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Research Log

20% of final grade

Due: Monday Nov. 4th

One of the goals of this course is to introduce you to a number of important resources that will help you

conduct the type of research that is expected at the college level. Keep in mind that research is a process

that, when fully embraced, can actually make writing a research-based argumentative essay surprisingly

easy. We will spend a little over a week of class learning about different types of databases and other

library resources that will help you discover the different conversations surrounding your topic. During

each class period, I will show you one or two specific types of databases and then you will have the

remainder of class time to use those databases to find articles for your project. You will be creating a

research log that records your engagement with these sources, and for each article you choose, you will

need to create a separate research log entry that identifies the following information in the EXACT

order/format that is listed below.

Complete the following tasks (in this specific order and format)

1. Write your research question at the top of each entry* While your research question will likely change at some point as you begin to refine your focus,

you should not be creating a new research question for each entry. Remember: the research

question delineates the scope of your research, so if you keep asking new questions, your research

will be unfocused and all over the place. This will make it hard to formulate a focused argument

for the final paper.

2. Construct a properly formatted MLA citation for the source* Be sure to use a hanging indent

3. Identify whether your source is a newspaper article, magazine article, academic/scholarly or peer reviewed journal article, a page from a group’s website, a blog, etc. Then identify

how you found/accessed it: through a basic Google search, through Academic Search Complete

or another library database (identify the database title here), etc.

4. Identify whether the source is informative (having the main goal of providing information or discussing a topic/issue) or argumentative (using information to take a position or make

an argument about the issue)

5. Key Information: using bullet points, list the important information (statistics, quotes, arguments, examples etc.) that you found in this source. The purpose here is to record the

information/ideas that you might potentially want to use later on when writing your final

research-based argumentative essay. Because this section is mostly for your own benefit, you can

just list these things using bullet points. However, you do need to document the page number

where you found each item just in case you need to find it in the article later on. Also, if you list

any quotes, be sure to note whether you are quoting something that the author of the article wrote

or if the author was quoting the words of someone else (if so, identify the name of the person that

is being quoted).

6. Summary: write one paragraph that summarizes (in your own words) the main argument and/or ideas from the article. If, for example, your source is a basic news article detailing a new

scientific breakthrough or describing a specific story/event, just briefly explain the breakthrough

or story/event, and then spend the rest of your time explaining the larger impact, significance, or

meaning it carries. In other words, don’t spend the entire paragraph rehashing all of the specific

details! Focus on the bigger picture here! This paragraph should not contain any statistics,

quotes, paraphrases, or excessive detail—you already did all of that in section #3. Note:

especially for academic articles, if you simply take information from the article’s abstract and

either copy/paste or regurgitate it here, you are guilty of plagiarizing (regardless of whether it was

intentional or not) and you will be given a zero for that specific log entry. *Warning: believe me

when I say that I will catch you if you do this. While grading research logs, I always pull up

the articles/sources that you’re using.

7. ABCD evaluation: write one paragraph that analyzes the ABCD’s (don’t worry about “content” because you already covered that in the previous two paragraphs). Here, be sure to include an

analysis of the publication source/medium as well. Be sure to thoroughly investigate/research

each of these factors (Google the author, find the publication source’s mission statement, note

whether the article is only focused on a single geographical location, and identify any group

membership or affiliations or sources of research funding at hand).

8. In-Text Citations: identify whether your source has page numbers and what an in-text citation would look like. For example, if the article runs from page 32-54, an in-text citation might be

(Smith 32). If the article does not have page numbers, the in-text citation would be (Smith).

Remember to use the format specified above and number each section (except for the research question

and MLA citation) as it is listed above. Your entries should be single-spaced and thoroughly proofread. If

you deviate from the required format there will be a grade penalty. If you do not have your research log

completed and emailed to me on time, there will be a grade penalty—no exceptions! This is not a pass/fail

activity, so be sure to avoid entries that are weak or show a lack of effort and detail. Each research log

entry is worth 25 points (250 points total)

Requirements:

• 3 newspaper/magazine articles accessed through library newspaper databases; one can be accessed through Google News (not regular Google) but it cannot be the same article that you

used for ILP #4

• 1 reference source accessed via a reference database

• 1 article found on CQ Researcher, Opposing Viewpoints or Viewpoints in Context

• 2 articles accessed through a general database

• 1 article accessed through a subject database

• 2 articles/sources of any type, it can be internet sources or whatever you feel would be a good source to use

Due Date: Monday Nov. 4th

Compile all log entries into a single word document. Make sure you hit control/enter to start each log

entry on a separate page. Make sure that they are all formatted correctly as shown above. Make sure that

your first page has your name and the appropriate header. You will upload your log entry on blackboard

and print a hard copy to submit during class.