Social Networking Project  - Thesis and Bibliography of Five Sources

This is the start of researching your topic, formulating a thesis and writing citations. This week you will write a Thesis and Bibliography with no annotations, and you can use all the steps listed below to guide your work. Click here to see how this week's assignment fits into your larger social networking project.

STEP 1: Choose a topic:

Possible topics: Please choose a topic relating to a ethical dilemma that has arisen due to technology changes. Click here for a list of possible topics.
but please range further for a topic that interests you about the ethics involving social networking or technology.

You can change your topic later if you find you need to.

STEP 2: Research using databases and other sources:

• Goal: Research to find at least 5 sources related to your topic.
  • Find at least 2 sources from a database: Click here for database suggestions.
  • Find at least 1 scholarly source (peer reviewed or legal review), usually also from a database
  • Find 2 more sources - from anywhere

How to do this?

Skim the abstracts of 5 - 10 articles to get some more sense of the research available on your topic.

Then write a research question such as:

• Should hate speech be censored? If so, who should censor it?
• Who should be responsible for reducing cyberbullying among high school students?
• What role should a prospective employee's facebook play in hiring decisions?
• What would a reasonable workplace policy look like to guide healthcare workers commenting on national health care policy?

Then return to read fully the articles that would help you answer that question.

Trouble finding an article?

• Watch this video in which I show you how to find articles in Adelphi's databases
• Review the information literacy research section
• See the list of recommended databases
• This powerpoint may help

STEP 3: Write your Thesis:

• Write a thesis in the form of: research suggests that (hypothesis) because (list 1, 2, 3 supporting points).
  • Example: While there were active discontents in each North African nation involved in the Arab Spring, the availability of Social Networking was a requirement for turning that discontent into a rapid spread of revolution throughout North Africa. Research suggests social networking played a vital role because it was available under the governments radar, it provided a means for political organizers to gain support for their message, and because political organizers would not have been able to coordinate events quickly without it.
  • The hypothesis should form a position on an issue, not describe an issue:
    
  • For example, the hypothesis that  "cyberbullying is bad" is a description while the hypothesis "stopping cyberbullying is the responsibility of schools" is a position.
  • You might want to think of the hypothesis as an argument you are making.
    
  • Include at least 2 supporting points that support the hypothesis.
  • Make sure you have a pointed position that you can call your hypothesis and state very clearly in your thesis.Consider promoting a supporting point to your hypothesis.
    • For example, if you wrote: research suggests an employer using social networking is bad because it can allow discrimination, can keep a company from hiring the best employee or can provide incorrect information.
      • You could change your hypothesis to: research suggests that an employer using social networking will often lead to illegal discrimination because (and now come up with 2 reasons).
        

STEP 4: Write a Bibliography containing 5 of your sources : (No annotations at this time. That comes later.)

• The bibliography can be in MLA or APA format (or ask me if you want to use a different format) but all citations must use the same style
  • Use the Purdue Owl MLA Guide or Purdue Owl APA Guide
  • Please include the database name in the citation
  • Format with a hanging indent so the beginning sticks out to the left
  • Alphabetize the bibliography by the first word in the citation.
  • Many databases have citation tools attached or have the citation at the end. Be sure to choose the correct format (APA or MLA). Also be consistent with either MLA version 7 or 8. (MLA version 7 uses "Web" and MLA version 8 does not.)
  • You may find this powerpoint helfpul.
  • For web sites that are not found in databases: place the root web site name after the citation. For example, put www.adelphi.edu/~pe16132 at the end of a citation on my site.
  • Citation Makers: Don't get caught by relying too heavily on a citation maker. A common issue with citation makers is not including both the title and journal for a journal article. It also commonly does not include the article title, site and publisher of a web site citation. For database articles, you will often have to add the database name yourself.