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The
College of Wooster
Department of Psychology
FYS:
The Psychology and Propaganda of Advertising
Professor Amy Jo Stavnezer
Help
on Writing Papers: College
of Wooster Writing Center Homepage
Choosing a Topic
* The trick is to find a topic that interests you, fits the constraints
of the assignment, and has sufficient research available to allow you
ready access to the information.
* You may not have a lot of freedom in your choice of topic, but within
whatever constraints you find yourself, you should try to choose a topic
that truly interests you. You are about to embark on a journey--one that
may become difficult at times--so you should be sure that you are happy
with the destination.
* If you're having a difficult time deciding (Hey, it's all fascinating,
right?), then you might try talking with your professor. He or she will
surely have some advice for you.
* Generally, such advice might include:
* Jot down topics that intrigue you as you read the textbook and listen
to lectures.
* You can use references cited in your textbook as a starting point. For
example, if your book cites an article about a particular topic, you can
look at that original article and search the list of references for related
articles in which you might have some interest.
* Look in related books for topics that you'd like to explore in greater
depth.
* Browse appropriate journals for articles on topics that interest you.
* Locate articles on a particular topic using the PsycInfo or Medline
search databases in the library.
* If you can find one good source, use the references from that source
for additional readings to help you focus your topic.
* You should also work to avoid a topic that is too broad (difficult to
develop a concise thesis) or too narrow (far too few resources available).
Again, if you are having difficulty determining the appropriate level
of your topic, consult your professor.
How
to Write a Thesis Statement (Indiana University)
How
to Use Evidence in Writing (Indiana University)
Conducting Background Research
* Web Resources: You are reading this advice on the web, so you may
also be inclined to use the web for your research. Do so with extreme
caution. Keep in mind the virtually anyone can put virtually anything
on theweb--totally without oversight. You have a number of Internet
search tools at your disposal. Our department also maintains a list
of useful links, organized by areas within the discipline. However,
you must learn to separate the wheat from the chaff. To help you do
so, why not use the web? Here are some sites that have been developed
to help you in the evaluation of the information found on the web (thanks
to Miriam Joseph, St. Louis University):
* Bibliography
on Evaluating Internet Resources (VT University Libraries)
* Yahoo's
List (which includes the Alexander & Tate site below)
* Evaluating
Web Resources (Alexander & Tate, Widener)
* ICYouSee:
T is for Thinking (Henderson, Ithaca College)
* Evaluating
Information Found on the Internet (Johns Hopkins)
* Evaluating
the Quality of Internet Information (Oliver, et al. U GA)
* Testing the
Surf (Smith)
* Internet
Detective (tutorial)
* The Good, The
Bad, & The Ugly (Beck, NMSU)
* Journal Articles: The ideal reference is one that
has been reviewed by peers of the author(s). This level of oversight
allows you to have greater confidence that you can trust the information.
You will typically find such references in scientific journals, some
of which you will find in our library. You can typically obtain the
ones not found in our library by using interlibrary
loan. To aid you in your search for information, you'll find a number
of databases
available. You may also choose to look at a site that has a fairly comprehensive
list of journals in psychology, some of which may not be represented
in the library databases. You should think of journal articles as primary
resources (i.e., based on original empirical research). You may want
to check out what David Wasieleski (Valdosta State) has to say about
summarizing
articles.
* Books: Some books, often edited ones, actually contain chapters that
are primary resources (though they may not have undergone the peer scrutiny
that typifies journal articles). Other books are secondary resources,
so the author(s) will typically review and integrate primary sources.
If you have any question about the acceptability of a book for use as
a resource, check with your professor. You can access our library's
holdings through the local
catalog. You may also find that other library's catalogs are useful
resources for books. You can also request books through interlibrary
loan.
* You'll find many useful tools to enhance your library research. Because
the APA publishes major journals and abstracts (including the PsycInfo
database), you may want to check out their advice
about conducting library research.
References using APA format
A number of people have developed tools to aid you in writing
according to the APA style.
Here are some very useful links:
Online
Writing Lab - APA Format (Purdue University)
Psychology with Style
(Plonsky, Wisconsin - Stevens Point)
A Guide for Writing
Research Papers (Capital Community College)
Scientific
Writing Following APA Style (Acadia University)
Preparing Your
Laboratory Report (Kennedy)
Here are some links specific to APA-style referencing:
APA Style
Guide (Southern Mississippi)
APA
Guide (Indiana University)
With the advent of the web has come the need to develop referencing
styles for such resources. Some of the above links address electronic
citations, but the ones below are specific to web resources:
Electronic Reference
Formats (APA)
WEAPAS
APA Style Electronic
Formats (Guffey)
Citing the World
Wide Web (Troy State)
Plagiarism
* Plagiarism is a serious violation of the College
of Wooster Code of Academic Integrity. However, plagiarism is not
always easy to define. For instance, plagiarism is typically defined
as passing off another's words as your own. But how many words do you
have to change to make the words your own? (Answer: If you're approaching
plagiarism that way, you're already off to a bad start.) Is it possible
to plagiarize yourself? (Answer: Maybe.) First, we'll give you some
advice, then we'll provide you with a number of links to good resources
about plagiarism.
* A good place to start discussing plagiarism is to talk about the purpose
of writing a paper. Typically, a paper serves as a means of exploring
a topic in a depth that is not ordinarily achieved in a course. Thus,
the paper is an opportunity for you to learn a great deal about a particular
topic. The goal is to get some new ideas into your mind. The goal is
an admirable one, but one not easily achieved. Attempts to shortcut
the process inevitably subvert the goal of learning and understanding.
That's why using the original author's words is a problem--you're likely
to be parroting without understanding. That's also why submitting a
paper (in whole or in part) that you'd written for a previous course
to satisfy a requirement for a current course is a problem. Doing so
prevents you from learning something new.
* Let's put the concept in a more positive light. You are taking courses
in psychology to learn as much as you can about this fascinating field.
If you really want to learn, then you should take every opportunity
to do so--recognizing full well that learning is often an arduous process.
And if you really understand a concept, you should be able to explain
it entirely in your own words. (In fact, you should be so excited about
the concepts that you want to talk to people about what you're learning.)
* But suppose that you aren't passing off another's words as your own,
but are quoting extensively from your sources (with proper attribution,
etc.). Once again, ask yourself if you really understand the passages
you are quoting. If you do, then why are you quoting? Our best advice
is to avoid quotes entirely, unless the original passage is unique in
some way.
* The web has brought us a number of opportunities. One is the opportunity
to cheat. You are likely aware that all sorts of sites exist to supply
you with papers on various topics. Clearly, use of papers from such
sites is plagiarism. (And faculty are as aware of such sites as you
are. In addition, people have developed sites just to detect plagiarism.)
* Here are some links with advice about plagiarism:
* Cut-and-paste
plagiarism (Hinchliffe, UIUC)
* Plagiarism
and anti-plagiarism (Ehrlich, Rutgers)
* Avoiding
Plagiarism (Williams, Hamilton)
* Plagiarism
(Indiana's Writing Tutorial Services)
* Plagiarism
(Babbie, SSRIC)
* TIPS on Plagiarism
(various authors)
* Avoiding
Plagiarism... (Roig)
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