Research Topics and Questions
We went from the broad topic of "environmental activism" to the narrowed topic of "the impact of vegetarian diets on the environment of the United States." What three filters helped us make this transition from broad to narrow?
Theme (vegetarianism), place (United States), and time (now).
True or False: Putting your research question directly into the database search bar will yield the most effective results.
False.
What four pieces of information are generally needed in a full MLA citation for a book?
Hint: Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Anchor Books, 1995.
Author, Title, Publisher, Publication Year.
What four pieces of information are generally needed in a full APA citation for a book?
Hint: Lamott, A. (1995). Bird by bird: Some instructions on writing and life. Anchor Books.
Author, Year of Publication, Title, and Publisher.
What three criteria must a strong research question meet?
Debatable (can't be yes or no), plausible (can be researched), and consequential (has real world stakes).
What are the three Boolean operators, and what do they do?
AND - both keywords must be present; OR - at least one keyword must be present; NOT - the keyword is excluded).
What is the correct format for an MLA in-text citation?
(Author Last Name Page Number), E.g., (Lamott 10).
What is the correct format for an APA in-text citation?
(Author Last Name, Year of Publication, Page Number), E.g., (Lamott, 1995, p. 10).
Given the topic "the impact of vegetarian diets on the environment of the United States," create a research question that meets the criteria for a strong question.
Varies, but should be debatable, plausible, and consequential, e.g., "To what extent will the adoption of vegetarian diets contribute to the health and restoration of the environment?"
What is a "peer-reviewed" or "scholarly" source, and why is it important for academic research?
A source that has been reviewed by experts in the field, it is important because it ensures credibility and accuracy.
In MLA style, where is the works cited page located, and how is it organized?
At the end of the document, alphabetically by author's last name.
In APA style, what is the heading for the page that contains the full citations, and how is it formatted?
References, centered at the top of the page.