Using Evidence and Integrating Sources

When to use quotations

• When language is especially vivid or expressive

• When exact wording is needed for technical accuracy

• When it is important to let the debaters of an issue explain their positions in their own words

• When the words of an important authority lend weight to an argument

• When the language of a source is the topic of your discussion

How to use evidence

Develop a thesis

Find sources of quality evidence to support your thesis

-good authors who are experts in the field

-current thinking in the field

-from quality books, journals and magazines (edited, peer-reviewed sources)

Use the evidence effectively

How to effectively integrate evidence

• Point Proof Explanation

• Do not just drop a quote/paraphrase into a paper.

• Introduce it.

• State the evidence and cite it (quote, partial quote or paraphrase).

• Explain how the evidence makes your point.

Often you can simply borrow a phrase or weave part of a source’s sentence into your own sentence structure.

Example

Kizza and Ssanyu (2011) observe that technology in the workplace has been accompanied by “an array of problems that needed quick answers,” such as electronic

monitoring to prevent security breaches (p.4).

Notice the grammar of the above…“The introduction of computers in businesses has led to an array of problems that needed quick answers, including surveillance to prevent hacking” (Kizza & Ssanyu, 2011, p. 4).

How to do Point Proof Explanation

Technological integration and protection of business interests has been well-studied and documented by academics. Kizza and Ssanyu (2011), professors of business at Harvard, observe that technology in the workplace has been accompanied by “an array of problems that needed quick answers,” such as electronic monitoring to prevent security breaches (p.4). Businesses cannot simply introduce technology without planning for all possible contingencies and building in protections.

Signal Phrases• When you include a paraphrase, summary, or direct quotation in

your paper, introduce it with a signal phrase naming the author of the source and providing some context for the source material.

Examples

-As PC World columnist Daniel Tynan explains “…”

-The ePolicy Institute, an organization that advises companies about reducing risks from technology, reported that “…”

-“…,” claims attorney Schmitt”

Some signal verbs

Marking Boundaries

• Readers need to move smoothly from your words to the words of a source. Avoid dropping quotations into the text without warning. Provide clear signal phrases, including at least the author’s last name, to indicate the boundary between your words and the source’s words.

• Avoid:Employer monitoring of employee Internet usage is justified

for many reasons. “Employees could accidentally spill confidential corporate information or allow worms to spread throughout a corporate network” (Tynan, 2010 p. 56).

• Better:A range of legitimate concerns justifies employer monitoring

of employee Internet usage. As PC World columnist Daniel Tynan (2010) explains, companies that don’t monitor network traffic can be penalized for their ignorance: “Employees could accidentally spill confidential corporate information or allow worms to spread throughout a corporate network” (p. 29).

Establishing Authority

• The first time you mention a source, briefly include the author’s title, credentials, or experience to help your readers recognize the source’s authority and credibility.

• How do you determine this?

• After that if you use the same author, you needn’t address it.

• Source with no credentials:Jay Kesan (2011) points out that the law holds employers liable for the

employees’ actions such as violations of copyright laws, the distribution of offensive or graphic sexual material, and illegal disclosure of confidential information (p. 678).

• Source with credentials:Legal scholar Jay Kesan (2011) points out that the law holds employers

liable for the employees’ actions such as violations of copyright laws, the distribution of offensive or graphic sexual material, and illegal disclosure of confidential information (p. 678).

Putting quotations in context

• A signal phrase can help you make the connection between a source and your own ideas by showing readers how a quotation supports or challenges a point you make.

• Readers should not have to guess why a quotation appears in your paper. If you use another writer’s words, you must explain how they contribute to your point. It’s a good idea to frame a quotation – especially a long one – between interpretive comments that link the quotation to your paper’s argument.

Pro, con, or neutral?

• Well-known Canadian environmentalist, David Suzuki (2012) informs us in his book that, “native rights have been ignored for too long, and a price will be paid for this neglect” (p. 142).

Pro, con or neutral?

• Well-known Canadian environmentalist, David Suzuki (2012) identifies the problem for us in his book: “native rights have been ignored for too long, and a price will be paid for this neglect” (p. 142).

Pro, con or neutral?

• Canadian environmentalist, David Suzuki (2012) alleges in his book: “native rights have been ignored for too long, and a price will be paid for this neglect” (p. 142).

Summaries and paraphrasesHow to paraphrase

• Read the original material• Write your own version without looking• Don’t repeat grammatical structures• Don’t just use synonyms • Antonyms (opposites) not• Phrasal verbs (discard…to throw away)• General verbs (manufactures…makes)• Phrases (bilingual…speaks two languages)• Reread original to ensure main points are covered

Paraphrasing

• Only try to paraphrase one or two sentences

• Keep main thoughts and context

• Change key words and sentence structure

• Keep length approximately the same

• Do not inject own thoughts so that it is clear from the citation what thoughts are not your own

• Introduce most summaries and paraphrases with a signal phrase that names the author and places the material in the context of your argument. Readers will then understand that everything between the signal phrase and the parenthetical citation summarizes or paraphrases the cited source.

• Example Paraphrase with Signal Phrase

Frederick Lane (2010) believes that the personal computer has posed new challenges for employers worried about workplace productivity. Whereas early desktop computers were primitive enough to prevent employees from using them to waste time, the machines have become so sophisticated that they now make non-work-related computer activities easy and inviting. Perhaps most problematic from the employer’s point of view, Lane asserts, is giving employees access to the Internet, “roughly the equivalent of installing a gazillion-channel television set for each employee” (p. 15).

Statistics and other facts

• When you are citing a statistic or another specific fact, a signal phrase is often unnecessary. In most cases, readers will understand that the citation refers to the statistic or fact.

According to a 2002 survey, 60% of responding companies reported disciplining employees who had used the Internet in ways the companies deemed inappropriate (Greenfield and Davis, p. 347).