A Well-Supported Judgment: Using Authorities and Research Studies

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 Analyze 
Use the basic features.

Rosen relies primarily on authorities and research studies to support her argument about the value of multitasking. Because she is not writing for an academic audience, she does not include formal citations. But she does provide the same kinds of information about her sources that formal citations offer—the source author or lead researcher’s name, the title of the publication in which the borrowed material appeared, and the year of publication of the source—so that readers can locate and read the source themselves. Notice in the following examples how Rosen presents this information.

In one of the many letters he wrote to his son in the 1740s, Lord Chesterfield offered the following advice: “There is time enough for everything.” (par. 1)

Bibliographical information

An article in the New York Times Magazine in 2001 asked, “Who can remember life before multitasking? These days we all do it.” (par. 3)

“We have always multitasked . . . but never so intensely or self-consciously as now,” James Gleick wrote in his 1999 book Faster. “We are multitasking connoisseurs.” (par. 3)

Writers often begin with the source’s name to provide context and establish credibility. In the third example, Rosen places the source information in the middle of the quotation, possibly because she wants to emphasize the opening phrases of both sentences.

Not all sources are quoted, of course. Writers sometimes summarize the main idea or paraphrase what the source has said:

Summary

One study by researchers at the University of California at Irvine monitored interruptions among office workers; they found that workers took an average of twenty-five minutes to recover from interruptions. (par. 6)

The psychologist who led the study called this new “infomania” a serious threat to workplace productivity. (par. 4)

Paraphrase

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Studying how writers use strategies like these can help you as you write your own evaluation.

ANALYZE & WRITE

Write a paragraph analyzing and evaluating how Rosen uses material from other authorities and research studies to support her argument:

  1. Skim paragraphs 4–9 to highlight the names of authorities and the research studies Rosen cites.
  2. Choose two sources, and determine how Rosen uses them to support her judgment about the value of multitasking. Notice how she integrates them into her text.
  3. Why might these sources be convincing (or not) for Rosen’s readers? How convincing are they for you?

    Question