https://workyoucanexplain.com/series/research-evidence-and-explainable-sources/ Recent content in Research, Evidence, and Explainable Sources on Work You Can Explain Hugo en-US Copyright © Work You Can Explain Tue, 08 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0500 https://workyoucanexplain.com/posts/finding-primary-sources-in-the-ai-search-era/ Tue, 08 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0500 https://workyoucanexplain.com/posts/finding-primary-sources-in-the-ai-search-era/ <p>A research summary is a starting point. Follow its references until you reach the study, dataset, historical document, or other material that produced the evidence. Then identify where that source describes the work relevant to your question.</p> <p>Your first result can be modest: one original source, a stable way to return to it, and a section to read next. You do not need a large bibliography before you can begin checking what a summary means.</p> https://workyoucanexplain.com/posts/verify-a-citation-before-you-use-it/ Tue, 08 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0500 https://workyoucanexplain.com/posts/verify-a-citation-before-you-use-it/ <p>A citation is usable only when you can identify the work it names. Match the reference against an authoritative publication or library record, open the matching work, and check which version you have. Resolve discrepancies before copying the citation into an assignment.</p> <p>This establishes identity. It does not establish that the work is reliable or supports your sentence. Keep those judgments separate.</p> <h2 id="compare-the-reference-with-the-actual-work">Compare the reference with the actual work</h2> <p>Begin with the reference as you received it, whether it came from a class reading, an AI answer, a reference manager, or your own notes. Search the exact title through a publisher, library catalog, or scholarly index. A DOI, when supplied, gives another route to a record.</p> https://workyoucanexplain.com/posts/explaining-source-support-in-academic-writing/ Tue, 08 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0500 https://workyoucanexplain.com/posts/explaining-source-support-in-academic-writing/ <p>A citation supports a sentence only when the source provides evidence for the sentence&rsquo;s actual meaning. Compare the population, conditions, outcome, and strength of the claim with the relevant passage or result. Revise the sentence when it says more than the evidence allows.</p> <p>The goal is a sentence you can defend by opening the cited source and explaining the connection. A citation at the end of a paragraph cannot do that reasoning for you.</p> https://workyoucanexplain.com/posts/compare-studies-before-calling-them-contradictory/ Tue, 08 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0500 https://workyoucanexplain.com/posts/compare-studies-before-calling-them-contradictory/ <p>Before describing two studies as contradictory, check whether they examined the same question under comparable conditions. Compare the participants, intervention or exposure, comparison group, outcome, and timing. A difference in any of these may change what the results mean.</p> <p>Your outcome is a short synthesis: where the studies agree, where they differ, and what remains unresolved. You do not need to force a winner.</p> <h2 id="state-the-question-both-studies-would-need-to-answer">State the question both studies would need to answer</h2> <p>“Does this study method work?” hides several questions. Does it help immediate recall, retention after a delay, transfer to an unfamiliar problem, or confidence? Compared with what activity, and for whom?</p> https://workyoucanexplain.com/posts/keep-research-notes-connected-to-their-sources/ Tue, 08 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0500 https://workyoucanexplain.com/posts/keep-research-notes-connected-to-their-sources/ <p>Keep enough context in a research note to return to the evidence later: the source&rsquo;s identity, the relevant location, what the source says, and how you intend to use it. Separate copied wording from paraphrase and personal interpretation as you read.</p> <p>The useful test is simple. Close the source, reopen it from the note, and recover the passage behind your claim. If you cannot do that, a polished summary is still missing an essential part of the research work.</p>