Voter Rights in the USA.

What is the Research Log assignment?
The Research Logs are designed to prepare you to write the final paper in this class. You will select a topic for this log from choices provided

below. You will use this topic for the next research log and for your final paper as well.
In the Research Log, you will document the research that you will do using the tools you are learning to use in this class. Research helps you

understand more about your topic, more about what you want to say about your topic and helps you develop your thesis statement or research topic.

This will ensure that you are well prepared to write the final paper.
At different points in the process, you will need to find information. At the beginning, you may need to find some general sources in order to learn

a little more about your topic area. By the end of the process, you will be looking to explore specific ideas that support or challenge your thesis.
How will I benefit from keeping a Research Log?
Keeping track of where you’ve been and what you’ve done as you move through the research process is an important habit to develop. It can keep you

from having to repeat steps. As you learn more about your topic, you may find new avenues of exploration suggested by the resources you’ve collected.
Each of the tasks you will complete for the research log is designed to move you forward in gathering information. You will be choosing one topic to

research for all the logs from the list below. After completing each assignment you should have something you can use in the final paper; i.e.: a

question, a focus, and information sources. This is where you would want to be as you begin to write the final paper.
Answer the below questions as thoroughly as possible. See examples of logs from previous semesters to help you understand what you need to do to be

successful in this endeavor.
I.    Choose your topic from those listed below.  Then look-up more information about your topic in Wikipedia.com and Bartleby.com to find out

background information about your topic.
a.    List of Topics
i.        NSA/Surveillance
ii.    Voter Rights in the USA
iii.    The British Royal Family
iv.    Cryptozoology

II.    These topics are all very broad. You will need to narrow your topic down. I suggest using information derived from Wikipedia.com to help you

accomplish this.
a.    List your topic below and write one research question that you would need to have answered by the material you find during your search. This

question should be multifaceted and complex.
b.    List the search terms you would use to look for information about your topic in an electronic source. (Don’t forget to list synonyms and

related terms.)

III.    Search for sources pertaining to your topic using Yippy at http://yippy.com/ using the search terms you list above.
a.    List the terms you searched and the number of hits (estimate if the number is not readily available) you got using the Yippy search engine.

b.    How relevant to your topic are these hits in general? (If you didn’t get any hits try changing your terms a bit.)

c.    Choose one item you found using Yippy that is relevant to your topic.
i.    Write an APA style citation for 1 item you found using this search engine.  Try your best to pick an item that is as relevant to your topic

as possible

IV.    Evaluate the information located in item III C.
a.    Is this source primary, secondary or tertiary?
b.    Explain Relevance:
c.    Explain Evidence
d.    Explain Authority
e.    Explain Timeliness:
f.    Explain Comprehensiveness (You might want to include a statement about what if anything is missing from this source.)
g.    Explain Genre

V.    Search for sources pertaining to your topic in Bing http://bing.com/ when possible use the advanced search features.
a.    List the terms you searched and the number of hits (estimate if the number is not readily available) you got using Bing.

b.    How relevant to your topic are these hits in general? (If you didn’t get any hits try changing your terms a bit.)

c.    Choose one item you found using Bing that is relevant to your topic.
i.    Write an APA style citation for 1 item you found using this search engine.  Try your best to pick an item that is as relevant to your topic

as possible.
VI.    Evaluate the information located in item V c.
a.    Is this source primary, secondary or tertiary?
b.    Explain Relevance
c.    Explain Evidence
d.    Explain Authority
e.    Explain Timeliness
f.    Explain Comprehensiveness (You might want to include a statement about what if anything is missing from this source.)
g.    Explain Genre

VII.    Discuss the Process and how you felt about it
a.    What were your experiences using Yippy to find information on your topic?
b.    What were your experiences using Bing to find information on your topic?
c.    What were you thinking when you used each the search tool to find the information?
d.    How did you feel about your thinking abilities and skills in this process?
e.    How did you feel about the search tools and your ability to use them?
f.    How did you feel about the conclusion of your search and how you feel about your work?
g.    What did you find most interesting and most difficult about your search?
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