Welcome to the class research guide for ANTH 320: People Places Indigenous with Dr. Melton. This guide will provide recommended library resources including reference materials, citation assistance, and databases for your anthropological research.
Primary Sources in Anthropology tend to be first-hand records of a particular culture, event, or time period. These could be government records, historical texts like letters or diaries, and even photographs. Researchers use primary sources to uncover the point of view of the original participants. A primary source is also an original study or a first-hand account of research written by those who conducted it.
Secondary Sources in Anthropology provide analysis and interpretation of the primary source materials. Many academic articles and books fall into this category. These sources will utilize primary sources to analyze, interpret, or discuss a concept. Literature reviews and theoretical literature will fall into this category.
Citation mining - also known as citation chaining or citation chasing - is a process for finding related materials by looking backwards and forwards in a source's timeline. This is especially important for your Not-A-Biography paper as you are tracing the communities, ideas, and works of your anthropologist.
Integrating Citations - Integrating your sources into your writing without relying on quotations can lead to a more successful anthropological essay. Use the following link to diversify your writing and explore ways to integrate sources with ease.
From the University of Arizona:
What is synthesis?
At the very basic level, synthesis refers to combining multiple sources and ideas. As a writer, you will use information from several sources to create new ideas based on your analysis of what you have read.
How is synthesis different from summarizing?
When asked to synthesize sources and research, many writers start to summarize individual sources. However, this is not the same as synthesis. In a summary, you share the key points from an individual source and then move on and summarize another source. In synthesis, you need to combine the information from those multiple sources and add your own analysis of the literature. This means that each of your paragraphs will include multiple sources and citations, as well as your own ideas and voice.
What steps do I need to take to reach synthesis?
To effectively synthesize the literature, you must first critically read the research on your topic. Then, you need to consider how all ideas and findings are connected. One great way to think about synthesis is to think about the authors of the research discussing the topic at a research conference. They would not individually share summaries of their research; rather, the conversation would be dynamic as they shared similarities and differences in their findings. As you write your paragraphs, focus on a back-and-forth conversation between the researchers.
In addition to a matrix, as you critically read your sources, take note of the following:
More information on the process of synthesizing information.
When searching in a database, you can change the field dropdown to “Author” to find articles, books, and other publications by your anthropologist.
