sources as necessary.)
POTENTIAL TOPICS:
We interact with different forms of advanced technology in every area of our lives, so there are
many avenues of inquiry available for this essay. Some potential “big” questions (all of which
would need to be narrowed considerably as you do your exploratory research):
 How has our relationship to technology changed the way that our brains function? How
has it changed the way that we learn? The way that we seek out or discover information?
 How has technology changed the way that nations or governments work? How has it
challenged forms of governance?
 How does technology interface with the human (or animal) body and how does it
potentially change our relationship with our bodies or the bodies of others?
 How is technology used in our work lives? How might technology play a role in your
current or future work?
 What roles does technology play in our relationships? How we meet people, date, or
interact with friends?
 How has technology changed the way that we think about privacy and surveillance? How
much privacy do we have? How much privacy should we have?
WRITING AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Annotated Bibliography will allow you to gather and comment on outside sources related to
your research paper. These sources will include both library sources (such as reference books
and articles from the library database) and, potentially, interviews and other sources that address
the relationship between technology and society. You must have 8 sources for the Annotated
Bibliography.
An annotated bibliography is a list of sources in which each citation is followed by a short
summary and evaluation. The Annotated Bibliography has two functions:
 It provides you with the opportunity to become familiar with a particular area of study.
 It provides people in a particular field with access to significant and current information
about relevant sources.
Your annotated bibliography will include at least 8 sources related to your research topic.
Of these sources,
 4 must be sources from a database or a print source (includes books, magazines,
articles from library databases, and articles from reputable newspapers that are
either in print or online).
 1 must be peer-reviewed
 1 must be a multimedia source.
 Personal interviews are also encouraged.
Getting Started
 Record full bibliographic details, including author’s name, title of publication,
publisher’s name, year and place of publication, and if appropriate, page numbers. Use
MLA style throughout.
 Write the annotation as a short summary of the contents of each text (1-2 sentences)
followed by a brief response to /critique of the source (1-2 sentences).
Writing the summary
To write an effective summary for an annotation you need to read for the main ideas and
write them clearly and concisely in your own words. You can also add quotations to the
summary if those quotations make it more effective. If you do add quotations, make sure to
use the “quote sandwich”; no paragraph should begin or end with a quotation. Ask yourself
the following questions to focus on the source’s main ideas:
 What is the primary goal or argument of this source?
 What ideas and evidence are used to support this point?
Writing the critique/response
The critique is your critical response to the item you have read, and it comes after the
summary. To write an effective critique you need to draw on all your extended knowledge
about the topic by asking yourself questions like
 What does it contribute to my understanding of the topic?
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
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What are this source’s research methods and criteria? What are the author’s
credentials, and are they convincing?
What are the limitations for this study or argument? What are its strengths?
Will this source be helpful to me when I write this paper? Why? Why not?