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Marilyn Shaw

University of Northern IA

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Start early and gather information that you think you will need.
Think carefully about your topic. Where should you go to find information about your topic?
Prepare a preliminary list of references.
Be selective about materials that will enhance your own knowledge and clarify information for your listeners.
Understand your instructor’s specifications for the assignment.
Take good notes and keep complete information on the sources.
At some point, “enough is enough.

Author

Publishing Body

Currency

Purpose

The Internet as an Information Source
Basic Guidelines

Author or producer?
Reliability of source?
Bias of source?
Completeness and accuracy?

Intended audience?
Currency of source?
Quality of writing?
Webmaster contact info provided?

My granddaughters

Using Yourself
The Interview
Establish the purpose of the interview
Choose the interviewee
Conduct research prior to the interview
Record the interview
Prepare questions
Organize the interview
Other considerations

Chapter 8, page 207

Nancy Kaszerman/ZUMA Press/Newscom

Library Computer Search
Mediated Information Sources
The Reference Department

Suggestions for Doing Research

State a clear purpose before starting your research
Begin your research early
Use computer searches when possible
Maintain a bibliography of sources
Take notes

Your campus library probably has a virtual address as well.

Search engines index the contents of the Web and make it easier for the user to find information.
Individual search engines, such as Google and Yahoo!, compile their own databases.
Meta-search engines, such as Mamma.com and Dogpile, scan many individual search engines simultaneously pulling the top, and usually paid listings, from each.
Specialized search engines, or vortals, conduct searches in a particular field. Examples of SSE are GoogleScholar, FindArticles, and WebMD.

Remember that your research is subject to both your ability to do a good search and other factors such as commercial ones:
Paid Inclusion and paid placement
When companies want ensure a successful search for them they may pay Google, Yahoo, etc. to guarantee their result ratio

Testimony
Increases trustworthiness
Qualified sources
Believable to the listener

Examples

Brief examples

Illustrations

Analogies

Restatements

Opinions or conclusions of witnesses or recognized authorities add trustworthiness.

The speaker’s own experience can be good testimony.

Two kinds of testimony: Expert and Lay

Brief examples: a specific instance used to introduce a topic, drive home a point, or create a desired impression.

Illustration: a narrative, case history, or anecdote that is striking and memorable. Two types of illustrations: Factual – a report of something that exists or actual happened
Hypothetical - report of something that could happen given a specific set of circumstances

Analogy: A comparison of two things that are similar in certain essential characteristics. Two types of analogies:
Figurative – a comparison of things in different categories. Example: “Life is like a river.”
Literal – a comparison of things of the same category. Example: “Birds of a feather…”

Restatement: The expression of the same idea but with different words. “To put it another way…”

Definitions

Logical definition

Operational definition

Definition by example

Logical: a definition consisting of a term’s dictionary definition and the characteristics that distinguish the term from other members of the same category.

Operational: A definition that explains how an object or concept works or lists the steps that make up a process

Definition by example: clarifying a term, not by describing it or giving its meaning, but by mentioning or showing an example of it

Fact: A documented occurrence
Facts are used to give credibility to opinion and clarify statements based on objectively gathered and documented occurrences, such as statistics.

Statistics are numerical data that show relationships or summarize or interpret many instances.

Frequency: How often a relationship or characteristic occurs – ex. 1 out of 5

Average/Mean: The ‘typical’ occurrence – ex. The average American…

Percentage: A portion of a whole – ex. 50%

Sources must be reliable/neutral

Explain statistics you are using

Use sparingly

Round off large numbers when possible

Use visual aids to present statistics if appropriate/possible

Check the source – Remember that while statistics are made of numbers that are objective and absolute; the people gathering them can be unreliable.
Do not “cherry- pick”: Do not use only the statistics that reflect your opinion without first acknowledging that there may contradictory ones
Use statistics in their context – statistics are not eternal and are always subject to being updated. They are essentially quantitative captures of a moment in time.
Statistics of populations never reflect the ENTIRE population, only the portion that participated.

Ben Bailey - Google