Decide whether the source listed would likely be a reliable or unreliable reference for the research task described. For help with this topic, see Writing in Action, Chapter 14.

Example

1 of 10

Research task: Explore the effects of poverty on American society as a whole.

Source: One Nation Underprivileged: Why American Poverty Affects Us All, a book by Mark Robert Rank published in 2004 in New York by Oxford University Press.

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2 of 10

Research task: Explore Muddy Waters’s upbringing and how it influenced his musical style.

Source: Can't Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters, a book by Robert Gordon published by Little, Brown in 2002.

Question

3 of 10

Research task: Track down an objective analysis of intelligent design, a theory put forth by conservative Christians that opposes evolution in favor of the belief that humans were created by an intelligent supreme being.

Source: The Design Revolution: Answering the Toughest Questions about Intelligent Design, a book by William A. Dembski published in 2002 in Downer's Grove, Illinois, by InterVarsity Press, described on the copyright page as “the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA,…a member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students.”

Question

4 of 10

Research task: Find biographical information about the writer Joan Didion.

Source: An interview with Didion, conducted by Hilton Als and published in issue 176 (Spring 2006) of the journal The Paris Review.

Question

5 of 10

Research task: Explore the global marketing strategies of Coca-Cola.

Source: An open letter, “Campaign to Stop Killer Coke,” found on the Web site Killer Coke at www.killercoke.org. The letter is signed by Javier Correa and William Mendoza, who are identified as members of a labor union in Colombia, and Ray Rogers, identified as the director of the Campaign to Stop Killer Coke. The site has no date.

Question

6 of 10

Research task: Find in-depth information about promising alternative sources of energy.

Source: “The Energy Fix: 10 Steps to End America's Fossil-Fuel Addiction” by Tom Clynes, an article appearing in Popular Science in July 2006.

Question

7 of 10

Research task: Find scholarly research on parenting techniques in the United States.

Source: “The PermaParent Trap” by Pamela Paul, an article appearing in the September/October 2003 issue of Psychology Today.

Question

8 of 10

Research task: Find arguments for and against embryonic stem-cell research.

Source: “Stem Cell Low, Buy High,” by Ann Coulter, an article published in the print version of the National Review and in the National Review Online on July 26, 2001. In the article, Coulter writes, “Stem-cell research on embryos is an even worse excuse for the slaughter of life than abortion. No woman is even being spared an inconvenience this time…. This is just harvest and slaughter, harvest and slaughter. Liberals warm to the idea of killing human embryos.”

Question

9 of 10

Research task: Find reasons why some Americans oppose displaying the Ten Commandments in public places.

Source: “Religion and Prayer in U.S. Public Schools, Libraries, etc.,” an article on the Web site Religious Tolerance, sponsored by the organization Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. The site's last update is dated two months earlier.

Question

10 of 10

Research task: Gather biographical information on Emily Dickinson.

Source: A personal Web site written by a fan of Emily Dickinson. The site's most recent update is dated two years earlier. The site includes two photos of Dickinson, a discussion of scholarly theories about her poetry, and a brief biography, but no information about the sources of the visuals or the other information.

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