Are you Correctly Citing Sources?

A quick look at citation (or lack there of) in action!

By Dr. Jennifer L. Bowie

To Prevent Plagiarism:

• If it wasn’t in your head before the research, cite it!

• If the information came from any outside source, cite it!

• If you use the exact phrasing of your source make it a quotation!

• If you use the general ideas & info, but not the exact words you are paraphrasing and you still need to cite it!

• For each citation provide an in-text citation and full source data in the bibliography/ works cited/reference page!

What do you think? Is this correct?

India has very different norms of doing business than western culture that could affect the success of BWI. Indians do not like to make commitments over the phone due to a fear of being cut-off because until recently telecommunication channels were not very reliable (Katz, 2005, p.6). There is a lot of mistrust in business relationships rather than trust. Indians are also often late for appointments and is not considered wrong because personal life and family life take priority over business and productivity. Their lunch periods are much longer and deadlines are not as important but Indians are known to work longer than a typical 9-5 shift.

What do you think? Is this correct?

With the high rate of infectious diseases in India at any one point 40-50 million people can be on medication for major sickness. 75% of Indians are on private healthcare and only 6% rely on government healthcare. The problems that face the Indian healthcare are the increased costs, high finance burden, income of the poor gets eroded and there is an increased risk of the government healthcare systems will be under-funded.

What do you think? Is this correct?South Africa has no single one business culture, therefore it is difficult to delineate business ethics across the country definitively. The oppression from the years of apartheid has left many South Africans distrustful of western, white influence (World Factbook). However, the white minority in South Africa dominates business, and thus the business ethics of South Africans is very heavily influenced by European business practices and most business dealings are done in English ("Business"). South Africans are transactional, unlike the Chinese and the Indians, and they do not need to establish close relationships before doing business ("South Africa: Guide"). Attitudes towards women in business resemble Western European or American attitudes—that is, women usually do not occupy senior level positions and may be treated condescendingly, but they are steadily gaining power and recognition in the industry, currently comprising about 41% of the business culture of South Africa ("Skills").

How does this look?What can we do about this? China’s business ethics reflect its society, which emphasizes the importance of strong relationships where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group ("Do"). Where westerners build transactions, and if successful, build relationships, the Chinese believe it is important to make personal connections, or "quanxi," and then move onto business ("Business"). Obligations come from relationships, not contracts, therefore presenting a legal contract early in the transaction may be viewed as improper business etiquette ("Do"). The Chinese do not rush into decisions, and may deliberate a great length over something that may take an American businessperson five minutes to decide ("Do"). Because of this and taking into account the language barrier (which may make it more difficult to establish relationships, negotiate, and close business deals), much more time and travel may be necessary before business arrangements are finalized ("Do"). Women in China represent a large percentage of the total workforce in China, and they are employed at all levels of government as well as in economics, culture, education, and science ("Do"). Still, women occupy few positions of authority in most businesses, and women still struggle with stereotypes of women’s gender role ("Do").

How can we fix this?What can we do about this? China’s business ethics reflect its society, which emphasizes the importance of strong relationships where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group ("Do"). Where westerners build transactions, and if successful, build relationships, the Chinese believe it is important to make personal connections, or "quanxi," and then move onto business ("Business"). Obligations come from relationships, not contracts, therefore presenting a legal contract early in the transaction may be viewed as improper business etiquette ("Do"). The Chinese do not rush into decisions, and may deliberate a great length over something that may take an American businessperson five minutes to decide ("Do"). Because of this and taking into account the language barrier (which may make it more difficult to establish relationships, negotiate, and close business deals), much more time and travel may be necessary before business arrangements are finalized ("Do"). Women in China represent a large percentage of the total workforce in China, and they are employed at all levels of government as well as in economics, culture, education, and science ("Do"). Still, women occupy few positions of authority in most businesses, and women still struggle with stereotypes of women’s gender role ("Do").

Better?• As the China-Window.com website suggests, China’s business ethics

reflect its society, which emphasizes the importance of strong relationships where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group. Where westerners build transactions, and if successful, build relationships, the Chinese believe it is important to make personal connections, or "quanxi," and then move onto business ("Business"). Obligations come from relationships, not contracts, therefore presenting a legal contract early in the transaction may be viewed as improper business etiquette ("Do"). According to China-Window.com , the Chinese do not rush into decisions, and may deliberate a great length over something that may take an American businessperson five minutes to decide. Because of this and taking into account the language barrier (which may make it more difficult to establish relationships, negotiate, and close business deals), much more time and travel may be necessary before business arrangements are finalized ("Do"). China-Window.com states that women in China represent a large percentage of the total workforce in China, and they are employed at all levels of government as well as in economics, culture, education, and science. But, drawing further on China-Window.com, women occupy few positions of authority in most businesses, and women still struggle with stereotypes of women’s gender role.

ExamplesIn its "Worldwide Online Population Forecast, 2006 to 2011," JupiterResearch anticipates

that a 38 percent increase in the number of people with online access will mean that, by 2011, 22 percent of the Earth's population will surf the Internet regularly.

JupiterResearch says the worldwide online population will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 6.6 percent during the next five years, far outpacing the 1.1 percent compound annual growth rate for the planet's population as a whole. The report says 1.1 billion people currently enjoy regular access to the Web.

North America will remain on top in terms of the number of people with online access. According to JupiterResearch, online penetration rates on the continent will increase from the current 70 percent of the overall North American population to 76 percent by 2011. However, Internet adoption has "matured," and its adoption pace has slowed, in more developed countries including the United States, Canada, Japan and much of Western Europe, notes the report.

As the online population of the United States and Canada grows by about only 3 percent, explosive adoption rates in China and India will take place, says JupiterResearch. The report says China should reach an online penetration rate of 17 percent by 2011 and India should hit 7 percent during the same time frame. This growth is directly related to infrastructure development and increased consumer purchasing power, notes JupiterResearch.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Internet 8/23/07

Examples Carol Barnum discusses the lack of consideration of age

and sex differences in usability testing in her book Usability Testing and Research (2002). She points out some research, but she says “there is much research that still needs to be done” (p. 160). Barnum states, “[w]henever your user population includes both men and women, it is a very good idea to include both in your user profile, as the differences can be noteworthy” (p. 160). She also suggests, drawing on Chauncey Wilson’s work, that usability testers consider a variety of other areas that could/do create differences in the users and their use of the products including motivation, general education, subject knowledge, and much more (p. 158). LaDuc agrees with Barnum in regard to sex and gender and states that sex and/or gender must be addressed so women are not disadvantaged (p. 129).

From Bowie “Beyond the Universal: The Universe of Users Approach to User-Centered Design”

Examples

• Recent scholarship in technical communication has focused on usability and argued for a “user-centered” approach to the technological design and development processes (see, for example, Bravo, 1993; Barnum, 2002; Hugh Beyer & Karen Holtzblatt, 1998; Robert Johnson, 1998; Mary Raven & Alicia Flanders, 1996). These design methods focus on usability through user-centered design and have become increasingly integral parts of technical communication since the 1980s (Barnum, 2002, p. xvi).

From Bowie “Beyond the Universal: The Universe of Users Approach to User-Centered Design”

ExamplesIn participatory design “the people destined to use the system play

a critical role in designing it” (Douglas Schuler & Aki Namioka, 1993, p. xi, italics in original). Participatory design includes collaboration between the designer and the users with data “co-constructed” by the participants and researchers (Clay Spinuzzi, 2000, p. 423). Unlike usability testing and contextual inquiry, participatory design is more of a “humane” approach in which a relationship is developed between the users and designers (Aki Namioka & Christopher Rao, 1996, p. 283, citing Suchman). According to Namioka and Rao, participatory design:– Considers technology as a way of giving the “workers better tools for

doing their jobs”– Views the users as experts who are best able to “determine how to

improve their work and their work life”– Sees users’ perceptions of the tool and feelings about the tool as

important– Regards technology as part of the “context of the workplace” (p. 283-

284)

From Bowie “Beyond the Universal: The Universe of Users Approach to User-Centered Design”

Examples• Some scholars in the literature on these user-centered

design methods argue that we should address the differences between users. For example, Barnum suggests that designers determine subgroups of users where the characteristics in that subgroup are “carefully identified” (2000, p. 158). Some subgroups, she suggests, are experience levels, age, and sex (p. 159). Dumas and Redish also suggest designers use subgroups to better study users (1994, p. 125-126). But designers following these suggestions often categorize the users into broad groups and treat the groups as factors. These categories rely on a simple, cursory understanding of demographics rather than a more complex understanding of how human activity works.

From Bowie “Beyond the Universal: The Universe of Users Approach to User-Centered Design”

When in question?

• For more information on how to cite sources: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/

• In this class you may use MLA or APA. If you would like to use another method of citation ask permission first.

Cite it! Or ask me!

Let’s Prevent Plagiarism Together!