Steps to Writing a Research Paper MLA Style Manual Diana Hacker, A Writer’s Reference Vol. 6,...
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Transcript of Steps to Writing a Research Paper MLA Style Manual Diana Hacker, A Writer’s Reference Vol. 6,...
Steps to Writing a Research Paper
MLA Style Manual
Diana Hacker, A Writer’s Reference Vol. 6, dianahacker.com/writersref
Formulate a Research Question. Consider the scope of the research, type of
research, sources available to you
Form a tentative thesis. Example:
Should employers monitor their employees’ online activities in the workplace?
Tentative Thesis: Employers should not monitor their employees’ online
activities because electronic surveillance can compromise workers’ privacy.
DRAFT, REVISE, DRAFT, REVISE, DRAFT Revise Thesis: (depends on drafting/research)
Although companies often have legitimate concerns that lead them to monitor employee’s Internet usage – from expensive security breaches to reduced productivity – the benefits of electronic surveillance are outweighed by its costs to employees’ privacy and autonomy.
Organize your evidence. Sketch an informal plan that organizes your
ideas in bold strokes. After draft/revise, compile a more detailed
outline
Use sources to inform and support your argument. Provide background information or context Explain terms or concepts Support your claims Lend authority to your argument Anticipate and countering objections
Citing Sources, Avoiding Plagiarism. Cite quotations and borrowed ideas Enclose borrowed language in quotation
marks Put summaries and paraphrase in your own
words
Limit your use of quotations. Use quotations when:
language is esp. vivid or expressive exact wording is needed it is imp. to let the debaters explain the position in
their own words the words of an important author lend weight to
an argument language of a source is the topic of your
discussion
Limit your use of quotations Ellipsis
… To condense a passage/indicates omitted words
Brackets [ ] Insert your own words for clarification or
grammatical structure or error Setting off long quotations
More than four lines, need to do a block quote
Example Block/Long quoteBotan and Vorvoreau examine the role of gender in
company practices of electronic surveillance:There has never been accurate
documentation of the extent of gender differences in surveillance, but by the middle 1990s, estimates of the proportion of surveilled employees that were women ranged from 75% to 85%....Ironically, this gender imbalance in workplace surveillance may be evening out today
because advances in surveillance technology are making surveillance of traditionally male
dominated fields, such as long-distance truck driving, cheap, easy, and frequently unobtrusive. (127)Then you begin your paragraph after back out here.
Use signal phrases to integrate sources Prep your reader for a paraphrase, summary or
direct quote Examples:
In the words of researchers Greenfield and Davis, “ As legal scholar Jay Kesan has noted, “ “…,” writes Daniel Tynan, “…” “…,” claims attorney Schmitt. Kizza and Ssanyu offer a persuasive counterargument:
“ Verbs:
Acknowledges, adds, admits, agrees, argues, asserts, believes, claims, comments, compares, confirms, contends, declares, denies, disputes, emphasizes, endorses, grants, illustrates, implies, insists, notes, observes, points out, reasons, refutes, rejects, reports, response, suggests, thinks, writes
Use signal phrases to integrate sources. Make sure to weave, integrate Establish authority of sources Put things in context/set up