Research Process Worksheet
Name:
Topic:
Accumulating a collection of facts is essential to writing a paper on any topic. However, presenting facts alone is only part of scholarship.
Scholarship on all levels, from elementary through university, also involves interpretation and analysis of the facts. In other words, “here’s what we
know – what does it mean? Generating open-ended questions can lead you to forming your thesis, which expresses your point of view.
Keywords: Details (persons, places, facts and other vocabulary) about your topic that will serve as “clues” to guide further research
Relation to Topic: Briefly explain how Keywords relate to your topic (NOT the definition of the Keyword).
Essential Questions: Open-ended questions that help you go from developing ideas to developing a point of view (why, how, which?)
Ideas / Interpretation / Analysis: A place to synthesize what you’ve learned from your research and put together your thoughts.
Example: Topic is Civil War
Keywords/
Concepts
Slave owners
Relation to Topic
Slave owners were in favor of
fighting to keep slavery legal
both from a “preserve the
economy of the South”
perspective as well as a
“preserve our aristocratic way
of life” perspective.
Essential Questions
Ideas / Interpretation / Analysis
How much did the viewpoint of the Southern
aristocracy represent the viewpoint of the
majority in the South?
The Southern aristocracy exerted an
incredible amount of influence over the
politics of the Southern states.
Which perspective was more important to
wealthy slave-owners; preserving the
Southern economy or preserving their own
status?
The “southern ideal” of being a
member of the “planter-aristocracy”
was so important to that it was a status
coveted by most.
There is evidence to suggest that
Southern secession resulted from a
“what was best for me” mentality more
so than from the advertised “what was
best for us” mentality.
Research Process Worksheet
Name:
Source:
Keywords
Topic:
Relation to Topic
Essential Questions
Ideas / Interpretation / Analysis