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History 111 - Women in American History - Ribisi

Research Methods Paper

Research Methods Project

Throughout this semester we have completed readings and learned how women in the United States have had to navigate their roles in America. We have also covered themes such as politics, religion, family, work, education, etc. 

The purpose of this project is to learn, develop, and practice the skill of researching.

You will:

1. learn to select a research topic,

2. form a research question,

3. find suitable sources for your paper, and

4. defend those choices in a paragraph.

For this research project, you’ll find information on a topic that interested you this semester.

From there, you will start looking for source material about your topic. Doing those actions will enable you to become familiar with the various kinds of resources, how they are used, what they would add to a person's understanding of a topic, and their importance. You will practice analyzing these types of sources and how you would use them in the future when you do write a full paper.

For example, if you are interested in the issue of the role that religion plays in women’s lives, you will perform research on one specific aspect of this topic. Make sure that the topic is narrow in scope. Your research question WOULD NOT BE “How does religion affect women’s lives?” That is much too broad, and you could write a whole series of books on that topic.

Your Research Methods paper will explore something specific in your topic choice.  You don't want to investigate the entirety of your subject area, you want to focus on one area only.  For example, if writing on religion, you may choose to focus on: 

  • How did the Puritan religion dictate the role for women in America? 
  • How did the Great Awakening specifically give space for women to expand their role in the family and or community? 
  • How did the religion (pick one of your own), either inhibit or expand women’s role in society? 
  • How were the Irish Catholic women treated when they arrived in America in the 1850s?
  • How did (a specific female artist) influence art in her lifetime?
  • How did (fashion, transportation, marriage, the Cult of Womanhood) influence culture for women in the respective period?
  • How did Elizabeth Cady Stanton influence women's suffrage?

You will form your own question about the topic you choose. This question will be your research question.

Be sure to keep the question narrow and focused on one aspect of a topic.

Also, pick something that interests you--it will be much more enjoyable that way.

What will go in your Research Methods paper: 

  • Topic/Question - You will pick a topic and craft a "question" that you will investigate your topic, see above. Again, this is your research question or the question you are trying to answer. 
  • You will have two Secondary Sources. One will be an academic journal/scholarly/peer-reviewed article, and the other one can be a magazine article, newspaper article, website, book, ebook, lecture, etc. To repeat, you will have one scholarly article (found in academic databases and one other secondary source that can be found online, in a book, magazine or lecture.

Definition: A Journal Article is one that has been reviewed by scholarly peers, editorial staff, or an academic community. Because of this process, it has a high degree of reliability and credibility. This is a secondary source. 

Definition: A secondary source is one that was written or created after an event took place. It analyzes, interprets, or explains an event from the past.

  • Primary Source (1) - You will locate a primary source that will help you answer your question 

Definition: A primary source is defined as an article or artifact that was created at the time of an historical event. Such items as diaries, newspaper articles, a biography written at that time, photographs or paintings, interviews, oral histories, etc.

  • Artificial Intelligence Source (1) – You will use ChatGPT or another AI service to answer your research question. You will analyze its usefulness and how this might fit into your research. The most well-known site is ChatGPT, but there are others. https://chat.openai.com/auth/loginLinks to an external site. is where you could start. Create a free account and enter your research question into the search box. Often this website is overloaded. If it tells you to check back later, keep refreshing, and after a few tries, you should be able to enter the site.

 

THESIS - Once your sources are located, you will write a thesis - this will be an ANSWER to your question.

Definition: A thesis is your statement of what the paper will be about. A thesis statement is the main idea of an essay. It states the topic of the essay and your claim about the topic. This claim is what will be proven throughout the paper. Topic + Claim = Thesis. An example of a thesis might be: “As Catholics, Irish immigrant women coming to the United States had a difficult time finding employment due to their religion.” In that sample thesis, the topic is the plight of Irish immigrant women, and the claim would be that they had a hard time finding employment.

  • Grammar – Your paper should show that you have put attention on your presentation and that you have proofread your paper to avoid typos and grammatical errors. You will not be graded on grammar unless the mistakes are flagrant, frequent, or show that a simple re-reading would have caught them.

A word about your citations: You will use the bibliography entry format in Chicago style. This is a nitpicky thing that some people and professors REALLY care about. They will judge you and deduct points from your paper if they are done even a tiny bit wrong. Don’t use citation generators because they are often wrong. It’s finicky, but it’s worth getting right to establish your own credibility. A misplaced comma can cost you!

https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.htmlLinks to an external site.

Notice that there are differences in format between the different types of sources.

 

THE PROMPTS:

For your analysis of each source you will state:

  • Main argument/assertion of the text
  • What types of evidence are used in the line of reasoning?
  • Any flaws in the article? In the line of reasoning? Anything you can find fault with? What strengths does it have? What does it leave out?
  • Is this a credible article? Does it cite reliable sources if a secondary source or Journal?
  • How would you use this source in your paper? Be specific

Important!!! You are NOT WRITING a full research paper.

You will submit a paper that follows this format: 

Your Topic/Research Question: _____________

Scholarly/Journal Source # 1: Chicago Citation PLUS a full paragraph explanation for how the source helps you answer your question. Be sure to include the other prompts also. 

Scholarly/Journal Source #2: Chicago Citation PLUS a full paragraph explanation for how the source helps you answer your question. Be sure to include the other prompts (just above) also. 

Additional  Secondary Source #1: Chicago Citation PLUS a full paragraph explanation for how the source helps you answer your question. Be sure to include all the prompts here also. 

Primary Source #1: Chicago Citation PLUS a full paragraph explanation for how the source helps you answer your question. Be sure to include the other prompts also.  

AI/ChatGPT Source #1: Chicago Citation PLUS the results of your research question when entered into an AI cite. How does this source help you? How can you use it and avoid plagiarism? Be sure to include the other prompts also. 

Thesis: This is the ANSWER to your question. This should include some aspect of what you learned from your three sources. 

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