Annotated Bibliography Part I

Greetings Students,

As you can recall from this module/chapter 5, we are looking at what a sample/population is and how to select a sample for a proposed experiment. To assist you with accomplishing many of the learning objectives for this module, we will analyze the sampling methods of a set of peer-reviewed research articles by completing an annotated bibliography.

Annotated Bibliographies are vital in the beginning phases of a research paper or research study because they help to bring about an awareness of the previous/current studies surrounding a specific topic while also helping to guide the reader to a possible research topic/question for themselves. Additionally, annotated bibliographies help us to analyze and synthesize specific key items, such as the sampling method, across multiple studies. Now we will complete an abbreviated version of an annotated bibliography to gather more information on different types of sampling methods and for a possible topic that interests you or one you would consider further investigating.

WHAT IS AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY?

Annotated bibliographies are not just lists of sources. Instead, they are critical appraisals of the articles/books you have selected to review for your research or paper. If needed, please see these links below for more explanation on what annotated bibliographies are and examples in APA format.

Remember, it is not enough to provide an abstract (a summary) of an article/book. Instead, you must read the article/book and provide a critical evaluation/assessment of what you have read. You will also wish to attempt to make linkages between materials that you read. Some material may agree/disagree/evaluate the same questions differently, etc. You will want to tease out relationships between your materials in the annotated bibliography. This will assist you immensely when you go to write the introduction and literature review for your paper.

Below is the format for your bibliography entries. You can also review the format inside the link in the module. You will be graded on your format and your ability to outline the key points of your materials in a clear, concise, and critical way. The sources you use for the annotated bibliography MUST be peer-reviewed publications or governmental reports from those presented in the article.

Example of what an annotated bibliography excerpt looks like:

Waite, L.J., Goldschneider, F.K., & Witsberger, C. (1986). Nonfamily living and the erosion of traditional family orientations among young adults. American Sociological Review, 51 (4), 541-554.

The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams cited below shows no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living. This study is important because it adds to the growing body of literature that examines both the orientations of traditionally families but also how they are perceived by young adults, which could in turn impact how they view their own personal delinquent activity or deviant behavior in general. The researchers were also able to utilize both qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate their question. More specifically, they utilized……

AGAIN, PLEASE NOTICE THAT THIS INFORMATION HAS NOT BEEN COPIED AND PASTED FROM THE ABSTRACT. MOST OF THE DETAILS CAN BE FOUND IN THE ABSTRACT, BUT THE INFO COMES FROM YOU, AFTER HAVING READ THE ARTICLE.

Each annotated bibliography should be at least 200 words but not over 500. Remember, the purpose of an annotated bibliography is to distill only the most important facts and information from the source you are citing. Maximum 12-point font and 1-inch margins. Include your name on the paper and utilize proper APA citation format (as shown in example above).

WHERE DO I GATHER ARTICLES AND OTHER SOURCES FOR MY PAPER?

For this particular assignment, you will create an (abbreviated) annotated bibliography using sources that you find related to your topic. GOOGLE SCHOLAR IS YOUR FRIEND.

If you see one you like but are unable to pull the full article, use the GSU library resource link below to see if you can locate it there.

To complete your annotated bibliography you will need to do the following:

a.) LOCATE any five (5) scholarly journal articles that describe criminological research using a sample drawn from some population. This means, if you selected “domestic violence and stalking” as your topic, then you should begin looking for articles (in GOOGLE SCHOLAR) with the key words “domestic violence” and/or “stalking”. Identify the type of sample used in each study, and note any strong and weak points in how the sample was actually drawn. Did the researchers have a problem due to nonresponse? Considering the sample, how confident are you in the validity of generalizations about the population based on the sample? Do you need any additional information to evaluate the sample? Do you think a different sampling strategy would have been preferable? To what larger population were the findings generalized? Do you think these generalizations were warranted? Why, or why not?

***ANOTHER TIP: If you find one good article that hits on some of the same things you want to investigate, then you can also look through the articles cited/referenced in that one article and pull some of those also. Just remember, you don’t want your question to be the exact same as other studies that have already been conducted. You want your research question to add to the body of research on that topic, but not be the exact same.

b.) Make certain, as in previous examples provided above, that you place your references in alphabetical order and that the info is not copied and pasted directly from the abstract. This means, after finding the five you will review, make certain each citation for the start of each summary is in alphabetical order by last name of authors.

c.) After completing the summaries for all of the references, make certain to include a brief brief discussion of the experimental designs used in your referenced studies. For example, do most of your studies use quasi-experimental design or a non-experimental design? Explain.

***You have almost two full weeks to complete this assignment. DO NOT wait until the last day to begin working on this. Try and do maybe one summary every couple of days. Remember, these summaries can be used inside a future intro and literature review for your paper, so take the assignment seriously and really utilize this time to find sources that will be helpful to your research question and paper. You will have to add more sources later, but this assignment is just to get you started.