problem Solution paper
Researching a Solution Annotated Bibliography
Length: 1.5-2 page reflection and 15 6 annotated bibliography entries
Goals: To expand your research skills and to increase the number of sources typically used for a paper.
To evaluate the information you have found and to reflect on the various opinions others have about your topic.
To select material to help build your solution’s case.
To consider the audience and their needs as you select material.
To develop documentation skills.
To reflect on your research process.
To have the bulk of your reading and research completed so that when you write your solution paper, you are ready to argue using the evidence you’ve found.
Format: The paper must be double-spaced with 1-inch margins. Use a 12-point font. It must use correct APA citation and layout including title paper, running heads, and headers.
Content: 1.5-2 page reflection and 156-item annotated bibliography
Instructions
Find six sources about your topic. At least four of them should come from academic journals. The others may be a variety of source types (internet / journal / magazine /newspaper/ book, personal interview, video, etc.). The six sources should show a range of opinion (agree with you / disagree with you / mixed opinion). At this stage, you can include sources that you have decided will not be good sources for your final paper so long as you can explain why they don’t measure up – that is, you may write a negative evaluation. You may find more sources, especially non-academic ones, as you continue to build your argument. In other words, don’t stop looking for materials after this assignment is done.
As you search, keep a record of how and where you found materials. This is your research log activity. Make sure you keep bibliographic reference material for all your sources. Background activities will ask you to reflect on your research process and strategies.
Include the following:
1. A descriptive title (include topic and assignment type)
2. A short reflection about your research process.
3. A bibliographic list of all the relevant sources you found. You should write three paragraphs about each entry as well as an APA reference. Make sure you first document the source, then describe it, and then evaluate it. Next, you will explain how it will fit into your solution paper. Use the in-class practice sessions and posted samples as your guide. Be sure to review the material below.
Your title will be straightforward and simply describe the topic and assignment. For example, Researching a Solution: Over-Use of Dixie Cups in Children’s Wards.
Your short reflection will include:
1. A description of your research process. This is the story of how you found your materials. Include how you figured out where and how to look, and what successes and failures you had. Discuss your search strategies (choosing an appropriate database, choosing the search terms, etc.) This section should include a short restatement of your topic and its scope. This may have evolved since the exercises.
2. Source selection criteria. How did you choose sources? At this stage, you may include a few sources you think are not credible or are biased.
3. A neutral summary of the main positions taken on your topic. At this point you should not be saying whether you agree / disagree or be refuting the points, but simply giving an overview of the main groups of opinions.
4. An evaluation of your opinion and knowledge of the topic in the light of the research you have completed.
5. Do you have enough valid sources to make your case in the solution paper? Are there areas for which you still need to find materials? What will you do to find the information you still need?
6. A provisional goal for your final paper. E.g. In my solution paper I hope to persuade [name your audience] that doing [name your solution] is a good idea because [main reason]. This is a statement that could serve as a rough draft thesis to help you focus as you move on to read your research closely for evidence and quotations.
A bibliography is a list of sources about a subject. A works cited (MLA) or references (APA) page lists only sources used in a paper. It doesn’t reflect all the background reading you do—only the materials you actually cite.
This assignment asks for a bibliography so it includes all the relevant works you found. The final paper will have a references page—just referring to what you use in the paper. Remember, this assignment is where you can demonstrate all the background work you do without having to cram it into the final paper. Annotated bibliographies are used in research as tools to help people select sources. In addition to being a list of materials, an annotated bibliography also describes and / or evaluates the materials. You might be lucky enough to find an annotated bibliography about your topic—it could help you find and select good sources. They are also tools for writers to evaluate their own research. The one you write will to help you decide which sources are worth using. You are documenting, describing, evaluating, and selecting information from six sources. As you research, you’ll probably find more than six sources. Hold on to them / record them in your research log.
A first evaluative criterion to use to select the sources is to ask whether the work is relevant to your topic. Only include sources about your topic or its background on this list. Exclude sources that do not match your topic—that stray hit about Brazilian beef farms doesn’t need to go in your bibliographic paper about steroids in pro sports. You may decide a source is not very well written or is inaccurate and evaluate it negatively, but so long as it’s on your topic, you may include it at this stage.
Make sure your entries are consistent in format. As well always using APA, the description/evaluation sections need to be written in a similar manner each time. For example, don’t write one in bullet points, and one as a paragraph. Pick a style and stick with it for the whole document.
Your annotated bibliography will include these for each of the 156 items:
1. the correctly formatted APA bibliographic entry,
2. a short, neutral, and accurate description of the work, and
3. a brief evaluation of the work. Use the materials from our source evaluation exercises such as CRAAP to help, but three aspects to comment on in each evaluation are: source credibility, balance, and currency. You could also comment on ease of use, audience appropriateness (the original intended audience, you as an audience, and your audience), and other ideas from your evaluation work.
4. a section describing your intended use of the information in the solution paper. What will you use from this source in your paper? Is it to help establish the problem? Explain the solution? Is it mostly background? Is there a section of it you need to directly reference? Do you need to use a quotation? Note: APA generally discourages using direct quotations, so be prepared to paraphrase and summarize when you draft!
Make sure you are aware of the rubric’s point distribution.