Africa

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RES 104 Research Writing
Social Science

• Africa

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Objectives

• Review Social Sciences discipline
• Understand basic thesis process
• Explore potential research topics
• Share findings
• Decide on 2 research questions

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Social Sciences

• Anthropology
• Archaeology
• Business
• Economics
• Education
• History

• Physical Education
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Sociology

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North Africa - Countries
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North Africa Countries List

• Algeria
• Chad
• Djibouti
• Egypt
• Eritrea
• Ethiopia
• Libya

• Mali
• Mauritania
• Morocco
• Niger
• Somalia
• Sudan
• Tunisia

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Central Africa - Countries
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Central Africa

• Benin
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cameroon
• Cape Verde
• Central African Republic
• Congo
• Cote DIvoire
• D.R. of Congo
• Equatorial Guinea
• Gabon
• Gambia
• Ghana

• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Kenya
• Liberia
• Nigeria
• Rwanda
• Sao Tome and Principe
• Senegal
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• Tanzania
• Togo
• Uganda
• Zanzibar

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Southern Africa - Countries
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Southern Africa

• Angola
• Botswana
• Comoros
• Lesotho
• Madagascar
• Malawi

• Mauritius
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• South Africa
• Swaziland
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

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How many of you have an idea for a topic?
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Start Exploring Topics

• Geographic region Discipline
• Discipline Geographic region
• Event / topic

Research Question
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Previous Paper Topics Ancient Egypt

• Pharaoh of Egypt
• The Nile
• Alexander's Library (History)
• Ancient Egypt History
• Cleopatra and the Murder of her son
• History of Pharaohs
• Education in Ancient Egypt
• Women of ancient Egypt
• Culture and Customs of Egypt
• Women in Ancient Egypt
• Life in Egyptian civilization
• Early civilization in Egypt
• Sex in ancient Egypt
• Female rulers in Ancient Egypt

Geographic Based Topics
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Previous Paper Topics Social Issues

• Psychological effects on orphans in Ethiopia
• Muslim women in Africa
• Effects of AIDS on Family structure
• Social conditions of children in South Africa
• Effects of war on Youth in Mozambique
• Women roles in north Africa
• Female Circumcision in Kenya
• Hunger in Ethiopia
• Female genital mutilation
• Social economic impact of Apartheid on South
  Africa
• FIFA and Africa (soccer)

Discipline Based Topics
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Check out the RES104 Blog

• Take a few minutes to look at the RES 104 blog to
  see a complete list of previous paper topics
• http//library.dbq.edu/illiad/res104/Frameset.htm
• Linked from the main library webpage

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Research Process Topic generation

• Did any topics interest you?
• 2 Keys to keep in mind
• Topic of interest motivation
• Interesting topics ? good papers

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North Africa - Countries
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Social Sciences

• Anthropology
• Archaeology
• Business
• Economics
• Education
• History

• Physical Education
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Sociology

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North Africa Countries List

• Algeria
• Chad
• Djibouti
• Egypt
• Eritrea
• Ethiopia
• Libya

• Mali
• Mauritania
• Morocco
• Niger
• Somalia
• Sudan
• Tunisia

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Explore

• Conduct a web search for the country and
  discipline selected.
• Using the Internet, select one webpage that
• Helps provide topic ideas
• Provides additional terms for future searches
• Help give you a start

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Research ProcessAdditional background

• Once you have your topic idea, we need more
  information
• Where to go next
• General Encyclopedias - background
• Newspapers Current situations
• Books Journals
• Internet Specific news sources

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Research ProcessUsing Various Sources

• Background on current and historic events
• Good overview and introduction to the topic

http//search.eb.com/eb/article-9082763?tocId9082
763
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Central Africa - Countries
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Central Africa

• Benin
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cameroon
• Cape Verde
• Central African Republic
• Congo
• Cote DIvoire
• D.R. of Congo
• Equatorial Guinea
• Gabon
• Gambia
• Ghana

• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Kenya
• Liberia
• Nigeria
• Rwanda
• Sao Tome and Principe
• Senegal
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• Tanzania
• Togo
• Uganda
• Zanzibar

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Lets Explore

• Use the Encyclopedia to look up the country
  selected
• Locate an event, person, or trend from the
  encyclopedia entry
• Report on one potential topic
• What was different in your search here compared
  to the websites?

What subject will you focus on? What do you want
to know? What question do you want to answer?
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Research ProcessNarrowing the Question

• Research Question
• Has a distinct answer
• The answer to this question becomes my thesis
  statement
• This is what my paper is proving

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How many of you have an idea for a topic?
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Looking Ahead - Finding Resources

• Encyclopedias
• Quick Background
• Books
• RES 104 Corner
• General Shelves
• Articles
• General
• Subject specific
• Web Sites

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Review

• Any event has multiple topics in each discipline.
• Start with your interests
• End with whats possible / provable
• Use sources to
• Narrow the research question
• Define the thesis
• Providing supporting evidence