Easy Writer "Research"

     In the book, "Easy Writer" by Andrea A. Lunsford, there is a chapter devoted to research and how to effectively conduct it.  It gives you various tips on resources that are good to use for a research paper and also how to read them and effectively evaluate them so you can effectively use the information in them.
     The first main point that the chapter talks about is how to effectively conduct research.  The main idea is to pick a topic, narrow it down, and then identify the central issue surrounding the topic.  An example that is given in the book is the topic of farming, which is chosen by the author as the more broad or general topic.  Then, she narrows it down to small farming families in the United States, and then identifies the issue is how they can make a living in the United States today with mega food distribution companies.  This allows the author to break down the topic and analyze it better.
     The chapter then switches to how to evaluate sources.  The main thing you want to think about when analyzing a source is how this source relates to your overall hypothesis for your paper.  If you can't find any relevant connections between the text you are reading and your topic for the paper, then it might be a good idea to look for a different source.