The Research Process—Finding and Evaluating Sources

In the CRAAP method, the letter "R" stands for relevance. What is the key question you should ask yourself to determine if the source is relevant to your own work?

d. How does this source contribute to my research paper?

Yoon-Su has been working on his research assignment. His instructor has encouraged him to think of "How" and "Why" and "What" (HWW) kinds of questions. Why are these questions better for the research question Yoon-Su is developing?

a. HWW questions give ample room for deep development of your ideas.

Gisella wants to find sources on her essay topic: the role of the vice president in deciding national security matters. She begins searching on Google Scholar, but gets too many results. Which strategy should she use to make this search more productive?

a. Narrow the search into a subtopic, determine some essential key terms, and add them into the search box with the word "and" between each key term.

In the CRAAP method, the letter "C" stands for Currency. What is the key question you should ask yourself to determine Currency?

a. When was the item of information published or produced?

Marisa is trying to determine if one of her sources is trustworthy and reliable. Her instructor recommends using the C.R.A.A.P. method. What do those letters stand for?

b. Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose

Which one of the following topics is effectively narrowed?

b. Holidays around the world > Jewish holidays around the world > Hanukkah celebrations in New York City

Isabel needs to create a working thesis statement for her research project. What is one function of a strong working thesis statement?

b. Narrows the subject to the single point that readers should understand

What advantages are there, if any, to incorporating peer-reviewed articles and texts into your research essay?

b. Peer-reviewed articles undergo a great deal of scrutiny and review; therefore, they are most likely to be accurate in their data and correct in their conclusions.

Olaf can't remember what makes a scholarly source different from other kinds of sources. Which of the following should you tell him?

b. Scholarly sources are written for scholars and students and have been extensively reviewed before publication.

Each annotation in an annotated bibliography should include the complete bibliographic information for the source in addition to a brief summary of the source. What other information should be included in each annotation?

c. An annotation should include a critique or evaluation of the credibility of the source.

Camille just finished watching an online news video on Facebook. The information discussed provides a counter argument to Camille's thesis claims, but she has never heard of the news company before. What should Camille do to better understand the source of the news report?

c. Investigate—find out who the author is and why they made the video

Rita uses the library databases to find three sources she can use in her paper, and then works on creating a good thesis statement. As she is drafting her paper, she realizes she is missing some key details and data? What should she do?

c. Return to researching her topic, find the additional sources she needs, and revise her thesis statement if necessary.

Samantha needs to start on her research writing assignment. What should be the first thing she thinks about?

c. She should think of a question she doesn't know the answer to, something that can't be answered with a single resource.

Uzma already knows how to do a Google search, and she wonders why it's so important to learn how to use a Library or specialized database in her research. What is one reason a library database can be superior for academic research projects like Uzma's?

d. All material in a database is evaluated for accuracy and credibility by subject experts and publishers.

Dwight's English teacher has assigned an annotated bibliography as part of his research writing assignment. What is an annotated bibliography?

d. An annotated bibliography is a list of all Dwight's sources, including full citation information, with notes on how the source could be used.

Cece is writing an annotated bibliography for her Art History paper. She has found nearly twenty possible sources but is having a hard time narrowing it down to the handful she needs to turn in with her annotated bibliography. What should she do?

d. Consider which sources are most applicable to her research question.

Israel has a research writing assignment where the topic should be a complex current event. He decides to try to answer a research question about the environment. He consults the 10-12 sources recommended by his instructor and is now ready for the next step in the research writing process. What should he do next?

d. Create a one-sentence answer to his research question about the environment

Rose is considering a few sources for use in her research assignment. One in particular seems promising, but the data that is included in the study seems extremely dated. She is interested in Coronavirus data from 2020, but the study only looks at infectious disease data from before 1980. What issue is Rose raising, using the CRAAP method with this one potential source?

d. Currency

Alberto has found a good source from an expert in the field for his research project on HIV treatments. However, the expert is also selling his own cure, that seems untested by federal agencies. Alberto is thinking about rejecting the source entirely based on which of the fours moves?

d. Investigate the source

Meredith has located several sources for her research project. Now she is trying to determine the suitability of those articles. What is one question to ask to determine if the source is suitable?

d. Is the source written by a well-known authority or expert?

The four moves include the task of finding better coverage. What does this really mean for a student researcher? What should you do?

d. Read what other writers have to say about the same issue or this source specifically.

Which of the following statements best describes the difference between scholarly and popular sources?

d. Scholarly sources are generally found in library databases, and popular sources are often found in newsstands.

Cydney is a sociology major and has been given a research writing assignment on the political movement Black Lives Matter. She puts together a research question to answer, conducts extensive research, and writes a thesis statement answering her original research question. What should she do next?

d. She should share her information by writing a draft of her paper that includes well-chosen examples from the data/information she gathered.

Penina has developed a research question, but as she digs in deeper to the research process and begins drafting her paper, she realizes that the most interesting part of her question is not WHY something happened by HOW it happened. What can she do at this point?

d. Tweak her original research question to accommodate her new emphasis on HOW rather than WHY.

Coltrane has struggled to find useful sources for his paper, but he has found one really great one; his instructor wants him to use at least 5 sources. What might be his next step?

d. Use the bibliography, or list of consulted works, in the one paper to find others.