Topic Development and Research Questions

Part I. Good Question/Bad Question

Ø What happened in the Darfur region of Western Sudan this past year?

This is a rather broad question, so it is not very good for research. It needs to be narrowed down quite a bit. First off, there are a lot of smaller topics regarding Darfur that this could address. For example: is one discussing internal “natural” conditions such drought or population problems? Or is one looking at political conflict? Is this internal political conflict or the interference of external influences on Darfur’s political arena? I would suggest first narrowing the scope to one particular area that I have addressed above, e.g. the land or the people; internal or external. Next, choose one or maybe two very closely related questions within that topic to ask. A better question might be: “Within the last year, what political changes have occurred within the Darfur region of Western Sudan?”

Ø Did news coverage of the poor conditions at the U.S. Military’s Walter Reed Medical Center result in improved care of the veterans housed there?

This question is more focused than the first one. But it does presuppose some information. In this case, it takes for granted that the reader and writer both are thinking of the same source for the mentioned news coverage. Assuming that this is the case, it allows for focused response to the given question.

I guess I feel that this is a fine question for a group discussion. But I personally would be a bit unhappy doing a research paper on it. I would prefer to do a paper on related and more broken down topics like these:

“What did the news media reveal regarding conditions of the care for veterans housed at the U.S. Military’s Walter Reed Medical Center?”

“What was the national reaction to news coverage of the poor conditions at the U.S. Military’s Walter Reed Medical Center?”

“After the news coverage regarding conditions of the care for veterans housed at the U.S. Military’s Walter Reed Medical Center, did conditions improve? What were the reasons for those changes? Did these changes come as a result of the news coverage?”

Ø Did Germany invade Poland during the Second World War?

Once again, this is straight forward, so an improvement on the more open-ended questions. But it is not sufficient for an entire research paper. A person could use one source and answer with one word. Sure it answers the question, but no, it is not enough. Better questions would be:

“Why was Poland a strategically beneficial country for Germany to invade during the Second World War?”

“After Germany invaded Poland during the Second World War, what were the long-term repercussions for the people of Poland?”

Ø Does the media cause eating disorders in women?

How in the world to straddle this one? Or prove the statement one claims in response? This is too broad. The question needs to be narrowed in one for or another. The easiest way would be to simply show a causal link between media and eating disorders in women rather than having to prove for certain that media causes E.D.’s.

Instead, one could try “In what way does media influence perception of body image in women?”

Ø Is there evidence that vocational training programs in California prisons impact recidivism (re-offense) rates?

This is one of the better focused questions. I would still like to tweak it a bit, again because it is awkward to answer this question in any way other than yes or no. I would arrange it to ask “What evidence exists to support the claim that vocational training programs in California prisons impact recidivism (re-offense) rates?”

Part II: Answer the following questions.

1. When you’re developing a research topic, you should be able to talk for one minute about that topic. Explain why, and how you’d prepare yourself.

It is important that a person can grasp both (a) the main idea/the purpose of a topic as well as (b) the parts that are most relevant to the topic. One should have a comprehensive understanding of these ideas enough to be able to relate this information to another person clearly, succinctly, and yet thoroughly. If one cannot meet these requirements, they may not fully understand their topic.

How I prepare myself depends greatly on who I am addressing and about what. Let’s just assume that I am trying to pull together a report for my boss on the fiscal budget for the year. I would review all the necessary documents to try and grasp a broad view of the year’s budget reports. Then I would look at quarterly summaries to understand patterns. I would then look at specific reports to understand details such as unusual expenses or profits. After all this I would be prepared to tell my boss what our overall budget needs were, whether or not they had been met, what we could expect for next year, and what it meant for us at this moment.

2. Describe some ways you can narrow the focus of a research topic.

My favorite way to narrow a topic is to ask myself “Therefore what?” If one is writing a paper or a speech, it all comes together at the end in a big “Therefore” statement. I look at a given question and if I can’t summarize the topic and then answer why it matters, it either is to general or not a properly phrased question.

So then I start breaking up the question. I ask why does this matter? (Like the Germany/Poland question). Or I ask Is this the right way to ask this question (like the prison vocational program question). And last of all, I ask myself if the question is getting to a relevant and specific topic by the way it is asked (the Darfur question or the news coverage question).

Plagiarism/Citation assignment

Here is the plagiarism/citation assignment, parts 1 through 4:

Part 1
Put yourself in your professor's shoes. Sometimes students hand in work that just doesn't look like student writing! Your job for the next three questions is to find out whether all or part of these examples were cut and pasted from a website. If so, paste the url of the website that was plagiarized below the writing sample. If not, just write "not plagiarized."

Note: you can google an exact phrase by putting it in " " (quotation marks) in the search box.

1. Student writes:
"Athough electronic health records can save health professionals time and cut hospital costs, implementing these systems will be a challenge. Many hospitals cannot afford them, and physician resistance and the lack of universal standards are also reasons cited by hospitals for not instituting these systems. President Obama’s economic stimulus package, which includes 19 billion for e-health records, might be enough to overcome the barriers to adopting these technologies”
I actually found two places that that used the phrase “physician resistance and the lack of universal standards are also reasons cited by hospitals” and refer to the same article. I am sure there could be more since it is originally from a news article that is reprinted and referenced. The two I found are listed below:
http://www.womenshealth.gov/News/english/625431.htm
http://news.health.com/2009/03/26/few-hospitals-embracing-electronic-health-record-systems/


2. Student writes:
"The controversial issue of global warming has troubled society for many years now. Although some believe that it is a hoax, others view global warming as the greatest challenge of our time. While global warming is a complex issue that some have used to manipulate consumers, it must be taken seriously as the bulk of scientific evidence points to the reality of this phenomenon, which can dramatically alter our climate.”
Not plagiarized? I thought this had bits that certainly could have been. But I didn’t find them anywhere else, despite my efforts.


3. Student writes:
“Twitter, a so-called micro-blogging service has taken off over the past year. Users may post messages about their status, their moods, their location and other tidbits on Twitter. Most popular among young adults, Twitter has also been used by savvy marketers to inform users about products, and even by journalists who use it as a quick method of sharing story coverage.”
http://www.twine.com/item/120wgjtrx-c5/pew-internet-twitter-and-status-updating




Part 2

Use the APA Citation Guidelines to put all the elements of the scrambled citations in the right place and make correct APA style citations.


4. Avoiding plagiarism. Retrieved January 13, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database. 28(3), 439-446. Burkill, S., & Abbey, C. Journal of Geography in Higher Education. (2004).

What kind of citation is this? An article citation.

4. Should look like:
(New paragraph start flush with margin)
Burkill, S., & Abbey, C. (2004). Avoiding Plagiarism. Journal of Geography in
(indent)Higher Education, 28(3), 439-446. Retrieved January 13, 2008, from
(indent)Academic Search Premier database.

5. (2006). My stroke of insight: A Brain scientist’s personal journey. Taylor, J.B.
New York: Viking.

What kind of citation is this? Book citation.

5. Should look like:
(New paragraph start flush with margin)
Taylor, J.B. (2006). My stroke of insight: A Brain scientist’s personal journey.
(indent) New York: Viking.


6. Retrieved March 27, 2009 from http://auto.howstuffworks.com/ngv.htm How
natural-gas vehicles work. (n.d.). Harris, W.

What kind of citation is this? Webpage citation.


6. Should look like:
(New paragraph start flush with margin)
Harris, W. (n.d.). How natural-gas vehicles work. Retrieved March 27, 2009
(indent) from http://auto.howstuffworks.com/ngv.htm .


7. Logan, UT: College Reading Association. (pp. 51-54). In M.B. Sampson, P.E. Linder, F. Falk-Ross, M. Foote, & S. Szabo (Eds.), (2007). Stroud, B. Multiple Literacies in the 21st Century Writing about African Americans, their communities, and their quilts.

What kind of citation is this? An edited collection or reference book citation.

7. Should look like:
(New paragraph start flush with margin)
Stroud, B. (2007). Multiple Literacies in the 21st Century Writing about
(indent)African Americans, their communities, and their quilts. In M.B.
(indent) Sampson, P.E. Linder, F. Falk-Ross, M. Foote, & S. Szabo (Eds.),
(indent) (pp. 51-54). Logan, UT: College Reading Association.



Part 3

Read the paragraphs below. Bold or italicize the sentences that are NOT common knowledge and therefore need a citation. Insert the in-text citation using the information you’ll find in the reference list entry for each paragraph.

8. Global warming is the increase in the Earth’s temperature as the result of greenhouse gases trapped in the atmosphere. Because of global warming, the average temperature of the Earth could rise as much as 8 degrees, causing sea levels to rise up to 23 inches over this century (Zakaria, 2007). I believe that we all have a responsibility to help prevent global warming. A recent report suggests that just by using more efficient appliances, we can have a significant impact on carbon emissions that affect global warming (Zakaria, 2007).

Zakaria, F. (2007, February 19). Global warming: Get used to it. Newsweek, 149(8), 43. Retrieved December 20, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.

9. It’s no secret that the American population is getting fatter, in spite of our cultural obsession with fitness. Public health officials have expressed concern that the obesity “epidemic” is striking Americans of all ages, from very young children to older adults, and are looking to community groups to conduct outreach with at-risk groups (Turner, 2007). Through such efforts we can only hope for a healthier future.

Turner, T. (2007). Organizations present options to fight obesity. New York Amsterdam News, 98(52), 27-36. Retrieved December 20, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.

10. Cancer is certainly a terrible disease, and researchers are hard at work attempting to find treatments and cures. However, it can be difficult for patients to figure out what is a legitimate treatment and what is the modern-day equivalent of snake oil, and it can be a source of stress to already burdened patients figuring out what is real medicine. Lowering the levels of copper in the body, eating a specialized organic, vegetarian, macrobiotic diet, and an Irish light therapy are just the kinds of experimental treatments that may have patients and their families scratching their heads (Tomorrow’s Cancer Cures, 2007).

Tomorrow’s cancer cures. Prevention, 55(3), 60. Retrieved December 20, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.



Part 4

Practice paraphrasing the following passages. Remember, it is not enough to rearrange the sentence a little and change a few words here and there. Starting from scratch, restate the idea with a completely different sentence structure and completely different words. Don’t forget your citation!

11. To ensure that the students use high-quality information when writing a term paper, professors might require students to find credentials for the authors of Web sites they cite. Figuring out who authored Web content, their backgrounds, motivations, or points of view may constitute a good lesson in critical thinking in itself. Teaching students how to critique the quality of Web sites and evaluate the quality and accuracy of information will help them in their post-academic futures.
Embleton, K., & Helfer, D. S. (2007, June). The plague of plagiarism and academic dishonesty. Searcher 15(6), 23-26.
11. Paraphrase:
Teachers will usually assign their students the task of researching the sources sited in their papers. In doing so, the students learn useful skills in evaluating the reliability, credibility, and even biases in the sources they choose to use (Embleton & Helfer, 2007).


12. Scientists have been searching for the cause of Alzheimer's disease for more than 100 years, and during that time, theories about why brain cells are destroyed in the course of the illness have come and gone. One of the newer and more unorthodox theories posits that Alzheimer's may actually be a form of diabetes. Some experts have even taken to calling the brain disease type 3 diabetes, as distinct from the insulin-dependent (type 1) and adult-onset (type 2) varieties of the condition.
Arnst, C. (2007, December 17). Is Alzheimer’s a form of diabetes? Business Week 4063, 54-55. Retrieved January 14, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database.
12. Paraphrase:
Various theories about the cause of Alzheimer’s disease have been suggested and later discarded over the years as research into the disease’s origins continues. Currently, researchers believe that there is a strong correlation between Alzheimer’s and diabetes. Some even refer to it as “type 3 diabetes” (Arnst, 2007).


13. According to Leaving Women Behind: Modern Families, Outdated Laws, the regulations that govern private pensions did not contemplate the influx of women into the labor market and therefore are not suited to the way modern women live. "Because women live longer than men, they are more likely to suffer the defects of our retirement systems," asserts co-author Kim Strassel. "Because the laws governing private pensions weren't designed for the modern woman, many have little retirement security. If reforms are not made soon, a growing number of women will be denied their 'golden years.'"
Outdated laws hurt women. (2006, August). USA Today Magazine, 135(2735), 9-10. Retrieved January 14, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database.
13. Paraphrase:
Leaving Women Behind: Modern Families, Outdated Laws suggests that the original plans created for retirement are ill-suited to fit the needs of women. Because these programs were started and enacted before many women are a large part of the labor force, their future lifestyles and requirements were inevitably not properly considered or planned for. Unfortunately women’s longevity tends to exceed that of their male counterparts, making women more likely to be hurt by these oversights (Outdated Laws Hurt Women, 206).

Well hello there

My name is Sarah Thomas. I am in my last term at CSUEB and will be graduating with a BA in English. Next Fall I will enter CSU San Jose's MLIS program - I can't tell you how very excited I am about that! My own history with libraries include working in school libraries, spending an enormous amount of my free time in public libraries, and sneaking into as many academic libraries as I can.

By now, it would be silly to list reading as one of my interests. In addition to reading I like to do all sorts of things. I live with my husband in Berkeley and I enjoy walking around my neighborhood to find new restaurants and stores. I also enjoy staying in to play board games at home with whoever will join me. I feel about movies the way I do about books, where I have my favorite go to's (ranging from Terry Pratchett to George Elliot in books and from Rowan Atkinson to Miranda Richardson in movies) but will try anything that catches my attention.

I had a few classes within a library technician program at my junior college several years ago. I am excited about how much has changed and the new directions information tech is going these days. But I know I am sadly out of date. I am looking forward to this class helping me explore what is available from a consumer standpoint before I jump into my professionally oriented program next fall. I am looking forward to learning whatever I can in this course.