Q&A: finding both sides of an issue

By jrjacobs@stanford.edu

Created 02/23/2012 - 10:35am

Question: What are some good resources for researching the pros and cons of a debate topic?

Answer:

There are several solid resources that can help you find both sides of an issue. The following guides provide background data and references for more information used in debating many topics:

Debatabase books (2009 [1] and 2003 [2] respectively)
Opposing Viewpoints [3] (limits to those in Green, mostly in the Information Center (IC))
National debate topic for high schools: Each year the NFHS Speech, Debate & Theatre Association [4] selects a subject focusing on current public policy debates of the day. These topics are then compiled by the Librarian of Congress [5]. These compilations offer great pro&con resources on a wide variety of topics. They are published as Senate documents in the United States Serial Set pursuant to 44 U.S. CODE SECTION 1333 [6].
There are several ways to access these publications. You can search in searchworks for title "national debate topic for high schools." [7] You can also search in the subscription database Proquest Congressional Publications [8] for "national debate topic for high schools" for online access.

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Links:
[1] http://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/9243409
[2] http://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/7525845
[3] http://searchworks.stanford.edu/?f[building_facet][]=Green (Humanities & Social Sciences)&q=opposing viewpoints&search_field=search_series&utf8=✓
[4] http://www.nfhs.org/speechdebate/
[5] http://www.loc.gov/index.html
[6] http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2008-title44/html/USCODE-2008-title44-chap13-sec1333.htm
[7] http://searchworks.stanford.edu/?q=national debate topic for high schools&search_field=search_title&sort=pub_date_sort desc, title_sort asc&utf8=✓
[8] http://web.lexis-nexis.com/congcomp/form/cong/s_pubadvanced.html
[9] http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/searchresults.action?st=collection:cdoc packageid:(CDOC-112sdoc3 or CDOC-111sdoc19 or CDOC-111sdoc10 or CDOC-110sdoc18 or CDOC-110sdoc3 or CDOC-109sdoc23 or CDOC-109sdoc22 or CDOC-109sdoc21 or CDOC-108sdoc13 or CDOC-109sdoc20 or CDOC-107sdoc15 or CDOC-106sdoc28 or CDOC-106sdoc12 or CDOC-105sdoc27 or CDOC-105sdoc10 or CDOC-104sdoc20)
[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resolution_(debate)
[11] http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/search.action?na=&se=&sm=&flr=&ercode=&dateBrowse=&govAuthBrowse=&collection=&historical=false&st=collection:cdoc packageid:(CDOC-112sdoc3 or CDOC-111sdoc19 or CDOC-111sdoc10 or CDOC-110sdoc18 or CDOC-110sdoc3 or CDOC-109sdoc23 or CDOC-109sdoc22 or CDOC-109sdoc21 or CDOC-108sdoc13 or CDOC-109sdoc20 or CDOC-107sdoc15 or CDOC-106sdoc28 or CDOC-106sdoc12 or CDOC-105sdoc27 or CDOC-105sdoc10 or CDOC-104sdoc20)&psh=&sbh=dno&tfh=&originalSearch=collection:cdoc packageid:(CDOC-112sdoc3 or CDOC-111sdoc19 or CDOC-111sdoc10 or CDOC-110sdoc18 or CDOC-110sdoc3 or CDOC-109sdoc23 or CDOC-109sdoc22 or CDOC-109sdoc21 or CDOC-108sdoc13 or CDOC-109sdoc20 or CDOC-107sdoc15 or CDOC-106sdoc28 or CDOC-106sdoc12 or CDOC-105sdoc27 or CDOC-105sdoc10 or CDOC-104sdoc20)&sb=dno&ps=10&sb=dno&ps=10