The Annotated

Bibliography: Be

a Detective

ENGL 111

Module 9

Take a curious, neutral

approach

Be a detective.

Look for information that can help you answer

to your research question(s).

Be open-minded and consider your sources

fairly and objectively.

Create Guiding

Research Question(s)

Think about what interests or concerns you most and what may interest and concern others most about the issue or controversy.

What do you what to know? What do others want to know? What should they know?

Be specific in your questioning, drilling down into particulars about your research topic.

Ask open-ended questions that leave open a variety of possible answers (Hint: Begin the question with an interrogative pronoun – what, why, how, etc.)

A guiding research question DOES NOT take a position on a controversial topic or reveal personal bias.

Examples of Guiding

Research Questions

If you were a detective preparing to investigate a crime, here are the sorts of questions you might ask:

Example: “Early evidence suggests that Jack Sprat probably did not commit the St. Louis train robbery on December 15th. If he didn’t do it, who did and why?.”

Example: “Wee Willy Winky is a strong potential suspect for the Cleveland bank heist, but what were his means and motives?”

Example: “The suspicious events ofHalloween night remain a mystery:What theories could possiblyexplain the occurrence of these events?”

Examples of Guiding

Research Questions

On the next slide you’ll see some examples of real life

research questions:

If you are an ENGL 111 student writing an annotated

bibliography(and I think you are), these would be some

possible guiding research questions:

Examples of Guiding

Research Questions

Problem, Issue, or Controversy Research Question

Throughout the United States, more and more cities have been enacting public smoking bans. Smokers and business people resist such bans while others find them helpful and cite positive health outcomes.

What kind of ban, if any, should be

enacted against smoking?

With the increase and strengthening of public smoking bans, the practice of "vaping," consuming nicotine through a vaporizer rather than a combustible cigarette, has increased. While marketed as safe, many warn of potential dangers vaping may have.

How risky is vaping and what, if

anything, should be done?

Examples of Guiding

Research QuestionsProblem, Issue, or Controversy Research Questions

Enacting gun regulations is challenging because of the different and competing ways in which the 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution is interpreted by special interest groups, congressional legislators, and the US Supreme Court.

How should we understand the 2nd

amendment going forward so that

public safety can be adequately

addressed?

There are two major forms of sex education: Abstinence Only and Comprehensive. Opponents of each of these forms who argue they are ineffective or counterproductive, but research suggests that both varieties show a certain amount of effectiveness.

Which kind of sex education will most

effectively educate and protect

teenagers?

Ineffective Guiding

Research Questions

“What pros and cons are there about my topic?”

“Why could lowing the drinking age be a good thing?”

“Does smoking really cause cancer?”

These Guiding Thesis Statements are weak and hazy because they are vague, biased, or do not question debatable aspects of an issue or problem.

Question your sources

If you are a “detective”—you need to be concerned

about the credibility, reliability, bias, and usefulness of

your sources

How do you know a source is credible and

authoritative on the issue?

How do you know you can trust the source?

Does the source have a reason to

misconstrue information or misguide

you?

Does the source provide information

you can use?

Select only the most relevant

sources

As a detective, if you need to know Person X’s actions in Middletown on August 15th, you don’t need to report on Person Y’s actions in Upper Sandusky on September 20th.

As you search for sources, be selective.

Include what is relevant to your research question(s).

Exclude what is irrelevant.

This means no uncritical selecting of sources! Pick and choose what best fits your research purposes.

Respect the research process

Don’t pad your Annotated Bibliography with unnecessary sources—find and use only the most useful

Focus on what you and others really needs/wants to know.

Avoid collecting sources that contain common knowledge.

Example: No need to collect a source that says Sherlock Holmes was the greatest detective of all time

Avoid selecting sources that are not pertinent to the topic at hand.

Example: No need to report on the history of detective agencies

Avoid collecting numerous sources that communicate the same information and perspectives.

Example: No need to question a secondwitness who is likely to give the same detailsand to have seen the crime from the samevantage point as the first one.

Closing thought:

Keep an open mind and follow

your sources!

“The evidence doesn’t lie.”

--Gil Grissom, CSI detective

Looking ahead to Writing Project

4: Argument

You will be asked to take a position or stance

on your research topic in the next Writing

Project.

The information you gather and evaluate now

will enable you to take an informed position

later.