How to Write a Research Paper
Day One
How to Write a Research Paper
Day One
• Get-to-know you
• What is it?
– Different types of papers
• Choosing a topic
– Brainstorming
– Too broad/narrow
• Initial research
– Credible sources
– Varied sources
Get-to-Know You
Mrs. Ward
10th
grade
English
Brewbaker
Technology
Magnet High
Reading,
guitar
playing
•
•
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•
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What is your name?
What grade?
Which school?
What are some of your hobbies?
What experience do you have with
research papers?
What Is a Research Paper?
• A research report that uses information
gathered from various sources
• “…the culmination and final product of an
involved process of research, critical thinking,
source evaluation, organization, and
composition” (OWL at Perdue)
• Not a summary of information from primary
and secondary sources
Types of Research Papers
• Argumentative: takes a stance or
makes a claim that will be
supported; meant to be persuasive
• Analytical: explores a question on
which the writer may not have a
specific claim; meant to be
expository
Choosing a Topic
• Check with your teacher
– Topic list?
– Length?
• Find your interest
• Brainstorm
– List
– Cluster
– Discuss with others
Brainstorming
Too Broad or Too Narrow
Too broad: The Space Race in the
Twentieth Century
Not too broad: The Apollo 11 Space
Mission
Too narrow: Corvette Mag Wheels
Not too narrow: The Two Best-Rated Sports Cars
of the Year
Narrowing Down
Narrowing Down
Narrowing Down
Narrowing Down
Homelessness
• Topically
o Homeless Senior Citizens
o Homeless Shelters
o Education for the Homeless
o Food for the Homeless
Narrowing Down
Homelessness
• Chronologically
o Homelessness During the Great
Depression
o Homelessness Before and After the
Reagan Administration
• Geographically
o Homelessness in New York City
o Homelessness in Florida
o Homelessness in Mexico
Narrowing Down
Homelessness
• Combinations of Techniques
o Education for Homeless Children in
New York City
o Homelessness in Florida Before and
After the Reagan Administration
I Have My Topic… Now What?
Initial Research
•Encyclopedia articles
•Internet articles
•Non-fiction book
•Scholarly news articles
•Film documentaries
Credible Sources
• Not all information is trustworthy, particularly
on the Internet!
C
• Check all sources for credibility:
A
R
R
D
S
S
C
A
R
R
D
S
S
Credibility (Authority)
•Who is the author?
•What are his/her credentials? Education?
Experience? Affiliation?
•Does he/she offer first-hand credibility?
•Who actually published this page?
•Is this a personal page, or is it an endorsed part of
a site belonging to a major institution? (Clues
pointing to a personal page: ~ tilde, %, users,
members)
•Is the page hosted by a free server like AOL
Members, Tripod, or Geocities?
C
Credibility (Authority)
A
I can’t find author information!
R
R
Look for:
D
•About Us, Who Am I, FAQs, For
More, Company Information, Profiles,
Our Staff, Home
S
S
•E-mail address for the author to ask
for more information
C
A
Credibility (Authority)
What do others think?
Do a link check:
R
R
D
S
S
•In Google or AltaVista type link:site address
•Your results will show which other sites have
chosen to link the page. If several respectable
institutions are linked to the site, that provides a
clue about the site’s credibility.
•Does the site appear in major subject directories
like Librarian’s Index to the Internet (lii.org)?
C
A
R
R
Credibility (Authority)
Truncate the URL
Delete characters in the address line up to the next slash
mark to see if a main page offers more information about
who is responsible for publishing the page you are interested
in.
D
http://www.statecollege.edu/history/middleages/chaucer/s
mith/htm
S
http://www.statecollege.edu/history/middleages/chaucer
S
http://www.statecollege.edu/history/middleages
http://www.statecollege.edu/history
http://www.statecollege.edu
C
Credibility (Authority)
A
If you have an author’s name but no further
information about credentials,
R
•Search the name in quotation marks in a search engine or
online database.
R
•On the Web, include words like profile, resume, or C.V.
(curriculum vitae—an academic resume) to narrow your
name search
D
S
S
•Also include the name of a college or association you can
connect with the person
•Ask your teacher/librarian for help
C
Accuracy
A
•Can facts, statistics, or other information be
verified through other sources?
R
R
•Based on your knowledge, does the information
seem accurate? Is the information consistent with
information you learned from other sources?
D
•Is the information second hand? Has it been
altered?
S
•Do there appear to be errors on the page
(spelling, grammar, facts)?
S
C
Accuracy
A
Practice checking for accuracy with a few of these
sites:
R
California’s Velcro Crop Under Challenge
http://home.inreach.com/kumbacj/velcro.html
R
D
The Jackalope Conspiracy
http://www.sudftw.com/jackcon.htm
S
Republic of Cascadia: Bureau of Sasquatch Affairs
http://zapatopi.net/bsa.html
S
Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division
http://www.dhmo.org
Federal Vampire & Zombie Agency
http://www.fvza.org
C
Reliability
A
•Does the source present a particular view or
bias?
R
•Is the page affiliated with an organization that
has a particular social or political agenda?
R
D
S
S
•Is the page selling a product?
•Can you find other material to offer balance so
that you can see the bigger picture?
•Was the information found in a paid placement
or sponsored result from the search engine?
Information is seldom neutral. Sometimes a bias is
useful for persuasive essays or debates.
Recognizing bias is important!
C
A
R
R
D
S
S
Reliability
Consider bias:
International Society for Animal Rights
http://www.isaronline.org/index.html
The American Physiological Society
http://www.theaps.org/pa/humane/pa_overview.
htm
C
Relevance
A
•Does this information directly support my
hypothesis/thesis or help to answer my question?
R
•Can I eliminate or ignore it because it simply
doesn’t help me?
R
D
S
S
C
A
Date
•When was this information created?
•When was it last revised?
R
R
D
S
S
•Are these dates meaningful in terms of your
information needs?
•Has the author of the page stopped maintaining
it?
•Be suspicious of undated material!
C
Date
A
For example, RMS Titanic:
R
•sank April 4, 1912
R
•survivors arrived in NYS April 11, 1912
•ship found September 1, 1985
D
S
S
C
Sources Behind the Text
A
•Did the author bother to document his/her
sources?
R
•Were those references reliable, popular,
scholarly, reputable?
R
D
S
S
•Are those sources real? Have you heard of or
been able to verify them?
•Is the material reproduced (accurately) from
another publication?
•What kinds of link did the author choose?
•Are the hyperlinks reliable and valuable?
C
A
R
Scope (Purpose)
•Does this source address my
hopthesis/thesis/question in a comprehensive or
peripheral way?
•Is it a scholarly or popular treatment?
R
•Is it material I can read and understand?
D
•Is it too simple? Too challenging?
S
S
•Who is the intended audience?
•Why was this page created? To inform or explain?
To persuade? To sell?
What Can You Learn from a
URL?
• You can use the end (or suffix) of a domain
name to help you judge the validity of the
information and the potential bias of a
website.
• This strategy is only a guideline. People can
easily purchase domains that do not reflect
their actual purpose.
URL Clues
.com = commercial sites (vary in their credibility)
.gov = U.S. government site
.org = organization, often non-profit (some have strong
bias and agendas)
.edu = school or university site (Is it K-12? By a student?
By a scholar?)
.store = retail business
.int – international institution
.ac = educational institution
.mil = U. S. military site
URL Clues
.net = networked service provider, Internet administrative
site
.museum = museum
.name = individual Internet user
.biz = a business
.pro = professional’s site
~ = personal site
URL Clues
http://personal.statecollege.edu/~ejv114/
http://www.fi.edu/wright/index.html
http://www.house.gov/house/Legproc.html
http://aolmembers.com/joyciev328/civalwarsong
Why Does Source Credibility
Matter?
Imagine making other choices in the future:
•Which car should I buy?
•Which doctor should I choose?
•Should my child have this surgery?
•Should I take this medication?
Be sure all information you choose is credible, reliable,
current, balanced, relevant, and accurate!
Source Variety
Remember, use varied sources, not
just the Internet
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Books
Magazines
Newspapers
Encyclopedias
Interviews
Documentary films
Textbooks
Medical journals
Bibliography
Everhart, Nancy. How to Write a Term Paper. Second ed.
Cornstock, Inc., 1987.
Markman, Ph.D., Roberta H., Peter T. Markman, and Marie L.
Waddell. 10 Steps in Writing the Research Paper. Sixth ed.
Barron's Educational Series, Inc., 2001.
Mrs. Horn's Short Story Project. Montgomery: Kim Horn, 2009.