Research

Research Papers

This is the most common type of research project you will encounter.

It is not the kind of original research done by scientists and advanced researchers

You will gather information from various sources and present a new or different view of the topic

Steps in preparing a research paper1. Choose a topic

2. Formulate a thesis question

3. Prepare your outline

4. Develop a search strategy to find information

5. Evaluate resources found

6. Take notes

7. Write the paper

8. Cite your sources

Step 1 - Choosing a topic

This is the most important step in writing a paper. It determines the focus of your work.

What do you want to find out?What do you want to find out?Put this in the form of a question

Things to consider: what you know about the topic already length of the paper due date of the paper availability of the research materials

Step 1 - Choosing a topic con’t

Beware of topics that are too: broad - too much info to cover narrow - too little info to cover in allotted space recent - not enough information available regional - not enough info; info difficult to

obtain emotional - you will be biased complex -can’t adequately cover all the

aspects

Example:Addictions & school success

Perspective? Prior knowledge? Broader terms? Narrower terms? Synonyms? Kind of library materials?

Step 1 - Choosing a topic con’t

Before you start, identify the topic of your research. Addictions

Form a question around it E.g. Do addictions affect university success?

Brainstorm keywords - synonyms, broader & narrower terms

Step 1 - Choosing a topic con’t

Preliminary Research Use general reference works to get an

overview of your topic. Encyclopedia Dictionaries Commentaries

Narrow or broaden your topic question if necessary.

Step 1 - Choosing a topic con’t

Step 2 - Formulate a thesis

What will you show, prove, explain or argue?

1. Begin with a question - not an opinion

2. Conduct research to formulate an opinion on the topic - this will be your thesis statement

3. Your conclusion should show that the thesis is supported by the research evidence

Step Three - Write an outline

How you are going to order & organize your paper

The overall structure of the paper will be like this:

1st - Introduction Maximum 2 paragraphs long Quickly funnel the ideas to your specific thesis

statement

Introduction funnel

Body of the paper

Conclusion

Outline

Body - where the main ideas are discussed. How this is organized depends on your topic

Chronologically - talking about something that happens over time

Step -by-step - follows the order in which something is done, occurs or is experienced

General to particular - you explain a sub-topic first and then explain it using instances or examples

Compare/Contrast

Outline

Analysis & Classification - breaking ideas, processes or concepts into its pieces and then grouping then together based on common characteristics

Cause & Effect - either state situations (causes) and describe/argue consequences or identify problem/consequence and explain the causes

Conclusion Restate your thesis and its application to the wider

world

Compare/Contrast

First main idea

First sub idea

1st reason/example

2nd reason/example

1st supporting detail

2nd supporting detail

Second sub idea

Second main idea

First idea

A1 - description

B1 - description

A1 vs B1

Second idea

A2 - description

B2 - description

A2 vs B2

Step-by-step / General to particular

Step Four - The search strategy

Where are you going to look & in what order - books, journals, gov’t docs, WWW - print or electronic sources?

Books, reports, videos - library catalogue Uses controlled vocabulary Must look up appropriate headings in library of

congress subject heading books (large red books)

Controlled Vocabulary

•Rule #1: With controlled vocabularies, you have to use the subject terms provided by the system. No options are allowed.

Rule #2: The actual wording of the data record (book title or catalog entry) is not important for controlled vocabularies. Subject headings are assigned on the basis of somebody’s judgment as to what the data is about.

Rule #3: Use a controlled vocabulary as a search tool when you want a collection of data on the same subject regardless of what the data actually says

What do I look under?

Elderly

Elderly, senior citizens, seniors, elders

Euthanasia

Heading:

Aged

Mercy killing, right to die,Heading:

Euthanasia

Step Four - The search strategy

Journals Search using indices (indexes) - print & online Uses keyword searching & controlled vocab This is where you need to use your synonyms Indexes tell you in which journal(s) you can find

the article - it’s up to you to use a library catalogue to find the journal & thus, the actual article - these can be in print or online

Journals con’t Some indexes are fulltext databases - they

contain the entire text of some articles Some print & electronic indexes contain only

abstracts of the articles - short summaries of the contents to help you determine its usefulness

Full search using all keywords in concept chart

Step 5 - Evaluating Resources

CARS

CurrencyAuthoritativenessReliabilityScope

Currency

When was it published? Is the information up-to-date? Is the source out-of-date for your topic?

Authoritativeness

Author: Education, experience, training? Biographical info Has s/he written other works in same field? Reputation among peers? Well known corporation or agency?

Authoritativeness

Publisher: Well known publisher? University press? Professional organization? Publishing volume?

Reliability

Non-biased treatment Is the author biased in his/her viewpoint? Do the facts support the thesis? Does s/he appeal to emotions and/or stereotypes Is it fact or opinion? What’s the motive? Propaganda?

Reliability

Accuracy Are there errors in the information - you’ll have to

check a couple of sources to discover Are citations present - bibliography or notes? Use of primary or secondary sources

Illustrations Do illustrations (charts, graphs, statistics,

drawings) enhance usefulness?

Scope

Have all aspects of the topic been covered? Table of contents - check for missing areas

Audience - who is geared toward? Too elementary or advanced for your needs? Does it update other sources or have new

information not found elsewhere?