Research Paper

Housekeeping Activities Take student paths survey at www.studentpaths.com/studentimpactsurvey Set up an account on Student Research Center Go to Infohio Click on Grades 9-12 Click on EBSOhost Click on Student Research Center Click on Sign In (at top) Click on Create an Account (under log in) Remember your username and password! Check out Instagrok at www.instagrok.com

Requirements: Research question – Monday, March 4th Source cards – Friday, March 8th Note cards, 1st check – Friday, March 15th Thesis (your research question answered) – Friday, March 15th More note cards – Friday, March 22nd Outline – Wednesday, April 3rd Rough draft – Friday, April 12th Works Cited – Friday, April 12th Final Copy – Friday, April 19th

Choose a good topic that has these characteristics: Interesting – holds your interest and that of your audience; it’s something you want to learn about Manageable – you only have a limited amount of time and resources available, so choose a topic you can handle Worthwhile – choose something of substance, something that matters Original – a good topic is not just a rehashing (like Abe Lincoln’s childhood); a better topic is how books he read as a child influenced his political decisions

Avoid a poor topic with these characteristics: Too broad – Ice Age is too broad; the role of the Ice Age in the formation of the Great Lakes is better Too narrow – avoid a topic for which little information is available (metric cooking conversions is too narrow)

Avoid a topic that is: Too trivial – every driver’s manual will name same laws of the road Too subjective – you need to set personal preferences aside to respond objectively Too controversial – hotly contested arguments can bog you down with information Too familiar – you’ll be bored Too technical – the research is difficult in itself; don’t try to learn a whole new language Too factual – shouldn’t be a recitation of facts Too new – may have insufficient research Too regional – localized topics won’t have enough

How to narrow your topic: Ask questions about the subject to generate more specific topics Break the subject into smaller parts Simplify a complex subject

Choose a topic that you can word into a question: How did Jefferson affect American politics prior to his presidency? How do the Amish differ from the Mennonites? What elements are necessary in a landfill design to protect future generations?

Do preliminary reading/scanning to see if your topic will generate enough (or too much) information Check out your topic in an encyclopedia (Infohio, Worldbook Advanced or an Internet encyclopedia) Search your topic on the Internet (.net, .gov, and .org tend to be more reliable sites) Check out your topic on Instagrok (topic and organization ideas) Do a general search on Ebscohost, student research center – just look for magazine articles

Write a research question: Reflects the purpose of your paper Is a clear, focused, concise, complex and arguable question How are online users experiencing or addressing privacy issues on such social networking sites as MySpace and Facebook? What are common traits of those suffering from diabetes in America, and how can these commonalities be used to aid the medical community in prevention of the disease? After research, you will answer your question in the form of a thesis statment

Things to keep in mind: Your information should be current – avoid sources that are more than 5 years old You need to reference at least six resource in your paper – find eight to give yourself leeway Make an account on Ebscohost so you can save articles that look promising instead of printing everything out

Things to keep in mind: On Infohio, check only magazine and tv shows at first Log in to Student Research Center Save promising articles to your folder When you print an article, be sure to click the Citation Format and from pull down menu, select MLA Create a word document Works Cited As you print articles, copy and paste the citation into your Works Cited page and save The citations are not always perfect; you will need to double check at OWL at Purdue

Note Cards You need to make a source card for each of your resources (the citation and number each source) You need to take notes on your research on notecards (follow guidelines for setting up a notecard)

Requirements: Research question – Monday, March 4th Source cards – Friday, March 8th Note cards, 1st check – Friday, March 15th Thesis (your research question answered) – Friday, March 15th More note cards – Friday, March 22nd Outline – Wednesday, April 3rd Rough draft – Friday, April 12th Works Cited – Friday, April 12th Final Copy – Friday, April 19th