I generally recommend the following approach to seeking sources for a research essay. It is important to remember that there are always (at least) two sides to any issue. A research paper in Philosophy and Religious Studies is for the most part an opportunity to find out about these different sides. The question for the class discussion gives you a starting point for understanding an issue, but what is that question really about and what are the major positions on that question? If I asked you about the abortion debate you would probably be able to tell me right away what the issue is about and what some of the major positions are: Pro-choice vs. Pro-life. But when it comes to questions about which you have little knowledge (like many of the questions you will be dealing with in my classes), how do you know what the question is really about and what the the major positions are? That’s a good place for your research to start. Find a quotation from an authority on the topic question that helps you better understand the issue and provides some insight into what some of the major contending answers are. In the case of the topic of the abortion debate, a quote like this would be very helpful:
(1) Ethicist John Doe, head of the Harvard University program in Bioethics, notes as follows: “There are two major camps when it comes to the question of the legal acceptability of abortion, there are those who believe in pro-choice and there are those who believe in pro-life” (Doe 2008, 34).
Then the obvious question is: what are these positions really about? What, for example, is a typical argument made by a pro-choicer? Find at least one relevant quote from someone attempting to defend a pro-choice point of view:
(2) Feminist scholar and women’s rights activist Margaret May, who has written extensively on women’s health issues writes: “A supporter of pro-choice is simply someone who believes that only a pregnant woman herself should have the legal right to decide what happens to her body” (May 2007, 12).
Finally, find the same kind of quote for the pro-life side. For example:
(3) Rev. Bill Handy, leader of the Pro-life Coalition, one of the largest pro-life advocacy groups in the US, argues against the pro-choice position. His main point is that: “There is no good reason to deny granting the protective status of ‘personhood’ to the fetus. We would all want such status if we could somehow be informed in-vitro that we were to be aborted. The simple fact that the fetus does not yet have the capacity to make such choices just doubles our responsibility to act on its behalf to protect it.” (Pro-Life Coalition 2006, 12)
By providing (at least) three such citations one will be much less likely to present a description of the issue that is overly narrow or biased.
Copyright © James Gerrie 28 April 2009