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 paper 1. 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? 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 Currency Authoritativeness Reliability Scope

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?