Using Sources to Support Your Argument

120 Pages·2017·3.22 MB·English

PA R T
4
Using Sources
to Support Your
Argument

CHAPTER
8
Finding and
Evaluating Sources
AT ISSUE
Do Social-Networking Sites Threaten Our Privacy?
Facebook currently has over 400 million users pressure from the Federal Trade Commission,
worldwide, and Twitter has over 100 million Facebook, Twitter, and Google have agreed to
users. The longer people use these sites, the submit to privacy audits, and in response to
more comfortable they become, and the more complaints by users, Mark Zuckerberg, creator
information they reveal about themselves with- of Facebook, has repeatedly revised the site’s
out thinking about the possible consequences. privacy policies. Some critics, however, claim
According to a 2010 Consumer Reports article, that actions like these do little to solve the
25% of people using Facebook were unaware problem and that the only way to ensure pri-
of privacy settings, and 40% posted their vacy is for people to disengage entirely from
dates of birth online. Not surprisingly, social- social media. Others disagree, saying that
networking sites have become the prime tar- social networks are a fact of everyday life and
gets for those who seek to take advantage of that people have to learn to cope with them.
people’s willingness to share personal informa- They believe that people should be more real-
tion: employers routinely use information from istic in their demands and should have no
these sites to help them make hiring decisions, expectation of privacy when they post infor-
advertisers buy data to target consumers, and mation about themselves online.
cybercriminals use information posted on Later in this chapter, you will be asked to
social-networking sites to steal users’ identities. evaluate a number of research sources to
In response to complaints, the federal gov- determine if they are acceptable for an argu-
ernment has begun to focus on the issue of pri- mentative essay on the topic of whether social-
vacy on social-networking sites. As a result of networking sites threaten privacy. In Chapter 9,
(continued)
For comprehension quizzes,
seebedfordstmartins.com/practicalargument.
275
276 Part 4 Using Sources to Support Your Argument
(continued)
you will learn how to integrate sources into an of the topic: whether it is ethical for employers
essay on this general topic. Finally, in Chap- to access information posted on job applicants’
ter 10, you will see an MLA paper on one aspect social-networking sites.
Finding Sources
In some argumentative essays, you can use your own ideas as evidence in
support of your position. In many others, however, you have to do
research—collect information (in both print and electronic form) from
magazines, newspapers, books, journals, and other sources—to supple-
ment your own ideas.
Finding Information in the Library
When most students do research, they immediately go to the Internet—or,
more specifically, to the Web. Unfortunately, by doing this, they ignore the
most reliable source of high-quality information available to them: their
college library.
Your college library contains both print and electronic resources that
you cannot find anywhere else. Although the Web gives you access to an
almost unlimited amount of material, it does not offer the consistently
high level of reliable information found in your college library. For this
reason, you should always begin your research by surveying the resources
of the library.
The best way to access your college library is to visit its Web site, which
is the gateway to a great deal of information—for example, its online cata-
log, electronic databases, and reference works.
The Online Catalog: The online catalog lists all the books,
journals, newspapers, magazines, and other material housed in the
library. Once you gain access to this catalog, you can type in key-
words related to your topic. These will lead you to sources related
to your topic.
Electronic Databases: All college libraries subscribe to electronic
databases—collections of digital information that you access through
a keyword search. The library’s electronic databases enable you to
retrieve bibliographic citations as well as the full text of articles from
hundreds of publications. Some of these databases—for example,
Expanded Academic Plus and Proquest Research Library—provide in-
formation on a wide variety of topics. Others—for example, Business
Source Premier and Sociological Abstracts—provide information on
Chapter 8 Finding and Evaluating Sources 277
a particular subject area. Before selecting a database, check with the
reference librarian to determine which will be most useful for your
topic.
Reference Works: All libraries contain reference works—sources of
accurate and reliable information. These reference works are avail-
able both in print and in electronic form. General encyclopedias—
such as the New Encyclopaedia Britannica and the Columbia Encyclo-
pedia—provide general information on a wide variety of topics.
Specialized reference works—such as Facts on File and the World
Almanac—and special encyclopedias—such as the Encyclopedia of
Law and Economics—offer detailed information on specific topics.
NOTE
Although a general encyclopedia can provide an overview of your topic,
encyclopedia articles do not usually treat topics in enough depth for
college-level research. Be sure to check your instructor’s guidelines
before you use a general encyclopedia in your research.
Finding Information on the Web
Although the Web gives you access to a vast amount of information, it
has its limitations. For one thing, because anyone can publish on the
Web, you cannot be sure if the information found there is trustworthy,
timely, or authoritative. Of course, there are reliable sources of informa-
tion on the Web. For example, Google Scholar provides links to some
scholarly sources that are as good as those found in a college library’s
databases. Even so, you have to approach this material with caution;
some articles accessed through Google Scholar are pay-per-view, and
others are not current or comprehensive.
To carry out a Web search, you need a browser—such as GoogleChrome
or Microsoft Internet Explorer—that connects you to the Web. Once you
connect to the Web, you need to use a search engine—such as Google or
Yahoo!—to locate and to view documents that you search for with keywords.
Different types of search engines are suitable for different purposes:
■ General-Purpose Search Engines: General-purpose search engines
retrieve information on a great number of topics. They cast the widest
possible net and bring in the widest variety of information. The dis-
advantage of general-purpose search engines is that you get a great
deal of irrelevant material. Because each search engine has its own
unique characteristics, you should try a few of them to see which you
prefer. The most popular general-purpose search engines are Ask,
Bing, Excite, Google, Lycos, and Yahoo!
278 Part 4 Using Sources to Support Your Argument
■ Specialized Search Engines: Specialized search engines focus on
specific subject areas or on a specific type of content. The advantage
of specialized search engines is that they eliminate the need for you to
wade through pages of irrelevant material. By focusing your Web
search on a specific subject area, you are more likely to locate infor-
mation on your particular topic. (You are able to narrow your search
to a specific subject area when you use a general-purpose search
engine, but a specialized search engine narrows your search for you.)
You can find a list of specialized search engines on the Search Engine
List (thesearchenginelist.com.)
■ Metasearch Engines: Because each search engine searches the Web
differently, results can (and do) vary. For this reason, if you limit your-
self to a single search engine, you can miss a great deal of useful infor-
mation. Metasearch engines solve this problem by taking the results
of several search engines and presenting them in a simple, no-
nonsense format. The most popular metasearch engines are Dogpile,
Kartoo, Mamma, Metacrawler, Surfwax, and Vivisimo.
Evaluating Sources
Whenever you locate a source—print or electronic—you should always
take the time to evaluate it. When you evaluate a source, you assess the
objectivity of the author, the credibility of the source, and its relevance to
your argument. (Although a librarian or an instructor has screened the
print and electronic sources in your college library for general accuracy
and trustworthiness, you cannot assume that all these sources are suitable
for your particular writing project.)
Material that you access on the Internet presents particular problems.
Because anyone can publish on the Internet, the information you find
there has to be evaluated carefully for accuracy. Although some material on
the Internet (for example, journal articles that are published in both print
and digital format) is reliable, other material (for example, personal Web
sites and blogs) may be totally unsuitable for your research.
To be reasonably certain that the information you are accessing is
appropriate, you have to approach it critically. The pages that follow will
give you some of the tools you will need to evaluate your sources.
Evaluating Print Sources
As you locate print sources, you need to evaluate them to make sure that
they are suitable for your research. (Remember, if you use an untrust-
worthy source, you undercut your credibility.)
To evaluate print sources, you use the same process that you use when
you evaluate anything else. For example, if you are thinking about buying a
Chapter 8 Finding and Evaluating Sources 279
Print sources must be
evaluated carefully.
computer, you will decide on several criteria to help you make your deci-
sion—for example, price, speed, memory, reliability, and availability of
technical support. The same is true for evaluating research sources. You
can use the following criteria to decide whether a print source is appropriate
for your research:
■ Accuracy
■ Credibility
■ Objectivity
■ Currency
■ Comprehensiveness
■ Authority
The illustrations on page 280 show where to find information that can
help you evaluate a print source.
Accuracy A print source is accurate when it is factual and free of errors.
One way to judge the accuracy of a source is to compare the information it
contains to that same information in several other sources. If a source has
factual errors, then it probably includes other types of errors as well. Need-
less to say, errors in spelling and grammar should also cause you to ques-
tion a source’s general accuracy.
280 Part 4 Using Sources to Support Your Argument
TOMMIE SHELBY Author
We Who Are Dark
The Philosophical Foundations
of Black Solidarity
Publisher
The Belknap Press of
Harvard University Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England 2005
Copyright © 2005 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Date of publication
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shelby, Tommie, 1967–
We who are dark: the philosophical foundations of
Black solidarity/Tommie Shelby.
p. cm.
Sources cited Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents: Two conceptions of Black nationalism—Class, poverty, and
shame—Black power nationalism—Black solidarity after Black power—Race,
culture, and politics—Social identity and group solidarity.
ISBN 0-674-01936-9 (alk. paper)
1. African Americans—Politics and government. 2. African Americans—
Race identity. 3. African Americans—Social conditions—1975–
4. Black nationalism—United States. 5. Black power—United States.
6. Ethnicity—Political aspects—United States. 7. Racism—Political
aspects—United States. 8. United States—Race relations—Political aspects.
I. Title.
E185.615.S475 2005
305.896'073—dc22 2005045329
Chapter 8 Finding and Evaluating Sources 281
You can also judge the accuracy of a print source by checking to see if
the author cites sources for the information that is discussed. Documenta-
tion can help readers determine both the quality of information in a source
and the range of sources used. It can also show readers what sources a
writer has failed to consult. (Failure to cite an important book or article
should cause you to question the writer’s familiarity with a subject.) If pos-
sible, verify the legitimacy of some of the books and articles that a writer
cites by seeing what you can find out about them on the Web. If a print
source has caused a great deal of debate or if it is disreputable, you will
probably be able to find information about the source by researching it on
Google.
Credibility A print source is credible when it is believable. You can
begin checking a source’s credibility by determining where a book or
article was published. If a university press published the book, you can be
reasonably certain that it was peer reviewed—read by experts in the field
to confirm the accuracy of the information. If a commercial press pub-
lished the book, you will have to consider other criteria—the author’s
reputation and the date of publication, for example—to determine qual-
ity. If your source is an article, see if it appears in a scholarly journal—a
periodical aimed at experts in a particular field—or in a popular maga-
zine—a periodical aimed at general readers. Journal articles are almost
always acceptable research sources because they are usually documented,
peer reviewed, and written by experts. (They can, however, be difficult
for general readers to understand.) Articles in high-level popular maga-
zines, such as the Atlantic and the Economist, may also be suitable—
provided experts write them. However, articles in lower-level popular
magazines—such as Sports Illustrated and Time—may be easy to under-
stand, but they are seldom acceptable sources for research.
You can determine how well respected a source is by reading
reviews written by critics. You can find reviews of books by consulting
Book Review Digest—either in print or online—which lists books that
have been reviewed in at least three magazines or newspapers and
includes excerpts of reviews. In addition, you can consult the New York
Times Book Review Web site—www.nytimes.com/pages/books/index.html—
to access reviews printed by the newspaper since 1981. (Both profes-
sional and reader reviews are also available at Amazon.com.)
Finally, you can determine how well respected a source is by seeing
how often other scholars in the field refer to it. Citation indexes indi-
cate how often books and articles are mentioned by other sources in a
given year. This information can give you an idea of how important a
work is in a particular field. Citation indexes for the humanities, the
social sciences, and the sciences are available online and in your college
library.
282 Part 4 Using Sources to Support Your Argument
Objectivity A print source is objective when it is not unduly influenced
by personal opinions or feelings.Ideally, you want to find sources that are
objective, but to one degree or another, all sources are biased—prejudiced
in favor of or against something. In short, all sources—especially those
that take a stand on an issue—reflect the opinions of their authors,
regardless of how hard they may try to be impartial. (Of course, an opin-
ion is perfectly acceptable—as long as it is supported by evidence.)
As a researcher, you should recognize that bias exists and ask yourself
whether a writer’s assumptions are justified by the facts or are the result of
emotion or preconceived ideas. You can make this determination by look-
ing at a writer’s choice of words and seeing if the language is slanted or by
reviewing the writer’s points and seeing if his or her argument is one-sided.
Get in the habit of asking yourself whether you are being offered a legiti-
mate point of view or simply being fed propaganda.
The covers of the
liberal and
conservative
magazines shown
here suggest different
biases.
Currency A print source is current when it is up-to-date. (For a book,
you can find the date of publication on the same page that lists the pub-
lisher. For an article, you can find the date on the front cover of the
magazine or journal.) If you are dealing with a scientific subject, the date
of publication can be very important. Older sources might contain out-
dated information, so you want to use the most up-to-date source that
you can find. For other subjects—literary criticism, for example—the cur-
rency of the information may not be as important as it is in the sciences.