Module 3: Engaging in Inquiry and Research Best Practices

Step 1: My inquiry topic involves the corruption of the Criminal Justice system. There are many
discourse communities that make up my inquiry topic but one community or communities I want
to look at in particular is the three Cs. The three Cs stand for Cops, Courts, and Corrections.
Cops is the understanding of the police system and the supervising they do around the
community. Courts involve the court systems and the trials that ride along. Corrections involves
the prison systems and the inmates they detain. These discourse communities are the backbone
of the Criminal Justice system and without them, we would have no CJ system. All three Cs
work together to formulate the best system to better the people and the nation. They work
parallel with the three branches of government; the judicial, executive, and legislative branch.
All three branches of government as well as the three Cs work under this idea called Checks and
Balances where one area of the system works to provide for another. Checks and balances
provides a system of balance where one C or branch wont overrule the other. The problem we
face today is that many believe our criminal justice system is corrupt. For example, under the
cops community, many believe police officers are acting racist, proving to be unlawful, and are
acting mischievous. Another example would be that the court systems are giving cruel and
unlawful punishments that dont fit the crime or, not giving enough punishment for a more
severe crime. With these ideas from the people, I believe this topic involving corruption under
the CJ system deserves inquiry.
Step 2: When researching and writing research papers, its very integral to follow proper citation
format. Its very important to cite your sources because its considered plagiarism if you dont
and its respectful to give credit to whoever youre writing about. For example, if I created a new
exotic and creative food dish, I would want my name to be all over that dish. I would want to be
known as the person who created that delicious dish. The same concept goes along with citing
your sources. If you use a persons work, you must give them credit for their creative work. As
Ive explained how important it is to cite your sources, its integral when it comes to your ethos.
Ethos deals with the idea of credibility and being ethical. How does ethos correlate with
following citation format you may ask? Well when you cite your sources, you are showing great
work ethic. You are providing credibility to the author of the source you are using. You are
showing strong maturity and responsibility when providing citations in your work. When writing
research papers, I think it should be second nature to cite your sources. Not citing your sources is
considered stealing and if you have strong morals and values, not citing your sources should go
against them. Not only is it vital to cite your sources, but following MLA format is very
essential. MLA format is the backbone to writing a strong structured paper. It shows great
organization skills and it shows that you care about what you are writing about. Following proper
citation format is not only vital to writing a successful paper but it shows strong intelligence in
your work.
Step 3:
Making a concept map that displays specific key words about your topic.
 Analyzing all your sources and putting them in order from best to worst source.
Making an annotated bibliography that explains the summary of the article and an
evaluation of the article.
Visiting multiple websites, looking at many newspaper/ magazine articles, and reading
books to fully grasp different genres of writing.
Using notecards to write down specific information from your sources. Then labeling that
notecard with a number that represents that source you used. This helps with organization
and understanding what information went with what source.
Using school resources such as databases from the library. For example, you can look up
specific articles under your topic through a special tab as well as journals, videos, books,
etc.
Organizing your sources by separating specific ideas and/ or viewpoints that dont go
together. Making piles of specific ideas and/ or concepts that go together.
Talking in small groups with other classmates who are working on the same project as
you but with a different topic. I think talking in a group about your topic is a great way of
getting to know your topic. I believe it helps with formulating new ideas and it helps you
write a better, inquiry project.
Forming critical inquiry questions about your topic to help you with your research. I
believe formulating critical inquiry questions helps with narrowing down your topic
search and it helps find information easier and faster.
When I research and click on websites, I check to make sure they are reliable and
informational. I believe many websites give false or twisted answers that many people
might not notice. So I make sure the website is reliable, it gives great information, and it
comes from an intelligent author who understands the topic he is writing about.