1. Unit 2: Research Lesson 04 and 05
I can evaluate and synthesize information to support my position.
I can determine important, relevant information to serve as evidence to support my position.
RI Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness, or beauty of the text.
RI Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.
W Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. b. Apply grades 11–12 Reading standards to literary nonfiction and the premises, purposes, and arguments in works of public advocacy

2. Agenda MUGShot Sentence Skills: Synthesis Practice Application:
Choosing the Best Information: Determining Importance and Relevance
Synthesizing Information
Synthesis Practice
Picking the Strong Evidence
Synthesizing Evidence
Application:
Pull best evidence and synthesis ideas for your own research paper!

3. So, I did some research. Now what?
Once you have selected multiple sources that help you answer your research question, you need to decide what is the best information to support your position.

4. Determining Importance and Relevance
For each source, you will need to do some close-reading and annotating.
First, determine the author’s main idea and major premises(reasons)
When you understand the text, it is easier to determine how you will be able to use the source.
Next, pick out evidence that might be useful in answering your research question.
Look for Facts, Statistics, Quotes, Expert Testimonies, etc.
Finally, narrow the information by eliminating any unimportant or irrelevant pieces of information.

5. What makes evidence THE BEST?
It is directly connected to YOUR argument
It is a FACT
You don’t just want to include an OPINION statement from your source. Make sure it’s a good study, statistic, expert quotation, etc.
That FACT is a good one, which means your source’s author cites their sources for their fact.
If they give a statistic and don’t tell you where it comes from, it might not be THE BEST evidence for you to use.

6. Importance and Relevance
Importance means that something is ESSENTIAL, NECESSARY to the overall meaning of the text.
Obviously if some parts of a text are essential, then some parts are not. You have to become “Judge and Jury” and determine what information is necessary to support an author’s (and eventually your) ideas.
Relevance means closely CONNECTED or APPROPRIATE to the matter at hand.
Again, for each piece of information, you must decide how closely connected is it to your research question and position. If it doesn’t make much sense or isn’t appropriate to support your ideas, then you need to eliminate it as an option for your paper.

7. Synthesizing Information
Synthesis is using two or more ideas to draw a conclusion.
In order to do this, you must make inferences and determine the relationships among sources.
Why is this important?
The most successful research paper is one that uses many sources to support an original thesis.
This requires more than simply summarizing passages of source material; it means drawing connections between the sources, and using these connections to relate the different passages in a way that sheds new light on, and transforms, the material.

8. How do I synthesize?
To synthesize, you used multiple sources to come up with your REASONS for your argument.
So, each reason you have should have evidence from more than one source to show a pattern of proof.
Source #1: Study from Harvard Psychologist showing a decreased performance in schools beginning before 8:30am
Early school start times are problematic because they
negatively affect student performance in class
and
they don’t account for students who have jobs.
Source #2: Child psychologist in New York Times saying she sees more mental health issues in students w/ early start times, which affects grades.
Source #3: School survey: 49% of students in 11th and 12th grades work hours a week
Source #4: Washington Post article: avg. student has 3 hours of homework a night, and if they work and get off at 10pm, they would be going to bed at 1am

9. Don’t Forget
Your use of sources and evidence from your sources should be secondary to your own ideas.
Anyone can quote and paraphrase what an expert has said about your topic.
The thing that will make your paper a Research Paper and an interesting, CONVINCING argument is YOU!

10. Practice Choosing the Best Information and Synthesizing

11. Research Question and Position
Is college worth its cost?
Position: Yes
Thesis Statement: While raising costs have deterred some from perusing post-secondary degrees, a college education and degree is worth the cost because….

12. Together: First Source (Source B)
Identify the author’s main idea and major premises.
Pick out evidence that might be useful in answering your research question.
Narrow the information
Eliminate any unimportant information
Is it necessary to support an author’s (and eventually your) ideas?
Eliminate irrelevant information
Does it make sense? Does it connect to the topic? Is it appropriate?

13. On Your Own: Second Source (Source D)
Identify the author’s main idea and major premises.
Pick out evidence that might be useful in answering your research question.
Narrow the information
Eliminate any unimportant information
Is it necessary to support an author’s (and eventually your) ideas?
Eliminate irrelevant information
Does it make sense? Does it connect to the topic? Is it appropriate?

14. What information did you find?

15. Synthesis What patterns did you notice across both articles?
What inferences can you make about our topic based on what we read?
What new information do you have after reading both articles?
Write down at least two conclusions that you can draw about your topic after reading both articles.

16. Synthesize Evidence to Determine Reasoning
College is worth the cost because…
Reason 1
Source _, Evidence #_
Reason 2
Source _. Evidence #_
Create this diagram on the back of your evidence chart and fill it in with your own reasoning and evidence. Be sure that you have one piece of evidence for each sources per reason.

17. Application: Apply what you have learned to your own research.
Identify the author’s main idea and major premises.
Pick out evidence that might be useful in answering your research question.
Narrow the information
Eliminate any unimportant information
Is it necessary to support an author’s (and eventually your) ideas?
Eliminate irrelevant information
Does it make sense? Does it connect to the topic? Is it appropriate?
Synthesize the information
Make Inferences, Draw Conclusions, Determine Relationships between sources