Finding out how to compose an essay will help you in every area of your life. Read carefully, and notice how well the author presents and supports his or her statements. Here are some of the reasons why: Your research interest statement is reviewed by a commission when you apply for a faculty position, or for various graduate programs. Identify Information That Supports Your Thesis In Note You will use electronic sources as well, but it is not wise to limit yourself to electronic sources only, because some potentially useful sources may be available what can you learn from writing a research essay in print form.
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Published on July 24, by Jack Caulfield. Revised on December 6, An argumentative essay expresses an extended argument for a particular thesis statement. The author takes a clearly defined stance on their subject and builds up an evidence-based case for it. Argumentative essays are by far the most common type of essay to write at university. Table of contents When do you write an argumentative essay? Approaches to argumentative essays Introducing your argument The body: Developing your argument Concluding your argument Frequently asked questions about argumentative essays. You might be assigned an argumentative essay as a writing exercise in high school or in a composition class.
At university, the vast majority of essays or papers you write will involve some form of argumentation. For example, both rhetorical analysis and literary analysis essays involve making arguments about texts. At a university level, all the prompts below imply an argumentative essay as the appropriate response. Your research should lead you to develop a specific position on the topic, what can you learn from writing a research essay. The essay then argues for that position and aims to convince the reader by presenting your evidence, evaluation and analysis. An argumentative essay should be objective in its approach; your arguments should rely on logic and evidence, not on exaggeration or appeals to emotion.
There are many possible approaches to argumentative essays, but there are two common models that can help you start outlining your arguments: The Toulmin model and the Rogerian model. The Toulmin model consists of four steps, which may be repeated as many times as necessary for the argument:. The Toulmin model is a common approach in academic essays. You might:. The Rogerian model also consists of four steps you might repeat throughout your essay:. This model builds up a clear picture of both sides of an argument and seeks a compromise. It is particularly useful when people tend to disagree strongly on the issue discussed, allowing you to approach opposing arguments in good faith.
Regardless of which approach you take, your essay should always be structured using an introductiona bodyand a conclusion. Scribbr Plagiarism Checker. Like other academic essays, an argumentative essay begins with an introduction. The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, what can you learn from writing a research essay, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts is on the rise, and its role in learning is hotly debated. For many teachers who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its critical benefits for students and educators—as a uniquely comprehensive and accessible information source; a means of exposure to and engagement with different perspectives; and a highly flexible learning environment.
The body of an argumentative essay is where you develop your arguments in detail. In the standard five-paragraph format for short essays, the body takes up three of your five paragraphs. In longer essays, it will be more paragraphs, and might be divided into sections with headings. Each paragraph covers its own topic, introduced with a topic sentence. This example paragraph takes a Rogerian approach: It first acknowledges the merits of the opposing position and then highlights problems with that position. Teachers are clearly not mistaken in viewing Wikipedia usage as ubiquitous among their students; but the claim that it discourages engagement with academic sources requires further investigation.
This point is treated as self-evident by many teachers, but Wikipedia itself explicitly encourages students to look into other sources. Indeed, for many students, Wikipedia is their first encounter with the concepts of citation and referencing. The use of Wikipedia therefore has a positive side that merits deeper consideration than it often receives. An argumentative essay ends with a conclusion that summarizes and reflects on the arguments made in the body. No new arguments or evidence appear here, but in longer essays you may discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your argument and suggest topics for future research.
In all conclusions, you should stress the relevance and importance of your argument. The internet has what can you learn from writing a research essay a major positive impact on the world of education; occasional pitfalls aside, its value is evident in numerous applications. The future of teaching lies in the possibilities the internet opens up for communication, research, and interactivity. As the popularity of distance learning shows, students value the flexibility and accessibility offered by digital education, and educators should fully embrace these advantages. An argumentative essay tends to be a longer essay involving independent research, and aims to make an original argument about a topic.
Its thesis statement makes a contentious claim that must be supported in an objective, evidence-based way. Rather, it aims to explain something e. Expository essays are often shorter assignments and rely less on research. At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essaysresearch papersand other academic texts except exams and in-class exercises. Add a citation whenever you quoteparaphraseor summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text. The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use.
The most common styles are APAwhat can you learn from writing a research essay, MLAand Chicago. The what can you learn from writing a research essay of the essays written at university are some sort of argumentative essay. In composition classes you might be given assignments that specifically test your ability to write an argumentative essay. Have a language expert improve your writing. Check your paper for plagiarism in 10 minutes. Do the check. Generate your APA citations for free! APA Citation Generator. What is your plagiarism score? Compare your paper with over 60 billion web pages and 30 million publications.
When do I need to cite sources? When do I write an argumentative essay? Is this article helpful? Jack Caulfield Jack is a Brit based in Amsterdam, with an MA in comparative literature. He writes and edits for Scribbr, and reads a lot of books in his spare time. Other students also liked. It usually comes at the end of the introduction. How to write topic sentences A topic sentence sums up the main point of each paragraph. Use topic sentences to structure your ideas and keep your paragraphs focused. How to write an expository essay An expository essay provides an explanation of a topic.
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In addition to outlining a clear argument, students writing argumentative papers must anticipate objections to their position. This might entail outlining alternative perspectives or addressing potential questions the reader might have. This approach helps students master the art of being charitable to differing arguments. It also helps students develop critical thinking skills and improve their own argumentative skills by understanding potential weaknesses in their positions. Van Thompson is an attorney and writer. A former martial arts instructor, he holds bachelor's degrees in music and computer science from Westchester University, and a juris doctor from Georgia State University. He is the recipient of numerous writing awards, including a CALI Legal Writing Award. How to Write an Expository Essay in High School.
How to Compose a Good Essay. What Is the Most Important Key to an Effective Essay? How to Write a Great GRE Argumentative Essay. How to Write an Essay Using Language of Argumentation. What a Student Learns From Writing an Argumentative Essay. Van Thompson Updated February 21, Use the Bookmarks or Favorites feature of your web browser to save and organize sites that look promising. With so many print and electronic media readily available, it is easy to overlook another valuable information resource: other people. Consider whether you could use a person or group as a primary source. For instance, you might interview a professor who has expertise in a particular subject, a worker within a particular industry, or a representative from a political organization.
Interviews can be a great way to get firsthand information. To get the most out of an interview, you will need to plan ahead. Contact your subject early in the research process and explain your purpose for requesting an interview. Prepare detailed questions. Open-ended questions, rather than questions with simple yes-or-no answers, are more likely to lead to an in-depth discussion. Take careful notes and be ready to ask follow-up questions based on what you learn. If scheduling an in-person meeting is difficult, consider arranging a telephone interview or asking your subject to respond to your questions via e-mail. Recognize that any of these formats takes time and effort. Be prompt and courteous, avoid going over the allotted interview time, and be flexible if your subject needs to reschedule.
As you gather sources, you will need to examine them with a critical eye. The second question will help you find accurate, trustworthy sources. At this point in your research process, you may have identified dozens of potential sources. It is easy for writers to get so caught up in checking out books and printing out articles that they forget to ask themselves how they will use these resources in their research. Now is a good time to get a little ruthless. Reading and taking notes takes time and energy, so you will want to focus on the most relevant sources. To weed through your stack of books and articles, skim their contents. Read quickly with your research questions and subtopics in mind. If a book or article is not especially relevant, put it aside. You can always come back to it later if you need to.
All information sources are not created equal. Sources can vary greatly in terms of how carefully they are researched, written, edited, and reviewed for accuracy. Common sense will help you identify obviously questionable sources, such as tabloids that feature tales of alien abductions, or personal websites with glaring typos. For more information about source reliability, see Chapter 12 "Writing a Research Paper". To evaluate your research sources, you will use critical thinking skills consciously and deliberately. The different types of sources you will consult are written for distinct purposes and with different audiences in mind.
This accounts for other differences, such as the following:. A journal article written for an academic audience for the purpose of expanding scholarship in a given field will take an approach quite different from a magazine feature written to inform a general audience. Textbooks, hard news articles, and websites approach a subject from different angles as well. To some extent, the type of source provides clues about its overall depth and reliability. Free online encyclopedias and wikis may seem like a great source of information. They usually appear among the first few results of a web search. They cover thousands of topics, and many articles use an informal, straightforward writing style. Unfortunately, these sites have no control system for researching, writing, and reviewing articles.
Instead, they rely on a community of users to police themselves. At best, these sites can be a starting point for finding other, more trustworthy sources. Never use them as final sources. What career experience or academic study shows that the author has the expertise to write about this topic? Keep in mind that expertise in one field is no guarantee of expertise in another, unrelated area. For instance, an author may have an advanced degree in physiology, but this credential is not a valid qualification for writing about psychology. Check credentials carefully. An established and well-known newspaper, such as the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal , is more reputable than a college newspaper put out by comparatively inexperienced students.
A website that is maintained by a well-known, respected organization and regularly updated is more reputable than one created by an unknown author or group. If you are using articles from scholarly journals, you can check databases that keep count of how many times each article has been cited in other articles. Few sources present facts completely objectively. Bias Favoritism or prejudice toward a particular person or group. Writers critically examine research sources for biases. refers to favoritism or prejudice toward a particular person or group. For instance, an author may be biased against a certain political party and present information in a way that subtly—or not so subtly—makes that organization look bad. Hidden agendas Goals that are not immediately obvious but that influence the way an author presents the facts in a piece of writing.
are goals that are not immediately obvious but influence how an author presents the facts. For instance, an article about the role of beef in a healthy diet would be questionable if it were written by a representative of the beef industry—or by the president of an animal-rights organization. In both cases, the author would likely have a hidden agenda. As Jorge conducted his research, he read several research studies in which scientists found significant benefits to following a low-carbohydrate diet. He also noticed that many studies were sponsored by a foundation associated with the author of a popular series of low-carbohydrate diet books. Be sure to seek out sources that are current, or up to date. Depending on the topic, sources may become outdated relatively soon after publication, or they may remain useful for years.
For instance, online social networking sites have evolved rapidly over the past few years. An article published in about this topic will not provide current information. On the other hand, a research paper on elementary education practices might refer to studies published decades ago by influential child psychologists. When using websites for research, check to see when the site was last updated. Many sites publish this information on the homepage, and some, such as news sites, are updated daily or weekly. Many nonfunctioning links are a sign that a website is not regularly updated. Do not be afraid to ask your professor for suggestions if you find that many of your most relevant sources are not especially reliable—or that the most reliable sources are not relevant.
When you evaluate a source, you will consider the criteria previously discussed as well as your overall impressions of its quality. Read carefully, and notice how well the author presents and supports his or her statements. Checklist The critical thinking skills you use to evaluate research sources as a student are equally valuable when you conduct research on the job. If you follow certain periodicals or websites, you have probably identified publications that consistently provide reliable information. Reading blogs and online discussion groups is a great way to identify new trends and hot topics in a particular field, but these sources should not be used for substantial research.
Use a search engine to conduct a web search on your topic. Refer to the tips provided earlier to help you streamline your search. Evaluate your search results critically based on the criteria you have learned. Identify and bookmark one or more websites that are reliable, reputable, and likely to be useful in your research. As you determine which sources you will rely on most, it is important to establish a system for keeping track of your sources and taking notes. There are several ways to go about it, and no one system is necessarily superior. What matters is that you keep materials in order; record bibliographical information you will need later; and take detailed, organized notes. There is just one task left—writing your list of sources. As you begin typing your list, you realize you need to include the publication information for a book you cited frequently.
Unfortunately, you already returned it to the library several days ago. You do not remember the URLs for some of the websites you used or the dates you accessed them—information that also must be included in your bibliography. With a sinking feeling, you realize that finding this information and preparing your bibliography will require hours of work. This stressful scenario can be avoided. Taking time to organize source information now will ensure that you are not scrambling to find it at the last minute. Throughout your research, record bibliographical information for each source as soon as you begin using it.
You may use pen-and-paper methods, such as a notebook or note cards, or maintain an electronic list. If you prefer the latter option, many office software packages include separate programs for recording bibliographic information. Use these details to develop a working bibliography A preliminary list of sources that a writer maintains during the research process and later uses to develop the references section in the research paper. You may wish to record information using the formatting system of the American Psychological Association APA or the Modern Language Association MLA , which will save a step later on.
For more information on APA and MLA formatting, see Chapter 13 "APA and MLA Documentation and Formatting". Your research may involve less common types of sources not listed in Table For additional information on citing different sources, see Chapter 13 "APA and MLA Documentation and Formatting". Create a working bibliography using the format that is most convenient for you. List at least five sources you plan to use. Continue to add sources to your working bibliography throughout the research process. That way, if you need to locate a source again, you have all the information you need right at your fingertips. You may also wish to assign each source a code number to use when taking notes 1, 2, 3, or a similar system.
Good researchers stay focused and organized as they gather information from sources. Before you begin taking notes, take a moment to step back and think about your goal as a researcher—to find information that will help you answer your research question. When you write your paper, you will present your conclusions about the topic supported by research. That goal will determine what information you record and how you organize it. Writers sometimes get caught up in taking extensive notes, so much so that they lose sight of how their notes relate to the questions and ideas they started out with.
Remember that you do not need to write down every detail from your reading. Focus on finding and recording details that will help you answer your research questions. The following strategies will help you take notes efficiently. Whether you use old-fashioned index cards or organize your notes using word-processing software, record just one major point from each source at a time, and use a heading to summarize the information covered. Keep all your notes in one file, digital or otherwise. Doing so will help you identify connections among different pieces of information. It will also help you make connections between your notes and the research questions and subtopics you identified earlier.
Your notes will fall under three categories—summary notes, paraphrased information, and direct quotations from your sources. Effective researchers make choices about which type of notes is most appropriate for their purpose. Most of your notes should be paraphrased from the original source. Paraphrasing as you take notes is usually a better strategy than copying direct quotations, because it forces you to think through the information in your source and understand it well enough to restate it. In short, it helps you stay engaged with the material instead of simply copying and pasting. Synthesizing will help you later when you begin planning and drafting your paper.
For detailed guidelines on summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting, see Chapter 11 "Writing from Research: What Will I Learn? Regardless of the format used, any notes you take should include enough information to help you organize ideas and locate them instantly in the original text if you need to review them. Make sure your notes include the following elements:. Throughout the process of taking notes, be scrupulous about making sure you have correctly attributed each idea to its source. Always include source information so you know exactly which ideas came from which sources. Use quotation marks to set off any words for phrases taken directly from the original text.
If you add your own responses and ideas, make sure they are distinct from ideas you quoted or paraphrased. Finally, make sure your notes accurately reflect the content of the original text. Make sure quoted material is copied verbatim. There are several formats you can use to take notes. No technique is necessarily better than the others—it is more important to choose a format you are comfortable using. Choosing the format that works best for you will ensure your notes are organized, complete, and accurate. Consider implementing one of these formats when you begin taking notes:. Choose one of the methods from the list to use for taking notes.
Continue gathering sources and taking notes. In the next section, you will learn strategies for organizing and synthesizing the information you have found. At this point in your project, you are preparing to move from the research phase to the writing phase. You have gathered much of the information you will use, and soon you will be ready to begin writing your draft. This section helps you transition smoothly from one phase to the next. Beginning writers sometimes attempt to transform a pile of note cards into a formal research paper without any intermediary step. This approach presents problems.
The first draft may present redundant or contradictory information. Before beginning a draft, or even an outline, good writers pause and reflect. They ask themselves questions such as the following:. In this section, you will reflect on your research and review the information you have gathered. You will determine what you now think about your topic. You will synthesize To combine different elements in order to create something new. When writing a research paper, writers synthesize information to arrive at new ideas or conclusions. Finally, you will determine the organizational structure that works best for your paper and begin planning your outline.
Review the research questions and working thesis you developed in Chapter 11 "Writing from Research: What Will I Learn? Set a timer for ten minutes and write about your topic, using your questions and thesis to guide your writing. Complete this exercise without looking over your notes or sources. Base your writing on the overall impressions and concepts you have absorbed while conducting research. If additional, related questions come to mind, jot them down. At this point in the research process, you have gathered information from a wide variety of sources. Now it is time to think about how you will use this information as a writer. When you conduct research, you keep an open mind and seek out many promising sources. You take notes on any information that looks like it might help you answer your research questions.
Often, new ideas and terms come up in your reading, and these, too, find their way into your notes. You may record facts or quotations that catch your attention even if they did not seem immediately relevant to your research question. By now, you have probably amassed an impressively detailed collection of notes. You will not use all of your notes in your paper. Good researchers are thorough. They look at multiple perspectives, facts, and ideas related to their topic, and they gather a great deal of information. Effective writers, however, are selective. They determine which information is most relevant and appropriate for their purpose.
They include details that develop or explain their ideas—and they leave out details that do not. The writer, not the pile of notes, is the controlling force. The writer shapes the content of the research paper. While working through Chapter 11 "Writing from Research: What Will I Learn? Now you will apply your critical-thinking skills to the information you recorded—analyzing how it is relevant, determining how it meshes with your ideas, and finding how it forms connections and patterns. When you create workplace documents based on research, selectivity remains important.
A project team may spend months conducting market surveys to prepare for rolling out a new product, but few managers have time to read the research in its entirety. Most employees want the research distilled into a few well-supported points. Focused, concise writing is highly valued in the workplace. In Note The process of writing informally helped you see how you might begin to pull together what you have learned from your research. Do not feel anxious, however, if you still have trouble seeing the big picture. Systematically looking through your notes will help you. Begin by identifying the notes that clearly support your thesis.
Mark or group these, either physically or using the cut-and-paste function in your word-processing program. As you identify the crucial details that support your thesis, make sure you analyze them critically. Ask the following questions to focus your thinking:. It can be tempting to ignore information that does not support your thesis or that contradicts it outright. However, such information is important. At the very least, it gives you a sense of what has been written about the issue. More importantly, it can help you question and refine your own thinking so that writing your research paper is a true learning process. As you find connections between your ideas and information in your sources, also look for information that connects your sources.
Do most sources seem to agree on a particular idea? Are some facts mentioned repeatedly in many different sources? What key terms or major concepts come up in most of your sources regardless of whether the sources agree on the finer points? Identifying these connections will help you identify important ideas to discuss in your paper. Look for subtler ways your sources complement one another, too. How do sources that are more recent build upon the ideas developed in earlier sources? Be aware of any redundancies in your sources. If you have amassed solid support from a reputable source, such as a scholarly journal, there is no need to cite the same facts from an online encyclopedia article that is many steps removed from any primary research.
If a given source adds nothing new to your discussion and you can cite a stronger source for the same information, use the stronger source. Determine how you will address any contradictions found among different sources. For instance, if one source cites a startling fact that you cannot confirm anywhere else, it is safe to dismiss the information as unreliable. However, if you find significant disagreements among reliable sources, you will need to review them and evaluate each source. Which source presents a sounder argument or more solid evidence? It is up to you to determine which source is the most credible and why. Finally, do not ignore any information simply because it does not support your thesis.
Carefully consider how that information fits into the big picture of your research. You may decide that the source is unreliable or the information is not relevant, or you may decide that it is an important point you need to bring up. What matters is that you give it careful consideration. As Jorge reviewed his research, he realized that some of the information was not especially useful for his purpose. His notes included several statements about the relationship between soft drinks that are high in sugar and childhood obesity—a subtopic that was too far outside of the main focus of the paper. Jorge decided to cut this material. A careful analysis of your notes will help you reevaluate your working thesis and determine whether you need to revise it. Remember that your working thesis was the starting point—not necessarily the end point—of your research.
You should revise your working thesis if your ideas changed based on what you read. Even if your sources generally confirmed your preliminary thinking on the topic, it is still a good idea to tweak the wording of your thesis to incorporate the specific details you learned from research. Jorge realized that his working thesis oversimplified the issues. He still believed that the media was exaggerating the benefits of low-carb diets. However, his research led him to conclude that these diets did have some advantages. By now your thinking on your topic is taking shape.
You have a sense of what major ideas to address in your paper, what points you can easily support, and what questions or subtopics might need a little more thought. In short, you have begun the process of synthesizing information—that is, of putting the pieces together into a coherent whole. It is normal to find this part of the process a little difficult. Some questions or concepts may still be unclear to you. You may not yet know how you will tie all of your research together. Synthesizing information is a complex, demanding mental task, and even experienced researchers struggle with it at times.
A little uncertainty is often a good sign! It means you are challenging yourself to work thoughtfully with your topic instead of simply restating the same information. You have already considered how your notes fit with your working thesis. Now, take your synthesis a step further. Analyze how your notes relate to your major research question and the subquestions you identified in Chapter 11 "Writing from Research: What Will I Learn? Organize your notes with headings that correspond to those questions. As you proceed, you might identify some important subtopics that were not part of your original plan, or you might decide that some questions are not relevant to your paper. Categorize information carefully and continue to think critically about the material.
Ask yourself whether the sources are reliable and whether the connections between ideas are clear. Remember, your ideas and conclusions will shape the paper. They are the glue that holds the rest of the content together. As you work, begin jotting down the big ideas you will use to connect the dots for your reader. If you are not sure where to begin, try answering your major research question and subquestions. Add and answer new questions as appropriate. You might record these big ideas on sticky notes or type and highlight them within an electronic document. Jorge looked back on the list of research questions that he had written down earlier. He changed a few to match his new thesis, and he began a rough outline for his paper.
Review your research questions and working thesis again. This time, keep them nearby as you review your research notes. You may be wondering how your ideas are supposed to shape the paper, especially since you are writing a research paper based on your research. Integrating your ideas and your information from research is a complex process, and sometimes it can be difficult to separate the two. Some paragraphs in your paper will consist mostly of details from your research. That is fine, as long as you explain what those details mean or how they are linked.
You should also include sentences and transitions that show the relationship between different facts from your research by grouping related ideas or pointing out connections or contrasts. The result is that you are not simply presenting information; you are synthesizing, analyzing, and interpreting it. The final step to complete before beginning your draft is to choose an organizational structure. For instance, if you are asked to explore the impact of a new communications device, a cause-and-effect structure is obviously appropriate.
In other cases, you will need to determine the structure based on what suits your topic and purpose. For more information about the structures used in writing, see Chapter 10 "Rhetorical Modes". With that in mind, he planned the following outline. Review the organizational structures discussed in this section and Chapter 10 "Rhetorical Modes". Working with the notes you organized earlier, follow these steps to begin planning how to organize your paper. Please share the outline you created with a classmate. Return the outlines to each other and compare observations. The structures described in this section and Chapter 10 "Rhetorical Modes" can also help you organize information in different types of workplace documents.
For instance, medical incident reports and police reports follow a chronological structure. If the company must choose between two vendors to provide a service, you might write an e-mail to your supervisor comparing and contrasting the choices. Understanding when and how to use each organizational structure can help you write workplace documents efficiently and effectively. In this chapter, you learned strategies for generating and narrowing a topic for a research paper. Review the following list of five general topics. Use freewriting and preliminary research to narrow three of these topics to manageable size for a five- to seven-page research paper.
Save your list of topics in a print or electronic file, and add to it periodically as you identify additional areas of interest. Working with one of the topics you have identified, use the research skills you learned in this chapter to locate three to five potentially useful print or electronic sources of information about the topic. Create a list that includes the following:. Organize your list of resources into primary and secondary sources. What makes them such? Pick one primary source and one secondary source and write a sentence or two summarizing the information that they provide. Then answer these questions:.
Previous Chapter. Table of Contents. Next Chapter. Chapter 11 Writing from Research: What Will I Learn? Outline the steps of the research writing process. Reasons for Research When you perform research, you are essentially trying to solve a mystery—you want to know how something works or why something happened. Exercise 1 Write a paragraph about a time when you used research in your everyday life. Research Writing and the Academic Paper No matter what field of study you are interested in, you will most likely be asked to write a research paper during your academic career.
Research Writing at Work Knowing how to write a good research paper is a valuable skill that will serve you well throughout your career. Writing at Work Take a few minutes to think about each of the following careers. Medical laboratory technician Small business owner Information technology professional Freelance magazine writer A medical laboratory technician or information technology professional might do research to learn about the latest technological developments in either of these fields. Exercise 2 Think about the job of your dreams. Steps of the Research Writing Process How does a research paper grow from a folder of brainstormed notes to a polished final draft?
These are the steps in the research writing process: Choose a topic. Plan and schedule time to research and write. Conduct research. Organize research and ideas. Draft your paper. Revise and edit your paper. Step 1: Choosing a Topic As you may recall from Chapter 8 "The Writing Process: How Do I Begin? Step 2: Planning and Scheduling Before you start researching your topic, take time to plan your researching and writing schedule. Step 3: Conducting Research When going about your research, you will likely use a variety of sources—anything from books and periodicals to video presentations and in-person interviews.
Tip Remember, your working thesis is not set in stone. Step 5: Drafting Your Paper Now you are ready to combine your research findings with your critical analysis of the results in a rough draft. Step 6: Revising and Editing Your Paper In the final step of the research writing process, you will revise and polish your paper. Exercise 3 Review the steps of the research writing process. In which steps of the research writing process are you allowed to change your thesis? In step 2, which types of information should you include in your project schedule? What might happen if you eliminated step 4 from the research writing process? Key Takeaways People undertake research projects throughout their academic and professional careers in order to answer specific questions, share their findings with others, increase their understanding of challenging topics, and strengthen their researching, writing, and analytical skills.
The research writing process generally comprises six steps: choosing a topic, scheduling and planning time for research and writing, conducting research, organizing research and ideas, drafting a paper, and revising and editing the paper. Choose a topic and formulate a research question and working thesis. Develop a research proposal. Choosing a Topic When you choose a topic for a research paper, you are making a major commitment. Identifying Potential Topics Sometimes, your instructor may provide a list of suggested topics. Tip If you are writing a research paper for a specialized course, look back through your notes and course activities.
Exercise 1 Set a timer for five minutes. Narrowing Your Topic Once you have a list of potential topics, you will need to choose one as the focus of your essay. Conducting Preliminary Research Another way writers may focus a topic is to conduct preliminary research Research conducted early in the writing process for the purpose of exploring a topic and narrowing the focus. Writing at Work At work, you may need to research a topic quickly to find general information. Tip The reliability of online sources varies greatly. Exercise 2 Review the list of topics you created in Note Collaboration Please share your topic list with a classmate. A Plan for Research Your freewriting and preliminary research have helped you choose a focused, manageable topic for your research paper. Formulating a Research Question In forming a research question, you are setting a goal for your research.
Exercise 3 Using the topic you selected in Note Tip One way to determine your working thesis is to consider how you would complete sentences such as I believe or My opinion is. Exercise 4 Write a working thesis statement that presents your preliminary answer to the research question you wrote in Note Writing at Work Before you begin a new project at work, you may have to develop a project summary document that states the purpose of the project, explains why it would be a wise use of company resources, and briefly outlines the steps involved in completing the project. Writing Your Own Research Proposal Now you may write your own research proposal, if you have not done so already.
Key Takeaways Developing a research proposal involves the following preliminary steps: identifying potential ideas, choosing ideas to explore further, choosing and narrowing a topic, formulating a research question, and developing a working thesis. A good topic for a research paper interests the writer and fulfills the requirements of the assignment. Defining and narrowing a topic helps writers conduct focused, in-depth research. Writers conduct preliminary research to identify possible topics and research questions and to develop a working thesis. A good research question interests readers, is neither too broad nor too narrow, and has no obvious answer.
A good working thesis expresses a debatable idea or claim that can be supported with evidence from research. Writers create a research proposal to present their topic, main research question, subquestions, and working thesis to an instructor for approval or feedback. Recognize the steps of the research writing process. Develop a plan for managing time and resources to complete the research project on time. Identify organizational tools and strategies to use in managing the project. Steps to Writing a Research Paper Choose a topic.
Schedule and plan time for research and writing. Organize research Draft your paper. Planning Your Project Each step of a research project requires time and attention. Exercise 1 Working backward from the date your final draft is due, create a project schedule. You may choose to write a sequential list of tasks or record tasks on a calendar. Check your schedule to be sure that you have broken each step into smaller tasks and assigned a target completion date to each key task. Review your target dates to make sure they are realistic. Always allow a little more time than you think you will actually need.
Tip Plan your schedule realistically, and consider other commitments that may sometimes take precedence. Writing at Work When you create a project schedule at work, you set target dates for completing certain tasks and identify the resources you plan to use on the project. Staying Organized Although setting up a schedule is easy, sticking to one is challenging. Exercise 2 Revisit the schedule you created in Note Tip Some people enjoy using the most up-to-date technology to help them stay organized. Anticipating Challenges Do any of these scenarios sound familiar? Exercise 3 Identify five potential problems you might encounter in the process of researching and writing your paper. Writing at Work In the workplace, documents prepared at the beginning of a project often include a detailed plan for risk management.
Key Takeaways To complete a research project successfully, a writer must carefully manage each phase of the process and break major steps into smaller tasks. Writers can plan a research project by setting up a schedule based on the deadline and by identifying useful project resources. Writers stay focused by using organizational tools that suit their needs. Anticipating and planning for potential setbacks can help writers avoid those setbacks or minimize their effect on the project schedule. Identify strategies for locating relevant print and electronic resources efficiently. Identify instances when it is appropriate to use human sources, such as interviews or eyewitness testimony.
Identify criteria for evaluating research resources. Understand why many electronic resources are not reliable. Locating Useful Resources When you chose a paper topic and determined your research questions, you conducted preliminary research to stimulate your thinking. Using Primary and Secondary Sources Writers classify research resources in two categories: primary sources and secondary sources. Other primary sources include the following: Research articles Literary texts Historical documents such as diaries or letters Autobiographies or other personal accounts Secondary sources discuss, interpret, analyze, consolidate, or otherwise rework information from primary sources.
The following are examples of secondary sources: Magazine articles Biographical books Literary and scientific reviews Television documentaries Your topic and purpose determine whether you must cite both primary and secondary sources in your paper. Finding Print Resources Print resources include a vast array of documents and publications. The World Almanac and Book of Facts Diagnostic and Statistical Manual published by the American Psychiatric Association Nonfiction books Nonfiction books provide in-depth coverage of a topic.
Trade books, biographies, and how-to guides are usually written for a general audience. Scholarly books and scientific studies are usually written for an audience that has specialized knowledge of a topic. The Low-Carb Solution: A Slimmer You in 30 Days Carbohydrates, Fats and Proteins: Exploring the Relationship Between Macronutrient Ratios and Health Outcomes Periodicals and news sources These sources are published at regular intervals—daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly. Newspapers, magazines, and academic journals are examples. Some periodicals provide articles on subjects of general interest, while others are more specialized. New York Times PC Magazine JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association Government publications Federal, state, and local government agencies publish information on a variety of topics.
Government publications include reports, legislation, court documents, public records, statistics, studies, guides, programs, and forms. The Census Profile The Business Relocation Package published by the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Business and nonprofit publications Businesses and nonprofit organizations produce publications designed to market a product, provide background about the organization, provide information on topics connected to the organization, or promote a cause. These publications include reports, newsletters, advertisements, manuals, brochures, and other print documents. Writing at Work Businesses, government organizations, and nonprofit organizations produce published materials that range from brief advertisements and brochures to lengthy, detailed reports.
Tip As you gather information, strive for a balance of accessible, easy-to-read sources and more specialized, challenging sources. Exercise 1 Make a list of five types of print resources you could use to find information about your research topic. Tip Knowing the right keywords can sometimes make all the difference in conducting a successful search. Review your search results and identify six to eight additional terms you might use when you conduct your research. Print out the search results or save the results to your research folder on your computer or portable storage device. Using Periodicals, Indexes, and Databases Library catalogs can help you locate book-length sources, as well as some types of nonprint holdings, such as CDs, DVDs, and audio books.
Reading Popular and Scholarly Periodicals When you search for periodicals, be sure to distinguish among different types. Writing at Work Periodicals databases are not just for students writing research papers. Consulting a Reference Librarian Sifting through library stacks and database search results to find the information you need can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Identify at least one to two relevant periodicals, indexes, or databases. Conduct a keyword search to find potentially relevant articles on your topic. Save your search results. If the index you are using provides article summaries, read these to determine how useful the articles are likely to be. Identify at least three to five articles to review more closely.
If the full article is available online, set aside time to read it. If not, plan to visit our library within the next few days to locate the articles you need. Tip One way to refine your keyword search is to use Boolean operators. Combine keywords with not or - to search for the first word without the second. This can help you eliminate irrelevant results based on words that are similar to your search term. For example, searching for obesity not childhood locates materials on obesity but excludes materials on childhood obesity. For example, since Type II diabetes is also known as adult-onset diabetes, you could search Type II or adult-onset and diabetes to limit your search results to articles on this form of the disease.
Use a wildcard symbol such as ,? For instance, you might type diabet to search for information on diabetes and diabetics. The specific symbol used varies with different databases. Finding and Using Electronic Resources With the expansion of technology and media over the past few decades, a wealth of information is available to you in electronic format. The following are some of the electronic sources you might consult: Online databases CD-ROMs Popular web search engines Websites maintained by businesses, universities, nonprofit organizations, or government agencies Newspapers, magazines, and journals published on the web E-books Audio books Industry blogs Radio and television programs and other audio and video recordings Online discussion groups The techniques you use to locate print resources can also help you find electronic resources efficiently.
Using Internet Search Engines Efficiently When faced with the challenge of writing a research paper, some students rely on popular search engines as their first source of information. Unfortunately, despite its apparent convenience, this research strategy has the following drawbacks to consider: Results do not always appear in order of reliability. The first few hits that appear in search results may include sites whose content is not always reliable, such as online encyclopedias that can be edited by any user.
Because websites are created by third parties, the search engine cannot tell you which sites have accurate information. Results may be too numerous for you to use. The amount of information available on the web is far greater than the amount of information housed within a particular library or database. Realistically, if your web search pulls up thousands of hits, you will not be able to visit every site—and the most useful sites may be buried deep within your search results. Search engines are not connected to the results of the search. Search engines find websites that people visit often and list the results in order of popularity.
The search engine, then, is not connected to any of the results. When you cite a source found through a search engine, you do not need to cite the search engine. Only cite the source. Depending on the specific search engine you use, the following options may be available: Limit results to websites that have been updated within a particular time frame. Limit results by language or country. Limit results to scholarly works available online. Limit results by file type. Limit results to a particular domain type, such as. edu school and university sites or. gov government sites. This is a quick way to filter out commercial sites, which can often lead to more objective results.
Using Other Information Sources: Interviews With so many print and electronic media readily available, it is easy to overlook another valuable information resource: other people. Tip If scheduling an in-person meeting is difficult, consider arranging a telephone interview or asking your subject to respond to your questions via e-mail. Evaluating Research Resources As you gather sources, you will need to examine them with a critical eye. Determining Whether a Source Is Relevant At this point in your research process, you may have identified dozens of potential sources. Use the index to locate more specific topics and see how thoroughly they are covered.
Flip through the book and look for subtitles or key terms that correspond to your research. Skim the introduction and conclusion for summary material. Skim through subheadings and text features such as sidebars. Look for keywords related to your topic. Journal articles often begin with an abstract or summary of the contents. Determining Whether a Source Is Reliable All information sources are not created equal. Evaluating Types of Sources The different types of sources you will consult are written for distinct purposes and with different audiences in mind. This accounts for other differences, such as the following: How thoroughly the writers cover a given topic How carefully the writers research and document facts How editors review the work What biases or agendas affect the content A journal article written for an academic audience for the purpose of expanding scholarship in a given field will take an approach quite different from a magazine feature written to inform a general audience.
They are researched and written by subject matter experts and are carefully reviewed. Scholarly books and articles in scholarly journals Trade books and magazines geared toward an educated general audience, such as Smithsonian Magazine or Nature Government documents, such as books, reports, and web pages Documents posted online by reputable organizations, such as universities and research institutes Textbooks and reference books, which are usually reliable but may not cover a topic in great depth Varied-Quality Sources These sources are often useful. However, they do not cover subjects in as much depth as high-quality sources, and they are not always rigorously researched and reviewed.
Some, such as popular magazine articles or company brochures, may be written to market a product or a cause. Use them with caution. News stories and feature articles print or online from reputable newspapers, magazines, or organizations, such as Newsweek or the Public Broadcasting Service Popular magazine articles, which may or may not be carefully researched and fact checked Documents published by businesses and nonprofit organizations Questionable Sources These sources should be avoided. Loosely regulated or unregulated media content, such as Internet discussion boards, blogs, free online encyclopedias, talk radio shows, television news shows with obvious political biases, personal websites, and chat rooms.
Tip Free online encyclopedias and wikis may seem like a great source of information. Using Current Sources Be sure to seek out sources that are current, or up to date. Evaluating Overall Quality by Asking Questions When you evaluate a source, you will consider the criteria previously discussed as well as your overall impressions of its quality. Is it a high-quality source or one that needs to be looked at more critically? Can I establish that the author is credible and the publication is reputable? Does the author support ideas with specific facts and details that are carefully documented? When you use secondary sources, look for sources that are not too removed from primary research. Does the source include any factual errors or instances of faulty logic? Does the author leave out any information that I would expect to see in a discussion of this topic?
Can I see how the author got from one point to another? Is the writing clear and organized, and is it free from errors, clichés, and empty buzzwords? Is the tone objective, balanced, and reasonable? Be on the lookout for extreme, emotionally charged language. Are there any obvious biases or agendas? Based on what I know about the author, are there likely to be any hidden agendas? Are graphics informative, useful, and easy to understand? Are websites organized, easy to navigate, and free of clutter like flashing ads and unnecessary sound effects? Is the source contradicted by information found in other sources? If so, it is possible that your sources are presenting similar information but taking different perspectives, which requires you to think carefully about which sources you find more convincing and why.
Be suspicious, however, of any source that presents facts that you cannot confirm elsewhere. Writing at Work The critical thinking skills you use to evaluate research sources as a student are equally valuable when you conduct research on the job. Exercise 4 Use a search engine to conduct a web search on your topic. Managing Source Information As you determine which sources you will rely on most, it is important to establish a system for keeping track of your sources and taking notes. Periodical Author s , article title, publication title, date of publication, volume and issue number, and page numbers Online source Author s if available , article or document title, organization that sponsors the site, database name if applicable , date of publication, date you accessed the site, and URL Interview Name of person interviewed, method of communication, date of interview.
Exercise 5 Create a working bibliography using the format that is most convenient for you. Taking Notes Efficiently Good researchers stay focused and organized as they gather information from sources. Use Headings to Organize Ideas Whether you use old-fashioned index cards or organize your notes using word-processing software, record just one major point from each source at a time, and use a heading to summarize the information covered. Know When to Summarize, Paraphrase, or Directly Quote a Source Your notes will fall under three categories—summary notes, paraphrased information, and direct quotations from your sources. Summary notes Notes that condense the main ideas in a source to a few sentences or a short paragraph.
A summary is considerably shorter than the original text. sum up the main ideas in a source in a few sentences or a short paragraph. A summary is considerably shorter than the original text and captures only the major ideas. Use summary notes when you do not need to record specific details but you intend to refer to broad concepts the author discusses. restate a fact or idea from a source using your own words and sentence structure. Direct quotations In notes, direct quotations use the exact wording found in the original source and enclose the quoted material in quotation marks. use the exact wording used by the original source and enclose the quoted material in quotation marks. It is a good strategy to copy direct quotations when an author expresses an idea in an especially lively or memorable way.
However, do not rely exclusively on direct quotations in your note taking. Maintain Complete, Accurate Notes Regardless of the format used, any notes you take should include enough information to help you organize ideas and locate them instantly in the original text if you need to review them. Use a System That Works for You There are several formats you can use to take notes. Consider implementing one of these formats when you begin taking notes: Use index cards. This traditional format involves writing each note on a separate index card. It takes more time than copying and pasting into an electronic document, which encourages you to be selective in choosing which ideas to record.
Recording notes on separate cards makes it easy to later organize your notes according to major topics. Some writers color-code their cards to make them still more organized. Use note-taking software. Word-processing and office software packages often include different types of note-taking software. Although you may need to set aside some time to learn the software, this method combines the speed of typing with the same degree of organization associated with handwritten note cards. Maintain a research notebook. Instead of using index cards or electronic note cards, you may wish to keep a notebook or electronic folder, allotting a few pages or one file for each of your sources.
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