JRSM/English Research Summary and Annotated Bibliography Assignment Desсrіption

JRSM/English
Research Summary and Annotated Bibliography Assignment Desсrіption

Purpose: The research summary and bibliography assignment assesses a student’s ability to:
think critically by asking questions and finding answers;
conduct research by finding and processing information from individual sources related to their research question; and
write a clear and concise report that synthesizes the most important research information and makes a judgment about the answer to their research question.

Procedure: Students will produce a short research report that is organized around a central research question. The report includes two basic components: 1) a 2-3 page research summary, and 2) an annotated bibliography. To complete this project, students should work through the following steps:

At this point, you have proposed a topic, tentative argument, and research questions related to a debatable issue that somehow connects to your major/field of study. You have gotten feedback from me and your peers by now; see that in My Grades in Blackboard if you haven’t yet.

Your next step is to narrow your research focus. While you will investigate several questions in the process of exploring, I would like you to revolve this summary around ONE research question that you believe is most important to the issue. The question should be something to which: 1) the you do not yet “know” the answer; 2) you desire to know the answer; 3) the answer would be interesting or important to other people (not just you); and 4) the answer cannot be resolved by looking up a set of facts from a single source (i.e. the answer requires gathering information from multiple places to make a sound judgment).
To conduct research effectively, you should consider the following questions: Where can you find the best information to answer your question? How do you know that it is good information? Are you surveying a variety of sources to get the best information?

You are expected to use at least 4 sources; 2 of these must be scholarly sources, and at least 1 should express or acknowledges different points of view on the research question. You should consult many more research resources than are required to use in the final report, as you will need to focus your report on only the best sources you can find related to the research question.

For each resource used in the final report (a minimum of 4 sources), you should prepare a bibliography with annotations. The bibliographic references should be organized in alphabetical order by primary author last name, and the resources should be properly cited using American Psychological Association (APA) or Modern Language Association (MLA) format. The annotations for each reference should be formatted in the following way:
Beneath each source’s citation, summarize the source in 2-3 sentences, considering the following questions: what issue or problem did this source address? What was the source’s main claim(s) and what reasons or evidence did it use to support these claims?
Second, in 3-4 sentences, evaluate the quality of the argument(s) presented in the source, considering the following questions: is the source trustworthy? What kinds of reasons or evidence (e.g., anecdotal, scientific, statistical, appeals to authority or principle, etc.) were used to support the main claims? Were the reasons sound and did the main claim(s) logically follow from the reasons? Overall, did you find this to be a persuasive argument?
Finally, in 1-2 sentences, explain the relevance of this source to your topic/issue. How has this source helped you answer your research question(s)?
Once all research has been completed and individual sources annotated, you should write a concise 2-3 page research summary with the following elements and proper in-text citations in either APA or MLA format:
A clear statement of the research question and initial thesis/argument (where did you start in Step 1?)
A short explanation of why you considered this research question and what led you to this belief? (i.e. What in life led you to formulate this question? Why is this question relevant to you and others? What prior knowledge/experience have you had with the issue?);
A summary of the research findings organized by important thematic elements that help to answer the research question and an explicit discussion of opposing views that you investigated.
Your best attempt to answer the research question based on the information compiled from your sources;
An assessment of your confidence in the answer (i.e. What evidence did you find to be most compelling? What is the strongest counterargument to your answer? Are you comfortable drawing a conclusion from the information you have? What information did you not find that would help you draw a better conclusion, if any?)

Finally, the submitted Microsoft WORD document should be compiled that begins with the research summary, followed by the annotated bibliography. See the sample linked below to see how one student approached this assignment in the past.