Mom’s crash course in writing a research paper

Posted on October 29, 2007 in Parenthood, Schools & Education by DM

When you’re in 12th grade and you have to write a research paper, chances are you’ve progressed through the grades and learned all about finding sources, gleaning relevant quotes from sources, writing a bibliography, etc. But what do you do when you’re in 8th grade and you’re taking 12th grade government, and you have to write a research paper, and you’ve never learned the mechanics of it? In our family, you go to Professor Mom who will gladly spend a few hours giving you a crash course that includes helpful tips such as:

How to get better results from a Google search (hint: quotation marks and “likely phrases”!)
How to spot a credible source (Hmmm… Amnesty International position paper, or Mom’s snarky political blog?)
Why NOT to rely on Wikipedia, even though it’s prominent in nearly every Google search
How to get Mom back on track when she starts ranting (again) about media bias
How to pick a relevant quote from your chosen source material
How to “set up” a first reference in your text.
How to write a bibliography.
How to multi-task (”Start a pot roast while researching ‘human rights in Iraq’!”)
When to say to Mom, “Okay thanks, I can take it from here.”