Annotated Bibliography Assignment

Assignment #2 – Annotated Bibliography

Objectives:

·         To explore scholarly research

·         To organize your research

·         To practice rhetorical reading and interpretation of scholarly sources

·         To learn how to search for appropriate scholarly sources

Assignment:

You will write an annotated bibliography, summarizing and evaluating relevant sources for your research.

What is an annotated bib? An annotated bib is simply a list of sources (a bibliography) for your project. It should contain: a focusing introduction to the bibliography and a short descriptive and evaluative summary (annotation) of each source on the list. The short (roughly half page) introduction to the annotated bib explains the purpose and focus of the bibliography – who will be interested in it, and what your criteria are for inclusion and exclusion of sources. The roughly 100-200 annotation (summary) following each source summarizes and evaluates the source and details in relation to the bibliography’s topic, and thus its usefulness to your research.

How should you write each entry? Use as few words as possible to provide as much information about each source as is relevant for your research project.

Strategies:

First, explain the type of source you are annotating, the topic of the piece, and the qualifications of the author. For example, “in this scholarly journal article, John Jones, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University, evaluates approaches to reading incentives.”

Then describe research methods (if any) and summarize the main claims of the piece. For example, “Jones surveyed 400 high school students and concluded that A and B types of incentives are not as useful as C types of incentives.” You can include as much or as little detail about the findings/claims as will be relevant and helpful to you for your own paper. When necessary, include direct quotations or summaries to strengthen your summary. If you directly quote or even paraphrase, you should include the page number(s) for that information as a parenthetical citation.

You do not need to include information that is of no possible relevance to your own research. You should make clear how this source is relevant to your own research if it is not obvious. For example, “This article is of relevance to my research project in its definitions of motivation and incentives and in its figures about specific inventive programs.”

You should evaluate the claims and credibility of the author as necessary. For example, if the author seems to be biased or if you think her interpretations of her data is flawed, you can comment on that in your annotation. For example, “Jones argues that Pizza Hut’s Book It Program is the only successful reading incentive program. However, his claim is questionable because he is a shareholder in Pizza Hut stock.”

How is an annotated bib arranged and formatted? Arrange the bibliography alphabetically, beginning each entry (source) with an MLA citation (just like it would appear on a Works Cited page) and following that with its annotation. MLA format mandates that the entire bibliography should be double spaced. Do not put an extra space between entries. Use hanging indent after first line of citation.  

Example:

Goldscheider, Frances Kobrin, Linda J. Waite, and Christina Witsberger. “Nonfamily              
Living and the Erosion of Traditional Family Orientations Among Young Adults.”     AmericanSociological Review 51 (1986): 541-554

The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams cited below shows no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living.

 

How many sources are required?

I cannot give you source requirement. You are each researching different conversations, each varying in numbers of participants. What I want is for you to use this as an opportunity to get into a conversation and see what has been said. Five sources is probably an underachievement (unless your research area is brand new); 25 is probably an overachievement. Remember that your research project is an attempt to join a conversation. The annotated bib is an overview of that conversation. Too few sources, and you probably haven’t explored the conversation. Too many, and you will never get to say what you have to say!

What is the purpose? The primary purpose of the annotated bib is to get you reading the ongoing conversation about the research that interests you. But as you do that, you need a way to stay organized, so the secondary purpose of the annotated bib is to serve as a research aid. You will not find a better way to organize and keep track of your reading. With large, multiple-source projects, you’ll always fight some level confusion about “who said that?” or “where did I read that?” Annotated bibs give you a bird’s eye view of who said what on what topics. They also serve as the main preparation for writing a review of literature, which comes next.

Evaluation:

Successful bibliographies will paint a clear picture of the “conversation” taking place about your topic. The best annotations will be clearly and concisely written, they will thoroughly describe that takes place in the article, they will evaluate the motivations and assumptions of the article, and will connect to your research project.