CHHI 301 Research Exercise 2

CHHI 301 Research Exercise 2

CHHI 301 Research Exercise 2

Research and locate one scholarly journal article for each the following three topics. (Please note! You should read only three articles, one for each of the three assigned topics. You are not doing a report on these topics that would require the use of more than one source for each topic.)

1. The conversion of Constantine,
2. The impact of the fall of the Western Empire on the church, and
3. The role of heretical Christianity on the advent of Islam.

Structure: Provide a bibliographical entry for each source using Turabian formatting. Then summarize the contents of each article in your own words in a one-paragraph summary.

Sources: Be sure to use Liberty’s “Religion & Philosophy Research Guide” (available at http://libguides.liberty.edu/content.php?pid=543410) as your first choice for finding scholarly articles. If you have difficulty locating appropriate information, you may use another search engine or library. However, be sure to find and use scholarly sources for this assignment. Scholarly journal articles must be articles from a scholarly journal or other works (such as a chapter in a scholarly book).  To provide some further clarification:

• Use three different sources for the research exercises. Do not simply go to one website or journal or book and write three summaries from that same source. One of the intents of this assignment is for you to get practice doing research.
• The course textbook (Gonzalez) may not be used as a source for this assignment.
• Popular magazines like Christianity Today and Bible dictionaries or specialty encyclopedias (like Elwell’s Evangelical Dictionary of Theology) do not count as scholarly articles for this assignment. Articles in these sources are usually less than a page to a couple of pages. A scholarly article will usually be 5+ pages.
• Books such as Church History for Dummies would not be considered a “scholarly” book. Use good judgment. Similarly, if you choose a book (rather than a journal article), you must find something substantial that is reasonably related to the topic. If you select a one page brief overview of a topic, that is not adequate.
• Book reviews are not considered scholarly sources for any assignment in this course. You will not receive credit for your source if you use a book review.
• Do not use an abstract from a larger work. An abstract is a summary of a work and is not considered a “scholarly” source for the purposes of any assignment in this course.
• General websites (like Wikipedia, ReligonFacts, Theopedia, ask.com, blogs, or similar sources) are not acceptable sources for any assignment in this course.
• If you are having trouble finding appropriate scholarly articles, you might try Google Scholar (scholar.google.com) and JSTOR (www.jstor.org).
• If you have a question about whether a source is acceptable, contact your instructor.

Hint for Search Parameters: Many students struggle to find appropriate articles in the library database, but they are there. One hint is to refine your search using the following parameters: (a) Items with full text online; (b) exclude newspaper articles; (c) content type: journal article; and (d) language: English.  There are check boxes on the left side of the screen when you begin your search process.

Content: For additional guidance, note the following instructions. (a) The summary should be a recap of the article in your own words. Do not merely copy the text from your source. In fact, you should include no quotes in your summary. Your score will be penalized if you copy information from the articles. The purpose of this assignment is for you to find good sources and practice summarizing them in your own words. (b) Do not merely summarize a couple of sentences from the articles. The idea is for you to read the articles with reasonable care and adequately summarize their contents in one paragraph. This summary does not need to be long but should be more than four or five sentences.

Writing Format: All five of the written assignments for this course require the following formatting: (a) Times New Roman, size 12 font; (b) double spaced; (c) indent the first line of every paragraph by a half inch; and (d) one inch margins on all four sides. This is not optional.

Research Documentation: Turabian is the standard footnoting/bibliographical format in the fields of religion and history at many universities, including Liberty. If you are unfamiliar with Turabian, there is a guide available in our course materials. Simply click on “Course Content>Syllabus and Assignment Instructions>Additional Information>Turabian Manual for Writers.” In Kate Turabian’s Manual for Writers use the “Notes-Bibliography” style. Examples of different forms can be found in Chapter 17.