{"id":186,"date":"2019-01-22T22:05:17","date_gmt":"2019-01-22T22:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-monroecc-collegecomp\/?post_type=chapter&p=186"},"modified":"2019-01-22T22:05:17","modified_gmt":"2019-01-22T22:05:17","slug":"source-suitability","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-monroecc-collegecomp\/chapter\/source-suitability\/","title":{"raw":"Source Suitability","rendered":"Source Suitability"},"content":{"raw":"

Source Suitability<\/h1>\r\n\"referenceDoes the source fit your needs and purpose?\r\n\r\nBefore you start amassing large amounts of research materials, think about the types of materials you will need to meet the specific requirements of your project.\r\n\r\nOverview Materials<\/strong>\r\n\r\nEncyclopedias, general interest magazines (Time<\/em>,\u00a0Newsweek<\/em>\u00a0online), or online general news sites (CNN, MSNBC) are good places to begin your research to get an overview of your topic and the big questions associated with your particular project. But once you get to the paper itself, you may not want to use these for your main sources.\r\n\r\nFocused Lay Materials<\/strong>\r\n\r\nFor a college-level research paper, you need to look for books, journal articles, and websites that are put out by organizations that do in-depth work for the general public on issues related to your topic. For example, an article on the melting of the polar icecaps in\u00a0Time<\/em>\u00a0magazine offers you an overview of the issue. But such articles are generally written by non-scientists for a non-scientific audience that wants a general\u2014not an in-depth\u2014understanding of the issue. Although you\u2019ll want to start with overview materials to give yourself the broad-stroke understanding of your topic, you\u2019ll soon need to move to journals and websites in the field. For example, instead of looking at online stories on the icecaps from CNN, you should look at the materials at the website for the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) or reports found at the website for the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). You also should look at some of the recent reports on the polar icecaps in\u00a0Scientific American<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0The Ecologist<\/em>.\r\n\r\nSpecialists\u2019 Materials<\/strong>\r\n\r\nIf you already have a strong background in your topic area, you could venture into specialists\u2019 books, journals, and websites. For example, only someone with a strong background in the field would be able to read and understand the papers published in the\u00a0Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/em>\u00a0or the\u00a0Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences<\/em>. Sources such as these are suitable for more advanced research paper assignments in upper-level courses, but you may encounter source requirements like these in freshman writing courses.","rendered":"

Source Suitability<\/h1>\n

\"referenceDoes the source fit your needs and purpose?<\/p>\n

Before you start amassing large amounts of research materials, think about the types of materials you will need to meet the specific requirements of your project.<\/p>\n

Overview Materials<\/strong><\/p>\n

Encyclopedias, general interest magazines (Time<\/em>,\u00a0Newsweek<\/em>\u00a0online), or online general news sites (CNN, MSNBC) are good places to begin your research to get an overview of your topic and the big questions associated with your particular project. But once you get to the paper itself, you may not want to use these for your main sources.<\/p>\n

Focused Lay Materials<\/strong><\/p>\n

For a college-level research paper, you need to look for books, journal articles, and websites that are put out by organizations that do in-depth work for the general public on issues related to your topic. For example, an article on the melting of the polar icecaps in\u00a0Time<\/em>\u00a0magazine offers you an overview of the issue. But such articles are generally written by non-scientists for a non-scientific audience that wants a general\u2014not an in-depth\u2014understanding of the issue. Although you\u2019ll want to start with overview materials to give yourself the broad-stroke understanding of your topic, you\u2019ll soon need to move to journals and websites in the field. For example, instead of looking at online stories on the icecaps from CNN, you should look at the materials at the website for the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) or reports found at the website for the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). You also should look at some of the recent reports on the polar icecaps in\u00a0Scientific American<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0The Ecologist<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Specialists\u2019 Materials<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you already have a strong background in your topic area, you could venture into specialists\u2019 books, journals, and websites. For example, only someone with a strong background in the field would be able to read and understand the papers published in the\u00a0Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/em>\u00a0or the\u00a0Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences<\/em>. Sources such as these are suitable for more advanced research paper assignments in upper-level courses, but you may encounter source requirements like these in freshman writing courses.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t

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Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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