Research, The Template, Etc.James Stevenson

(Alejandres Gannon)

Part 1: Processing Evidence

Section 1: How and why to ‘cut cards’

Good Debaters…

•Persuasively convince a judge that their argument is better than their opponent’s argument▫Ethos▫Pathos▫Logos

Why Research?

•Research brings knowledge = wins debates

•Research is fun•Research is creative

What is a card?

Selection of text from a scholarly source conveying an argument

What is ‘processing’?

The final stage of the course of research – Turning text into “cards”

Turning this…

…Into this

Section 2: Steps of Processing

Three parts of a processed card•Tag•Cite•Card text

A) The tag

•Brief summary of the argument made by the card

•Why tag?▫Explain your argument▫“Flowability”

•What does a tag include?▫Claim▫Warrant

GOOD TAG BAD TAG!

1) Solves relations

2) The story of economic engagement is inseparable from the story of violent neoliberalism that sponsored inequality, funds the military industrial complex, renders populations disposable, ecological destruction, racism, and incarceration of entire populations. Economic engagement is a strategy of exceptionalist exploitation of the Other for the gain of the self because it employs calculative logic to reduce the radical alterity enjoyed by others to the restrictive confines of our own whims and wishes

3) Lifting the embargo solves – improves the Cuban economy and betters US-Cuba relations

B) What is a Cite?

Why have a cite?What does a proper cite include?

Author nameAuthor qualificationsArticle nameArticle sourceArticle dateURL/database

Side note – on journals

•Journal citations also need the following▫Volume # ▫Issue #▫Pages

Exemplary citesKreps and Flores-Macías ’13 Sarah E. Kreps, Assistant Professor of Government at Cornell University, and Gustavo A. Flores-Macías, Assistant Professor of Government at Cornell University, “No Strings Attached? Evaluating China’s Trade Relations Abroad,” The Diplomat, 5/17/2013, http://thediplomat.com/china-power/no-strings-attached-evaluating-chinas-trade-relations-abroad/

Pham ’10 J. Peter Pham, director of the Michael S. Ansari Africa Center at the Atlantic Council, was editor of American Foreign Policy Interests, “China's Strategic Penetration of Latin America: What It Means for U.S. Interests,” American Foreign Policy Interests: The Journal of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, Volume 32, Issue 6, 2010, pages 363-381, DOI:10.1080/10803920.2010.535762

C) What is a card?

•Good:▫Fewer ideas – focus▫Conclusiveness▫Consistent

•Bad:▫Don’t skip paragraphs▫Don’t cut off paragraphs▫Don’t change paragraphs

Underlining

•Goldilocks Rule – not too little, not too much

•Isolate key warrants•Box out good phrases•Can be imperfect – highlight later

Section 3: How to Cut Cards

The Final Product

The Word Ribbon

Cutting Cards in 7 Easy Steps

1. Open the template, Verbatim2. Paste text into Verbatim (F2)3. Underline the card (F9 and F10)4. Condense text (F3 and ctrl+8)5. Write a tag (F7)6. Write a cite (F8 for author name and

year)7. Highlight the card (F11)

Handy Shortcuts

•Copy = ctrl + c•Cut = ctrl + x•Undo = ctrl + z•Select all = ctrl + a•Paste above cite = ctrl + f8 •Switch window = alt + tab

Walkthrough

“Mexico’s Economy: Reality Bites” – The Economist

Part 2: Researching Evidence

Section 1: General research

Basic Tips

•No scientific formula to research•Start with broad searches and narrow

down

Intermediate tips

•Use the right search engine▫Google▫Google News▫Google Scholar▫SCuFI custom Google search

•Pick the right language•Follow literature•Footnotes/citations

Expert Research Tips

How Not to Research

•X Bad•X Nuclear War•X Outweighs Y•Ignoring opposing evidence•Million cards, one argument

Handy Internets Shortcuts

•New tab = ctrl + t•New window = ctrl + n•Open link in new tab = middle click,

ctrl+click•Move to next tab = ctrl + tab/ctrl + shift

+ tab•Close tab = ctrl + w•Select url = F6/ctrl + L

Handy Google Tricks

•Quotes for exact phrases = “delightful fluffy cats”

•Minus to exclude a word = cats –dogs•Synonyms = ~felines•Website restrictions = -doglovers.com•Wildcard = “If man could be crossed with

a *, it would improve man but deteriorate the *. ”

•Around = cats AROUND (5) superior•Filetype = filetype:pdf

Section 2: On Sources

Books

•Best source▫In-Depth▫Edited▫Lost of citations

•Most difficult to acquire

Scholarly/”journal” articles

•Pretty high quality▫Peer edited, qualified authors▫Decent depth

•Moderately difficult to find▫Contained in databases

Using databases

•http://library.dixie.edu▫“Article databases” “Alphabetical list”

•Lexis-Nexis•EBSCO/Academic Search Premier•Project Muse•JSTOR

Think tanks

•Fairly high quality – below books and journal articles

•Usually emphasize particular ideologies or focus on single issues

•Easy to find – online

Newspapers & periodicals

•Medium quality▫Less rigorous editing▫Less citation/sourcing▫Easier to get published by

•Very easy to access – Google News, Lexis-Nexis

•Perfect for DA uniqueness

Random webpages

•Low reliability▫Not edited▫No content standards whatsoever

•Source of choice for crazy/overly ideological people - bias

•Often nonsense

Topic SourcesAmericas QuarterlyBrookings – Latin AmericaCarnegie – Latin AmericaCouncil on Foreign Relations – AmericasWilson Center – Latin AmericaFinancial Times – Beyond BRICs

Part 3: The Template, etc.

I’m just going to show you this stuff