Research Paper Writing

Evaluating Credibility . . . Authority Objectivity Authenticity

Authority ­ ­ Who says? Know your author! WHO created this information and WHY? Do you recognize the author and their work? How does the author back up their points? Do they provide their sources? Does the author acknowledge other viewpoints/ theories?

Objectivity Is the information biased? ­Is the source one sided? Who sponsors the site? What influence might they have? Is the information meant for entertainment: humor/parody/satire?

Authenticity/Reliability ­Who else has reviewed the information? Are sources given for where the information was gathered? Are sources trustworthy?

Evaluating Credibility . . . URL’s and their meanings: .gov: posted by gov’t group or agency .edu: educational 3rd grade or college? .org: nonprofit org. Sponsorship? .com: business/generic site. Credibility? .net: variety of org. offering services.

Timeliness ­When was the site last updated? Are links/ sources updated? Is the information current?

Lit term: Thesis Statement Thesis statement: a short statement (1 sentence) that provides the claim and argument for a piece of writing It should be: Arguable (your research backs it up) Concise (Not excessively wordy) Clear  (it makes sense)

Writing a Thesis Problem + Cause 1 + Cause 2 + Cause 3 A thesis is arguable and gives the reader a snapshot of what you claim in your paper. Problem + Cause 1 + Cause 2 + Cause 3 Example: World hunger remains a problem today due to generational poverty, corrupt political systems, and a lack of start-up funds for impoverished families.

Outline You must make a detailed typed outline for your paper (at least 1.5 pg) Include:  General summaries of the research you will use in your paper (cite them!) Key points you will make Outline will include: Thesis Background Cause 1 Cause 2 Cause 3 Proposal of Solution

Formatting your outline Introduction Hook * this may be left blank now unless you already know what you want to start with Thesis Background/Definitions Information Reason #1 Continue like this. At least 2 bullet points of information for each reason. Cite your sources throughout. **Word formats your outline FOR YOU.

Writing an Introduction Be Interesting!!

Introduction Attention Getter: Quote, Statistic, story General Information about why issue is important Thesis Statement Attention Getter Thesis

Intro 900,000 women under the age of eighteen become pregnant each year. Forty percent of all women have been pregnant at least once before reaching the age of twenty (Klein 281). Though these statistics represent a decrease from prior years, teen pregnancy is no small problem. Teen pregnancy is an important issue in American culture. Teen pregnancy stems from broken familiar structures, a lack of education, and choices of the teens themselves.

In Text Citations Any time you use information from one of your sources, whether paraphrased, summarized or quoted, YOU MUST CITE IT! Cite any information that is not “common knowledge” or did not come from your brain Common knowledge: Facts that everyone knows. Example: American Independence Day is July 4, George Washington is the first President Not Common Knowledge: Facts that the general population may not know Example: George Washington was known to have slaves

In Text Citations Citations come AFTER the borrowed information. Normally, this means right after the sentence, before the period. If all information in several sentences is from one source, the citation may go AT THE END OF THE THOSE SENTENCES. Any given paragraph should use information from more than one source and should therefore have more than one citation.

MLA format In-text Citations Use author’s last name and page number after a borrowed piece of information or a quote The author shows that “Ichabod never meant any harm” (Weinfold 96). If there is no page, just use the author’s last name after the borrowed information. The author shows that “Ichabod never meant any harm” (Weinfold). If there is no author and no page number, use the article title or source title (whatever comes first in the citation in the Works Cited page for this source) The author shows that “Ichabod never meant any harm” (“Sleepy Hollow Stories”).

Example of In Text Citations: It has been argued that informed consent laws restrict adolescent women. Some opponents are concerned by the possibility of abuse by parents of the adolescents, or even coercion in abortion and adoption decisions (Rodman 157-158).These concerns may be warranted in some situations, but there are legal loopholes in place to avoid such abuse. In those states that require informed consent for abortion, the pregnant adolescent has the option to petition the court for legal competence (Guttmacher Institute). The benefits of parental involvement in pregnancy decisions and consequent childrearing outweigh the potential problems.

Miscellaneous Citation How-tos Sources with 2 authors: (Author 1 and Author 2) Example: (Kardashian and West) Sources with 3 or more authors: (Author 1 et. al.) Example: (Swift et. al.) Multiple citations (Author 1; Author 2) Example: (Montague; Capulet)

Miscellaneous Citing How-Tos If you use a quote from a speaker who was not the author of the source  . . .  Citing a _____________ within a source: (Speaker qtd. in. Source) Example: "We will always have bad blood" noted one expert (Swift qtd. In. West) Example: "We will always have bad blood" noted Swift in her song (qtd. In West)

Plagiarism Plagiarism = taking someone else’s work and making it seem like it is your own work Plagiarism includes… Copying a whole paragraph or essay from a website and turning it in as your own work Copying an entire sentence word for word from a source without giving credit to the source Depending on the level of plagiarism, plagiarism will result in you losing a lot of points for the paper or not getting any credit for the paper at all. To avoid plagiarism… Re-word information which you gained from a source. Say it in your own way. If you do take a sentence or two word for word from a source, make sure that you put the sentence in quotes and use an in-text citation directly after the sentence.

Quotes You must have at least three quotes in your paper. Incorporate the quote correctly into your sentence. Do not drop a quote bomb! BAD: “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently” (Ford). GOOD: One great entrepreneur talked about failure, saying that “[it] is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently” (Ford).

Quotes Individual quote should take up NO MORE THAN TWO lines of text in your paper. Too long? Use ellipsis (. . . ) Original quote:  “How we feel lonely, sometimes to the point of tears, but we don’t let those tears come because we are not supposed to cry. Or how we feel a surge of love for a partner but we don’t say anything because we’re frozen with fear of what those words might do to the relationship. Morrie’s approach was exactly the opposite. Turn on the faucet. Wash yourself with the emotion. It won’t hurt you. It will only help” (Albom 100). Shortened quote:   “We don’t let those tears come because we are not supposed to cry . . . Morrie’s approach was exactly the opposite . . . Wash yourself with emotion. It won’t hurt you. It will only help” (Albom 100).

Comparisons/Contrasts Writing your paper… Use your outline! Use transitions effectively and fluidly. Consider the purposes/transitions below: Order of importance Cause and Effect Comparisons/Contrasts Conclusions The most significant  As a result Similarly All in all Furthermore  Accordingly Likewise Overall In particular  Due to At the same time As a whole Moreover If … then... Nevertheless Thus A major factor Therefore On the other hand A major reason Yet All things considered Another example Consequently In Contrast Simply stated

Solution Paragraph Using your research, discuss existing solutions  . . .  Discuss existing solutions that work. EXPLAIN WHY. Explain what root causes the solution deals with Example: Fair Trade Guidelines help minimize unethical working conditions Discuss any issues within current solution How many people buy fair trade? Accountability? Propose solutions Explain what else could be done, needs to be done

Solution Paragraph NEEDS TO BE RESEARCH BASED! Cite your sources. Who else agrees with you that this would be a good solution?? This is not the same as your proposal project, though it may be similar. For this part of the assignment, you are looking large scale—big change! For your proposal project, you will look at what you can do RIGHT NOW. (This means that you are not talking about Hedgesville High School in your solution paragraph. You aren't talking about bake sales or fundraisers)

Conclusion RESTATE the thesis, but DO NOT use the exact same words Summarize key arguments from your paper (just the arguments, not the statistics etc) End by answering the question: So What? Why should this problem matter to the world? Why is it an important topic to deal with? Why should your reader care?

Conclusion Example Abortion is not the best option in the case of teen pregnancy. Although it may solve immediate problems and allow the teen mothers to finish high school, the eventual results are not worth this decision. Teen mothers who have abortions have been shown to have regrets and emotional difficulties after the abortion. Additionally, this is a complex decision that needs to be considered with the help of parents. Rather than choose abortion, the issue of teen pregnancy would be better solved through other means such as better sex education classes. This is an issue that needs to be addressed because it affects not only the mothers but also the children who are yet o to be born.

Revision DO NOT USE Make Sure… Personal pronouns Contractions “I think…” “my argument” Contractions Make Sure… Arguments match up with thesis You use effective transitions