THE POPULAR GUIDE T« ■ writing college research pape< revised for a new generation of students High school students, two-year college students, and university stu. all need to know how to write a well-reasoned, coherent research pto- -and for decades Kate Turabian's Student's Guide to Writing College Paper., liM helped them to develop this critical skill In the new fourth edition of Turabian's popular guide, the team behind Chicago's widely respected The Craft of Research has reconceived and renewed this classic for today's generation. Designed to meet the specific needs of advanced high school and bt: ■.inning college students, this user-friendly guide features all the tried-.>nrl-true wisdom of Kate L. Turabian's Manual for Writers in a condensed, accessible format tailored for entry-level writers and researchers. With the authority and clarity long associated with the name Turab:;.i:i, the fourth edition of Student's Guide to Writing College Papers.is both a solid introduction to the research process and a convenient handbook to i lie best practices of writing college research papers. Classroom tested.and filled with relevant examples and tips, this is a reference that students, aii..i their teachers, will turn to again and again. WBm gREGory G. colo MB is professor of English at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Designs on Truth: The Poetics of the Augustan Mock-Epic. * ■ - - -. . 3 Joseph m. Williams was professor emeritus in the Department of English -j Language and Literature at the University of Chicago. Professor Williams died % in 2008. Together Coiomb and Williams have written The Craft of Research, currently in its third edition (University of Chicago Press, 200S). They also revised the seventh edition of Kate L.Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, - ^| Theses, and Dissertations (University of Chicago Press, 2007). The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 ■ -i The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London i © 2010 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 2010 Printed in the United States of America i 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 1 2 3 4 5 j ISBN-13; 978-0-226-81630-2 (cloth) ' i ISBN-10: 0-226-81630-3 (cloth) ISBN-13: 978-0-226-81631-9 (paper) ISBN-10: 0-226-8163M (paper) ■ i Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data ■■■■ i Turabian, Kate L. j Student's guide to writing college papers / Kate L. Turabian.—4th ed. / rev. ":i by Gregory G. Coiomb, Joseph M. Williams, and the University of Chicago :: j Press editorial staff. p. cm.—(Chicago guides to writing, editing, and publishing) ■■..-..< Includes bibliographical references and index. ■. i ISBN-13: 97S-0-226-S1630-2 (cloth: alk. paper) ' ! ISBN-10: 0-226-81630-3 (cloth: alk. paper) .■. I ISBN-13: 978-0-226-81631-9 (pbk.: alk. paper) lSBN-10:O-226-B1631-l (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Dissertations, Academic— I Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Academic writing—Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Coiomb, Gregory G. II. Williams, Joseph M. III.Title. LB2369.TS 2010 S08'.02—dc22 2009031583 © The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI 239.48-1992. Contents Preface for Teachers ix Acknowledgments xiii Introduction: Why Research? 1 PART 1: WRITING YOUR PAPER 7 1 What Researchers Do and How They Think about It u 1.1 How Experienced Researchers Think about Their Questions 11 1.2 Two Kinds of Research Questions 15 1.3 How Researchers Think about Their Answers/Arguments 17 1.4 How You Can Best Think about Your Project 22 1.5 How to PlanYourTime (No One-Draft Wonders Allowed) 24 2 Finding a Research Question 26 2.1 Questions and Topics 27 2.2 How to Choose a Topic 28 2.3 Question Your Topic 32 2.4 How to Find a Topic and Question in a Source 34 2.5 Evaluate Your Questions 38 3 Planning for an Answer 40 3.1 Propose Some Working Answers 40 3.2 Build a Storyboard to Plan and Guide Your Work 41 4 Finding Useful Sources 44 4.1 Knowing What Kinds of Sources You Need 44 4.2 Record Citation Information Fully and Accurately 49 4.3 Search for Sources Systematically 50 4.4 Evaluate Sources for Relevance and Reliability 52 5 Engaging Sources 56 5.1 Read Generously to Understand, Then Critically to Evaluate 56 5.2 Use Templates to Take Notes Systematically 57 5.3 Take Useful Notes 58 5.4 Write as You Read 60 5.5 Review Your Progress 61 5.6 How and When to Start Over 61 5.7 Manage Moments of Normal Panic 62 1 4: Finding Useful Sources 4.1 Knowing What Kinds of Sources You Need 4.1.1 Consult Primary Sources for Evidence 4.1.2 Read Secondary Sources to Learn about Your Topic 4.1.3 Read Tertiary Sources for Introductory Overviews 4.2 Record Citation Information Fully and Accurately 4.2.1 Determine Your Citation Style 4.2.2 Record Bibliographic Data 4.3 Search for Sources Systematically 4.3.1 Talk to Reference Librarians 4.3.2 Skim Specialized Reference Works 4.3.3 Search Your Library Catalog 4.3.4 Search Guides to Periodical Literature 4.3.5 Follow Bibliographical Trails 4.3.6 Browse the Shelves 4.4 Evaluate Sources for Relevance and Reliability 4.4.1 Evaluate the Relevance of Sources 4.4.2 Evaluate the Reliability of Your Sources You are ready for the main thrust of your research only after you have at least a research question and a tentative guess at an answer. Better would be a story-board with an answer you trust enough to be a working hypothesis and a few supporting reasons. With drat, you are prepared to look for data to back up your reasons and test your answer. In this chapter, we show you how to locate sources that will provide those data; in the next, we show you how to work with them. But don't think chat those are separate steps: first you find all your sources, and then you read them and take notes. Once you find one good source, it will lead you to others. As you fill your storyboard widi notes, you'll think of new questions that will send you looking for new sources. So while we discuss finding and using sources as two steps, you'll more often do them together. Plan to do your reading in three phases. First, readjust to learn enough to know what to look for. This phase won't be very systematic; for most of you, it will depend on what online search engines turn up. Second, read to get an overview of your topic and question. This reading will be mosdy in reference works like encyclopedias. Third, search out the specific sources that you will use in developing your argument. For this phase, you'll need a careful plan. 4.1 Knowing What Kinds of Sources You Need The first thought of beginning researchers is often not What am I looking for? but Where do I look? And what they mean is Which websites should I check? So Knowing What Kinds of Sources You Need 45 they fire up a search engine and get started. But that only makes sense if you believe that all you have to do is find information to fill pages—which is, of course, the wrong picture of research. It's better to think that your goal is to find just that factual information that you can use as evidence to support your reasons, which support your claim, which in turn answers a research question. If that's what you are doing, then you have to start not with the -where but the what. In fact, one of the most common complaints about new researchers is that they offer up as evidence the first (and only) bit of relevant data they find. They assume that all evidence is the same, no matter its source, and that one bit of evidence is enough. But every researcher—including students—is expected to consider not only relevant evidence, but the best available evidence, and in some cases all the available evidence. But to know what evidence you need, you must first know what counts as "available evidence"—which has two factors. 1. You need the appropriate kind of evidence: primary, secondary, or tertiary. Think of the distinction in terms of how far you are from the first observation of the facts themselves. Primary sources offer firsthand evidence, reported by whoever first produced or collected the data. Secondary sources offer secondhand reports of what someone else reported in a primary source. Tertiary sources offer thirdhand reports of what others reported in secondary reports. (These aren't sharply defined categories, but they do characterize how researchers think about sources.) In general, you are expected to get as close as you can to primary sources. Academic researchers, who have long deadlines, must use only primary sources unless a primary source is lost or completely unavailable. In business, where deadlines are often short, researchers are expected to use primary sources whenever they can and only the most reliable of secondary sources if they must. 2. You need the appropriate amount of evidence. Academic researchers are expected to consider all the evidence that might be relevant to their claim—not just one letter in which Jefferson offers his opinion of Washington's character but all the available letters in which he even mentions him. Business researchers are expected to consider all the evidence that might change their claim significantly—interviews not just with one customer but with several of the most important ones. Students, however, can't be held to the same standards as professionals. Students don't have as much time or resources for gathering data, and few students have ready access to a top-quality library. So find out your teacher's ground rules for evidence before you start. You, too, should get as close to CHAPTER 4: FINDING USEFUL SOURCES the primary evidence as you can, but ask what you can do when primary evidence is hard to obtain. On which matters must you use primary evidence-? When can you substitute secondhand reports from secondary sources? Will a tertiary source be acceptable if its author is a respected scholar? Remember that evidence is not inert stuff you pour into your paper. It is part of the act of explaining to readers why they should accept your claim. Plan your search to find the kind and amount of evidence you will need to convince amiable but skeptical readers. 4.1.1 Consult Primary Sources for Evidence In fields such as literary studies, the arts, and history, primary sources are original works: diaries, letters, manuscripts, images, films, film scripts, recordings, musical scores, and so on. They provide data in the form of words, images, and sounds that you use as evidence to support your reasons. In these fields, your teachers will usually expect you to work with primary sources. If for example, you were writing on Alamo stories, you'd look for documents written at the time—letters, diaries, eyewitness reports, and so on. In fields such as economics, psychology, sociology, and so on, most researchers collect their data through observation and experiment. The primary sources are the publications that first report those data, ranging from academic journals to government and commercial databases. You can find journal articles in your library's online catalog, but don't ignore databases, which you can access through search engines like Google's "U.S. Government Search" or Wolfram Alpha. If, for example, you want to support a claim about schools with what you think is the "fact" that dropout rates are higher in city schools than in suburban ones, a quick search would yield the actual numbers, which careful readers would expect you to cite. 4.1.2 Read Secondary Sources to Learn about Your Topic Secondary sources are scholarly books and articles written by and for other researchers. They use data from primary sources as evidence to support a claim about them. A report analyzing Alamo stories, for example, would be a secondary source. Secondary sources also include specialized encyclopedias and dictionaries that offer essays written by scholars in a field. These sources are usually available only in college and university libraries. You can use secondary sources in four ways: 1. To substitute for unavailable primary sources. Secondary sources report data they found in primary sources. For example, a book on global warming will reproduce climate data from primary sources. To use those data, an advanced researcher would be required to find the pri- Knowing What Kinds of Sources You Need " 47 mary source. If you can obtain the primary source easily, then you too should use it. If you cannot, your teacher will probably allow you to report the data from a secondary source. Be sure to ask. Always Cite the Source You Consult ■ScSmevstucI&^ : they :y6u:cite just :the: grim y! i:>?v:r. If you :•)•(•• i'.r.f t'r.r- .;pron.i: autoruaiirsl.v foířnats^citatíbhSi.fpr:yptt::(^rd;jri:;;: dudes it); if r.o:, ;!;.-.k urc v.'cbsit?:; you cariiise.You enter the data-arid they ' dp the rest of ;iio worh These it u.siful a:ds. but rhr-y .•;,n:i-j; •Kiostiiuti fa you (.-;.•:• -.:;i:e, a::ri no" '). (>: v.i •:< softwaie wortai :v:'(.-aiy. Search for Sources Systematically Before college, many students do all of their research on the web, because their school libraries are small and they need few sources. In college, you can do much of your research online, starting with your library's online catalog. But if you search just the Internet, you can miss important sources that you'll find only by poking around in your library. Talk to Reference Librarians Most college libraries offer tours and short semmars on how to search the catalog, databases, and other sources of information. If you're a new researcher, seize every opportunity to learn the online search techniques in your field. You can also talk to librarians who specialize in the general area of your topic. They won't find sources for you, but they'll help you look for them. If you have a research question, share it: I'm looking for data on _ because I want to find out _ If you have a working hypothesis and reasons, share them too: I'm looking for data to show [your reason] because I want to claim [your hypothesis] . ...... Search for Sources Systematically :: 51 If you've done some research but can't find the evidence you need, bring copies of what you have found and pose your question as a challenge: I'm looking for data to show [your reason] because I want to claim [your hypothesis] . I've found A, B, and C, but they aren't what I need. Can you show me how to find something better? Reference librarians love a challenge, and they respond well to students who see research as a hunt. Rehearse your questions to avoid wasting your time and theirs. 4.3.2 Skim Specialized Reference Works Look up your topic in a specialized encyclopedia or dictionary such as the Encyclopedia of Philosophy or the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, where you may find an overview of your topic. You will also usually find a list of standard primary and secondary sources. 4.3.3 Search Your Library Catalog Search your online catalog using keywords from your question or working hypothesis—Alamo, Texas independence, James Bowie. If you find too many titles, limit your search to those published in the last ten years. If you find too few, search a catalog service like WorldCat (if your library supports it) or go to the Library of Congress catalog at http://www.loc.gov. It has links to large university catalogs. Start early if you expect to get books from interlibrary loan. a rt i c l e s. If most sources on your topic are articles, locate a recent one in your library's online databases. Its database entry will include a list of keywords. Use them to find more articles on your topic. In most cases, you can just click on them. Some databases provide abstracts of journal articles. Use these keywords to search the library catalog as well. books. Once you find one book relevant to your topic, look it up in your library's online catalog to find its Library of Congress subject headings (at the bottom of the entry). Click on the subject headings to find other books on the same topics. Many of those sources will have more subject headings that can lead you to still more sources. It can turn into an endless trail. 4.3.4 Search Guides to Periodical Literature If you've done any research before, you probably know how to use ProQuest or a similar online database of periodical literature. You can also find print guides such as the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. Most specialized fields also have yearly guides to secondary sources, such as Art Abstracts, Historical Abstracts, and Abstracts in Anthropology. Most are available online or on CDs. 4.3.5 4.3.6 4.4 4.4.1 52:: CHAPTER 4: FINDING USEFUL SOURCES Follow Bibliographical Trails Every secondary source you find will include a bibliography. If a source loo..- : useful, scan its bibliography for promising titles. Once you locate them, scan their bibliographies. One good source can set you on a trail to all the sourc- . : you'll need. Browse the Shelves You might think that online research is always faster than walking around your library. It often is, but it can also be slower; and if you work only online, you may miss sources that you'll find only in the library. More important, you'll miss the benefits of serendipity—a chance encounter with a source that you find only in person. If you can get into the stacks (where the books that you can check out are shelved), find the shelf with books on your topic. Then scan the titles on that shelf and the ones above, below, and on either side. (Then skim titles behind you; you never know.) When you spot a book with a new binding published by a university press, skim its table of contents, then its index. Then skim its bibliography for relevant titles. You can do all that faster with books on a shelf than you can online. Now do the same for any journal articles you've found. Most volumes include a yearly table of contents; skim them for the prior ten years. Then take a quick look at the journals shelved nearby. Skim their most recent tables of contents. If a book or article looks promising, skim its preface or introduction. Even if it doesn't seem relevant, record its call number and bibliographic data, and in a few words summarize what it seems to be about. A week later, you might realize that it's more useful than you thought. Evaluate Sources for Relevance and Reliability You will probably find more sources than you can use. If so, skim them to evaluace their relevance and reliability. Evaluate the Relevance of Sources Once you decide that a source might be relevant, skim it systematically. Look for signs that it includes (1) data you can use as evidence, (2) discussions of matters you plan to discuss, (3) arguments that show you how others are thinking about your question. If your source is an article, do this: ' Evaluate Sources foi Relevance and Reliability :: 53 . Read its abstract, if any. Skim the last two or three paragraphs of the introduction (or other opening section). If a section is called "Conclusion," skim all of it; if not, skim the last three paragraphs. Skim the first paragraph or two after each subhead, if any. If your source is a book, do this: Skim its index for names or keywords related to your question or its answers; then skim those pages. Skim its introduction and last chapter, especially their last page or two. If the source is a collection of articles, skim the editor's introduction. • Do die same for chapters that look relevant. If your source is online, do this: If it looks like a printed article, evaluate it as you would a journal article. Skim any section labeled "Introduction," "Overview," "Summary," or the like. If there is none, look for a link labeled "About the Site" or something similar. If the site has a site map or index, skim it for keywords. If the site has a "search" resource, type in keywords. 4.4.2 Evaluate the Reliability of Your Sources Your evidence will not be persuasive if it comes from a source your readers don't trust. You can't judge a source until you read it, but there are signs of reliability. 4.4.2.1 Library-Quality Sources The first question is whether a source is library quality. For a source to be library quality, you do not have to find it in an actual library. But it does have to be provided by someone who subjects it to the same kind of screening that libraries give to their materials. Libraries are so important to researchers not just because they will lend you books and other sources, but because those materials are chosen by trained librarians who are specialists in judging their value and quality. You cannot be certain that everything in a library is a reliable source, but that is a good start. To determine whether a source is of library quality because it has been screened by experts, look for these signs: It is part of a library's collection of physical books, articles, recordings, and other materials. It is provided as part of a library's online resources, including article databases, electronic books, electronic archives, and so on. S4 = CHAPTEB 4: FINDING HSEEOL SOURCES It is provided by an online scholarly journal associated with a university or academic publisher. It is provided online by a reputable scholarly organization, such as the Rhetoric Society of America (research and other sources on rhetoric), the ARTFL Project (works by French authors), or the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life (religion and social issues). For advanced researchers, checking for library quality is just a first step u evaluating sources (see 4.4.2.3). But for your purposes, it is probably enough Ask your teacher whether you have to screen library-quality sources for ad ditional signs of reliability. 4.4.2.2 Evaluate the Reliability of Other Online Sources When you search online, you will encounter hundreds of sites whose mate rial does not appear to be of library quality. Evaluate each one carefully. The number of reliable online sources grows every day, but they are still islands it a swamp of misinformation. Before you use online data that is not from a library-quality source, look for these signs of reliability: 1. The site is sponsored by a reputable organization. Some sites supported by individuals are reliable; most are not. 2 It is related to a reliable publisher or professional journal. 3. It is not an advocacy site. It is not sponsored by an organization with a political or commercial agenda, and it avoids one-sided advocacy on a contested social issue. 4. It does not make wild claims, attack other researchers, use abusive language, or make errors of spelling, punctuation, or grammar. 5. It says who is responsible for the site and when it was updated. If it has no date, be cautious. 6. It is not too glossy. When a site has more decorative graphics than words, its designers may care more about drawing you in than about presenting reliable information. If a site has almost no graphics, that may be a sign of neglect, but it might also indicate that its creator cares more about the quality of the words than the look of the page. Trust a site only if careful readers would trust those who maintain it. If you don't know who maintains it, be skeptical. 4.4.2.3 Evaluate the Reliability of Library-Quality Sources In most cases, beginning researchers are not expected to screen their sources as carefully as a professional must: library quality is usually enough. But when you do have to be more demanding, look for these additional signs of reliability: Evaluate Sources for Eelevance and Reliability :: The author is a reputable scholar. Most publications cite an author's academic credentials; you can find more with a search engine. The source is current. How quickly a source goes out-of-date varies by subject, so check with someone who knows the field. For articles in the social sciences, more than ten years pushes the limit. For books, figure fifteen or so Publications in the humanities have a longer shelf life. The source is published by a reputable press. You can trust most university presses, especially at well-known schools. You can trust some commercial presses in some fields, such as Norton in literature, Ablex in sciences, or West in the law. Be skeptical of a commercial book that makes sensational claims, even if its author has a PhD. 4. The article was peer-reviewed. Most scholarly journals, both print and online, publish an article only after it has been peer-reviewed by experts. Few popular magazines do that. If an article hasn't been peer-reviewed, use it cautiously. Those signs don't guarantee that a source is reliable, but they should give you some confidence in it. If you can't find reliable sources, admit the limits of the ones you have. 5: Engaging Sources 5.1 Read Generously to Understand, Then Critically to Evaluate 5.2 Use Templates to Take Notes Systematically 5.3 Take Useful Notes 5.3.1 Take Notes to Advance Your Thinking 5.3.2 Record Relevant Context for Each Key Point 5.3.3 Record Keywords That Categorize Your Notes for Sorting 5.3.4 Record How You Think the Note Is Relevant to Your Argument 5.4 Write as You Read 5.5 Review Your Progress 5.6 How and When to Start Over 5.6.1 Search Your Notes for a Better Answer , 5.6.2 Invent the Question 5.6.3 Re-categorize and Re-sort Your Notes 5.7 Manage Moments of Normal Panic Once you find a source worth a close look, don't read it mechanically, recording only what it says. Note-taking is not clerical work. You must record the words of a source accurately, but you have to go further to engage its ideas: Wiry does she use chose words? How is this section connected to the next? Are these ideas consistent with earlier ones? But you must take yet another step, from its words and ideas to their implications, shortcomings, and unspoken possibilities. Talk back to your source as if its writer were sitting with you, eager to hear what you have to say (imagine your readers engaging you in the same way). If you passively absorb your research and then pass it on untouched by your own Ideas, your report will be no more than a summary. Read Generously to Understand, Then Critically to Evaluate If you can, read promising sources twice, first quickly to understand them on their own terms. Read as if your job was to believe everything the author says. If you disagree too quickly, you're likely to misunderstand and miss useful ideas. Then reread slowly and critically, as if you were amiably but pointedly questioning a friend; imagine the writer's answers, then question them. You probably won't be able to engage any source that fully until you've read enough to develop a few ideas of your own. But from the outset, be alert for ways to read sources not passively, as a mere transcriber, but actively and creatively, as an engaged partner. 5.2 Use Templates to Take Notes Systematically S7 Use Templates to Take Notes Systematically There are two ways to record the information in sources: some researchers photocopy or download everything that might be useful; others do that only for very long passages and write or type out the rest. If you just copy everything, you'll save some trouble and reduce your chance of misquoting. But many researchers find that they do not read as carefully or engage a source as fully when they rely only on copies. So if you copy or download, be sure to add to your photocopy all the other kinds of notes we recommend: keywords, summaries, responses, questions, how it supports or complicates your argument, and so on. If you write out most of your notes, you'll force yourself to engage your sources more carefully, andyou'll often get ideas while writing that would not come to you just by reading. But you'll risk mechanical errors in transcribing a quotation. So if you write out notes, create a template that helps yon record information accurately, that clearly distinguishes your words from those of the source, and that encourages you to analyze and organize your notes into useful categories. Some instructors still suggest taking notes in longhand on 3 x 5 cards, as in figure 5.1. That may seem old-fashioned, but it is a template for efficient note-taking, even if you take notes on a laptop. Sharman, Swearing, p. 133. HISTORY/ECONOMICS (GENDER?) CLAIM: Swearing became economic issue in 18th c. DATA: Cites Gentleman's Magazine. July 1751 (no page reference) woman sentenced to ten days' hard labor because couldn't pay one-shilling fine for profanity. "... one rigid economist entertained the notion o} adding to the national resources by preaching a crusade against the opulent class of swearers." SUPPORT: As much about class and money as about morality. Legal treatment the same as for social rather than religious transgressions. COMPLICATION:- Qs: Were men fined as often as women? Not economic earlier? Figure 5.1 Here is a plan for a template on your laptop (start a new page for each general idea or claim that you record from a source). At the top of each page, create slots for author, short title, page number. Make another space at the top for keywords (see upper right above). Those words let you sort and re-sort your notes by content (see 5.3.3). 53 CHAPTER 5: ENGAGING SOURCES Create two boxes with labels for different kinds of notes: one for summary and paraphrase and one for exact quotations. (For more on summary, para phrase, and quotation, see chapter 9.) Create a third space for your reactions, questions, and further ideas. Have a section headed "How this supports my argument" and another "How this complicates my argument." This space will encourage you to do more than simply record what you read. This is important: When you quote a source, record its words in a distinctive color or font so that you can recognize quotations at a glance; enclose them in large quotation marks as well. If you mistake the words of others for your own, you invite a charge of plagiarism. This is also important: When you paraphrase a passage, record the paraphrase in a distinctive color or font so that you cannot mistake it for a quotation or for your own ideas; enclose it in curly brackets. If you mistake the ideas of others for your own, you invite a charge of plagiarism. Finally, never assume that you can use what you find online without citing its source, even if it's free and publicly available. Nothing releases you from the duty to acknowledge your use of anything you did not personally create yourself. (For more on plagiarism, see chapter 10.) Quote Freely in Your Notes It vd-,: don't i