How To Do An Upper Division Research Paper
By Sara Tucker, Wabash College
Used with permission
TOPICS. Any topic relevant to this
semester's course material may be chosen, subject always to the instructor's
approval. Be careful to aim for one neither too large or too small. Too
large is one impossible to cover adequately within the assigned [20] page
limit; too small is one about which an adequate selection of academically-respectable
sources are not readily available.
SOURCES. While the amount and kind
of sources can vary greatly depending on topics, for this assignment aim
at choosing a topic for which [five to ten] academically-respectable sources
of significant length can be found. Some of these might be monographs (scholarly
books focused on one academic topic), others might be scholarly articles
or chapters in books covering larger topics. Some others might supply background
context or models for analysis. If you cannot find at least [five] good
sources focused (not just offering background context) on your topic, seriously
consider a change. Occasionally a good topic falls outside of this rule,
but in general it is a good one. In most cases, articles from encyclopedias
are NOT respectable scholarly sources to be cited (which is not to say
you can't use them yourself to review the subject being studied). When
in doubt, consult the instructor.
But where do you find sources, or even
more basically, find topics for which an appropriate number of sources
exist? One good way is simply to scan the shelves in [George Mason's] Library.
If you have no idea what Library of Congress call numbers apply to your
course's subject area, look up the general area in the subject catalog
(thus, Victorian Britain, China, Middle East, Women, etc), and write down
the call numbers of the first few books that seem likely. Then go to those
shelves and start scanning titles. Get a sense of what topics have a likely-looking
number of titles. Pull down some books and see what they are like. Especially
note books of interest with good lists of sources; these can point you
to further sources in scholarly journals or (if books not in our library)
available through interlibrary loan. You might also go to the reference
shelves for the same call numbers, and look at whatever bibliographies
you find there. Once you have narrowed your search down to a few likely
topics, look at recommended additional source suggestions listed in your
assigned texts. Conduct a computer search, either on your own or with the
help of the library's reference staff. And of course, you should always
feel free to consult your instructor.
DOING RESEARCH. Once your topic
and some starting sources have been identified, you will be ready to begin
to do research; that is, to read and take notes on the sources in order
to learn about your topic. Such research should aim at gathering both 1)
specific information and 2) interpretations and analyses about your topic.
Three warnings/pieces of advice are particularly useful here.
First, concerning the process of gathering
specific information on your chosen topic. Be aware that most topics end
up somewhat modified as a natural result of the information gathered on
them during the process of doing this research. Perhaps you thought you
wanted to write about Mongol rule, but you find all of the best (or more
interesting to you, or more plentiful) information concentrating more narrowly
on the Mongol military, or on Marco Polo. Clearly you should at least consider
modifying your focus to match. However please do check with/notify the
instructor if planning to change a topic completely.
Secondly, while you will of course make
note of the interpretations and insights of each of your sources, if well
chosen your sources will offer a broad enough mix that your paper will
not simply repeat the perspective of any one of them, or even all sequentially.
Instead, your interpretive aim should be the more creative one of combining
and contrasting researched points of view to form your own synthesis,
explained in your own words.
Finally, on the business of taking notes
from your reading: be aware that there are dangers both in writing down
too much, and too little. Many veteran researchers establish their own
version of the Ten (or twenty, or whatever) Page Rule. That is, read at
least ten pages at a time before writing down any notes. This provides
perspective on what may at first seem a fascinating tidbit or concept,
but later prove part of a blind path best ignored. Even after the recommended
ten or twenty pages, you may often want to confine yourself only
to taking notes on future possible notes. In this practice, you would
simply write down on a page of paper things such as (for a paper on women's
1930s farmhouse work: "pp 31-7, great detail making hog sausage; pp 46-53,
wash day; pp 79-83, butter making). But also do be sure to take notes on
things clearly likely to be included in your paper; it is never as easy
to go back and find that great quote as you think it will be. And when
you do take notes, be sure to note down all necessary information needed
for the citation which may accompany it in the paper. Which leads us to
the topic of what, when and how to cite sources used.
CITING SOURCES: FORM. In all cases,
history papers MUST cite sources used. This does NOT mean simply listing
sources at the end of the paper, it means pausing in your narration EVERY
TIME you present a bit of information or insight or concept gained from
one specific source AND not readily available in others. In this assignment,
the Turabian foot/endnote style is recommended. [...] The form of citation
is that of the foot- or end-note. This is a good one to learn to use if
you are going on in history, especially if you are going to use any archival
sources. Often the amount of information needed to cite such sources makes
parenthetical citation impossible. A typical such citation might be the
following: Harriet Allyn letter to R. C. Adams, Canton,
April 18, 1919, quoted and enclosed in R. C. Adams letter to Arthur J.
Brown, April 26, 1919, Folder 4, Box 5, RG 82, Presbyterian Historical
Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For this sort of citation, your best
source is Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses,
and Dissertations. It is now in a [sixth] edition, but earlier editions
are quite acceptable.
CITING SOURCES: PHILOSOPHY. But
beyond form, what about content? Exactly when and why should you plan to
cite? Here it is impossible to be exact, for this varies by topic, sources
and (to some extent) the style of the paper's author. But the basics are
actually very simple. You must always cite a direct quote (but PLEASE NOTE
that you should only quote directly when your own words can't or shouldn't
do the job. Quote as a last, not first, resort). If you are writing about
Winston Churchill, you may well find that he says something so well you'd
be a fool not to quote him. On the other hand, you may find that a scholar
writing about Churchill, while having important things to say, doesn't
do so in quite such deathless prose. In that case, consider whether you
can sum up this scholar's points in your own words - and of course be sure
to end them with a citation making clear where you got these great interpretive
points.
The basic point here is that you should
always cite both specific information and more general interpretations
garnered from a specific source IF not in common knowledge. Thus, you need
not cite the information that Pearl Harbor occurred December 7, 1941, but
you should cite the source for a fire in your hometown, or the exact number
killed or tonnage sunk at Pearl Harbor. You should always give credit to
authors not only just for specifics, but also for their interpretations
of why something occurred or what it meant. The best rule to follow is
a simple one. Cite both to give credit and to give help. If you needed
someone else's scholarship to know a fact or an interpretation, give him/her
credit. If interested readers might want to also learn more about your
topic, give them a roadmap with which to make your own recent journey through
the sources from which you learned.
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