PSY 550: Annotated Bibliography Assignment
Overview
An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually under 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph: the annotation. Note that abstracts are the purely descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of scholarly journal articles or in periodical indexes. Annotations are descriptive and critical; they expose the author’s point of view, clarity and appropriateness of expression, and authority. Annotations are not simply copying abstracts. For the purposes of this assignment, you will first provide your annotation of the article and then provide the abstract of the article.

Depending on the assignment, the annotated bibliography may serve a number of purposes, including but not limited to reviewing the literature on a particular subject; illustrating the quality of research you have done; providing examples of the types of resources available; describing other items on a topic that may be of interest to the reader; and/or exploring the subject for further research. Your purpose here is to prepare to conduct a literature review by locating a minimum of eight articles that you might potentially include in your final literature; these articles should relate to the research topic from your communication class that you have chosen and had approved.

Choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic. You will need to include at least seven scholarly resources total, including peer-reviewed journal articles or well-respected texts.

As noted below, students should pay attention to the following points in their annotation:

• Summarize the central theme and scope of the resource
• Include a paragraph that covers the following:
o Evaluates the authority or background of the author
o Comments on the intended audience
o Compares or contrasts this work with another you have cited OR explains how this work illuminates your bibliography topic
• Cite the resource using APA style (see below for example)
The annotated bibliography is due in Module Seven. You should include at least seven quality resources directly related to your topic.

Sample Annotated Bibliography of a Journal Article
The following example is what your final product for each resource should look like. This example employs APA style for the journal citation:

Goldschneider, F. K., Waite, L. J., & Witsberger, C. (1999). Nonfamily living and the erosion of traditional family orientations among young adults. American Sociological Review, 51, 541–554.

The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams, cited below, shows no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of non-family living.

Abstract from the author:

Explores the consequences of time spent in nonfamily living, using data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Men and Young Women. It was expected that living away from home prior to marriage would cause changes in attitudes, values, plans, and expectations. Data support this hypothesis for young women; those who lived independently became more likely to plan for employment, lowered their expected family size, became more accepting of employment of mothers, and were more nontraditional on sex roles in the family than those who lived with their parents. Nonfamily living had much weaker effects on young men. The conditions under which living away increased individualism are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Rubric
Critical Elements Exemplary Proficient Needs Improvement Not Evident Value
Information Literacy Identifies, locates, evaluates, and effectively and responsibly uses and shares information for problem at hand. Includes the full citation and abstract for each article
(23-25) Identifies, locates, evaluates, and responsibly uses and shares information for problem at hand. Includes the full citation and abstract for each article
(20-22) Identifies, locates, uses, and shares information for problem at hand. Includes the full citation and abstract for each article

(18-19) Does not identify, locate, evaluate, and responsibly use and share information for problem at hand and/or does not include the full citation and abstract for each article
(0-17) 25
Annotation
Annotation follows all the points noted in the Overview and provides the main conclusions of each resource

(23-25) Clearly summarizes the main conclusions of each resource and includes most of the points noted in the Overview

(20-22) Incompletely summarizes the main conclusion of each resource and may not include all of the points noted in the Overview
(18-19) Does not focus on the main idea and/or does not include most of the points noted in the Overview

(0-17) 25
Research Incorporates more than seven scholarly resources effectively that reflect depth and breadth of research
(23-25) Incorporates seven resources effectively that reflect depth and breadth of research

(20-22) Incorporates between five and six scholarly resources that reflect depth of research

(18-19) Incorporates fewer than five scholarly resources that reflect depth and breadth of research

(0-17) 25
Writing
(Mechanics/Citations) No errors related to organization, grammar and style, and citations
(23-25) Minor errors related to organization, grammar and style, and citations
(20-22) Some errors related to organization, grammar and style, and citations
(18-19) Major errors related to organization, grammar and style, and citations
(0-17) 25
Earned Total
Comments: 100%