Goal: The goal of this exercise is to help students learn how, when and why to make bibliographic references or citation in a writing assignment.
Objectives:
1) Students will identify differences and similarities between and among essays, research theses and reports.
2) Students will cite other authors properly in an essay and a research paper.
Assignment: In this section of this assignment, you will first identify examples of essays and research papers. Then you will construct citations appropriate to each writing genre. Third, you will construct a short bibliography (or sources cited) page for a research paper.
Steps:
1. Make sure you've read the background information on the webpage you are supposed to read before you get to this one...for most of you its the page where you started this lesson, but others find their way here and begin, but can't answer the first two questions of the quiz over this material..
2. Read the paragraphs in Part I below and examine associated table. As you read, make a note of the similarities and differences among essays, theses & dissertations (or research papers) and reports. You'll have to answer some questions over this material, AND you'll have to demonstrate that you can do these things later in the semseter, so pay close attention to content.
3. You may want to open the Moodle-based quiz entitled "Writing Lab 1: Part A" associated with this exercise, so you can preview the questions as you read.
Part I: Basic Elements: Essays, Research Papers and Reports:
Essays, research papers and reports each serve different purposes and are therefore constructed differently. Essays are generally less formal than the other two in terms of citations and bibliography, are generally shorter and are frequently written in the first person. Essays are almost always persuasive. I tend to characterize essays that I assign in classes as easily read opinion pieces that are backed up by facts and opinions of others, and are written without footnotes or citations and bibliographies, etc. Opinion pieces in newspapers are essays.
Research papers are more formally organized arguments that are frequently longer than essays. Footnotes, citations and bibliographic notes are formally organized so readers can double check on the sources, statistics, opinions and facts the writer uses to support his or her arguments.
Reports are not often written in college because they tend to not to contain an argument, nor do they often require higher order thinking. You probably did 'reports' in grade school, where you would look up a pile of information in an encyclopedia about a topic, like "Peru" or "Martin Luther King Jr. " and you would copy that down, reorganize it, and hand it in. Reports often do not contain an argument or try to prove a point. They are a compendium of "facts".
**answer questions from quiz**
Thesis Statement
A thesis statement is an indispensable feature of both essays and research papers. The thesis statement is the point you plan to argue in an essay or research paper. You MUST articulate a clear thesis statement in almost every writing assignment you'll have in college. Reports often do not feature a thesis statement because they do not argue for or against position or belief.
Students frequently fail to include a thesis statement in their compositions. This is a serious error.
The thesis statement looks different in an essay than it does in a research paper. In an essay, the thesis statement is frequently informally stated. For example, you might write in an essay, "A key component of successful Asian development strategies is the education of girls and young women". The same thesis statement in a research paper is generally going to be phrased more formally so that it can be tested. One might write "It is hypothesized that the number of years of formal education received by females in Asia has a statistically significant, positive influence on the rate of GDP growth from 1970 to 2005". After the thesis statement is made, then the rest of the essay or research paper is dedicated to arguing, analyzing and evaluating the validity or strength of the thesis statement. A report on the other hand, may not be organized that way. A report may start with the findings and simply present evidence in a sequential manner in support of the finding.
Citing in an Essay
There are also differences in the way essays and research papers organize and cite supporting evidence. Essays, even published ones, very rarely make extensive use of citations. Generally, essays are not full of references to other research papers, or statistics, etc. Instead, the author puts together a logical argument in which the persuasiveness of the argument itself is key to proving the thesis statement. Still there are instances where references help you prove your point. For example, you might write in support of the thesis statement above, "According to a recent United Nations study, over 90% of the women in China, Taiwan, Singapore and Korea are functionally literate and as such make attractive workers for a variety of industries." Since this passage is an essay, the essay reader is generally asked to take it on faith that the U.N. did indeed report that over 90% of women are functionally literate in those countries. You may make a footnote, but in an essay it is generally omitted. The second half of the sentence (as such make attractive workers...) on the other hand, was not reported by the U.N., but is nevertheless a logical conclusion to draw. A follow-up sentence might point out that even the most mundane factory work requires at least some literacy skills....or that illiterate women in other countries, who cannot read simple safety instructions, make less desirable workers because they are likely to be more costly in the long-run.
One of Geography's more famous essayists is J.B. Jackson. Click the link below this paragraph to see an example of a geographer using the essay style to create an effective argument. It has a few references, but most citations are informal and imbedded in the text. Footnotes and citations are done informally.
J.B. Jackson, Future of the Vernacular (or find in Moodle alongside the link where you opened this lab)
Citing in a Research Paper
Research papers cite statistics, opinions and other material much more formally. Readers of research papers will not simply "take you at your word" and therefore must be directed to the source of your information, or your logic if it was borrowed from some source. You must make transparent how your argument is supported and you must do so systematically. In the paragraph above, the passage containing the U.N. reference would perhaps be written: The United Nations reports that over 90% of the women in China, Taiwan, Singapore and Korea are functionally literate (2005, 15). This is important to national economic development because workers with minimal reading and writing skills have proven to be helpful as companies seek to make bigger profits (Jones 1984, 345). Because this was written in a research paper, readers can turn to the bibliography and find where the U.N. data was originally published. In this example, the logically informed statement about literate workers being desirable is further strengthened, by reference to another research article by author Jones. Presumably Jones, who published something in 1984, states on page 345 something to the effect that profits are better in places with literate workers than profits in places with illiterate workers. In any case, the reader can turn to the bibliography, entitled "References" in the Chicago Style, and find your sources of information and they can check it for themselves.
Reports
Reports are less commonly assigned in college courses, and generally only in introductory courses when they are. One notable exception are papers written in classes where students write environmental impact reports, or cultural impact reports. Marketing/Economic geographers may also occasionally write reports. Most often a report in geography will be assigned to provide students with an avenue to explore an issue or a place. Writing a report is probably best thought of as writing an encyclopedia entry on some topic. The reader will use the information to make a decision. Sometimes students are asked to read a chapter or an article and issue a report. Students are typically not asked to argue any point in a report. Reports are sometimes presented via PowerPoint style software.
