The Curious Researcher: A Guide to Writing Research Papers [Paperback]

Bruce Ballenger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1994 | ISBN-10: 0205139051 | ISBN-13: 978-0205139057

Featuring an engaging, direct writing style and inquiry-based approach, this popular research guide stresses that curiosity is the best reason for investigating ideas and information.

 

An appealing alternative to traditional research texts, The Curious Researcher stands apart for its motivational tone, its conversational style, and its conviction that research writing can be full of rewarding discoveries. Offering a wide variety of examples from student and professional writers, this popular guide shows that good research and lively writing do not have to be mutually exclusive. Students are encouraged to find ways to bring their writing to life, even though they are writing with “facts.” A unique chronological organization sets up achievable writing goals while it provides week-by-week guidance through the research process. Full explanations of the technical aspects of writing and documenting source-based papers help students develop sound research and analysis skills. The text also includes up-to-date coverage of MLA and APA styles.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Key Benefit: The success of research writing depends on the same thing that makes other writing successful: the writer's interest in what s/he's writing about. This book aims to challenge the assumption that a formal research paper has to be dry and uninteresting to read by helping writers see how integrally the research process and the writing process are bound. Key Topics: This accessible, motivational guide to planning, researching, writing, and documenting a research paper is organized into an easy-to-follow, unique five week program that helps writers focus their work and overcome procrastination. A thorough review of MLA and APA documentation formats as well as documenting electronic resources makes this book a must have. Also includes integrated Internet information. Market: For anyone who needs a different approach to writing a research paper. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon (January 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0205139051
• ISBN-13: 978-0205139057
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #345,501 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bruce Ballenger is the author of seven books, all works of nonfiction, including best-selling textbooks for first-year college writing. His latest book, Crafting Truth: Short Studies in Creative Nonfiction, is a study of how the best American creative nonfiction writers tell true stories. Ballenger has taught college writing for twenty-five years. He worked with Pulitzer Prize-winning essayist and teacher Donald Murray at the University of New Hampshire, where he earned his PhD. For the last fifteen years, he's been on the English faculty at Boise State University, where he teaches creative nonfiction, composition and rhetoric, writing for radio, and the literature of the essay. Ballenger lives in Boise, Idaho, with his wife Karen, and two daughters, Julia and Becca.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent textbook choice for research writing, November 6, 1999

By 

Margaret Thompson (Northern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Curious Researcher: A Guide to Writing Research Papers (Paperback)

My college students have really responded well to this book. The brainstorming exercises in the first chapter are great. The info. and other exercises throughout the book are very helpful as well. I highly recommend this short text to college English instructors teaching the long research paper in their various classes. It's a textbook students will actually read, learn from and use productively.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Curious DeVry Researchers, November 18, 2004

By 

R. Enos (Colorado Springs, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Curious Researcher: A Guide to Writing Research Papers, Fourth Edition (Paperback)

This review is a collaborative writing project completed by a section of ENGL/135 students at DeVry University in beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is based on the students' experiences in using Ballenger's book as a textbook during the first three weeks of the class.

We give this book an ecstatic thumbs up! Here are just a few examples of its excellencies:

* Includes good examples.

* Focuses specifically on formal research papers.

* Provides up-to-date guidelines for both internet and library research.

* Presents the reader with a step-by-step guide to writing research papers.

* Is easy to read and well formatted.

* Demystifies its subject.

* Maintains a friendly tone.

* Contains comprehensive instructions on both APA and MLA formats.

* Explains exactly how to format footnotes, citations, and references.

* Discusses ways to find a topic and includes a large list of examples.

* Helps ESL students to master the complexities of formal English writing.

Our only suggestion for improvement: we'd like to see Ballenger elaborate more on such matters as punctuation and grammar in research papers.

Overall, we have found this book to be very useful in our ENGL/135 composition class.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, July 22, 2010

By 

Andrew N. Paulson (Washington) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Curious Researcher, MLA Update Edition (6th Edition) (Paperback)

This book is a great asset! It helped me so much! I used it in my English 102 class for a 10 page essay, it walked me through the whole process from beginning to end, just amazing!!