Research Assignment
History 251
Purpose
This assignment will give you the opportunity to learn more deeply about a specific historical event, historical era, or historical actor that is significant in American women’s history. It also will help to sharpen your research skills, and to learn more about selecting creditable academic sources.
Skills developed: critical thinking, analysis, academic research, effective writing
Your final essay should include:
- An introductory paragraph that puts your essay into context. For example: what is the topic of your essay? Why is this topic significant?
- An underlined thesis statement in your introduction that answers your research question.
- A conclusion that summarizes your essay.
- Correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, and style (see helpful hints).
- Historically accurate information and adequate detail and examples that support your thesis.
- Specific evidence from your research
- Direct evidence in the form of quotations (integrated correctly into the text; see: How and when to integrate quotes into my writing, below), however, quotes should be no longer than two sentences.
- Sources cited using MLA, Chicago, or Turabian (style guides in folder below).
- A works cited or references page.
- Nothing copied and pasted from any source without proper citation or you will receive a zero for this assignment.
- Be sure to see my AI policy in our syllabus or in the weekly modules.
NOTE:
Timeline in summary:
Week 4, you will submit your topic (5 points)
Week 7, you will submit your research question (10 points)
Week 11, you will meet with our embedded librarian to discuss your research (15 points)
Week 14, you will submit an outline of your essay (25 points)
Week 15, you will submit your final research essay (45 points)
In your final research essay, you are required to include at least eight creditable sources (see the source checklist below) that meet the following criteria:
- At least 2 journal articles from the Bristol library data bases (written by experts and reviewed by several other experts before the article is published)
- At least 1 book written by an historian or an expert in his or her field
- At least 1 primary source
- Not more than 3 websites
- Not more than 2 newspaper articles
- You may not include encyclopedia or dictionary entries. You may consult these to learn background materials about your topic, but they will not count as one of your sources. For example, while I do not want you to cite Wikipedia or Encyclopedia Britannica, their articles sometime contain some good background information and footnotes to other helpful sources.
The BCC library staff is exceptionally knowledgeable about locating research materials and in evaluating them for reliability and creditability. This course has an embedded librarian who will be available to assist you with your research. Please take advantage of her expertise as a skillful researcher.
Be sure to only use creditable sources. In academics, this means a source’s claims are supported by evidence. Here is a checklist for evaluating the creditability of a source:
For articles:
- Is the source in-depth (more than a page or two), with an abstract, a reference list, and documented research or data?
- Who is the audience (researchers, professors, students, general population, professionals in a specific field)?
- What is the purpose of the source (provide information or report original research or experiments, to entertain or persuade the general public, or provide news or information specific to a trade or industry)?
- Who are the authors? Are they respected and well known in the field? Are they easily identifiable? Have they written about other similar topics? What are their credentials?
- Is the source reputable? Is it published on a reputable, non-biased web site, or in a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal, and not from a newspaper, blog, or wiki?
- Is the source current for your topic?
- Is there supporting documentation (graphs, charts, illustrations or other supporting documentation)?
For websites:
- Government or military (.gov or .mil) – Government or military websites end in .gov or .mil, and in general are reliable sources on the web. However, beware of political sites used to sway public opinion.
- University (.edu) – University web sites end in .edu, and are usually reliable. Use these sites with caution, checking for credibility and authority.
- Company website (.com) – Company web sites generally end in .com. These sites are great for information about a particular company. However, be aware that company websites are used to promote, so be sure the information is non-biased.
- Special interest (.org) – While many professional organizations end in .org, there are also many. orgs that are biased and promote a specific agenda.