Paraphrasing
NASA indicates that their project has reached a new record of fixing GPS-signal at the highest altitude. According to the article by Johnson-Groh (2016), four vehicles operate 43,500 miles above the Earth and manage to use GPS data to calculate flight routes. The systems require careful operating since they are sensitive and need attentive positioning. However, despite such difficulties, this project managed to break a get a World Guinness Record.
Process Description
While writing a paper, it is necessary to conduct thorough literature research in order to understand the subject fully. This is the case when using paraphrasing, quoting, and summarizing is vital because demonstrating others’ ideas as one’s own is plagiarism. The video by Lynette Pretorius describes various types of presenting information correctly. Two of them, which are quoting and paraphrasing, are widely used in various studies (“Differences between quoting, paraphrasing and summarising”). The first method can be used to make the research more credible. By referring to different scholars directly, a researcher indicates that he or she has read the works carefully and is familiar with the results. Paraphrasing also refers to the original but presents only key points. In a case where I want to present evidence for a certain idea, I would use quoting to prove my own ideas.
For instance, trying to reword the information from the article was not particularly easy due to the presence of technical terms, like “elliptical orbit” or “altitude.” In order to paraphrase this paragraph, I initially read through it in an attempt to understand the general idea. After that, I tried to convey the main point by slightly changing the structure of the text and using synonyms. In addition, I used a citation to demonstrate that the idea was not mine, but the author of the original article. I understand that for improving my skills in paraphrasing, I need to expand my vocabulary so that the new text feels refreshed and not plagiarized.
References
Pretorius, L. (2016) Differences between quoting, paraphrasing and summarising. Web.
Johnson-Groh, M. (2016) NASA’s MMS Breaks Guinness World Record. Web.