DEVELOPING A RESEARCH PAPER

WHAT WILL BE COVERED

• Choosing & Limiting a Topic

• Using the Library to Find Information

• Preparing a Preliminary Outline

• Taking Notes

• Organizing Materials & Preparing Final Outline

• Writing (including Footnotes & Bibliography)

Zora Neale Hurston said:

“Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with purpose. It is a seeking that he who wishes may know the cosmic secrets of the world and they that dwell therein.”

DEFINITION OF A RESEARCH PAPER

• Extensive composition (500 words per page, double-spaced, with 1 inch margins, so a 6-page paper = 3000 words)

• Formal writing, so will include parenthetical citations within your paper plus a bibliography page also known as ‘works cited.’

• Gives info from reading in a number of sources that support your idea

WHAT SHOULD YOU CHOOSE AS A TOPIC FOR RESEARCH

• Something in which you are interested• Enough info available to develop worth-while paper

– Not a rehash of what has already been said elsewhere– Must have at least 3 reference sources which are readily

available to you (minimum # dictated by teacher)

• Know the purpose of the paper– Present info, present an argument (one side or both?),

compare/contrast ideas, present chronology of historical event, show cause & effect, analyze a subject

• Know the length of the paper (500 words per double-spaced page) & limit by what can be covered in that space

• Good starting place = encyclopedia for overview

SIX QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD USE AS YOU EXAMINE YOUR TOPIC• Who?

• What?

• Where?

• When?

• Why?

• How?

Ask these questions as you decide on a topic and again as you do the research. Failure to find info on any of these six basic questions indicates a hole in your research and in the logical sequence/presentation of the final paper.

USING THE LIBRARY TO FIND INFORMATION

• A researcher must know– How to use the electronic catalog– Where materials are located– How materials are arranged– How info is organized in books– What books provide good source info for the topic– How to take notes– How to organize materials for the paper– How to develop a working bibliography on cards

USING THE ELECTRONIC CATALOG

• Union catalog

• Objects of search = find call numbers for subject as well as specific titles

• Call numbers = Dewey Decimal System

• Call numbers indicate nonfiction

How will you find books on your subject on the shelves?

•Are books on this subject fiction or nonfiction?

•How do you locate shelves that contain factual books?

FICTION vs. NONFICTION

• Fiction = stories = not factual = arranged by author’s last name = not what looking for when writing a research paper

• Nonfiction = factual info = arranged by Dewey Decimal Number– Can be reference or circulating

• Must know that if R appears before #, go to reference collection

• Encyclopedias = 031, so if call # = R 031, what will you be looking for?

• If call # = 442, where will you look?

WHERE ARE MATERIALS LOCATED?

• Nonfiction books are located in numbered shelves or in the Reference collection

• Reference call numbers are preceded by R

• Reference and circulating are both arranged by Dewey Decimal number

• Question: If you find a book in the electronic catalog whose call number is R 523.4, where will you look for the book? If another book has the call number 523.4, where will you look for it?

SHELF ARRANGEMENT

• 3-foot sections

• Top to bottom

• Left to right

SHELF ARRANGEMENT

• 3-foot sections

• Top to bottom

• Left to right

What is the Dewey Decimal System?

• Method for organizing nonfiction materials– Puts books on same subject together

• Numbers in hundreds = broad categories– 100s = generalities/technology, 200s =

religion/philosophy, 300s = sociology, etc.

• Numbers in tens place and lower break down categories into smaller subjects– 400s = languages, 423 = English language dictionaries– 800s = literature, 820 = English writers (822.3 =

Shakespeare)

FINDING BOOKS

• Nonfiction = Dewey Decimal number = subjects by number– 000 = generalities In which of the– 100 = philosophy general numbers to– 200 = religion the left will you find– 300 = social sciences astronomy?– 400 = languages– 500 = pure sciences– 600 = applied sciences– 700 = arts– 800 = literature– 900 = history & biography

REMEMBER…

• Check the electronic catalog for call number

• Write down the number(s)

• R = reference (look in the reference section)

• Look on the numbered shelves for books without an R in the call number

• A good place to start almost any search is the encyclopedias = R 031

In the electronic catalog, enter a search term in the search box, then click the

appropriate icon.

REMEMBER THAT YOU MUST HAVE THE NUMBER OF SOURCES SPECIFIED BY YOUR TEACHER, SO MAKE SURE THAT YOU CAN FIND ENOUGH INFO BEFORE YOU COMMIT TO A TOPIC.

HOW DO YOU FIND INFORMATION IN BOOKS?

• Table of contents (front) gives an overview of what is covered in the book

• Index (back) lists subjects covered and gives page number

• Call numbers group all books on similar subjects in the same general area, so be sure to look in the indexes of books in that call number rather than just at the title.

WHAT KINDS OF BOOKS WILL GIVE YOU GOOD INFO

FOR YOUR TOPIC?

• Individual biographies = 92• Collected biographies = 920• Encyclopedias = R 031• Almanacs, special encyclopedias on your

subject area, critical reviewing sources, histories on your subject, other books in the same call number, books on related topics suggested in an encyclopedia article

TAKING NOTES

• Purpose = record material in way most beneficial to you

• Paraphrase (condense/synopsize) ideas unless you’ll be using a direct quote

• Always record the source

USE THIS SUGGESTED SYSTEM FOR TAKING NOTES ON CARDS

• Use 3 x 5 cards for bibliographic info on

source materials– Write S1, S2, S3, etc. on top right of each bib. card – Record the same # at the top right of each card of info

taken from that source– To create a final list of sources, alphabetize the cards

• Use 4 x 6 cards for notes (paraphrase unless using a direct quote, # of source at top of each)– Write on only one side of the card– Include on the card the page numbers from which the

info was taken in the source used

PREPARING A PRELIMINARY OUTLINE

• Helps you organize material according to the purpose of your paper

• Helps you discover connections between pieces of info

• Makes you aware of irrelevant material that you can eliminate

START BY IDENTIFYING THE MAIN HEADINGS• Group your note cards by ideas

presented, one stack per idea

• The number of stacks will indicate the number of main headings you’ll need

• Outline by main idea (I, II, or III, etc.) followed by subheadings (A, 1, a, (1)

THIS IS THE FORMAT OF AN OUTLINE

I.A.

1.a.

(1)(2)

b.2.

B.II.

If there is a I, there must be a II. If there is an A, there must be a B. If there is a 1, there must be a 2. If there is an a, there must be a b. If there is a (1), there must be a (2).

WRITING THE PAPERUsing the outline, write one paragraph per main headingUse good paragraph format• Insert quotes and facts from your notecards where

appropriate• Immediately after the quote or fact, in parentheses, write

the last name of the author of that source and the page number on which the quote or fact was found – This is called parenthetical citation– It occurs within your paper, not on a separate sheet

• After you have used a 4 x 6 card, put it in a stack according to the source used (put the 3 x 5 card for each source on top of that stack so you can readily ID the stacks)

COMPOSE AN INTRODUCTION

• State what you are going to accomplish with the paper (your purpose) in a roundabout way

• State for the reader what you are going to tell them in the paper

• The final sentence of this introduction should lead into the first concept in your outline which will be the first paragraph you wrote

Compose the Conclusion

• Tell the reader what you told them

• Restate the purpose of the paper

• Detail how the purpose has been accomplished

DEVELOP THE Works Cited LIST

• This is a list of all the sources you actually used in your paper

• Make sure your 3 x 5 cards are sorted alphabetically

• Record on one sheet the entries on the 3 x 5 cards in alphabetical order

• Make sure all the entries are in proper MLA format

• The Works Cited list will be the last page of your paper

TYPE THE PAPER IN ITS ENTIRETY• Format = 1 inch margins all around• Set up a header ½ inch from the top flush with the

right margin of each page giving your last name and the number of the page (no p. or page)

• First page, upper left (double-spaced)– Your name, your instructor’s name, course name and

number, date (each item on a new line)

• Double space after the date and then center the title of your paper (upper- and lower-case letters, not underlined) over the text (any punctuation except a period may follow the title)

• Type the intro, the body of the paper, the conclusion, and the Works Cited page

NO TITLE PAGE• Remember to put your name, instructor’s

name, course title and number, and the date in the upper left corner, double-spaced, on the first page of your paper

• Remember to center the title over the text, not underlined and not in all caps, followed by any punctuation except a period

• Remember that pagination should be preceded by your last name and should not have “page” or “p.” before the number

• You will NOT have a separate title page in a paper done in MLA format

AND WHEN YOU’VE DONE ALL THAT…

• Your paper is complete!• Double check for spelling & grammatical

usage• Double check for proper spacing (1” margins,

double-spacing after pagination, double-spacing between heading lines on first page, double-space after title, double-spacing throughout the text)

REMEMBER THESE STEPS…1. State an original idea about the topic you choose

2. Find at least 3 books on your topic using call numbers from the electronic catalog

3. Write bibliographic info about each book you will use on a 3 x 5 card using MLA format

a. Number each 3 x 5 card (S1 for the first, S2, etc.)

4. Research the topic, jotting notes from each book you use on 4 x 6 cards & showing on what page of the S1, S2, etc. you found that info

GOOD LUCK ON WRITING YOUR PAPER!

• Ask questions, but don’t expect anybody to do the work for you

• It will take a lot of time, so get busy NOW!