Research Analysis
Assignment: Analyze an issue central to current United States culture through the lens of gender, ethnicity, economics, or the current Covd-19 crisis central. Topics can pull from popular media, politics, science, education, or other contemporary areas.
Requirements:
4 – 7 pages. MLA Format.
4 sources minimum. (High achieving papers generally include more.)
All sources are to be reputable.
2 sources must come from Opposing Viewpoints or a similar database.
Topics must adhere to issues above.
Topics must be approved by the instructor.
Presentation – a 5-10 min. presentation (see Presentation Guidelines) will account for 10% of the overall essay grade
Approaches:
A research analysis is the skillful integration of various other sources in coordination with what you think. You connect the research elements, shape them, and direct a reader to the conclusion that you have all along been intending to show.
Research texts come in a variety of familiar forms: documentaries, news reports, reviews of films and books. Each uses outside sources, 1st hand accounts, or original material to prove a point. For this assignment you may choose to frame your argument in one of the following formats:
Academic Analysis – This is the standard model of argument and includes stating a clear, defined thesis, typically near the beginning, presenting points for your argument and refuting or debunking claims made from opposing parties.
Thesis delayed model: UK arguments delay delivery of the thesis, in favor of providing convincing examples prior to announcing a(n often polarizing) position. Use of this model means the thesis does not jump out at the beginning of the paper. It can be provided at the end, more like a conclusion, or in another non-traditional (for us) place.
Open Letter – An address to a party that may not be able to or is not inclined to answer, therefore the letter is published publicly. Often an element of shame is implied. Choose a concept (or person) to define according to your sources and opinion. The ability to define is the ability to empower or disempower, illuminate or shadow, make a point of economic incentive or not.
Manifesto – A public declaration of goals, this is in many ways a traditional proposal paper given new life. Also called (Hu)Manifesto/(Wo)Manifesto, associated with art movements and political causes, these papers argue for a change in behavior by a group.
Samples
Academic:
Up until the early 1800’s there were fewer than 1 billion people on the planet. At the start of the 21st century there are more than 7 billion, and the number continues to grow. Each of us has our individual engines—cars, houses, microwaves, air conditioned buildings, fast food restaurants and more that exponentially add to the greenhouse gases in the environment. During the same decades of rising global temperatures, human modes of transportation, production, and consumption literally exploded—led by the combustion engine. With such a basic set of facts, how can anyone argue that global warming is not real and not influenced by human actions?
Open Letter:
Dear Alcohol,
You murdered my childhood. You took my father away from me, filled him with liquid promises you never intended to keep: A gratifying ocean in which he eventually drowned, but only after trying to batter his way out of it. Alcohol, you take hundreds of lives every day on the roads, more in homes like mine.
Manifesto:
The Amethyst Initiative supports informed and unimpeded debate on the 21 year-old drinking age. Amethyst Initiative presidents and chancellors call upon elected officials to weigh all the consequences of current alcohol policies and to invite new ideas on how best to prepare young adults to make responsible decisions about alcohol use.
Guidelines and Tips:
Choose a topic that interests you.
Choosing a topic that has been done to death is asking to have “cliché,” of “lack of original analysis” written on your paper.
Choosing a topic because you Know the answer and want to convert everyone else is not conducting research; it is proselytizing, not the point of this paper, and not adhering to the assignment.
Use objective sources. When necessary, point out bias.
Religious arguments do not necessarily sustain academic scrutiny, nor do they apply to anyone outside of that religion.
Show both sides of the argument to evaluate.
Do not throw out any style techniques you have used up to this point. Writing “The Research Paper” doesn’t mean write dull. Include a hook, imagery, vivid vocabulary, and other readers’ essentials to make your paper persuasive.
Seek to incorporate other lessons from this course, such as logical fallacies.
Explain your sources correctly: Tell us who said it, why it matters, and where it came from.
Finally: Prove something; don’t just list facts, even if they’re well-researched facts.
TOPIC SUGGESTIONS
These are just ideas to get you thinking. You are not bound to this list. You can use one of these ideas or come up with one of your own.
Analyze and propose a change to an existing law or strong social norm.
Analyze one of the following regarding the Covid-19 crisis: the responses by states or nation; the debate in the media; conflicting information from authorities and the reliability of sources.
Analyze patterns, trends, and norms in pop media: commercials, film, television, music, etc.
Analyze the rise of conspiracy theory belief
Discuss “Fake News” and it’s components such as deep fakes and FB
Analyze Russian involvement in the 2018 United States President election
Discuss the impeachment or accusations of sexism, race-baiting, and/or illegal activity leveled at President Trump.
Explore the Poverty Line and what it reflects about our opinions of poor people in The United States.
Explore economic inequality in The United States, including the “Citizens United” Supreme Court Ruling, the 99%, and/or upward mobility myths.
Discuss gender in/equality, The Me Too Movement, and/or sexist norms of The United States.
Investigate allegations of racism involving incarceration and death penalty.
Analyze perceptions and actions regarding global climate change.
Discuss Black Lives Matter and the impetus that gave rise to it, i.e. the deaths of black and women.
Sourcing and Citing
A research essay integrates your position on a topic with the essential support of qualified sources. Quoted information should be vivid and precise.
Whether paraphrasing or quoting, vital to using citation is explaining the context.
Tell us: 1) Who said it 2) Why it/they are important 3) What it means.
A. Robert Thomas, a psychologist based at Stanford University, notes the importance of staying unemotional when he says, “Calm arguments usually cool hot heads” (19).
Explain the relevance of your source rather than let the reader guess.
B. “Everyone knew it would go a different direction,” ecologist Samantha Readly, a Peabody award winner according to her website SReadly, stated on Fake News Network.
Vary your introduction of quotes. Here the commentary or explanation follows.
C. According to Thomas’ “History’s Future,” in ancient Rome “all things were equal” (20).
Put an article or book title in your explanation—not inside the parentheses.
As Thomas has already been attributed, no need to repeat his name in the parenthesis.
D. The idea that the universe is “constantly and omnidirectionally expanding is just super trippy” (Dialma 210).
Highlight specific, vivid language.
Notice the period comes after the parenthesis, and the only things inside are the name of the source and the page number—just the actual number, not pg.
E. United States education funding is far below the international average (UNESCO).
Groups are occasionally authors.
F. In her study on relationships, Realdy shows how two can co-exist in the same space: “There is an easing of initial tensions as balance is achieved, resources shared, purposes explained” (114).
A colon makes an effective signal mark and should follow a complete sentence.
G. Recent changes are charted on Britannica: “A 20 percent reduction in pricing has softened the market and aided purchasers” (“Stock Market”).
The key word for the article replaces a non-existing author.
Do not put www.britannica.com or any other actual website if you can avoid it. Use the title of the source plus “online.” The latter is more professional.
Note there is no page indication; web sources often lack these.
Ellipses (brackets and other marks): Do Not start with them.
H. Everyone knows there “…are several sides to every situation” (Realdy 118).
Ellipses, the three dots, are unnecessary at the start of a quote. Readers understand there is probably more to a sentence when you integrate it with your own. This sentence should read like this: Everyone knows there “are several sides to every situation” (Realdy 118).
I. Everyone knows there “are several sides to every situation …. [t]o consider” (Realdy 118).
Use of the ellipses here indicates a section of the sentence has been dropped for convenience, length, unimportance or a number of reasons.
J. Reflection “shows [perspective] was inborn” is a shortsighted suggestion (Fiter 86).
K. Fiter puts the blame firmly at the feet of “the outrageous practices of the oil compan[ies]” (Dialma 125).
Brackets allow you to alter quotes to make them more readable.
L. Study coach Diana Dialma counsels that research is the key to success (125).
Paraphrasing needs the same citation – otherwise it is plagiarism.
M. In “Throwing Like a Girl,” James Fallows writes, “an effective throw involves connecting a series of links in a ‘kinetic chain’” (McQuade and Atwan 419).
When quoting a phrase that contains quotations, use single quotes; when that occurs at the end of the sentence use a single quote, then a double, effectively using three quote marks.
Notice the author, Fallows, and citation, McQuade and Atwan, are different. This can indicate McQuade and Atwan edited a collection in which Fallows’ work appears (as is the case here) or used Fallows writing for a specific purpose. Whichever way you decide to use it, be sure to list the citation appropriately on your works cited page.
N. In “Throwing Like a Girl,” James Fallows describes the physicality of the action:
[A]n effective throw involves connecting a series of links in a “kinetic chain.” The kinetic chain, which is Braden’s tool for analyzing most sporting activity, operates on a principle like that of crack-the-whip. Momentum builds up on one part of the body. When that part is suddenly stopped, as the end of the “ship” is stopped in crack-the-whip, the momentum is transferred to and concentrated in the next link in the chain. A good throw uses six links of chain.… (419) If a quote goes over four lines of your essay: indent the left sides by an inch and don’t use quotes. Here the giant space serves the same purpose. Double quote normally, inside the quote, and put your period before the page number.
Works Cited Entries
Double space all and use an inverted paragraph style. Alphabetize your entries – don’t number them.
Print Source Format: Author. Title. Place of publication: Publisher, date. Print.
Trimble, John R. Writing with Style: Conversations of the Art of Writing, 2nd ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2005. Print.
Here the book is in its second edition.
McQuade, Donald, and Robert Atwan ed. The Writer’s Presence, 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006. Print.
With two or more, only the first name is inverted. Also note the ed. at the end of the names; this signifies editor. If there are more than four authors, list the first, then, “et. al.” McQuade, Donald, Robert Atwan, Pete McPetey and Susan MacSusie becomes: McQuade, Donald, et. al.
Timple, Shirly. “All the World’s a Stage” Time 8 Feb. 1997: 31+. Print.
Magazine articles start with the author, title, then magazine title and information. If a magazine or journal is issued by volume, use those instead: 41.3. The + at the end of the entry indicates the article begins on pg. 31 and skips pages as it continues. The same format is used for newspapers; page numbers include the section, A1+.
USDA. “Effects of Livestock Hormone Injections on Humans.” 12 Dec. 1999.
Groups such as government agencies are considered authors.
“Who Shot JFK?” Frontline. Host Bill Moyers. PBS. 4 July 1987. Television.
The Shining. Dir. Stanley Kubrick. Perf. Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duval, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers. British International Picture. 1978. Film.
Occasionally you won’t know the author. The title is then the first entry. List the source inside your paper with the first word or set of words, i.e. (“Who”). Also, hosts, narrators, directors and/or stars of radio, film and television airings should be listed.
Wood, Joshua. “The Importance of Being Ernie: Sesame Street Around the World.” Chapman University. Orange, CA. 1 May 2020.
Lectures and interviews can be used as sources. For interviews, simply list the person, then “Personal Interview.” and the date. For lectures, if you can, list the title along with the location and date. If unknown, write Lecture.
“Sharks.” Encyclopedia Britannica. 10th ed. Print.
Often encyclopedias do not list authors. Simply use the subject, in quotes, as your works cited entry. The same holds for dictionaries, atlases and the like. The edition also acts as the publication date.
Web-based: Follow the same format, listing as much as you can. Then give when the site was updated, followed by “Web.” then the date you retrieved it. The actual web address is not necessary, but if included should be in angled brackets and should be broken only at a slash.
“Jellyfish.” Encyclopedia Britannica. 2007. Web. 17 Jan. 2007.
Howe, Richard. “All’s Well that Ends Swell: Shakespeare Sense of Time.” New York Reader Review June 1997: 36-45. Infotrac. Web. 15 Oct. 2005.
For databases, list just as you would for a print source, then the access portal (Infotrac here) “Web.” and when you accessed the site. For scholarly journals, you must list the page number as well.
Works Cited
Anderson, J. “Keats in Harlem.” New Republic 204.14: n. pag. EBSCOhost. Web. 29 Dec. 1996.
Creation vs. Evolution: Battle in the Classroom. Dir. Ryall Wilson. PBS Video, 1982. Videocassette.
Feinberg, Joe. “Freedom and Behavior Control.” Encyclopedia of Bio-Ethics. New York: Free Press, 1992.
Hennessy, Margot C. “Listening to the Secret Mother: Reading J.E. Wideman’s Brothers and Keepers.” American Women’s Autobiography: Fea(s)ts of Memory. Ed. Margo Culley. Madison, WI: U. Wisconsin P, 1992: 302-314.
“Ho Chi Minh.” Encyclopaedia Britannica 2004. Web. 15 Sept. 2004.
Marshall, Leon. “Mandela in Retirement: Peacemaker without Rest.” National Geographic. 9 Feb. 2001. Web. 13 Mar. 2003.
Pillar, Joe. “There’s no Time like the Present.” Time and Space. 19:2 (2003): 29-48. Expanded Academic Index. Web. 3 Aug. 2018.
“Smoky Mountain Species.” All Things Considered. Natl. Public Radio. 20 July 1999.
If in doubt, check your writer’s reference or style guide.