ENGAGING SOURCES

From The Craft of Research by Booth, Colomb,

and Williams

BE CAREFUL WITH SOURCES

Our human nature tends to ignore, distort, or
misrepresent information with which we disagree
Guard against your own biases!
Be fair to sources and the authors intent

WHAT EVIDENCE DO YOU NEED?

The type of evidence you need in your paper

depends on the field in which you work:
Autobiographical

/ First-year writers: personal

beliefs, anecdotes
Humanities: direct quotes from texts studied
History: artifacts, images, maps, and primary sources
Anthropology / Art / Architecture: clear, detailed
images
Sciences: numerical data, tables, charts, diagrams

RECORD COMPLETE
BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA

Printed Books:
Author.

Title. Editors and translators (if any). Edition.

Volume. Place Published: Publisher, Date Published.
Page Numbers Consulted.

Journal Articles:
Author.

Article Title. Journal Title. Volume and

issue number. Date. Page numbers of article.

Online Sources:
Same

as above but additionally include:

URL, Date of Access, Webmaster (if known). Name of
Database (if any).
Printed texts accessed online should include all
information for printed text and online information.

ACTIVELY ENGAGE SOURCES

Try to read sources twice
First time: Read quickly, out of interest, and to
understand the main ideas
Second time: Read slowly and critically
Try to summarize the main ideas of the text in
our own words to see if you understand it
If you disagree with a source, make sure you
understand the complete arguments so you dont
misinterpret it
Check the accuracy of everything in your
argument!

FINDING PROBLEMS IN SECONDARY

SOURCES

If you agree with a source:

Offer

additional support: perhaps the source offers

incomplete or weak evidenceyou can offer
additional arguments and stronger evidence
Confirm unsupported claims: show how your evidence
shows an earlier researchers speculation or unproven
hypothesis to be correct (or folk wisdom to be
scientifically proven)
Apply a claim more widely: see if you can apply a
good argument or discovery to other areas of life and
study

FINDING PROBLEMS IN SECONDARY

SOURCES

If you disagree with a source:

Contradictions

of kind: show that a source defines a

topic or idea the wrong way
Part-whole contradictions: show that a source
misunderstand the relationship between elements in
a topic
Developmental or historical contradictions: show that
a sources claims on the development of a topic are
incorrect
Cause-effect contradictions: show that a source
makes a mistaken claim of cause-and-effect
Contradictions of perspective: show how a new
perspective changes an argument or opens up new
possibilities of interpretation

USING SECONDARY SOURCES TO

PLAN YOUR ARGUMENT
Read Secondary Sources for:
Data to Use as Evidence

Look

for relevant data in other sources

Is the data representative and reliable?

Claims to Use as Support

Must

be well supported and widely accepted

Or you must show the evidence and logic a source
used to read a claim that agrees with yours

Models of Argument and Analysis

Logical

models can be used

Dont plagiarize claims or ideas
Cite those who have inspired your models

USING SECONDARY SOURCES TO

PLAN YOUR ARGUMENT

Define Your Problem:

Look

for others who have researched similar

topics/questions/problems
Find a gap in research; unanswered or
misunderstood questions that you can answer

Find Opposing Arguments and Respond:

See

what arguments others use that disagree with

yours
Think of logical responses
Readers are more likely to accept your argument if
you demonstrate knowledge of and a logical response
to opposing arguments

TAKING NOTES

Note Cards: time-consuming but useful in

organizing notes by topic when the time comes to
write up your research.

Author, Title. p. #
Summary
Paraphrase
Quote
[Researchers questions]
Library call number of source

TOPIC

TAKING NOTES

On Computer or Note-Pad
Record

full bibliographic information

Note page number and key words
Clearly show what is a quote, paraphrase,
summary, or your own thoughts

TO SUMMARIZE, PARAPHRASE, OR
QUOTE?

When to Summarize:

When to Paraphrase:

To obtain the main idea of a text

NOT good as evidence
To explain a source more clearly than the original
Must change most or all of the wording
Not the best evidence

When to Quote:

As evidence of a claim
The words are from an authority
The words are original and express the ideas clearly
To fairly state the words of a view with which you disagree
Note: be very careful to accurately copy quotes!

CONTEXT MATTERS

Understand the context of a quote

Not:

(Andrews, 192): Butrint was destroyed because

of A
Not: (Andrews, 192): Butrint was destroyed because
of A, B, and C
But: Andrews: Butrint was destroyed because of A, B,
and C (192), but C was the most important cause
because of reason C1 (193-195), reason C2 (196-201),
and reason C3 (201-205).

CONTEXT MATTERS

How was the quote used in the original

argument?
Was

it an ironic comment, main point, sub-point,

qualification, or statement of a problem?
Example:
Original by Edwards: Nobody can know the future
accurately. But given historical models and original
data about the extent of OPEC oil fields, global oil
supply is likely to peak soon and then decline.
Misquote of Edwards: In commenting on the specious
theory of peak oil, Edwards said Nobody can know
the future accurately (29). Of course the prophets of
doom cannot make trustworthy claims about peak oil.

CAREFUL USE OF SOURCES

Record the scope and confidence of the claim in a

source
A

causes B
A may cause B
We see A and B together; thus there may be a
correlation between the two

Differentiate between the authors views and

summaries of others views
Investigate why sources agree or disagree

Dont

base your research on one source with which

you completely agreethis is not really research
When you use multiple sources, you will find
disagreement or different use of evidencethen you
can analyze and evaluate them

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph

M. Williams. The Craft of Research. 3rd ed.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2008.