Week 2 Outline
Overview
The two most important skills for reading research are being able to understand what you read and deciding whether what you read is reliable and believable. This week’s readings will start us down the path to learning this.
The vastly most important criterion of a research report is its credibility. There are a host of ways that a writer ensures a report on research is believable because being able to trust the findings or results of a research study is why we read them. We, depending on our jobs and interests, need information we can trust. We may be searching to understand a medical diagnosis, or how our car insurance rates are determined, or whether our employees believe they are valued, or how to change a process at work so that employees and vendors will buy into it, etc. We turn to books and articles that share the results of research expecting that what we read is true. This week we will learn what peer-reviewed sources are and how to find credible sources of information.
Objectives
Upon completion of this week, you will be able to:
Know how scholarly papers are written in terms of format
Know what is typically in a research report
Understand how researchers gain readers’ trust
Identify ways that research reports lose readers’ trust
Know how to write better
Start understanding how to read research report
Readings
APA Manual, Ch. 2 Paper Elements and Format (pp. 29 – 67); Ch. 4 (pp. 110-127)
Locke et al., Ch 2 – 4, pp. 23 – 78.
Articles/Videos in Resources below
Assignments
Week 2 Reading Discussion
Journal
Week 2 Readings Discussion
What did you find in the readings this week that piqued your interest, offered you something you did not know, caused you to want to know more or get a better understanding? You need to discuss at least 2 ideas or facts.
Write about one thing you found in the APA Manual reading this week.
Write about one thing about the credibility of research readings.
Cite your source(s) appropriately.
Week 2 Journal
Think of a topic that is of interest to you and you may want to use for your final project. How would you go about finding information on that topic? In your journal, first write briefly what the topic is and why you are interested in it. Then describe the steps you took to find 3 sources of credible information that can help you understand the topic better. How do you know that the sources are credible?
