Difficulty: Hard

Average Score: 20%

A teacher uses the following sample sentence to help students determine the meaning of the word "compassion."The school's baseball team members are admired for their compassion because of the help they give to less fortunate members of their community.

After selecting a topic, which of the following is the best next step of the research process?

Rationale

Locating sources and evaluating them for relevance.

Before diving into writing or outlining, the essential next step in the research process is to locate appropriate sources and assess their relevance to the chosen topic. This foundational phase ensures that the subsequent steps are built on a solid base of credible information, which is crucial for developing a well-informed thesis and outline.

A (Creating a basic outline that includes information from source materials) YOUR ANSWER

Creating an outline is a critical step, but it should happen after gathering and evaluating sources. Without first identifying relevant materials, the outline may lack depth and direction, as it needs to reflect the information obtained from credible sources.

B (Narrowing the thesis based on information gathered) YOUR ANSWER

Narrowing the thesis is a necessary part of the research process, but it should come after the sources have been located and evaluated. A well-defined thesis relies on the insights gained from those sources, making it premature to narrow the thesis before this evaluation step.

C (Writing a rough draft and including source material citations) YOUR ANSWER

Writing a rough draft is an important part of research, but it cannot begin until sufficient sources are identified and assessed for their relevance. Drafting without a solid foundation of information would likely lead to an unfocused and unsupported argument.

Conclusion

In summary, the research process begins effectively with locating and evaluating sources to ensure their relevance to the topic. This step is fundamental as it lays the groundwork for developing a precise thesis and structuring the research. Following this, other steps like outlining, narrowing the thesis, and drafting can be completed with confidence, relying on well-sourced information.

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