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CHAPTER EIGHT
CONDUCTING RESEARCH
OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Understand the difference between credible and non-credible sources;
3. Understand important guidelines for using the internet;
5. Develop an effective system for keeping accurate notes;
7. Understand what plagiarism is, its potential consequences, and how to avoid it;
9. Think critically about speech research and construction.
Additional Skill Builder Exercises
3. Selecting Appropriate Research. Have students review the various types of research noted in
Chapter Eight that they could do when preparing a speech. Prior to class, make a list potential
4. Credible speaker exercise. Have students identify a speaker who they feel uses credible
research in his or her speeches and write a brief paragraph explaining the reasons they trust the
speaker’s sources. Repeat the same exercise with a speaker they feel does not use credible
5. Library research exercise. Divide your class into small groups. Have the groups find titles of
4 magazine or journal articles, 4 newspaper articles, and 4 statistical materials on the following
topics using the library databases. This exercise works well as a library assignment. I have done
this as an activity for an entire class period. Have each group select one of the topics and then
the results to the class. You can determine how well students have acquired research skills and
where there are still deficiencies.
a. the use of steroids in baseball
b. legalizing gay marriages
c. scandals in large corporations
d. regulation of the internet
6. Credible internet searching. Have students select a topic for a speech and then do an
7. Credible articles. Ask students to read 2 editorials in the newspaper and carefully analyze
them using he following questions:
a. What claims are made?
b. What evidence is used to support the claims?
c. What do the editorials ask readers to believe?
d. What is your analysis of the claims, arguments, and evidence?
8. Critical thinking. Ask students to describe examples from their experience where they made
uncritical decisions fitting the following situations. Have them describe the consequences of their
decision making. For example:
a. You were disorganized.
b. You failed to test or research information.
InfoTrac/Library Database Exercise
1. Have students use their library databases to research the topics they have selected for their
speeches. Have them match topics to the credibility of a specific publications. For example, if the
