Reference no: EM132400137

To get started:

1) I want you to reflect on our lesson on questions. We start going to start off by creating a series of neutral questions critical questions related to our topic. We then combine this with keywords.

Finding the right keyword variation is a lot like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. It's trial and error before you find the right combination.

You don't want keywords that is so broad that you get far too many results but you don't want keywords so narrow that you're limited your research either.

Pretend I were to write a paper, for example, on walmart and minimum wage. Well, what about walmart and minimum wage?

Let's start off with some questions:

What percentage of walmart workers are on minimum wage?

What is the demographic of workers living on minimum wage?

What are the impacts of minimum wage on workers and in what ways does walmart contribute to the overall picture?

Do we see how these questions are neutral?

We never want to already claim a position when asking our question because this means we are researching what we want to believe or think we know versus all the available information and then forming our own analysis and conclusion.

Think of all the court cases shown on television and movies. Whenever a lawyer asks a testimony on the stand a question that is leading, the judge will dismiss the question as being "leading."

So once we have our questions we can begin brain storming our keywords.

Too broad keywords:

-walmart

-walmart minimum wage.

The first is obviously too broad. The second, while better, is still unspecific.

So I want to consider something like "walmart minimum wage living wage."

Do you see?

Other keywords I can use.

"walmart workers live on food stamps"

"consequences of living on minimum wage."

"the effects of minimum wage"

We can also use our questions as part of our keywords.

So it's going to take a lot of playing around and replacing sets of keywords to find the combination that you want.

2) You need to be mindful of credible research

For this first assignment I am asking you to use plain ole google.

A few ways to determine if your research is credible:

- Who is the author of the article? What do we know about the author? What are the credentials of said author?

-wikipedia is never a credible source

-websites ending with .edu are generally credible as these are university or college websites.

-look at the "about page" of the website.

3) You need to find a way to keep track of your keywords as you play around with your research. I am a huge believer in using my time wisely. There's nothing I hate more than wasting my time. Keep a notebook handy and jot down your keywords you've used. This way you aren't wasting time searching a set of keywords you've already searched.

4) How are you keep track of your sources? There is nothing worse than finding a bunch of sources and not having saved them! Again, waste of time.

Ways to keep track of your research

-bookmark page

-reading list

-pinterest board

-print hardcopy

-folder on desktop

Homework assignment that you'll need to submit in the form of a comment below.

Part # 1

Your main topic is hashtags. I want you to narrow this topic into something you're interested learning more about. I've listed some options below, which you are not limited to. If you have other ideas you may use it.

-history and evolution of hashtags

-cultural impact of hashtags

-why hashtags became so popular

We will get more practice on questions as part of the process later on.

Part # 2

Once you've decided what aspect of hashtags you're interested in I want you to begin your research. Cast a wide net of locate 15 possible sources. You don't actually have to read them. Put them in MLA format. (Links to an external site.)Use the link provided. This will contain absolutely everything you need to know about citing your sources. Use the appropriate link on the left side menu on Owl Purdue and read the directions provided to cite your sources. Remember that your source list must be alphabetized by the author's last name.

Essentially, you've giving me a list put into MLA format citations of possible 15 sources.

Part # 3

Tell me your research process. 1) What keywords did you use? How did you keep track of your keyword combinations? 2) How did you decide which sources would be good possible sources? How did you decide which sources were credible when using "regular" google versus google scholar?

150 words total for your response in addition to your 15 cited sources.

This is not a discussion assignment. No need to respond to classmates