Speech Chapter 6

A biography about a historical figure is not an appropriate source of secondary information.

F

Because statistics are a great way to present information, a speaker should use as many as possible.

F

According to the text, the heart of an effective interview is a list of good questions.

T

In addition to research that others have done, your personal experience can be a good source of information for a speech.

T

The list of questions you plan to ask during an interview is known as the:

e. interview protocol

Reliable sources

information sources that have a history of presenting valid and accurate information

Valid sources

information sources that report factual information that can be counted on to be true

Expert opinions

interpretations and judgements made by an authority in a particular subject area.

Primary questions

introductory questions about each major interview topic

Closed questions

narrowly focused questions that require only very brief answers

Biographies

when you need an account of a person's life, from thumbnail sketches to reasonably complete essays (i.e. Who's Who in America, International Who's Who, Contemporary Black Biography, Dictionary of Hispanic Biography, etc.).

Four criteria can help you evaluate the validity, accuracy, and reliability of sources:

Authority, Objectivity, Currency, and Relevance

Primary research involves looking for information that others have discovered.

F

Types of information:

Facts, Opinions, and Elaborations

Government documents

If your topic is related to public policy this source could provide useful information (i.e. Federal Register, The Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications).

Three principles that should guide your use of examples are:

Use at least one example to support every generalization, the examples should be clear and specific enough to create a picture the audience can understand, and the examples used should be representative.

Blogs

Web sites that provide personal viewpoints of their author

Online social networks

Web sites where communities of people interact with one another over the Internet

Survey

a canvassing of people to get information about their ideas or opinions

Ethnography

a form of primary research based on fieldwork observations

Fieldwork observations

a form of primary research based on fieldwork observations

Skimming

a method of rapidly going through a work to determine what is covered and how

Expert

a person recognized as having mastered specific subject, usually through long-term study.

Non-participant observer

a person who does no engage in the interactions and activities of the people they are studying

Participant observer

a person who engages in the interactions and activities with the people they are studying

Interview

a planned, structured conversation where one person asks questions and another answers them

Annotated bibliography

a preliminary record of the relevant sources you find pertaining to your topic.

abstract

a short paragraph summarizing the research findings

Definition

a statement that clarifies the meaning of a word or phrase

The four criteria that should be used when evaluating sources are authority, relevance, objectivity, and:

a. currency

Narratives

accounts, personal experiences, tales, or lengthier stories

Stance

an attitude, perspective, or viewpoint on a topic

Hypothesis

an educated guess about a cause-and-effect relationship between two or more things

Profnet

an online database containing tens of thousands of expert profiles that can be searched by topic and region.

Elaborations can include:

anecdotes and narratives, comparisons and contrasts, or quotations

Evidence

any information that clarifies, explains, or otherwise adds depth or breadth to a topic

Information that clarifies, explains, or adds depth or breadth to a topic is called:

b. evidence

Anecdotes

brief, often amusing stories

Open questions

broad-based questions that ask the interviewee to provide perspective, ideas, information, or opinions

Encyclopedias, newspapers, and scholarly journals are all examples of:

c. secondary sources

News Media

can provide facts about and interpretations of both contemporary and historical issues. They also can provide local perspectives, however, most journalists writing the articles are not experts on the topics they write about. (i.e. New York Times, Wall Street Journal)

All of the following are examples of primary sources EXCEPT:

d. a Web site of famous quotations

Experts.com

feature a free, international database of experts across many fields.

Secondary questions

follow-up questions designed to probe the answers given to primary questions

Authoratory

for topics that focus on chemistry, biology, or medicine, this site aggregates data from PubMed, a service established by the US National Library of Medicine.

Contrasts

highlight differences

Comparisons

illuminate a point by showing similarities

Research cards

individual 3X5- or 4X6-inch index cards or electronic facsimiles that identify: one piece of information relevant to your speech, a keyword or theme the information represents, and the bibliographic source that identifies where you found it.

Accurate sources

information sources that attempt to present unbiased information and often include a balanced discussion of controversial topics

hits

links to all sorts of Web pages, images, videos, articles and other sources that include material about the keywords entered into a search engine

periodicals

magazines and journals published at regular intervals

Rapport-building questions

non-threatening questions designed to put the interviewee at ease

Statistics

numerical facts

Statistical sources

present numerical information on a wide variety of subjects.

Leading questions

questions phrased in a way that suggests the interviewer has a preferred answer

Neutral questions

questions phrased in ways that do not direct a person's answers

Oral footnotes

references to an original source, made at the point in the speech where information from that source is presented.

Hypothetical examples

specific illustrations based on reflections about future events

Examples

specific instances that illustrate or explain a general factual statement

Factual statements

statements or information that can be verified; come in the form of statistics, examples, and definitions

Electronic newspaper indexes:

the National Newspaper Index: (the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times) Newsbank: Provides not only the indexes but also the text of articles from thousands of newspapers, business journals, newswires, broadcast transcripts, and more.

Interview protocol

the list of questions you plan to ask; heart of an effective interview

primary research

the process of conducting your own study to acquire the information you need

secondary research

the process of locating information that has been discovered by other people

Plagiarism

the unethical act of representing another person's work as your own

Definitions serve to clarify in three ways:

they clarify the meaning of terminology that is specialized, technical, or otherwise likely to be unfamiliar to your audience, they clarify words or terms that have more than one meaning, and they clarify your stance on a subject.

Transcribe

to translate interview responses word for word into written form

commercial

website ends in .com; can be helpful for locating information about a company such as the National Honey Board, for finding current or popular culture material, and for finding presentational aids.

nonprofit organization

website ends in .org; dedicated to issues or causes and can often provide examples of emotional appeal

credentials

your experience or education that qualifies you to speak with authority on a specific subject