Why write a research paper
Reasons why students should still write research are plenty of reasons why the research paper is not assigned. They pretty much boil down to:Perceived irrelevance of the assignment in light of modern publishing and read rs buried alive grading 10-page papers from 150 students (that’s 1500 pages to grade, not just read). The research paper is declared dead and deleted from the curriculum in pursuit of briefer and more tech-based learning, here are 8 important reasons why students should still write research papers. Complex reading skills are applied to multiple research paper requires close reading of complex text from multiple sources, which students must comprehend, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate. It creates a research mind ch is finding answers to questions: how many teeth does a killer whale have—google will give the number 52. The research paper provides a structured, yet independent opportunity for students to pursue in depth some extended aspect of the course content. As a researcher’s best buddy, librarians are gatekeepers and trackers of information and can turn every question into a teachable moment. The power of mented information that students encounter online—social media postings, tweets, blogs and popular media—artificially narrows their experience to opinions and anonymous writers. Research conducted in the career world requires not just expert information, but the attribution of sources through in-text citations and bibliographies. As students use sources that model research material with annotations and bibliography, they develop a questioning mindset: who said that, where did that come from, and where can i find more? It builds related led researchers collect downloaded files and perhaps highlight passages, sometimes indiscriminately whole paragraphs or pages, without understanding the text. Even if notes can be easily added in the text, students will struggle scrolling through multiple files to synthesize scattered information, resulting in a collection of summaries from each source rather than an integrated understanding of the note taking, necessary for extended and rigorous research papers, keeps track of information as quotations and paraphrases, identifies the unique content of each note, connects it to other notes with keywords, and identifies the source that can be cited in the paper and added to the added value of note taking lies in the learning process. By reviewing notes with the same keywords, students can synthesize the material into an organized plan for the paper. Plagiarism and intellectual property rights e of plagiarism’s prevalence in student work, it may be easier not to assign research papers. However, plagiarism and intellectual property rights issues, whether related to research papers or music and video piracy, need to be a major conversation throughout the ts do not understand what plagiarism is, its consequences to their learning and character, why everyone makes a big deal over it, and how to avoid it. While direct instruction teaches what plagiarism is, students must put into practice ethical research writing. The research paper process provides students and teachers the opportunity to discuss intellectual property rights and ethics as part of the assignment. Coaching the writing process is research paper is not just an assignment, but a commitment to continual dialog between teachers and students. Teachers as research paper coaches can explore their students’ understanding, interpretation, and synthesis of their reading, discuss their choice of sources and note taking strategies, evaluate their work incrementally, and model ethical paraphrasing and summary research paper can be frightening, even paralyzing for some students with little or disappointing previous experiences. Coached students will write papers that their teachers will want to research paper in the information research paper is about information found, understood, and explained to others, a way to authentically extend the course content and private and public sectors consume and create carefully written research.
Feasibility studies, like the possibility of marketing sausage casings in india, laboratory or field research, inquiries to determine educational, political, or banking policies—all are formats of the research paper that organizations use to make critical decisions. Before reporting new information, published reports with requisite citations and bibliography begin with what experts have already contributed to the this is the intellectual milieu our students will enter after graduation, they should be prepared for the complex reading, research, thinking, and writing skills they will y mikuska taught high school english including the research paper for 37 years. After retirement she formed epen&inc and created papertoolspro, software for students to employ the literacy skills of slow, reflective reading needed to write good research papers; 8 reasons why students should still write research papers; image attribution flickr user enced teacher middle & high teacher’s visual guide to social media. Top sources to become a better teachers–not schools–are the real ript must be enabled for the correct page is a research paper? Yet a research paper is more than the sum of your sources, more than a collection of different pieces of information about a topic, and more than a review of the literature in a field. Regardless of the type of research paper you are writing, your finished research paper should present your own thinking backed up by others' ideas and information. To draw a parallel, a lawyer researches and reads about many cases and uses them to support their own case. In the same way, a history student writing about the vietnam war might read newspaper articles and books and interview veterans to develop and/or confirm a viewpoint and support it with evidence. A research paper is an expanded essay that presents your own interpretation or evaluation or argument. When you write an essay, you use everything that you personally know and have thought about a subject. When you write a research paper you build upon what you know about the subject and make a deliberate attempt to find out what experts know. A research paper involves surveying a field of knowledge in order to find the best possible information in that field. In fact, this guide is designed to help you navigate the research voyage, through developing a research question and thesis, doing the research, writing the paper, and correctly documenting your ons or feedback about esc's online writing center? Contact us at t@ union avenue, saratoga springs, ny 12866 e to the purdue printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice at butors:jack raymond baker, allen brizee, ashley y:this handout provides detailed information about how to write research papers including discussing research papers as a genre, choosing topics, and finding g a research paperthe research will come a time in most students' careers when they are assigned a research paper. Writing a research paper is an essential aspect of academics and should not be avoided on account of one's anxiety. In fact, the process of writing a research paper can be one of the more rewarding experiences one may encounter in academics. What is more, many students will continue to do research throughout their careers, which is one of the reasons this topic is so ng an experienced researcher and writer in any field or discipline takes a great deal of practice. Remember, even the most seasoned academic veterans have had to learn how to write a research paper at some point in their career. And, perhaps most important of all, patience, a student will find that she can achieve great things through her research and handout will include the following sections related to the process of writing a research paper:Genre- this section will provide an overview for understanding the difference between an analytical and argumentative research ng a topic- this section will guide the student through the process of choosing topics, whether the topic be one that is assigned or one that the student chooses fying an audience- this section will help the student understand the often times confusing topic of audience by offering some basic guidelines for the do i begin- this section concludes the handout by offering several links to resources at purdue, and also provides an overview of the final stages of writing a research butors:jack raymond baker, allen brizee, ashley y:this handout provides detailed information about how to write research papers including discussing research papers as a genre, choosing topics, and finding and the research paperresearch: what it is. Research paper is the culmination and final product of an involved process of research, critical thinking, source evaluation, organization, and composition.
It is, perhaps, helpful to think of the research paper as a living thing, which grows and changes as the student explores, interprets, and evaluates sources related to a specific topic. Primary and secondary sources are the heart of a research paper, and provide its nourishment; without the support of and interaction with these sources, the research paper would morph into a different genre of writing (e. The research paper serves not only to further the field in which it is written, but also to provide the student with an exceptional opportunity to increase her knowledge in that field. It is also possible to identify a research paper by what it is ch: what it is not. Research paper is not simply an informed summary of a topic by means of primary and secondary sources. The goal of a research paper is not to inform the reader what others have to say about a topic, but to draw on what others have to say about a topic and engage the sources in order to thoughtfully offer a unique perspective on the issue at hand. This is accomplished through two major types of research major types of research ntative research paper:The argumentative research paper consists of an introduction in which the writer clearly introduces the topic and informs his audience exactly which stance he intends to take; this stance is often identified as the thesis statement. An important goal of the argumentative research paper is persuasion, which means the topic chosen should be debatable or controversial. A better thesis would be the gh it has been proven that cigarette smoking may lead to sundry health problems in the smoker, the social acceptance of smoking in public places demonstrates that many still do not consider secondhand smoke as dangerous to one's health as firsthand this sentence, the writer is not challenging the current accepted stance that both firsthand and secondhand cigarette smoke is dangerous; rather, she is positing that the social acceptance of the latter over the former is indicative of a cultural double-standard of sorts. The student would support this thesis throughout her paper by means of both primary and secondary sources, with the intent to persuade her audience that her particular interpretation of the situation is ical research paper:The analytical research paper often begins with the student asking a question (a. Research may lead him to the following f is a poem whose purpose it was to serve as an exemplum of heterodoxy for tenth- and eleventh-century monastic his topic may be debatable and controversial, it is not the student's intent to persuade the audience that his ideas are right while those of others are wrong. Instead, his goal is to offer a critical interpretation of primary and secondary sources throughout the paper--sources that should, ultimately, buttress his particular analysis of the topic. In fact, the thesis statement in an analytical paper is often more fluid than the thesis in an argumentative paper. Such is one of the benefits of approaching the topic without a predetermined butors:jack raymond baker, allen brizee, ashley y:this handout provides detailed information about how to write research papers including discussing research papers as a genre, choosing topics, and finding ng a topicthe first step of any research paper is for the student to understand the assignment. Student will often encounter one of two situations when it comes to choosing a topic for a research paper. Many first-time researchers appreciate such an arrangement by the instructor because it eliminates the stress of having to decide upon a topic on their r, the student may also find the topics that have been provided to be limiting; moreover, it is not uncommon for the student to have a topic in mind that does not fit with any of those provided. Be respectful, and ask the instructor if the topic you have in mind would be a possible research option for the assignment. Remember, as a first-time researcher, your knowledge of the process is quite limited; the instructor is experienced, and may have very precise reasons for choosing the topics she has offered to the class. If not, do not take it personally and choose the topic from the list that seems most interesting to second situation occurs when the instructor simply hands out an assignment sheet that covers the logistics of the research paper, but leaves the choice of topic up to the student. Typically, assignments in which students are given the opportunity to choose the topic require the topic to be relevant to some aspect of the course; so, keep this in mind as you begin a course in which you know there will be a research paper near the end.
Instead, realize that it takes practice to become an experienced researcher in any a discussion of evaluating sources, see evaluating sources of s for choosing a ng early leads to starting early. Brainstorming is often a successful way for students to get some of these ideas down on paper. Research topics are often fluid, and dictated more by the student's ongoing research than by the original chosen topic. Such fluidity is common in research, and should be embraced as one of its many purdue owl also offers a number of other resources on choosing and developing a topic:Understanding writing ng the writing ion slide butors:jack raymond baker, allen brizee, ashley y:this handout provides detailed information about how to write research papers including discussing research papers as a genre, choosing topics, and finding fying an audienceidentifying an concept of audience can be very confusing for novice researchers. Should the student's audience be her instructor only, or should her paper attempt to reach a larger academic crowd? Therefore, it is important for the student to articulate an audience that falls somewhere in is perhaps helpful to approach the audience of a research paper in the same way one would when preparing for an oral presentation. So it is with writing a research paper (in fact, you may need to transform your written work into an oral work if you find yourself presenting at a conference someday). Instructor should be considered only one member of the paper's audience; he is part of the academic audience that desires students to investigate, research, and evaluate a topic. Try to imagine an audience that would be interested in and benefit from your example: if the student is writing a twelve page research paper about ethanol and its importance as an energy source of the future, would she write with an audience of elementary students in mind? What is more, she would assume the audience to be at a certain educational level; therefore, she would not spend time in such a short research paper defining terms and concepts already familiar to those in the field. One of the purposes of a research paper is to add something new to the academic community, and the first-time researcher should understand her role as an initiate into a particular community of scholars. Once again, practice lies at the heart of the butors:jack raymond baker, allen brizee, ashley y:this handout provides detailed information about how to write research papers including discussing research papers as a genre, choosing topics, and finding do i begin? Is neither template nor shortcut for writing a research paper; again, the process is, amongst other things, one of practice, experience, and organization, and begins with the student properly understanding the assignment at many college students know, the writer may find himself composing three quite different research papers for three quite different courses all at the same time in a single semester. Each of these papers may have varying page lengths, guidelines, and ore, in order for a student to become an experienced researcher and writer, she must not only pay particular attention to the genre, topic, and audience, but must also become skilled in researching, outlining, drafting, and a discussion of where to begin one's research, see research: ing is an integral part of the process of writing. No drafting should take place without a research question or thesis statement; otherwise, the student will find himself writing without a purpose or direction. The research the student has completed is a vast sea of information through which he must navigate; without a compass, the student will be tossed aimlessly about by the waves of sources. Jack raymond baker, allen brizee, ashley y:this handout provides detailed information about how to write research papers including discussing research papers as a genre, choosing topics, and finding g a research paper: generating questions & topics workshopthis workshop discusses strategies for getting started on a research paper, including generating questions and ideas for topics. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair e to the purdue printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice at butors:jack raymond baker, allen brizee, ashley y:this handout provides detailed information about how to write research papers including discussing research papers as a genre, choosing topics, and finding g a research paperthe research will come a time in most students' careers when they are assigned a research paper. 1 the purpose of research fy reasons to research writing e the steps of the research writing was the great wall of china built? To put it simply, you perform r you are a scientist, an artist, a paralegal, or a parent, you probably perform research in your everyday life.
Locating, analyzing, and sharing information are key steps in the research process, and in this chapter, you will learn more about each step. By developing your research writing skills, you will prepare yourself to answer any question no matter how you perform research, you are essentially trying to solve a mystery—you want to know how something works or why something happened. This is one of the most basic reasons for performing the research process does not end when you have solved your mystery. Presenting what you have learned from research can be just as important as performing the research. Research results can be presented in a variety of ways, but one of the most popular—and effective—presentation forms is the research paper. A research paper presents an original thesis, or purpose statement, about a topic and develops that thesis with information gathered from a variety of you are curious about the possibility of life on mars, for example, you might choose to research the topic. And you may want to show the results of your research to your friends, your teachers, or even the editors of magazines and journals. Writing a research paper is an ideal way to organize thoughts, craft narratives or make arguments based on research, and share your newfound knowledge with the a paragraph about a time when you used research in your everyday life. In your paragraph, explain what you wanted to research, how you performed the research, and what you learned as a ch writing and the academic matter what field of study you are interested in, you will most likely be asked to write a research paper during your academic career. For example, a student in an art history course might write a research paper about an artist’s work. Similarly, a student in a psychology course might write a research paper about current findings in childhood to write a research paper may feel intimidating at first. After all, researching and writing a long paper requires a lot of time, effort, and organization. However, writing a research paper can also be a great opportunity to explore a topic that is particularly interesting to you. The research process allows you to gain expertise on a topic of your choice, and the writing process helps you remember what you have learned and understand it on a deeper ch writing at g how to write a good research paper is a valuable skill that will serve you well throughout your career. Whether you are developing a new product, studying the best way to perform a procedure, or learning about challenges and opportunities in your field of employment, you will use research techniques to guide your exploration. And because effective communication is essential to any company, employers seek to hire people who can write clearly and a few minutes to think about each of the following careers. How might each of these professionals use researching and research writing skills on the job? Medical laboratory technician or information technology professional might do research to learn about the latest technological developments in either of these fields. A small business owner might conduct research to learn about the latest trends in his or her industry. A freelance magazine writer may need to research a given topic to write an informed, up-to-date about the job of your dreams.
Create a list of ways in which strong researching, organizing, writing, and critical thinking skills could help you succeed at your dream job. Of the research writing does a research paper grow from a folder of brainstormed notes to a polished final draft? No two projects are identical, but most projects follow a series of six basic are the steps in the research writing process:Plan and schedule time to research and ze research and and edit your of these steps will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter. You may also need to ask a specific research question—a broad, open-ended question that will guide your research—as well as propose a possible answer, or a working thesis. You may use your research question and your working thesis to create a research proposal. In a research proposal, you present your main research question, any related subquestions you plan to explore, and your working 2: planning and you start researching your topic, take time to plan your researching and writing schedule. Steps in developing a research proposal” for an example of a research 3: conducting going about your research, you will likely use a variety of sources—anything from books and periodicals to video presentations and in-person sources will include both primary sources and secondary sources. You will also evaluate the reliability of each source you 4: organizing research and the writer’s your research is complete, you will organize your findings and decide which sources to cite in your paper. You will also have an opportunity to evaluate the evidence you have collected and determine whether it supports your thesis, or the focus of your paper. You may decide to adjust your thesis or conduct additional research to ensure that your thesis is well er, your working thesis is not set in stone. You can and should change your working thesis throughout the research writing process if the evidence you find does not support your original thesis. Yet, a week into researching your topic, you find an article in the new york times detailing new findings of bacteria under the martian surface. 5: drafting your you are ready to combine your research findings with your critical analysis of the results in a rough draft. You will incorporate source materials into your paper and discuss each source thoughtfully in relation to your thesis or purpose you cite your reference sources, it is important to pay close attention to standard conventions for citing sources in order to avoid plagiarism, or the practice of using someone else’s words without acknowledging the source. Later in this chapter, you will learn how to incorporate sources in your paper and avoid some of the most common pitfalls of attributing 6: revising and editing your the final step of the research writing process, you will revise and polish your paper. You might reorganize your paper’s structure or revise for unity and cohesion, ensuring that each element in your paper flows into the next logically and naturally. You will also make sure that your paper uses an appropriate and consistent you feel confident in the strength of your writing, you will edit your paper for proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and formatting. When you complete this final step, you will have transformed a simple idea or question into a thoroughly researched and well-written paper you can be proud of! Then answer the questions on your own sheet of which steps of the research writing process are you allowed to change your thesis? 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 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 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.
