Developing a research project
2 steps in developing a research fy the steps in developing a research a topic and formulate a research question and working p a research g a good research paper takes time, thought, and effort. Focusing on one step at a time will help you develop a thoughtful, informative, well-supported research first step is to choose a topic and then to develop research questions, a working thesis, and a written research proposal. Fully exploring ideas will help you build a solid foundation for your you choose a topic for a research paper, you are making a major commitment. Your choice will help determine whether you enjoy the lengthy process of research and writing—and whether your final paper fulfills the assignment requirements. You will ask these questions during this preliminary phase of the research fying potential mes, your instructor may provide a list of suggested topics.
Discussing your ideas with your instructor will help ensure that you choose a manageable topic that fits the requirements of the this chapter, you will follow a writer named jorge, who is studying health care administration, as he prepares a research paper. You will also plan, research, and draft your own research was assigned to write a research paper on health and the media for an introductory course in health care. He brainstormed a list of you are writing a research paper for a specialized course, look back through your notes and course activities. Use brainstorming or idea mapping to create a list of topics you would be interested in researching for a paper about the influence of the internet on social networking. Each topic has so many facets that it would be impossible to cover them all in a college research paper.
However, more specific choices, such as the pros and cons of sexual education in kids’ television programs or the physical effects of the south beach diet, are specific enough to write about without being too narrow to sustain an entire research paper. If your topic is too broad, you will find it difficult to do more than skim the surface when you research it and write about it. To narrow your focus, explore your topic in writing, conduct preliminary research, and discuss both the topic and the research with ing your topic in writing. How am i supposed to narrow my topic when i haven’t even begun researching yet? I bet even doctors, nurses, and dietcians have trouble figuring out what information is reliable and what is just the latest ting preliminary r way writers may focus a topic is to conduct preliminary research.
Preliminary online research and discussions with his classmates strengthened his impression that many people are confused or misled by media coverage of these decided to focus his paper on a topic that had garnered a great deal of media attention—low-carbohydrate diets. He wanted to find out whether low-carbohydrate diets were as effective as their proponents work, you may need to research a topic quickly to find general information. For example, a company may research a competitor’s prices and use the information when pricing their own product. In this exploratory phase of your research, you do not need to evaluate sources as closely as you will later. Then review your writing to identify possible areas of aside time to conduct preliminary research about your potential topics.
Then choose a topic to pursue for your research share your topic list with a classmate. Discuss why you found the topics interesting, and learn which of your topics your classmate selected and freewriting and preliminary research have helped you choose a focused, manageable topic for your research paper. Before you begin conducting in-depth research, you will further define your focus by developing a research question, a working thesis, and a research ating a research forming a research question, you are setting a goal for your research. Your main research question should be substantial enough to form the guiding principle of your paper—but focused enough to guide your research. A strong research question requires you not only to find information but also to put together different pieces of information, interpret and analyze them, and figure out what you think.
As you consider potential research questions, ask yourself whether they would be too hard or too easy to determine your research question, review the freewriting you completed earlier. Determine your main question—the primary focus of your paper—and several subquestions that you will need to research to answer your main are the research questions jorge will use to focus his research. Jorge will need to research his subquestions, which address narrower topics, to answer his main :main question: are low-carbohydrate diets as effective as they have been portrayed to be by media sources? Check that your main research question is appropriately complex for your ucting a working thesis. Instead, it expresses a debatable idea or claim that you hope to prove through additional research.
As you learn more about your topic, you may change your thinking in light of your research findings. Let your working thesis serve as a guide to your research, but do not be afraid to modify it based on what you began his research with a strong point of view based on his preliminary writing and research. Notice how it states jorge’s tentative answer to his research research question: are low-carb diets as effective as they have sometimes been portrayed to be by the mass media? These statements are useful starting points, but formal research papers use an objective a working thesis statement that presents your preliminary answer to the research question you wrote in note 11. Check that your working thesis statement presents an idea or claim that could be supported or refuted by evidence from ng a research proposal.
Research proposal is a brief document—no more than one typed page—that summarizes the preliminary work you have completed. Your purpose in writing it is to formalize your plan for research and present it to your instructor for feedback. In your research proposal, you will present your main research question, related subquestions, and working thesis. You will also briefly discuss the value of researching this topic and indicate how you plan to gather jorge began drafting his research proposal, he realized that he had already created most of the pieces he needed. However, he knew he also had to explain how his research would be relevant to other future health care professionals.
In addition, he wanted to form a general plan for doing the research and identifying potentially useful sources. Read jorge’s research 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. Both documents define and limit a project, explain its value, discuss how to proceed, and identify what resources you will g your own research you may write your own research proposal, if you have not done so already. Follow the guidelines provided in this ping 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. Good topic for a research paper interests the writer and fulfills the requirements of the ng and narrowing a topic helps writers conduct focused, in-depth s conduct preliminary research to identify possible topics and research questions and to develop a working thesis.
Good research question interests readers, is neither too broad nor too narrow, and has no obvious answer. Good working thesis expresses a debatable idea or claim that can be supported with evidence from s create a research proposal to present their topic, main research question, subquestions, and working thesis to an instructor for approval or is a derivative of writing for success by a publisher who has requested that they and the original author not receive attribution, originally released and is used under cc by-nc-sa. The academy and dpbrn offer many resources to help members through each stage of the process, from development of the research question through reporting and disseminating results. The academy and other organizations offer resources (including webinars and tutorials) to help with each of these 1: develop the research first step in designing a research project is to define the general problem by reviewing existing literature and specifying the research objectives. This is also a good time to start looking for funding 2: outline the this stage, researchers define the target population and determine where, when and how the data will be collected.
Depending on the design of the study, this stage can take weeks, months or even 4: analyze the stage may include data aggregation, statistical analysis and results 5: reporting and dissemination of step may include abstract and/or manuscript preparation, publication selection and conference 1: develop the research the case for ng the search for tips on how to build effective literature tours for conducting searches by mesh topics, combining mesh topics and/or ch in nutrition and dietetics — what the academy can do for you? A comparison of five research models relevant to ch: successful approaches, 3rd edition: a comprehensive guide for survey planning, study and questionnaire design and execution and presentation of writing resources from other r: everything you wanted to know about (requires adobe flash player. Writing tailored to the pcori methodology y of nutrition and dietetics evidence analysis manual: the evidence analysis manual is the academy's step-by-step instruction guide for eal project teams (expert panels, lead analysts, evidence analysts and academy staff) to carry out the process of evidence analysis. Consider one of the many grade v evidence analysis questions posted on the academy's the evidence analysis library for your next research ing quality out the differences between quality improvement and research through project examples and learn how to design and execute your own quality improvement ed r survey: complete to earn 1 2: outline the ch ethics for the registered dietitian nutritionist: four self-study modules on research ethics to learn about the regulation of research and how it applies to you as you get started in research. Each self-study module requires adobe flash player to be played; modules may not display on mobile 1: defining research and human 2: history and ethics in research and 3: regulations for social and behavioral science 4: assessing risk in about research ethics self-study sheet institutional review board: where, when and why to submit your sheet special populations: special considerations for participants such as pregnant women, children, students and for effective nutrition interventions and education: a simple, practical and evidence-based tool to help nutrition education practitioners design high-quality and effective ific integrity principles:recognizing the need to have a single document to guide scientific decision making at the academy of nutrition and dietetics (academy), the council on research was charged with developing a scientific integrity policy for the organization.
Contact dpg chairs for dpbrn reviews survey projects and distributes if in action: conducting ethical research involving human subjects: a collection and analysis tools: tools and templates to manage ucing andhii: background information on the academy of nutrition and dietetics health informatics ch data security: guidance on safe data storage and assessment: a systematic approach to data 4: analyze the tric versus nonparametric statistics: this webinar discusses the differences between parametric and nonparametric statistics and why it is important to know which type of test is appropriate to use and in what list: find free online classes on a variety of statistics l of the academy of nutrition and dietetic research methodology collection: this is a series of articles that review the importance of research design, analyses, and epidemiology in the conduct, interpretation, and publication of nutrition statistical concepts in nutrition research: the nutrition in clinical practice article "describes general statistical concepts and provides some guidelines to assist in the interpretation of research literature. On statistical reting statistical findings: a guide for health professionals and students: this text by walker and almond is intended to help those with little research experience understand and interpret statistical ting clinical and public health interventions. This book for clinicians by mitchell katz guides researchers through the process of designing a study, collecting and analyzing data, and publishing results. Willet's standard reference on the epidemiology of diet and disease introduces readers to research strategies, methods of dietary assessment, and analysis, presentation, and interpretation of 5: reporting and dissemination of l of the academy of nutrition and dietetics: the journal's author information page provides an example of the formatting and organizational requirement typically required for publication in peer reviewed in research and publication: the publishing ethics resource kit (perk) is an online resource to support journal editors in handling publishing ethics issues. It is a single point of access for information and guidelines on publishing ® education session resources: guidelines and training powerpoints for submitting your research for a food & nutrition conference & expo educational session, including webinars detailing how to submit a poster abstract and how to present a poster at the ational committee of medical journal editors: authorship, publishing and manuscript preparation ts, tools and ce analysis l of the academy of nutrition and ophy and the case for ure for research activities at the ts, tools and ncbi web site requires javascript to tionresourceshow toabout ncbi accesskeysmy ncbisign in to ncbisign l listbr j sports medv.