A-manual-for-writers-of-research-papers-theses-and-dissertations

1. Do not assume that a source agrees with a writer when the source summarizes thatwriter's line of reasoning. Quote only what a source believes, not its account of someoneelse's beliefs, unless that account is relevant.2. Record why sources agree, because why they agree can be as important as why theydon't. Two psychologists might agree that teenage drinking is caused by social influences,but one might cite family background, the other peer pressure.3. Record the context of a quotation. When you note an important conclusion, record theauthor's line of reasoning:Not: Bartolli (p. 123): The war was caused . . . by Z.But: Bartolli: The war was caused by Y and Z (p. 123), but the most important was Z (p. 123), for two reasons:First, . . . (pp. 124–26); Second, . . . (p. 126)Even if you care only about a conclusion, you'll use it more accurately if you record how awriter reached it.4. Record the scope and confidence of each statement. Do not make a source seem morecertain or expansive than it is. The second sentence below doesn't report the first fairly oraccurately.One study on the perception of risk (Wilson 1988) suggests a correlation between high-stakes gambling andsingle-parent families.Wilson (1988) says single-parent families cause high-stakes gambling.5. Record how a source uses a statement. Note whether it's an important claim, a minorpoint, a qualification or concession, and so on. Such distinctions help you avoid mistakeslike this:Original by Jones: We cannot conclude that one event causes another because the second follows the first. Norcan statistical correlation prove causation. But no one who has studied the data doubts that smoking is a causalfactor in lung cancer.Misleading report: Jones claims “we cannot conclude that one event causes another because the second followsthe first. Nor can statistical correlation prove causation.” Therefore, statistical evidence is not a reliable indicatorthat smoking causes lung cancer.4.3.4 Categorize Your Notes for SortingFinally, a conceptually demanding task: as you take notes, categorize the content of each oneunder two or more different keywords (see the upper right corner of the note card in fig. 4.1).Avoid mechanically using words only from the note: categorize the note by what it implies,by a general idea larger than the specific content of the note. Keep a list of the keywords youuse, and use the same ones for related notes. Do not create a new keyword for every new note.This step is crucial because it forces you to distill the content of a note down to a word or