The Research Process
Gathering Information
You are now ready to begin gathering information about your topic. This is the place where you will spend most
of your research time reading and taking notes. Taking notes is NOT opening a book and writing exactly what
you find there. Normally, you will read a short section and then summarize or paraphrase what you want to
remember: in other words, you will put the information into your own words. If you do find information that is
vital to your paper, and you believe you should include it exactly the way it is written in the source, you must cite
it as a direct quotation enclosing it in quotation marks. Be sure that you are taking notes that pertain only to
your topic and do not include any extraneous information that does not relate directly to your topic.
Instructors sometimes allow students leeway in the manner of notetaking. Some teachers require the researcher
to write the notes on index cards, others allow the researcher to write in notebooks, or to use loose-leaf paper
that can be rearranged easily. While you will be utilizing the source sheets I have provided, be certain to include
enough information at the very beginning of each sheet to indicate the source of the information, usually the
author’s name, the title of the book or article, and the page number referenced are enough. Your sources should
be in proper MLA documentation, and by correctly using your source sheets, your sources can easily be
converted to correct MLA format in both your parenthetical documentation and Works Cited page. You will be
using the source sheets. Please follow the instructions found there.
As you are taking notes, keep in mind that you will be categorizing your information at the conclusion of your
note taking process. These categories, also known as slugs, are created by the researcher in order to sort
information. Lets’ say for instance you are researching Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and you are taking notes
on symptoms. You may categorize that section of notes as symptoms. For example, disease categories might
include causes, care and treatment, symptoms, and current research. When you finish your note taking, you
can then use your source sheets to divide your notes into these categories, thus forming the divisions of your
outline. If this process confuses you, don’t worry. We will be working on this categorizing together!
The Research Process
Taking Notes
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Keep all of your notes organized on the source sheet they correspond to. If you need additional space for
your notes, attach a separate sheet of paper.
Exhaust all of the data from one source before going on to another source
When you move to a different source, only take notes over information you have not already gathered
from a previous source. To do this would be redundant and unnecessary!
When you have made notes from all of your sources, sort your notes into the categories you have
defined. We will do this step together in class by creating a color key.
Some notes may not fit into a category, or you may not have enough notes in a category to form a
substantial amount. Put these aside. You may find a use for these in your introduction or conclusion.
Sort the notes in each category into a logical sequence. You can do this by using numbers if you so
choose. Or any other method you deem best. Decide which one should come first, second, and so forth.
If holes in your research appear, go back to the library for additional information. Each section of notes
should be about equal in number. You should have enough notes to cover your topic thoroughly.
The notes you have placed in the categories will become the body of your research paper. You can now
formulate your thesis sentence and develop your outline, using the categories you have defined as main
topics.
Note taking
There are three types of notes. Each has a distinct purpose and its own rules of documentation. Be certain that
you understand the difference between them and follow the rules. Because your paper must not be
plagiarized which happens when another’s ideas are used incorrectly, you must be sure you take notes
correctly.
Direct Quotes: using the author’s exact words and enclosing them in quotation marks.
Direct quotes are used only when the impact of the exact words will be very important in the completed paper. If
for some reason (i.e. technical wording, statistics, or concrete facts), the writer cannot paraphrase the material in
any way, then the material must be quoted directly on the cards. Direct quote means exactly that… the words in
the source are written in your notes EXACTLY as they appear in the source. All punctuation and spelling must
be written as in the source. The words are enclosed in quotation marks on the cards and in the paper.
Example:“He [Wilder] felt that through theater he could make his greatest contributions to the literature of his
own time. His aesthetic notions about playwriting were greatly different from those of his contemporaries, and
he wanted to translate those theories into actual plays.”
Direct quotes should be used sparingly. Avoid the ease of quoting material in your notes because it will then be
difficult to paraphrase the material in the final paper.
Paraphrasing: restating the author’s ideas in one’s own words.
This technique is used to convey the author’s meaning on specific points. The writer must read from the source,
decide what the meaning is, and then write the meaning in his/her own words not using more than three
consecutive words from the source nor using the source’s sentence pattern. If the writer cannot understand the
source, then another source should be found.
Example:
Wilder believed that his strongest impact on contemporary literature would be made through
playwriting. His artistic views about drama were quite unlike those of other playwrights of his ear, and he
wished to put his ideas into practice.
Summarizing: restating only the main points and important supporting details.
Summarize when there is general information in the source which seems important. The material is not so
specific that exact author’s ideas are needed.
Example:
Wilder believed that his most innovative and influential contributions to contemporary literature would
be made in drama.
*Remember, anytime another’s ideas are used, documentation must be included.
How to develop your thesis statement
This is just one way to create an effective thesis statement. This technique is good for students who struggle
writing strong thesis statements.
Sample writing topic: Many youth rights advocates argue that American teenage girls are at great risk of
developing body image issues or eating disorders due to a body obsessed media and society. Your essay should
either support or refute this statement. Support your essay with factual evidence and research.
Doesn’t this topic look similar to the prompt for your research paper?
1. Break it down. On one sheet of paper, you should make a list: all of your
arguments that either support or refute this statement. Your arguments will
more than likely be based on the notes you have already collected regarding
your topic.
 Television shows like America’s Next Top Model are aimed at young teen girls and
emphasize having a perfect body. Many characters have eating disorders.
 Magazines aimed at teen girls are filled with pages of seemingly perfect women with
perfect bodies.
 Clothing marketed towards teenage women is cut smaller than that of their older
counterparts.
 Constant inundation of commercials regarding diet pills and diet products all
focused on women lead young women to believe they are not good enough.
(These are just a few you could list.)
2. List your arguments. After you’ve listed your arguments, look for common
characteristics (join them together).
1. Television aimed at teens focuses on bodies/commercials aimed at women
regarding diet.
2. Magazines focus on body image/clothing cut smaller.
Now that you have manufactured common characteristics, you can certainly avoid writing a typical
thesis statement that looks like this: Society and the media create eating disorders in teenage girls
through the use of body image focused television, commercials regarding diet products, magazine ads
focused on body image, and smaller cut clothing. Is this a bad thesis statement? No. Is it appropriate
for your level of writing? No. Is time to change your ways of writing? Yes! So here is the third step.
3. Tie it all together! Pick a correlative conjunction and tie your common
characteristics together. You can also use a subordinating conjunction
for the sentence preceding your thesis statement. You do not need to
use a comma between correlative conjunctions!
Correlative Conjunctions
not only… but also
either… or
neither… nor
both… and
Subordinating Conjunction (Not all of these will work)
after, although, as, as if, as long as, as though, because,
before, even though, in order that, provided that, once,
since, so that, that though, unless, until, when, where, while
Here is an example:
Eating disorders in young women have become common through not only the media’s perpetuation of body
obsessed images in television but also through a focus on bodily perfection in the fashion industry’s marketing
and advertising.
And VOILA- you are done!
Can you think of a better thesis? I’m sure that you can. Look at the list above and create your own thesis here.
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Formulating a Thesis Statement/Outline
The thesis statement is one declarative sentence that expresses a position on a limited topic. The
writer’s task is to collect evidence that proves and supports this statement. Work toward the following
qualifications for a good final thesis:
 It should establish an investigative, inventive argument
 It should point forward to the conclusion
 It should guide your final note taking.
The following example could serve as thesis statements for research papers:
Literature Research Paper
Topic: The scaffold as a structural and symbolic device in The Scarlet Letter
Thesis: The scaffold is an important symbol that develops the structural and thematic elements in The
Scarlet Letter.
Organizing and Outlining Research Papers
You should begin organizing your essay long before you actually have to produce a formal outline.
Organization is the easiest way to improve your essay, and it is imperative that you are organized and
categorized as you do your research.
Step # 1> Deciding categories to be discussed in your paper
You should have already begun to think about this step by making a list of categories or traits that interest you
about your topic. Now is the time to solidify this list- meaning decide on the exact issues you will be looking at.
As you research, each of your facts should fit into one of your categories. As you “think in categories”, the
process of researching will become far less overwhelming.
Step #2> Informal Outlining
After you have gathered some ideas for a paper, it is a good idea to jot down an informal outline. This will help
you determine not only if you have enough information to write a paper but what order you would like to use in
writing the ideas into your paper.
Begin by writing the tentatitve point, or thesis statement, of your paper. Then, referring to any notes you have
made, list the ideas you plan to use in proving your thesis. You may not want to include all your ideas in the
paper, so your outline can help you determine which ideas to keep.
Look at the following as an example:
Tentative Thesis: Stricter gun control is a must in our society today.
 Guns too easy to obtain
 Handgun licensing needed
 Kids fear being shot
 Teens kill with guns 97% of the time
 Owning guns decrease safety
 Second Amendment refers to militia
Developing an informal outline takes very little time. Just remember that an informal outline is a way to
organize your writing in the earliest stage, but it should be viewed as a work in progress and, therefore, subject
to change.
Step #3> Formal Outlining
Formal outlines can help you organize a rough draft, and they are often used in business as well as academic
settings. For a formal outline, you will need to meet the following guidelines:
1. Begin with the thesis statement
2. Use parallel grammatical structure for each level (sentences, prepositional phrases, verbals, etc…)
3. Use complete sentences
4. Each level must have 2 entries-if there is an A, there must be a B; if there is a 1, there must be a 2.
See below for an example of a Formal Outline:
Thesis: The call for stricter gun control policies is a must in our society today.
I.
Guns are one of the leading causes of violence in the United States today.
A. Guns are too easily for any reason, by any person.
1. The United States is one of the easiest countries in which to purchase firearms.
a. In 24 states, anyone who is 18 or older can walk into a store, fill out a form,
and leave with a gun.
b. The Brady Bill has not gone far enough.
2. The United States has an estimated 211 million firearms in circulation.
a. Of these, 70 million are handguns
b. One in every two households contains a gun.
B. Gun violence occurs in our streets, schoolyards, and workplaces.
II. Laws should be passed, requiring gun owners to be licensed in the same way car drivers are licensed.
A. Obtaining a license would require a background check, fingerprinting, and passing a
firearms training course.
B. Gun purchases should be limited to one a month.
C. Stiff penalties should be enacted for stealing a gun.
D. Gun dealers should also be licensed.
1. They should be required to have background checks.
2. They should pay an annual fee of $3000 to operate a gun business.
III. Young children and teens are desensitized to our gun culture.
A. In some neighborhoods, many of the children expect to die violently, probably by gunshot.
B. Even though we live in the world’s richest, strongest, freest nation, our children do not have
the freedom to believe that one day they will be adults.
IV. People are afraid that everyone else has a gun, so they buy one themselves, for protection.
A. Guns in the home are five times more likely to kill a resident of the home than an intruder in
the home.
B. Having a gun in the home makes the home less safe, not more safe.
V. The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is used to support gun control
opponents.
A. This Amendment does not guarantee everyone the right to bear arms.
B. The Supreme Court has ruled that this Amendment guarantees that states have the right to
organize militias.
VI. The National Rifle Association is one f the richest, most powerful lobbies in the country.
A. The NRA asserts that “guns don’t kill people; people kill people.”
B. The NRA claims that gun laws will take guns from law abiding citizens and leave guns in the
hands of criminals.
1. This is a scare tactic because no legislation has been proposed to take guns from
serious hunters.
2. Anyone who has a handgun in the home is a potential criminal because, if a child gets
the gun and hurts or even kills someone, the parent(s) should be held responsible.
VII. Owning a gun is no longer a necessity for feeding and protecting citizens, and uncontrolled gun
sales have led us to even less safety, as a result. Therefore, stricter gun control laws are essential to the
development of a society less frustrated by the fear of gun violence.
Sample Formal Outline from Ken University
Writing Center-Handout #16
Your formal outline must be typed.
Each Roman numeral represents a section of your paper, most likely one of the categories listed in step #1. In
other words, each Roman numeral does not necessarily mean one paragraph. Some may develop to two or even
three paragraphs.
Don’t procrastinate on the outline. This can often be more difficult to get started than the essay itself.
Parenthetical Documentation and Direct Quotes
I.
Direct Quotations
DO NOT RELY TOO HEAVILY ON DIRECT QUOTATIONS. Paraphrase as much as possible; however, when
you use direct quotes in your paper, you must follow certain guidelines.
A. You must use lead-ins with direct quotations. There are three types of lead ins:
i. The “somebody said” lead in:
1. Jane Agee comments, “Many students who would not have attempted college…”
(10).
ii. The “blended” lead in- In this kind of lead in, some of the quoted material is left out
and what is retained blends right in with your sentence. This provides more flexibility
in your paper. Remember, your sentence must read as a complete sentence without
awkwardness:
1. According to Jane Agee, state universities are serving a broader student
population than ever before by admitting students from junior colleges and
through “special remedial programs where students who do not meet entrance
requirements are admitted on probation” (10).
iii. The “sentence followed by a colon” lead-in:
1. Agee insists that English college courses will not improve until a realistic
approach is taken to education: “Public Schools…” (10).
B. Block quotations
i. Long quotations of more than four typewritten lines should be blocked. To do so,
indent from the left margin ten spaces, OMIT the quotation, and continue double
spacing.
II.
ii. The parenthetical reference should be placed one space after the quotation. … Sat scores
rose twenty percent in the last year among Junior students. (10)
Parenthetical Documentation
Whenever you paraphrase, summarize, or quote a source you must supply in parentheses the source and
page number form which you gathered the idea, fact, or quotation. Otherwise, your paper is plagiarized and
will result in a zero.
Example: Critics contend that Twelfth Night is the most nearly perfect festive comedy that
Shakespeare wrote (Schwartz 509).
Complete your parenthetical documentation according to the following guidelines:
1.
There must be an entry on the works cited pager for every source in
parenthetical documentation.
2. Place the parenthetical documentation as near as possible to the information it
documents, preferably where a pause would naturally occur (usually at the end of a
sentence).
3. The parenthetical reference precedes the period or comma that marks the end of
the sentence, clause or phrase.
4. Do not interrupt the flow of paragraphs with excessive parenthetical
documentation. Use transitional expressions to tie together several paraphrased
sentences from source to source so that it is not necessary to insert parentheses and
the end of every sentence.
In most cases parenthetical documentation will include the writer’s last name followed by the pager number.
Exceptions are as follows:
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If you use the author’s name in the sentence—then omit name… (14).
If the quotation is blocked, place the documentation one space after the final punctuation mark.(Smith
10)
If you use information from a work of more than one volume, but you refer to only one volume, give only
the author and page number in the parentheses… (Wallace 201).
However, if you refer to more than one volume, then it is necessary to indicate volume in the
parentheses… (Abrams 2: 631).
If you use two or more works by the author, place a comma after the author’s last name and add a
shortened version of the title and page number… (Rosenfield, Sherwood 45).
If you use an indirect source—information that is directly quoted in your sources—put the abbreviation
qtd in before the source cited in parentheses… (qtd. In Valentin 90).
If you use a source with an anonymous author, the title replaces the author’s name in the
documentation… (The Hobbit 61).
There are several exceptions not listed on this sheet. If you cannot find an example for one of your sources,
please see me for further details.
Works Cited Page
A works cited page is an alphabetical listing of the works documented in a research paper.
A works cited page lists ONLY and ALL those works (books, articles, etc.) which are actually documented in
the paper. This means if you cite the work in parenthetical documentation—i.e. (Brown 85)—the work must be
listed on the Works Cited page EXACTLY as it is documented on your source cards.
To create a Works Cited page:
 Title the page—Works Cited (in the middle of the first line)… no quotation marks, underline, or italics.
 Skip a line.
 Alphabetize the bibliography entries which were cited in the paper.
 Copy the documentation exactly as it was created.
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Remember, each entry begins at the left margin on the first line, and all following lines of the entry are
indented. (reverse indention)
Single space between each entry.
Double space between entries
Do not number the entries
The Works Cited page is at the end of the paper—the last page of the final copy.
Example of a Works Cited page is below.
Works Cited
“AIDS in Transition.” Today’s Health. February 1995: 35+
Emmett, Frank. “Survival of the Fittest.” Teen Talk. May 1986: Rpt. in Sirs Researcher. Ed. Elanor C.
Goldstein. Boca Raton: Social Issues Resources Series, 1995. School 1994 file, Art. 19.
Jones, Andrew. The Amazing World of Codes. Davis MacKay &Co, New York: 1987.
King, David and Thomas Mear. The Choice Words, Oxford University Press, New York: 1990.
Otis, Carol L., M.D. and Roger Golding. “Secondary Injuries.” Shapes Magazine April 1993: 50+
Parrington, Vernon “Depression in the 1990’s” Main Currents In America. Harcourt Brace & Co. Inc., Chicago:
1995.
Editing a Research Paper
Instructions for the Editor: Follow the steps below. Respond to each question with a “yes” or “no” in the blank
provided. Use the comment space provided to explain all “no” responses. Provide as much feedback as you
possibly can. Your classmate is relying on you.
A “yes” response to all of these steps does not guarantee a perfect paper. The items included in these steps are
many commonly made and/or foreseeable problems. These items are in no way on exhaustive list of
grammatical, punctuation, and stylistic rules.
Step One: Look at the sources.
Are copies of all sources included? ______________
and are they labeled?
Comments:
Step Two: Look at the Internal Documentation.
Are there at least five citations? _____________
Are there at least two, but no more than three direct quotes? _________
Does each direct quote have a lead in? _____________
Do all the paraphrases follow the three word rule? ___________
Does each citation have a corresponding works cited entry?________
Is the parenthetical documentation correct? __________
Place a check next to any ERROR the writer has committed:
_____period before the parentheses
_____ quotes before the parentheses
_____ comma between author and page number
_____ pg., p., pages, pps., or any other
Abbreviations for “page” in parentheses
(Write N/A in the blanks for the next three questions if the essay contains no blocked quotations.)
Are the block quotes indented and double spaced? ________
Is the parenthetical documentation after the period for blocked quotes?__
Are the quotation marks omitted for blocked quotes? ______
Comments:
Step Three: Look at the Works Cited page.
Is the page titled Works Cited, with no quotes or underline?
Are there at least four sources? _______
Are at least two sources cited at least twice?________
Are the entries correctly formatted?________
Is the first line of each entry at the margin with the following lines indented? __________
Are the entries single spaced within and double spaced between? _____
Comments: