Finding, Evaluating, and Using
Sources
Lecture Notes © 2008 McGraw Hill
Higher Education
1

• This lecture is intended to improve your ability to write research papers.
• The ability to research is needed for…
– …nearly every profession that requires a college degree.
– …everyday life (hiring contractor or lawyer, investing in the stock market, voting, deciding on entertainment).
– …your own intellectual pursuits.
• Being an informed member of society.
• Developing your own arguments on important issues.
• But remember, not all evidence is good evidence.
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Higher Education
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• We have access to a lot of information, so learn to refine your search.
– Ask specific questions
• To identify the questions you need to ask, sometimes it’s helpful to write your own argument, and then figure out what question you need to answer to figure out if your premises are true.
– Use directional material to guide you to informational material.
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• Bibliographies
• Indexes and Databases
• Internet Search Engines, Guides, and Directories
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• Lists of books or publications.
– These can be found in libraries or online
– San José State University - Powering Silicon Valley
– MLK Library > Library catalog > Title (Author,
Subject, etc.) > National Union Catalog
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• These are often lists of books and works by topic (e.g.,
The Philosophers Index). Often they include the works themselves.
• Academic Gateway (SJSU) - SJLibrary.org
• Databases > Title (Keyword, Author, etc.) > Business
Source / Communications and Mass Media,
Philosopher’sIndex, Linguistics and Language Abstracts
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– Learn to restrict your search, so you don’t have to go through so many pages to find what you need.
“Yahoo” and “about.com” are good.
– Also serious discussion groups (e.g., groups.google.com) are good, and can lead you in the right direction.
– http://www.google.com/
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• Using the internet, find one of each of the following for your major:
– Bibliographies:
– Indexes and Databases:
– Internet Search Engines, Guides, and Directories
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• Encyclopedias,
• Almanacs, Yearbooks, Fact Books, etc.,
• Biographical Sources
• Dictionaries
• Government Documents
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• Online or not, are good for basic information and introductions to topics.
– They also have bibliographies that can point you in the right direction.
– Be careful of “editable” ones (e.g., Wikipedia). Not everything is checked before it is posted; read with a careful eye.
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• are good for finding information on specific persons.
• Who’s Who
• are good for answering uncomplicated questions.
– e.g., “How many American’s are on Social
Security?”
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• general as well as specific dictionaries (e.g., legal dictionaries, slang, philosophy, math, film) are also useful.
– www.onelook.com indexes more than 600 online dictionaries.
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• have everything from biographical information on congress members to advice for repairing a home.
• firstgov.gov
is a good place to start.
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• Human Sources
– Instead of wondering around for hours, ask the librarian
(that is what they are trained for).
– Faculty members, local experts, government officials, etc. can help answer questions within their area.
• Always have questions ready when you go into an interview of an expert. Make sure they are precise and categorized (fact and opinion questions).
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• Content: Facts and Everything Else
• The Author and the Publisher
• The Audience
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• Separate facts from everything else (such as falsehoods and opinions).
• Separate verified and documented facts from other kinds of facts (the unverified and the unverifiable).
– Some facts cannot be verified – e.g., a hole-in-one with no witnesses
– Some facts can be verified through e yewitness testimony, measurement, agreement among several sources, documentation
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• Don’t just assume that what people call “facts” are facts.
– e.g., Freud : ‘The fact that women must be regarded as having little sense of justice is no doubt related to the predominance of envy in their mental life; for the demand for justice is a modification of envy and lays down the condition subject to which one can put envy aside. We also regard women as weaker in their social interests and as having less capacity for sublimating their instincts than men.’
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• Watch out for “false appearances” of being well documented.
– Instead of simply citing a survey’s conclusion, quote the survey and give details of how it was given (let the reader decide if it was biased).
– Conclusion: ‘Seventy-five percent of college students prefer t live in coed residence halls.’
– Context: ‘According to a recent survey of one thousand college students conducted for Campus Harbinger magazine, “75% of college students prefer to live in coed residence halls.” The survey included students from all four classes in six college across the country.’
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• Be careful of “cherry-picked” evidence (where the author uses true information that supports his/her claims but leaves out other true information that would debunk his/her claims).
• Biased language can reveal an author’s biases and give good reason for suspicion of their claims.
– ‘President Clinton did not serve in the military’ vs.
‘President Clinton avoided military service.’
• Check the dates of information: Is the article up-todate?
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• Something being written or published doesn’t make it true; we must ascertain if the author or publisher is reliable.
• Who is an ‘ authority ’?
• Author < Latin auctor = creator
• Are authors authorities?
– One does not have to be an expert to become an author.
– Something’s having been written does not necessarily make it true.
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• What is the Author’s Background?
– Usually you need an author who is educated in the relevant area (although there are exceptions).
• What are the author’s credentials?
• How long has the author studied the subject and what has s/he done in it?
– Make sure you get good authors on both sides of the issue (not just your own).
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• What are the Author's Bias and Purpose?
– A pamphlet published by the Tobacco Institute may not be the most credible source for information on the effects of second hand smoke. The same would be true of a pamphlet published by anti-smoking organizations (e.g., “ thetruth.com
”).
• What stake does the author have in the topic.
• For surveys, how were the questions worded?
• What is the author’s purpose in writing?
– Double check possible biased material, or find non-biased sources.
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• What are the Author’s Sources?
– Most writers respond to those who have preceded them.
– Make sure the Author’s sources aren’t biased.
– Make sure the Author uses them in non-biased ways
(e.g., not leaving out information that might hurt his/her argument).
– Be wary of unnamed, undocumented, or completely unreliable sources ina writer’s argument.
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• Who is the Publisher or Sponsor? (Be careful with
Websites).
• National Inquirer or People vs. New York Times or U.S.
News & World Report
• Academic journals, publishing houses –
Language, Oxford University Press
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• Scholarly Journals: JAMA, Harvard Business Review,
Philological Quarterly, etc.
• Nonscholarly Periodicals
– Journals of Opinion (‘policy journals’): Mother Jones, New
Republic, American Spectator, Commentary, Progressive,
Weekly Standard, etc.
– News & General-Interest Magazines: Time, Newsweek, New
Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, Scientific American , etc.
– Popular magazines: People, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone,
Vanity Fair, Men’s Health, Redbook , etc.
– Trade Publications: Industry Week, Advertising Age, Forbes,
Fortune, Business w\Week, Variety , etc.
– Sensational Publications: National Examiner, Globe, Star,
National Inquirer, etc.
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• Sometimes called ‘juried articles’
• Important because they’ve gone through a vetting process conducted by peers (experts in the field) to ensure accuracy
• See MLK Library tutorial
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• Who is the intended audience?
– If the intended audience of a work is not college educated, it probably won’t work (except as a starting place) for a college research paper.
– If the intended audience already shares the conclusion of the publication (like subscribes to a conservative talk show host’s news letter), suspicion is called for.
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• How has the audience responded?
– If a work written for a group was not received well by that group, it probably is not a great source.
– Book reviews are a good way to find this information.
– Of course, works may not be well received by some audiences because the author is trying to correct mistakes in the audience’s thinking (and the audience is not receptive even though the author is right).
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• Steven Colbert on ‘Truthiness’
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• Be sure to be selective with your note taking
(when reading, don’t highlight every other sentence).
• Bibliographical Information: write down the author, title, publisher, etc. for each text.
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• Content Notes:
– Quotations: Make sure to get it exact. Material omitted for brevity gets ellipsis points (…). Added material used to clarify goes in brackets [like this].
– Summaries: identify thesis and supporting points
(see chapter 7)
– Paraphrasing: restate the argument in your own words (see chapter 7)
– Always be sure to read many times over.
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• Acknowledging Sources:
– Don’t Plagiarize: blatantly copying or paraphrasing without effort to acknowledge the source.
– What doesn’t need citation: well known facts and quotes.
– What needs citation: direct quotes, statistics, surveys, obscure facts, unique descriptions or examples, any ideas that are not your own.
– Perdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL)
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• Incorporating Sources:
– Quoting Words and Phrases: incorporate exact words or phrases into your writing, using quotation marks (“”).
– Quoting and paraphrasing longer passages:
• Introduce the passage to provide context and sometimes bibliographical information.
• If you paraphrase, make sure that you are paraphrasing
(and where your paraphrase begins) is clear.
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• Block Quotations: If a quote is more than 50 words, omit quotation marks, maintain double spacing, and indent the left margin five spaces.
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• Some of these requirements may seem petty and unnecessary.
• So why are they required for sound academic and professional writing?
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