The Research Paper

What is a research paper?

What is a research paper? Before you leave high school you will be asked to write a number of research papers. You probably dread the assignment. Not anymore.  Here we are committed to making the research paper process clear and simple to follow.

Do you think that a research paper involves:

• Choosing a topic that sounds interesting, though you are not sure what it involves or why it is important
• Spending hour after hour in the library, pouring over books and searching for articles in magazines
• Taking countless notes
• Stringing together quotations and facts that, after all the tedious works, no longer interest you, while hoping your teacher will see how hard you worked.

If you think that is a research paper, think again. It is so much more exciting than that!! 

A Research Paper is:

•  a thoughtful evaluation of the available evidence.
• An exciting quest for new ways to view a subject or new answers to a problem
• A way of deepening a writer’s understanding and sharing this new understanding with readers
• A way to participate in the ongoing, state-of-the art discussion that surrounds a topic and shapes attitudes and events 

A research paper, like an essay, solves a problem or presents a point of view and, like an essay, needs to be planned, organized and developed. A research paper is really an extensive, well developed essay, that shares information (discoveries, ) or proves a point (theoires). Reseach papers .... 

Strategies for beginning writing

There are as many ways of beginning writing as there are mosquitoes in Manitoba. However, despite the variations, they have one thing in common: they all involve focus, determination and planning.

Here is a list of proven strategies to get you started in the writing process. This applies to research papers, essays, narratives, fiction, poetry, and really any writing process. 

Pre-Writing

Ask yourself what the purpose is in writing about the subject. There are many “correct” things to write about for any subject, but you need to narrow down your choices. Your first task is to formulate a question or purpose. For example, your topic might be “The 1919 General Strike in Winnipeg.” At this point, you and your potential reader are asking the same question, “So what?” Why should you write about this, and why should anyone read it? You may want to address the question: Why did the General Strike occur?  Or, you may want to compare the strike in Winnipeg to the strike that occurred at the same time in Amherst, Nova Scotia.

Identify your audience.

Your audience consists of the people to whom your writing is directed. If you are writing a report to present in science class, your audience will be your peers. If you are writing an article for your local newspaper, your audience will be the people in your community.

• Which aspect of my topic will be most interesting to my audience?
• What does my audience already know about my topic, and what do I need to explain? 

Start the ideas flowing

There are a number of ways to gather ideas. Here are a few suggestions:

Free-writing - sit down somewhere quiet where you will not be disturbed. Set a time, 5 or 10 minutes. Begin writing, without taking your pen off the paper, everything that comes to your mind about your topic, even if it does not seem logical at the time.

Free-wheeling – write a broad definition or one word that summarize your topic in the middle of your page and draw a circle around it. Then list different words and phrases related to your subject around the circle.

What Do I Already Know? – make a two column chart. On the left side write “What Do I Already Know?” and on the left column write “What Do I Want To Know?” Sit down and fill out both columns. Then spend some time doing some rereading, internet or library search. Then fill out more on the chart. You can use this chart through the whole writing process.

Journalistic Questions – in this exercise you ask questions such as Who? What? When? Where? Why? And How?

The main objective of these exercises is to write down whatever comes to mind, including material you may end up throwing out. Brainstorm as many ideas, suggestions, examples, sentences, openings, etc. as you can. Formulate a list and be ready to add to it when new ideas come to mind.

Talk to your audience, or pretend that you are being interviewed by someone, or by several people, to give yourself the opportunity of considering a subject from the audiences points of view. What questions would the other person ask?

Sum up your points in a few sentences and write them out on paper

Make an outline or whatever helps you organize the information. This may help you see where material is lacking and what sections are well researched.

Developing a Thesis

This can be done at any stage of the process, but is best thought about early on. Your thesis will depend on the purpose of your paper.

Gathering data

Where do I begin looking for information? This is probably the most time consuming and frustrating part of writing a paper. Here are some simple steps. Combine the steps as necessary. If one style does not work for you, ignore it and pick one that does, but be consistent. You do not want to have to do your research for sources more than once

Library

Put key words in to Athena (for here at SCHS) or the Steinbach Library.

Identify the sections of the library that the books come from. Eg if you are looking up Cleopatra and all the books say 556. 32. Go to 556 and you will find books on Cleopatra, Egypt, Caesar, Middle East etc.

Talk to a librarian. Did you know that librarians go to university to be trained to help you? They are intimately aware of all the resources you can use. And they are friendly too.

Pre-reading

Once you have collected 4-5 sources, peruse them. Look at chapter headings, images, look for any bolded, highlighted, italicied words. There should be clues if this source will be an asset to you.

Also look for reading level. If you can’t make it through the first page then perhaps the book is too advanced for you. If however, there are more pictures than text, perhaps it is too easy!!

Peruse a variety of different sources. Once you have determined at least 4-5 sources that can be used for your assignment, move on to the next step.

Compile a working bibliography

Prepare the bibliography either on cards in correct form (3" x 5" cards), or in a duotang.

This way you have the information recorded right away and will not forget to do it at the end when you have already returned the source.  

WRITING A FIRST DRAFT

Now that you have finished your preliminary research, have taken notes and recorded bibliographic information, it is time to see if it all fits together.

Step One: The Outline.

Every style of paper will have a different outline. Here we are focusing on the traditional research paper. Your teacher may ask you to format it in a specific order; follow that format.

A good outline for a paper should look like this

Introduction

1. Point, argument, idea, - topic sentence
   1. Introduce
   2. State opinion, stance, opposition
   3. Example, stat, quote, to support idea
2. Point, argument, idea,
   1. Introduce
   2. State opinion, stance, opposition
   3. Example, stat, quote, to support idea
3. Point, argument, idea,
   1. Introduce
   2. State opinion, stance, opposition
   3. Example, stat, quote, to support idea

Conclusion

Topic Sentence

Step Two: Getting it on the Page

Writing an introduction

Read this article on how to set up an introduction

How to write a Paragraph

Five sentence paragraph

1. introduction
2. supporting fact
3. supporting fact
4. supporting fact
5. so what?

Conclusion

• Let reader know what they have just read. Reinforce argument, idea, points that were covered.
• Do not introduce new ideas or evidence in the conclusion.
• Review the main points briefly, a detailed summary will seem repetitive
• Put the thesis in different words to drive home the essay’s main point
• Predict future events or speculate about the outcome or further applications of your theory
• Use a quotation that makes the ideas memorable or supports your conclusion
• Supply a mental pictures or brief narrative to reinforce an essay’s message
• Echo the introductions to create a sense of completion

Revising

The writer Stephen King has said, “If you haven’t marked up your manuscript a lot, you did a lousy job”

This is the time when you take your handwritten or typed copy and read it over in full. You have written an introduction, conclusion and have fully developed body.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Is my purpose clear? Can I easily identify my thesis statement?
• Do I have an introduction? A conclusion?
• Do I have one paragraph for each of my major ideas?
• Would someone who has not read the assignment understand what the assignment is?
• Do my points follow a logical order? I.e. ascending or descending importance
• Have I kept a consistent ‘tone’? That is, does it all sound like my voice and not pieced together quotes.

****** After revising you may need to go back and do some extensive re-writing. You may find that you have to do some more research. You may end up with 2, 3, 4 or more drafts. PERFECT!!! This is a long process. Get it right. Once you can answer all of the above questions, type out one final copy, just like the one you will hand in and move to proofreading.

PROOFREADING

This the ‘clean up’ process of writing. Here you correct all of the ‘little’ nitty gritty parts .

• Did you double-check the spelling of all words you were unsure about? Check common problem words, Their, There; in to, into;
• Does every sentence have a subject and verb?
• Double Spacing
• Citations
• Fused, run-on, fragmented sentences fixed
• Type face and font
• Page numbers
• Works Cited
• Does the writing begin in an interesting way?
• Do the details come in the best order ?
• Have any points been repeated ?
• Have certain words been used too often ?
• Does the writing have a strong ending ?
• Are the sentences or lines too long and complicated ?
• Are the paragraphs too long? Are they long enough to make the point?
• Is the title suitable?
• Is each new paragraph indented?
• Does the punctuation make the meaning clear?
• Did the writer capitalize names and titles and the first word of each sentence?
• Is there a variety of sentence types?
• Are complete sentences used?

Publishing

Once you have checked everything you are ready to ‘publish’ your work. Pay attention to your teacher’s instruction on how they want your work handed in.

Refer to the section Paper Formatting for how a research paper should look.

Well Done!! You have completed the research paper writing task!!

"Nitrates: Cancer for Many, Money for Few"  an essay with block quotations

Barnet, Sylvan and Marcika Stubbs. Barnet & Stubbs's Practical Guide to Writing.  5th ed. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1982269-284

"The Ogallal: Preserving the Great American Desert" an essay with headings and editorial notes

Sebranek, Partick and Dave Kemper, Verne Meyer. Writers INC: A Student Handbook for WRITING and LEARNING. Wilmington: Houghton Miffin Company, 2001.

Sample Paper PDF