| The Seven Steps in
Writing a Research Paper |
- Select and limit the topic
- Prepare a working bibliography on 3x5 source cards
- Prepare a preliminary outline
- Read and take notes on 4x6 cards
- Assemble note cards and write the final outline
- Write or type the first draft
- Edit, revise and type the final draft with parenthetical
citations and a works cited
page
|
| 1. Select and Limit the
Topic
Since you will be spending a lot of time on this product, you owe
it to yourself to (within the confines of the assignment) choose a
topic of interest to you, one that will also be of interest to your
reader. Don't sabotage yourself by choosing a topic that is boring
to you. It will make it difficult for you to commit to the topic and
since boredom is contagious, you may bore your reader (a cardinal
sin) as well.
The subject must lend itself to research. This is very important.
A research paper topic must be one on which there is considerable
information readily available in print and non-print sources.
Therefore, your autobiography would not be a suitable subject for
research because you could not look up material on the subject. Even
a famous person's biography is unacceptable because his/her complete
life has likely already been published in one book. You would then
rely too heavily on one source, which is not the "name of the game",
because a research paper involves several sources. Ask yourself, are
there a variety of sources on this topic and is the information
readily available. Often if the topic is too recent or current, it
will be hard to find information.
Then make sure your topic is not too broad or too big to be
adequately covered in the required pages of the paper. It is better
to dig deep than to go broad and create a body of research that is
superficial in scope.
That said, these very important questions arise: what should you
write about and how do you limit your topic???
*First, use
resource materials to find a general subject. (such as themes in
Alice Walker's novels )
*Next, limit the general subject to a
suitable topic and size. (for example Alice Walker's novels The
Color Purple and Possessing the Secret of Joy both deal thematically
with the abuse of women)
*Then, consider your purpose (to
inform), your audience (your teacher) and tone (or attitude towards
the topic).
*After all of this thinking, think some more. Make a
list of three or four research questions about the topic. Examples
include: How can you define the topic? What groups make up the
topic? What are the topic's parts and how do they fit
together?
*After lengthy but necessary onsideration Come up with
a thesis or purpose statement. This of course is key. It is after
all the governing principle for the whole paper. If you do not nail
it, your paper will suffer horribly (and so will your grade). This
paper is more than just a report of facts. It requires an
understanding and interpretation of those facts which you reveal in
order to prove your thesis. You might end the process with a thesis
like this one: Alice Walker reveals in her novels The Color Purple
and Possessing the Secret of Joy that the physical, psychological
and sexual abuse of women may emotionally cripple the victims.
|
2. Prepare a Working Bibliography on 3x5 Source Cards
|
With limited topic in
mind and a pack of 3X5 index cards in hand, it is now time to search
the field for available information on your topic. At the library,
you might search the card catalog, the Readers' Guide to Periodical
Literature or Info Trac, the internet, reference books and video
tapes. There is a lot of information out there. However, everything
you find may not be reliable. It is necessary to evaluate your
sources. Make sure you can trust the authors. Are they or are they
not respected, experts on the topic? Popular magazines for example,
may not be as reliable as U.S. News and World Report or the
Washington Post. Further more, any one can have a web page on the
internet, even me. Ask yourself is the information RELEVANT, does it
relate directly to the topic? Is the source RELIABLE, can I trust
the author to be trustworthy, accurate and objective? Is the
information RECENT? For example, scientific developments may have
changed what was once considered to be true. Is the information
REPRESENTATIVE? If there is controversy regarding your thesis, you
need to find sources with opinions as well as information on both
sides of the question, so that you can fairly and ethically report
both.
Now that you have made your evaluations, it is time to make
bibliography cards for each source of information that you THINK you
may find useful. Doing so now will save you time later. It will help
you when putting it all together and citing your sources, to know
where each piece of information that you actually used came from.
Each card should be filled out completely with all of the
information that you will later include on your works cited page.
Start by numbering each source card in the upper right hand corner.
Then in the body of the card include the following:
*Book:
author, title of book, volume number if applicable, city of
publication, publisher, copyright date.
*Anthology or
compilation: all of the above plus the editor, abbreviated ed. and
the article title.
*Magazine: except for the editor, all of the
above plus volume number, and page numbers
*Newspaper: all of the
above plus section and or edition (if the paper for example is
published both morning and evening)
*Web page: author if given,
title of home page and/or linked page, date created plus date
accessed by you, and the full http address.
*Television show:
name of program, name of episode, call letters of the television
station, and exact date of broadcast.
*Interview: Name of person
interviewed, type of interview (personal, telephone, internet chat)
and date of interview. | |
|
| 3. Prepare a
Preliminary Outline
The preliminary outline is not an outline of your final paper. It
is instead a guide for your use in reading and note taking.
Obviously you can not take notes on everything. What would result is
a paper too big or too broad. The preliminary outline helps to focus
your reading. It represents the topics and natural divisions you
THINK you will cover in your paper. You may later find that some
topics need to be dropped all together and others added, that
something you believed to be true, you can't prove. Therefore look
on the preliminary outline as a tool that will guide your research
and keep your note taking focused. It should be simple in form and
look something like this:
Topic: Alice Walker and The Abuse of Women
Thesis: In The Color Purple and Possessing the Secret of Joy,
Alice Walker reveals that the physical, psychological and sexual
abuse of women often cripples the victim emotionally.
I. Physical abuse
...A. Color Purple
...B. Possessing the
Secret of Joy
II. Psychological abuse
....A. Color Purple
....B.
Possessing the Secret of Joy
III. Sexual abuse
.....A. Color Purple
.....B. Possessing
the Secret of Joy
|
 4. Read and Take
Notes
With a package of 4x6 inch index cards, your 3x5 working
bibliography cards, and your preliminary outline, you are now ready
to take on the major job of reading and taking notes. Taking notes
on cards is a great organizational tool. If you do it properly the
actual writing of the paper will be much, much easier. I promise.
The notes you take should fall under one or another of the
topics in your preliminary outline. At the top of each note card
write the outline topic with which the notes on that card deal. This
topic is called a "slug". Paraphrase, summarize and/or quote
necessary information. Jot down the page number(s)where you got the
information; you will need it later when you make the necessary
citations in your final draft. When you start taking notes on
another topic or slug, it is time to change cards, no matter how
little you have written on the first card. At the top right corner
of the note card, write the number of the source as you have
indicated it on the working bibliography card. This will be very
important when you cite your sources later because you will know
exactly where you got the information that you have noted on the
card.
USE SEPARATE CARDS EACH TIME YOU CHANGE TO A DIFFERENT
SOURCE AND FOR EACH TOPIC AS INDICATED BY ITS SLUG.
There should
never be more than one topic per source or more than one source for
the topic on that card. Yes, you will waste space on a few cards,
but it will make the task easier in the long run and remember you're
worth it. Eventually, you will have a large stack of note cards
having the different slugs from your outline and the source numbers
from your bibliography cards |
| 5. Assemble Note Cards
and Write Final Outline
You now have a large stack of 4x6 note cards each labeled with a
slug from the divisions and subdivisions of your outline, each
numbered according to the source cards of your working bibliography.
It is now time to put it all together. This part is easy. Arrange
cards in stacks according to slug lines. All with the same slug go
into the same pile regardless of source number. Put a rubber band
around each pile. Now put the piles of cards in the order of your
outline. Look at your outline now. Are there areas of information
that you have added or eliminated due to a lack of information. Make
the changes to your outline to reflect the direction your paper
seems to be going now. You are making the rough draft of your final
outline which you will type and include in the final paper.
|
| 6. Write or Type Your
First Draft
With your outline as a guide and your notes arranged in the
outline's order, you are finally ready to write. As you incorporate
in your paper the ideas on your note cards, be very careful to
indicate the source of quotations, paraphrasing or even
summarizations in your own words. Use parenthetical citations to
credit your sources when ever you use them. YOU MUST GIVE CREDIT TO
THE SOURCE OF EVERY IDEA THAT YOU WRITE ABOUT THAT IS NOT YOUR OWN.
To do otherwise is PLAGERISM, which is a very serious offence
punishable by AUTOMATIC FAILURE. The only exception to this rule is
when you are discussing points of general or common knowledge. For
instance, it is not necessary, (even if you find the information in
a book) to cite the source that said that the Earth is round.
|
| 7. Edit and Revise the
Final Draft
Read over what you've written, but don't fall in love; it is only
a draft and not ready for publication until you have typed, pruned,
moved, added, cut and pasted those things that will make your paper
a work of art. Prune those items that stray from your thesis. Move
those items that may not be in the most appropriate section and
which therefore cause the paper to lack coherence. Add details and
facts that make your statement stronger. Use spell and grammar
checker. Get another person to read your paper and listen to his/her
suggestions. And then, make sure your research paper has the
following: |
- an interesting opening that captures your reader's attention
- a thesis statement that presents the focus of the paper and
what your evidence will support
- a series of body paragraphs that develop and support your
thesis, cited approriately parenthetically
- a clear and logical order for your ideas and information in
order to maintain coherence
- a conclusion that restates your main points and ends the paper
- a works cited page that alphabetically lists all sources used
in your
paper
| |
