Writing: Research to Build and Present Knowledge
What this domain tests
Research questions ask you to gather, evaluate, and use source material responsibly: choosing credible sources, taking accurate notes, citing evidence, and integrating quotations without plagiarism.
Concepts to master
- Source credibility: consider author expertise, publisher, date, purpose, and whether claims are supported. A recent peer-reviewed study generally outweighs an anonymous opinion post.
- Primary vs. secondary sources: a diary or original dataset is primary; a textbook summary is secondary.
- Paraphrase, summary, quotation: paraphrase restates in your own words and structure; summary condenses; quotation uses exact words in quotation marks. All three require citation.
- Plagiarism: using someone's words or ideas without credit, including close paraphrase that keeps the original sentence structure.
- Research questions: good ones are focused, answerable, and not so narrow that no sources exist or so broad that no answer is possible.
Traps to expect
- Copy-paste paraphrase - swapping a few synonyms while keeping the original syntax is still plagiarism.
- Credibility by appearance - a polished website with no author or date is weak evidence.
- Outdated data - a statistic from decades ago presented as current.
- Unanswerable questions - prompts that ask for opinion or prediction framed as research.
Rule of thumb
For any source, ask three questions: Who wrote it? When? What evidence backs it? If you cannot answer all three, treat the source as weak and look for corroboration elsewhere.
Worked example
Original: "Urban trees lower summer street temperatures by several degrees." Weak paraphrase: "City trees reduce summer street heat by a few degrees." The sentence structure is copied. Strong paraphrase: "According to recent research, neighborhoods with more trees stay measurably cooler in hot months." The idea is preserved, the wording and structure are new, and the source is credited.