Chapter 7
Never has the adage been more true than when applied to the Internet:
"Don't believe everything you read."
During the interview ...
- Dress Appropriately and Be on Time - Repeat the Purpose of the Interview - Set Up the Recorder, If You Are Using One - Keep the Interview on Track - Listen Carefully - Don't Overstay Your Welcome
types of questions to avoid
- Questions you can answer without the interview - Leading questions (like "You do think it's a problem, too, don't you?" - Hostile, loaded questions
After the interview ...
- Review Your Notes as Soon as Possible - Transcribe Your Notes (you should transcribe that material so it is in the same format as the rest of your research notes) -
Four tips for doing research
- start early - preliminary bibliography - take notes effeciently - think about your materials as you research
five steps you should take ahead of time to ensure a successful outcome.
1) Define the Purpose of the Interview 2) Decide Whom to Interview 3) Arrange the Interview 4) Decide Whether to Record the Interview 5) Prepare Your Questions
secondary audience
50/50 people can go either way (some interested and some not)
academic database
A database that catalogues articles from scholarly journals
preliminary bibliography
A list compiled early in the research process of works that look as if they might contain helpful information about a speech topic
catalogue
A listing of all the books, periodicals, and other resources owned by a library
call number
A number used in libraries to classify books and periodicals and to indicate where they can be found on the shelves
newspaper and periodical database
A research aid that catalogues articles from a large number of magazines, journals, and newspapers.
abstract
A summary of a magazine or journal article, written by someone other than the original author.
reference work
A work that synthesizes a large amount of related information for easy access by researchers.
The best place to find scholarly research is in one of the following academic databases:
Academic OneFile, JSTOR and Google Scholar
research interview
An interview conducted to gather information for a speech
sponsoring organization
An organization that, in the absence of a clearly identified author, is responsible for the content of a document on the Internet.
The best-known collection of quotations is
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
CRAAP is
Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose
How can you use Google and other search engines systematically to find what you need?
Develop a search strategy that will allow you to zero in precisely on the information required for your speech
Two of the most valuable yearbooks are
Facts on File and World Almanac and Book of Facts
One way to gauge the credibility of an organization is to type its name into
Google. If commentators have raised serious questions about an organization, those questions will usually surface in the first few pages of search results
There are two major formats for citing documents in a bibliography
One comes from the Modern Language Association (MLA), the other from the American Psychological Association (APA)
The exact databases you can use will depend on what is available through your library. Here are three major databases
ProQuest, LexisNexis Academic and World News Digest
Databases
Pros: credible, concentrated, academic Cons: Not enough information
is Wikipedia a reliable source of information?
Several years ago, it was not. Today, however, its reliability ratings compare favorably with those for print encyclopedias.
Government Resources
Whether you are looking for information from the federal government or from a state or local agency, chances are you can find it by starting your search at one of these Web sites: - USA.gov - United States Census Bureau (www.census.gov) - World Factbook (www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook)
The most popular biographical aids are published by
Who's Who, which produces such titles as International Who's Who and Who's Who in America. More specialized biographical aids include Contemporary Black Biography, Dictionary of Hispanic Biography, and Who's Who Among Asian Americans
One benefit of Wikipedia is that its major articles are followed by an extensive set of
additional resources. Those resources include footnotes, a list of references, external links, and, in some cases, video and/or still images. If you take advantage of these resources, they will lead you to a vast amount of information beyond that in Wikipedia
Research gives speakers facts and figures to
back up their ideas. Whether researching online or in the library, you should use high-quality sources of information that will give your presentation strength and credibility
target audience
best group, those who are interested in what you have to say
The key to finding the book on the shelves is the
call number. Once you have the call number, all you have to do is find the right section of the shelves (or stacks, as they are called in some libraries) and retrieve your book.
The best way to determine the recency of an Internet document is to look for a
copyright date, publication date, or date of last revision at the top or bottom of the document
observation
educated guess
The major kinds of reference works you are likely to use for your speeches are
encyclopedias, yearbooks, quotation books, and biographical aids.
Too often students waste their time wandering aimlessly in the library because they are afraid to ask for assistance. Librarians are
experts in their own field, trained in library use and research methods. If you have a question, don't hesitate to ask
Search engines are the key to finding materials on the Internet. There are numerous search engines, but the most widely used by far
is Google, which provides access to billions of Web pages
interviewing (like many things) looks deceptively easy. In prac tice,
it is a complex and demanding art. The principles of effective interviewing fall into three groups—what to do before the interview, what to do during the interview, and what to do after the interview
Newspaper and periodical databases allow you to
locate articles in thousands of publications
Many Web documents are published by businesses, government agencies, public-interest groups, and the like rather than by individual authors. In such cases, you
must judge whether the sponsoring organization is impartial enough to cite in your speech
The Internet has been called the world's biggest library. But unlike a library, the Internet has
no central information desk, no librarians, no catalogue, and no reference section
You need not shy away from tough questions; just
phrase them as neutrally as possible and save them until near the end of the interview
Interviewing people with expertise on your speech topic can
provide valuable information. When conducting an interview, be sure to listen attentively and to take accurate notes
You should use the same format for all your
research notes, whether they come from Internet sources, library documents, or personal interviews
Just as you should not cite a book or magazine article without identifying the author and his or her credentials,
so you should not cite an electronic work (from the internet) in the absence of this information
When you choose a topic from your own experience, you may be tempted to depersonalize it by relying solely on facts and figures from books and the Internet. Such outside information is almost always necessary. But
supplementing it with the personal touch can really bring your speeches to life
The most important thing to know about Wikipedia is
that it can be a good place to start learning about a topic, but it is not a good place to end
Some of the most frequently used special encyclopedias are
the African American Encyclopedia, the Encyclopedia of Religion, and the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology
Wikipedia is
the biggest encyclopedia in human history. Each month, the site serves over 15 billion pages, making it the fifth most visited Web site in the world
the date of a Web page is easy to change, so someone who wants to make information appear up-to-date can easily do so. But if you have already verified
the credibility of the author and the sponsoring organization, you can usually assume that the date of the information is valid
In some cases, you may get an abstract of the article in addition to—or instead of
the full article. Keep in mind that the abstract is only a summary of the article. You should never cite an article in your speech on the basis of the abstract alone
Relevance
the importance of the information for your needs
Purpose
the reason the information exists
Accuracy
the reliability, truthfulness and correctness
Authority
the source of the information
Currency
the timeliness of the information
third audience
they don't care
As you do research for your speeches, be sure to
use quotation marks when you copy the exact words of a source. If you paraphrase, rather than quote verbatim, be sure to include the source when you record the note
disposition
what they are feeling on the speaker, occasion or topic
never record a conversation
without the knowledge or consent of the person being interviewed
Even if you record the interview,
you should still take notes by hand in case of technical malfunctions