Reference no: EM132582535

RCI Research Assignment -

Introduction to Part 3 - Welcome to Part 3 of the Research Assignment for HIST 105. In Part 2 you used monographs and journal articles, two kinds of secondary sources, to learn about the historical roots of your chosen contemporary issue. In Part 3, you will continue to use topic-relevant sources to investigate the historical roots of your contemporary issue, but this time you will locate a primary source.

After you've completed Part 3, your instructor or your teaching assistant will reassess your topic in light of your selected materials and comment on your hypothesis / thesis statement (answer to your research question).

Part 3 - Primary Sources

Question 1 = Documentary and Non-Documentary Primary Sources

For this question you will find either a Documentary Primary Source or a Non-Documentary Primary Source.

Documentary Primary Sources

Historical documentary sources can be quite useful as primary sources. These include newspapers and magazine articles produced during the historical period in question. While we hope that documentary sources are free of bias, prejudice, etc., they seldom are. Indeed, that can make them all the more interesting. In order to locate a historical documentary primary source, you will locate a newspaper or popular magazine article written before 1980. Your instructor may allow historical government documents for LRA 3, and these are classified as documentary primary sources.

WSU Libraries has a number of databases to help you find full-text accessible documentary sources. To begin, go to Historical/Older Newspapers and select a database (left side box). Each database is different, so you'll have to familiarize yourself with how to search. The Times of London and the Historical New York Times will likely be the most helpful. Keep in mind that when searching for older material, words have changed. For example, you're not going to find much on "nuclear bombs" in the pre-1950s press. However, you'll find information on "atomic bombs," because this was the more common descriptor of the time. Likewise, you may need to broaden the scope of your topic. For example, if you're researching intellectual property on the Internet, you're going to have to think about intellectual property law in the pre-Internet era. The point here is to be flexible with your search terms, and if one database does not yield fruitful results, try another one. Research is a trial and error process.

Non-Documentary Primary Sources

Non-documentary primary sources can be either print (diary, letter, speech transcript, interview transcript, personal papers, etc.) or audio/video (historical footage, historical film, music recording, recorded interview, etc.). Still visual images (maps, photographs, paintings, album artwork) can be primary sources as well, but you may only use them in addition to written or audio/visual primary sources for this assignment.

WSU Libraries has access to a range of non-documentary primary source materials in many disciplines, including history. Please consult the Part III: Non-Documentary Primary Sources library guide for information about how to find this kind of primary source.

Using Purdue OWL Help Guide and/or Chicago Style Help Guide (notes/bibliography format), enter the full Chicago citation for your pre-1980 documentary or non-documentary primary source. Your citation will depend on what type of source you found. For example, if it is a book (sometimes called published primary), then you would use the appropriate bibliographic citation for books. If you're accessing your primary source online (and not in print), the citation should include a URL and "date accessed" (see the Chicago-style reference page).

Question 2 = Creating an Annotated Bibliography

You now have collected six sources related to your topic: one contemporary newspaper article (LRA1), two scholarly monographs (LRA2), two scholarly journal articles (LRA2) and one primary source (here in LRA3). For Question 2, present EACH of your seven items including the following information/format:

1. The bibliographic (not footnote) Chicago citation for the item, and...

2. In paragraphs of no less than eight sentences, provide summaries of the main points relevant to your research question addressed in each source.

The seven entries should be in alphabetical order by the authors' last names. (if any of your items do not have an author, use the title of the item to determine alphabetical order.) Please consult the Sample Annotated Bibliography library guide for more information.

Question 3 = Research Question to Hypothesis / Thesis Statement

Please copy and paste or type your refined research question from LRA 2 into your Word doc (or, if you changed your topic, be sure to clearly explain). Next, in light of your integrated analysis of collected sources to this point, and comments from either your instructor and/or teaching assistant provided in LRA 1 and LRA 2, type an initial hypothesis/thesis statement. A thesis statement is an answer to your research question. Remember when you craft your thesis statement that it should: (1) relate back directly to and clearly, fully answer your final, refined research question (from LRA 2), and (2) you should be able to demonstrate your thesis through a study of the history of your issue. Also, for information on how to write a thesis and key examples, refer to the "Tips & Examples for Writing a Thesis" Word document in the Blackboard Library Research Assignments folder.

Attachment:- RCI Research Assignment File.rar