A CASE STUDY: MIA

Let’s find out how Mia went about researching her speech.

Mia started her research in the library. Before going, she brainstormed some search terms such as emigrants, refugees, and smartphones. After she reached the library, Mia discovered a challenge. Her topic was so current that few scholarly sources were available yet. She did find some recent articles in traditional print newspapers and newsmagazines. Mia read them to get a feel for her topic, being sure to save each one along with a full citation.

Next, Mia turned her attention to online sources. A search on Google quickly led her to a number of online articles on her topic. The good news was that these articles were all recent—within the last six months. But she could not be sure of their credibility. So she checked the credentials of the authors. Fortunately, most had earned degrees at leading journalism schools, and many had published articles in well-known newspapers and magazines. Mia also researched the credibility of Web sites she wanted to use.

After locating twelve articles from sources she found credible, Mia lettered them from A to L and made sure she had a full citation for each. Then she read each one carefully and took notes on cards in order to make it easy to cite the sources when outlining her speech.

Look for the and throughout the chapter for adaptive quizzing and online video activities.

A CASE STUDY: JACOB

Now let’s see how Jacob did research for his persuasive speech.

Jacob’s opportunity to use the Last Week Tonight with John Oliver video was limited because he did not keep track of the sources in the show who had provided information he might have used. Therefore, he had to do some more research. A quick search on Google turned up an article entitled “Twenty-One Reasons Why Student Athletes Are Employees and Should Be Allowed to Unionize.” This article looked like a winner because Jacob needed only about three main points. The author of the article said that he wrote about legal issues in sports, fantasy sports, and online gaming. Had Jacob done more research, he would have discovered that this author was a law professor, which would have added to his credibility.

Jacob was a big fan of the Kentucky Wildcats college basketball team, and he wanted to use Anthony Davis as an example of an athlete who could have stayed in college if athletes were paid, rather than leaving for the NBA after one season. He looked up Davis’s rookie salary and his statistics. Because his plan was to pay athletes in profit-generating sports, not “non-revenue” sports, he looked up attendance figures for different sports teams at his college.

The day before he was scheduled to give his speech, Jacob decided he might need another source. Although his instructor said that students’ research should come from scholarly sources, he decided to interview one of his roommates, who had played on the football team for his first year before injuring his knee. Who would know more about the topic than an actual student athlete? “Yeah, athletes should be paid,” his roommate said. “Going to practice and playing games feels like a full-time job. We fill up the stadium, and they make millions of dollars. The scholarships are so low that you always run out of money before the end of the month.”

Look for the and throughout the chapter for adaptive quizzing and online video activities.