This assignment is meant to illustrate the differences between scholarly and popular information sources by presenting students with information on the topic of "fracking" from four different resources: a scholarly article, a magazine, a newspaper and a website. It introduces the idea that information can be presented in different formats depending on the context and information need.

The following activity is meant to demonstrate the concepts of authorship and authority to your students. It introduces the idea that context can influence the tone and writing style of a faculty member or scholar and also introduces the concept of the scholarly conversation. It can be used for any discipline.

This assignment asks students to compare and contrast a Wikipedia article and an article from a subject specific Encyclopedia owned by the library. It asks the students to evaluate each resource by assessing its Relevance, Authority, Date, Accuracy and Rationale. Evaluation using these five criteria is known as the RADAR framework. Although the wikipedia article in this assignment is from biology, it can be switched out for any discipline.

A research diary is a log of the steps and thought processes researchers go through as they conduct their research.  A research diary gives students the opportunity to reflect on the research process as they discover more information about a topic. 

Students pick a topic related to Communication Studies (or another social science discipline) and then define the topic operationally by finding a way to measure it. They test out their instrument on a partner.

What is it?

An annotation is a brief evaluative summary of a book, article, or other publication. A bibliography is a list of resources cited in a consistent style format (such as MLA). An annotated bibliography, then, is a list of cited sources with brief explanations centering around one topic or research question. The purpose is to help the reader of the bibliography understand the uses of each source and the relationships of one source to another.

Your Assignment:

You are going to compile sources on the same topic for this annotated bibliography, cited in proper MLA format. When writing your annotations, be sure to compare and contrast the source with the other sources you have included. Discuss how this work relates to your topic and what perspective it provides. You can use the RADAR* (relevance, authority, date, accuracy, and rationale) framework to help you evaluate your sources.

Steps:

Follow these steps when writing each of your annotations.

1. Citation: Cite the source correctly using a referencing style (such as MLA).
2. Relevance/Main Purpose: How does this source relate to your topic? What does this source add to the general knowledge on your topic?
3. Relevance/Audience: What is the intended audience level of this source and is it appropriate for your topic?
4. Authority/Author: Qualifications of the author (e.g., John Smith, a Russian history professor at USC, based his research on recently discovered documents). Is this source cited by other sources writing on the same topic?
5. Accuracy/Evidence: Are the author’s claims supported by evidence in the form of references, citations, endnotes, or a bibliography?
6. Rationale/Bias: Is there a bias in relation to your topic (e.g., “However, Smith’s case is somewhat weakened by an anti-German bias”)? State whether or not bias is present.

*RADAR adapted from:
Mandalios, J. (2013). RADAR: An approach for helping students evaluate Internet sources. Journal Of Information Science, 39, 470-478. doi:10.1177/0165551513478889
Meriam Library at California State University, Chico. (2010, September 17). Evaluating information-Applying the CRAAP test. Retrieved from http://www.csuchico.edu/lins/handouts/eval_websites.pdf

The primary purpose of a literature review is to provide a rationale for your proposed research question(s). You need to locate your research question within the broader conversation of a particular discipline. A review of literature should present a synthesis of existing theory and research literature that argues for the usefulness of the research question. The process of constructing a literature review acquaints the researcher with the studies already done in a particular area and allows the researcher to build/extend existing knowledge and enter into the discourse of a particular field. The student selects a research topic that is related to course material and of interest and gets it approved by the instructor. Then they must locate 8-10 scholarly sources that address the research topic. Finally, they write a literature review that includes a clear introduction stating the research topic; and a body that summarizes and synthesizes the 8-10 sources required, ending with a new research question. All sources must be cited in proper APA style. Grading is based on source quality and source relationship to the research topic, organization, ability to synthesize, quality of the research question, and adherence to the proper citation style.