ELAR Inquiry and Research Skills 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student finds a website that presents only one side of a debate without acknowledging opposing views. This is an example of which source problem?
- Lack of currency
- Lack of authority
- Bias (Correct answer)
- Lack of accuracy
Correct answer: Bias
A source that presents only one perspective without acknowledging counterarguments demonstrates bias.
Question 2: When writing a research paper, which citation format is most commonly required in high school English classes in the United States?
- APA
- MLA (Correct answer)
- Chicago
- Turabian
Correct answer: MLA
MLA (Modern Language Association) format is the standard citation style used in most U.S. high school English classes.
Question 3: A researcher wants to find peer-reviewed academic articles about climate change. Which database would be MOST appropriate?
- Wikipedia
- Google Images
- JSTOR (Correct answer)
Correct answer: JSTOR
JSTOR is a digital library of peer-reviewed academic journals, making it appropriate for scholarly research.
Question 4: What is the purpose of an annotated bibliography?
- To list sources alphabetically without descriptions
- To provide a summary and evaluation of each source (Correct answer)
- To organize sources by publication date
- To translate foreign-language sources
Correct answer: To provide a summary and evaluation of each source
An annotated bibliography includes a citation for each source plus a brief summary and evaluation of the source's content and usefulness.
Question 5: Which search strategy would most effectively narrow results when using a library database?
- Using only one broad keyword
- Adding Boolean operator AND between specific terms (Correct answer)
- Searching with OR between unrelated topics
- Removing all quotation marks from phrases
Correct answer: Adding Boolean operator AND between specific terms
Using AND between terms requires results to contain both terms, effectively narrowing the search.
Question 6: A student quotes three sentences directly from a source without citation. This is an example of:
- Summarizing
- Paraphrasing
- Plagiarism (Correct answer)
- Synthesizing
Correct answer: Plagiarism
Using another person's exact words without proper attribution is plagiarism, regardless of the length of the passage.
Question 7: What does it mean to 'triangulate' information during research?
- Organizing notes into three categories
- Verifying a claim using three or more independent sources (Correct answer)
- Writing three drafts of a research paper
- Citing three authors in a single sentence
Correct answer: Verifying a claim using three or more independent sources
Triangulating information means confirming a fact or claim by finding it supported in multiple independent sources.
ELAR Inquiry and Research Skills 2
A student finds a website that presents only one side of a debate without acknowledging opposing views.
This is an example of which source problem?