Research Blog Entry Chapter 17 The Bedford Researcher

Revising and Editing

What should I focus on as I revise my document?

Consider my writing situation.

Will my readers trust what I have to say? Have I established credibility?

Will my readers have other ideas about how to address this issue? How can I convince them?

Will my readers find my evidence appropriate and accurate? Is my selection of evidence consistent with their values and beliefs?

Consider my argument and ideas. Consider how well I am conveying my ideas. Check clarity of thesis statement. Determine whether my argument helps readers understand my thesis.

Consider my use and integration of sources. Review the amount of support I have provided for my points. Determine whether I have identified and addressed reasonable opposing viewpoints. Integrate sources effectively, and cite and distinguish all sources.

Consider the structure and organization of my document. Readers should be able to locate information easily. Ideas should be clearly expressed and the document should be easy to read. Effective paragraph structure is important too.

Consider genre and design. Ask whether the choices I have made about content and style are consistent with readers expectations for this type of document.

What strategies should I use to revise?

Save multiple drafts. Have multiple drafts saved before and after revisions in case I don't like the revisions I have made after all.

Highlight my main point, reasons, and evidence. Identify and examine each element in my draft, both individually and as a group of related points to decide which should be emphasized.

Challenge my assumptions. 

Put myself in the place of my readers

Play devil's advocate

Play the "so what?" game.

Scan, outline, and map my document. 

Scan headings and subheadings

Scan the first sentence of each paragraph

Ask for feedback. Friends, relatives,  and colleagues can give frank and supportive advice and see things I may have grown blind to.

What should I focus on as I edit my document?

Focus on accuracy

Check my facts and figures

Check every quotation

Check the spelling of every name

Focus on economy. Reduce the number of words needed to express an idea or convey information to my readers.

Focus on consistency. 

Treat concepts consistently

Use numbers consistently

Treat my sources consistently

Format my documents consistently

Focus on style. Choose the right words, use active and passive voice effectively, adopt a consistent point of view, rewrite complex sentences, vary sentence length and structure, provide transitions, and avoid using sexist language.

Focus on spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

What strategies should I use to edit?

Read carefully. 

Set my document aside before I edit it.

Pause between sentences for a quick check

Read aloud

Read in reverse order

Mark and search my document. Use a highlighter or pen to mark errors or information to be double checked.

Use spelling, grammar, and style tools with caution. Use with an awareness of their limitations, these cannot identify words spelled correctly but misused. They are also ineffective when they come across a word they do not recognize.

Ask for feedback. I am likely to overlook things after I have made final edits I should have someone proofread my paper.

Research Blog Entry Chapter 13 The Bedford Researcher

Organizing

What organization pattern should I choose?

My choice of organization will reflect my purpose and the role I adopt as a writer. It should reflect the argument I am making in my document and the reasons, evidence, and appeals I use to make my argument. Some different types of organization patterns include the following;

Chronology

Description

Cause/Effect

Process Explanation

Pro/Con

Multiple Perspectives

Comparison/Contrast

Strengths/weaknesses

Costs/Benefits

Problem/Solution

How can I arrange my argument?

Label evidence can help me understand at a glance how and where I will use evidence from my sources. Once I've labeled my notes and sources, I can organize them into groups or order them according to the outline I create.

Group evidence is categorizing evidence obtained from my sources. Different sources can be sorted by category such as the medium or subject.

Use clustering to explore the relationships among my thesis statements, reasons, and evidence. Clustering is arranging these elements of my argument visually on a sheet of paper or on a computer screen.

Use mapping to explore sequences of reasons and evidence. Create a timeline perhaps.

How can I create an outline?

Create an informal outline with a brief list of words, a series of short phrases, or a series of sentences. These can remind me of key points to address in my paper or of notes I should refer to when drafting.

Create a formal outline to provide a complete and accurate list of the points I want to address in my paper. These use Arabic numerals, letters, and Roman numerals to indicate the hierarchy of information.

Thesis

Reasons

Sequence reasons are presented

Evidence

Notes and sources to refer to.

Topical outlines present topics and subtopics I plan to include in my research document as a series of words and phrases. Items at the same level of importance should be phrased in parallel grammatical form.

Sentence outlines use complete sentences to identify the point I want to cover. These typically...

1. Begin the process of converting an outline into a draft of my paper.

2. Help me assess the structure of a document I have already written.

Research Blog Entry Chapter 19 The Bedford Researcher

Designing Documents and Presentations

How can I design academic essays?

Consider my purpose. 

Consider reader expectations about design. In general, instructors will expect me to design my essay with wide margins, double spaced lines, and a readable font like times new roman 12 point.

View an essay. 

How can I design multimodal essays?

Consider my purpose. Multimodal essays are characterized by their essayistic form and their use of multiple types of illustrations. They present information in a linear sequence, one idea after another. They combine text with images, animation, sound, and/or video to establish a line of argument and support the writers points.

Consider reader expectations about design. My readers are likely to expect only that I will provide a linear document that contains one or more types of embedded media and is designed to be viewed on a computer screen or tablet.

Choose my design tools. As I choose my design tools, consider how their distinctive features will help me accomplish my goals as a writer. A word processing program might be a better choice than a multimedia presentation program.

View a multimodal essay.

How can I design articles?

Consider my purpose. Articles are written to inform, to evaluate, to entertain, to persuade, and to convince. Keep my purpose in mind and choose the type that is right for my research paper.

Consider reader expectations about design. Writers typically have a clear picture of their readers and can develop a line of argument that directly addresses their needs and interests. To gain an understanding about my readers' expectations about the design, I should scan other articles in the publication.

View an article.

How can I design web sites?

Consider my purpose. Web sites can link directly to related sites, allow visitors to access video and audio files, and support communication among the site's readers and writers. As I consider my purpose in developing a web site, I must reflect on what I hope to accomplish and on design elements that can help me achieve my purpose.

Consider reader expectations about design. Designers of web sites usually attempt to provide their readers with a significant amount of guidance about the purpose, content, and organization of their sites on pages writers usually visit first. Over the past decade, the appearance of many web sites has grown similar to that of magazines, with heavy use of illustrations.

View pages from web site.

How can I design oral presentations?

Consider my purpose and audience. When designing an oral presentation, the most important thing to remember is engaging them to keep them interested in my ideas.

Narrow my scope. With readers knowledge and expertise in mond, focus on a few key points and decide how much detail I will need to provide to help them follow my line of argument.

Create a barebones outline. 

An opening line that captures the attention of my audience.

A statement of my main point, typically in the form of a thesis.

A sentence establishing my credibility and purpose.

Two to four key points

Evidence to support my key points.

Transition statements to guide my audience through the talk.

A conclusion that reinforces my audience's understanding of the main ideas they should take away.

Think about language. My choices about how to engage my audience should be made with the goal of engaging them on my issue.

Design speaker's notes.

My opening line

Preview statement

Statements I need to give word for word.

Supporting points and reminders of important evidence.

Transition sentences.

Memory prompts.

Reminders to use visual aid.

Engage with my audience.

Maintain eye contact

Vary the pitch of my voice

Speak loudly

Articulate every word clearly

Slow down

View speaker's notes. 

How can I design multimedia presentations?

Consider my purpose. A strong multimedia presentation highlights my points without stealing the show.

Consider audience expectations about design. 

Keep text to a minimum.

Use readable font

Use slides with high contrast

Choose an appropriate color theme for my project.

Use audio, video, and animation with moderation.

Be consistent in my choice of design.

Avoid use of slow or overly complex transitions.

Avoid use of distracting sound effects during slide transitions.

View a presentation. 

How can I design poster presentations?

Consider my purpose and audience. Since my audience probably is fairly knowledgeable on my topic I should provide a brief overview of my project, its key findings, and their significance.

Consider audience expectations about design. 

Limit use of text by using bullets, numbered lists, and illustrations.

Format my poster so everything can be read from four feet away.

Use a limited number of complimentary fonts.

Use empty space to reduce clutter and help audience identify important information.

Choose a color theme that is consistent with my purpose.

Use color to create interest and capture attention.

View a poster.

Research Blog Entry Chapter 18 The Bedford Researcher

Understanding Design Principles

How can I use design effectively?

Understand design principles. 

Balance is the vertical and horizontal alignment of elements on my pages. Symmetrical designs create a sense of rest and stability and tend to lead the readers eye to focus on a particular part of the document.

Emphasis is the placement and formatting of elements, such as headings and subheadings, so they catch my redears attention. I can emphasize by using color or font that distinguishes some words and sentences from others.

Placement is the location of elements on my pages. Placing elements next to or near each other suggests they are related.

Repetition is the use of elements, such as headers and footers, navigation menus, and page numbers, across the pages in my document. 

Consistency is the extent to which I format and place text and illustrations in the same way throughout my document. Treating each design element consistently will help my readers recognize different roles played by the elements in my paper to help them find the information they seek.

Design for a purpose. A well-designed document presents my information, ideas, and arguments in a manner that helps me accomplish my purpose. 

Design for my readers. A well-designed document helps readers understand the organization of the document, locate information and ideas, and recognize the function of parts of the document.

Design to address genre conventions. Genres are characterized not only by distinctive writing styles, types of evidence, and organizing patterns, but also by distinctive types of design.

What design elements can I use?

Use fonts, line spacing, and alignment. 

Use page layout elements. Placement of text, illustrations, and other objects on a page or screen.

Use color, shading, borders, and rules. These increase overall attractiveness of my document, call attention to important information, help readers understand the organization of my document, help readers recognize the functions of specific types of text, and signal transitions between sections.

Use illustrations. Photographs, charts and graphs, tables, and other digital illustrations. 

Research Blog Entry Chapter 16 The Bedford Researcher

Writing with Style

How can I begin to write with style?

Write concisely. One of the keys to writing clearly is keeping my words to a minimum.

Use active and passive voice effectively. A sentence written in an active voice specifies an actor, person, or thing who carries out an action. Passive voice can be effective when active voice would require the inclusion of unnecessary information. 

Adopt a consistent point of view. When writers shift their point of view within a sentence, readers notice, sometimes they have to stop and ask themselves what happened.

Choose words carefully. Formality may be necessary when talking about my subject. Specialized language or jargon, allows readers and writers to communicate effectively. Variety is important to keep the subject interesting.

How can I polish my style?

Vary my sentence structure. There are four types of sentences statements, questions, commands, and exclamations. There are also four basic sentence structures simple (a single independent clause), Compound (two or more independent clauses), complex (an independent clause and a dependent clause), and compound-complex (two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause). 

Create effective transitions. Transitions help readers understand the relationship between sentences, paragraphs, and sections of a document. Transitions are most effective when they don't call attention to themselves, but instead move the reader's eye along to the next sentence, paragraph, or section.

Introduce other writers effectively. Readers appreciate clear indications of the source of a quotation, paraphrase, or summary.

Avoid sexist language. It is still technically correct to use male pronouns, such as he, him, and his, when the gender of a noun is unspecified. Most readers object to this assumption.

Consult a good handbook. I will find detailed discussions and examples of strategies I can use to polish my style in a handbook.

Read Widely. Read as widely and frequently as I can. This will keep me engaged with words, and I will find I can draw on them more easily.

Research Blog Entry Chapter 15 The Bedford Researcher

Using Sources Effectively

How can I use sources to accomplish my purposes as a writer?

My sources help me introduce ideas, contrast ideas of others, provide evidence for my points, define concepts, illustrate processes, clarify statements, set a mood, provide an example, and qualify or amplify a point. I can present information from my sources as a quotation, paraphrase or summary. As numerical information, or as illustrations such as images, audio, video, and animation.

Introduce an idea or argument. I can also use a quotation, paraphrase or summary to introduce an idea or argument to readers.

Contrast ideas or arguments. To indicate that disagreement exists on an issue, I can use source information to illustrate the nature and intensity of the disagreements.

Provide evidence for my argument. Providing evidence to support my assertions increases the likelihood that my readers will accept my arguments.

Align my argument with authority. Make an assertion then follow it with supporting information from a source like a quotation, paraphrase, or summary.

Define a concept, illustrate a process, or clarify a statement. Define a concept by quoting or paraphrasing a dictionary or encyclopedia, or use an illustration to help readers understand a complex process. Alos, use information from sources to clarify their statements.

Set a mood. I can choose quotations and illustrations with an eye toward establishing an overall mood for my readers.

Provide an example. It's often better to show with an example than to tell with a general description. Examples provide concrete evidence in my document.

Amplify or qualify a point. Use amplification to expand the scope of a point. Qualifications allow me to narrow the scope of a statement, reducing the possibility that my readers may misunderstand my meaning.

How can I integrate sources into my draft?

Identify my sources. 

Use attributions and in-text citations. Distinguish my ideas with brief comments like, "according to" or, "as the author points out."

Provide a context. Establish why the quotation, paraphrase, or summary is reliable by identifying the source's credentials. Indicate how it relates to my main idea.

Quote strategically.

Use partial, complete, and block quotations. When I choose one type of quotation over another, consider the length and complexity of the passage as well as the obligation to convey ideas and information fairly.

Partial quotations. Can be a single word, phrase, or most of a sentence. Used to convey a well-turned phrase or to complete a sentence using important words from a source.

Complete quotations. Typically one or more complete sentences and are most often used when meaning of the passage cannot be conveyed adequately by a few well chosen words.

Block quotations. These are extended quotations typically 4 or more lines. Use a colon to introduce the quote, indent the entire quotation one inch from the left margin, and include source information according to the documentation system I am using.

Modify quotations as appropriate. It is acceptable to delete unnecessary words or to change the tense of a word in partial quotation so that is fits my sentence.

Punctuate quotations correctly.

Paraphrase information, ideas, and arguments.

A paraphrase is a restatement, in my own words, of a passage from a source. Paraphrases can be used to illustrate or support a point I make in my document.

Summarize

A summary is a concise statement, written in my own words, of information found in a source. I can summarize an entire source, or I can summarize specific ideas and information from a source. I can also summarize a group of sources with a collective summary.

Present numerical information

Use images, audio, video, and animations

How should I document my sources?

Choose a documentation system. MLA, APA, Chicago, CSE. These are all documentation systems my choice will be guided by the requirements of the research project.

Provide in-text references and publication information. Cite information in the text using parentheses and add a list of sources to my document.

Check for unattributed sources in my document. Include a complete citation for each source I refer to in my document.

Distinguish between my ideas and the ideas in my sources. Failing to distinguish will lead readers to believe other writers ideas were my own.

Research Blog Entry Chapter 9 The Bedford Researcher

Searching for Information with Print Resources

How can I use the library stacks to locate sources?

Browse the stacks. Most libraries are organized using the Dewey decimal classification system, which is subject based. Similar subjects are shelved together.

Check out books and periodicals. There are always options even if a book has been checked out I may be able to recall it and have it sent to the library and reserved. 

Use interlibrary loan. If a book has been checked out I can also have another copy sent from a different library to the one in my geographic location.

How can I use a library periodicals room to locate sources?

The periodicals room contains recent issues for library visitors to browse. I can also find back issues of leading newspapers in full-text databases or in microforms.

Use works cited lists to find key voices. When I find an article that is relevant to my topic I can check the list of sources for related articles. Authors whose work is cited frequently will probably be key voices on the subject. Their work may be controversial, fundamental, central to the issue.

How can I use a library reference room to locate sources?

Consult bibliographies. Trade bibliographies, general bibliographies, and specialized bibliographies will be helpful to find sources. To locate bibliographies consult a cumulative bibliography, libraries online catalog, or seek help from a reference librarian.

Consult indexes. Periodical indexes. indexes of materials in books, pamphlet indexes, government documents indexes, and citation indexes. 

Consult biographies. These cover key figures in a field, time period, or geographic region.

Consult general and specialized encyclopedias. These provide a little knowledge about allot of different things. These usually provide enough information however, to refine my search.

Consult handbooks. These provide useful background information about a topic in compact form.

Consult almanacs. These contain lists, charts, and tables of information of various types.

Consult atlases. These provide maps and related information about a region or country.

Discuss my research project with others. Return to my research log with what I have learned then ask if I have taken advantage of the print resources available in my library.