Research Skills Flashcards

Which citation style is most commonly required for social science research papers at Canadian universities?

Answer: APA

APA (American Psychological Association) style is the standard for social sciences including psychology, sociology, and education.

What does a 'literature review' accomplish in a research paper?

Answer: It summarizes existing research relevant to your topic

A literature review synthesizes and evaluates existing scholarship to establish context and identify gaps your research addresses.

Which Boolean operator narrows a database search by requiring both terms to appear?

Answer: AND

AND requires all connected terms to appear in results, making searches more specific and returning fewer results.

What is a 'peer-reviewed' article?

Answer: An article reviewed by subject experts before publication

Peer review means experts in the field evaluate the research for validity, methodology, and contribution before it is published.

When paraphrasing a source, you must:

Answer: Rewrite in your own words and still provide a citation

Paraphrasing requires restating the idea in your own words but the source must still be cited because the idea belongs to the original author.

Which of the following is considered a PRIMARY source?

Answer: A researcher's original lab data published in a journal

Primary sources are original, firsthand accounts or data, such as original research reports, raw data, diaries, or speeches.

What does the acronym 'DOI' stand for in academic publishing?

Answer: Digital Object Identifier

A DOI is a unique alphanumeric string assigned to a digital document to provide a permanent link to its location online.