RESEARCH PAPER SURVIVAL GUIDE
WEB-BASED RESEARCH AS A POINT OF DEPARTURE
Author: Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.
GETTING STARTED
Developing your “Previous Work” section with web-based research forms the cornerstone of this approach to writing research papers. It may seem a bit formulaic to follow the steps presented below, but it is amazingly effective. One of the benefits of the approach is that it compels the researcher to take a step back and to investigate the work that has already been done in the field, and to develop a sense of the evolution of the thoughts and ideas in the area. It also allows the researcher to work from a deeper base of knowledge.
Step 1: Identify your Research Topic
--In one sentence or less, state your main research topic.
--In a paragraph, expand your statement and develop and explanation and a justification.
Step 2: Define Key Terms for Understanding your Research Topic
Develop a list of 10 to 20 terms that are critical for understanding your research topic, the issues and ramifications of your research, and previous work done in the field.
--This list can be expanded as you continue to write your paper.
--Develop at least a one-paragraph description / definition for each.
Step 3: Identify 5 Main Categories, Topics or Themes within your Research TopicList five or more topics or themes involved in your research.
--This list will be expanded with sub-categories
--It will form the basis of your online research
--It will be used as a point of departure for developing a history of the ideas relating to the various categories of your research
--It will also be used for developing the “Previous Work” section.
Step 4: Online Research in the 5 Main CategoriesOnline research in the main research categories should take place in the following areas:
--Using general search engines such as http://www.google.com
--Use the OCLC FirstSearch service, which connects libraries and their holdings http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/
--Use online journals in your general categories of research. You may wish to look at general search engines such as the Center for Research Libraries: http://www.crl.edu/default.asp
Step 5: Develop “Previous Work” Section Around Online Research in the 5 Main CategoriesFind at least ten articles for each of the five main categories. This will result in a total of at least 50 references.
The references should:
--Provide a “history of ideas” or an evolutionary chain around the various categories
--Help explain the issues involved in your research
Create an “Article Overview” for each of the articles you find.
Information to include in the “Article Overview”:--Name of authors of the published study you are referring to
--Date published
--Where the study took place, and what it covered
--Principle findings
--Why the findings or ideas in the article are relevant to your task
Step 6: Explain Your Research MethodologyA one-paragraph overview, with a step-by-step approach. If there are any similar studies which can be found on the Internet, be sure to list those.
Step 7: Justify Your MethodologyExplain how and why you developed the approach you’re going to use. Describe successful uses of the same (or similar) approach.
Step 8: Explain How you will Test your Method and Your Results to Assure Yourself of the Validity of your ResultsThe big reality check comes here. Describe how you will test your data and your findings. Will you use statistics? Which ones? Why? What sort of evidence will you use to support your claims, and how will you test your multiple working hypotheses?
Step 9: Develop an AbstractThe abstract should be a single paragraph (150 words or fewer) stating the nature of the investigation and summarizing its important conclusions. The abstract should be suitable for separate publication and be adequate for indexing. Even if you have not yet done your research, you should at least be able to anticipate certain findings (based on your multiple working hypotheses).
Here's an outline to follow when putting together an abstract of research that you have either already done, or of work you plan to do. 1--Start with a sentence like this -- "This paper presents the research design, research problem, and anticipated possible results research conducted xxx"
2--Use one sentence to summarize your research problem and the reason the research is important.
3--Use one sentence to describe your research design and methodology (where, what, when, etc.)
4--Describe how you plan to analyze your data.
5--Possible results or outcomes (list at least three)
After you have finished these steps, you will be ready to summarize the data you collected, present your analysis of your data, and discuss your findings.
Saturday, July 05, 2003
Sunday, June 29, 2003
Writing Persuasive Essays and the Internet: Getting Started
Let your emotions guide you.
A persuasive essay is difficult to write if you don’t care about your topic. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you have to become a passionate advocate, organize campaigns, lead rallies, or anything extreme. However, it does mean that you have to do enough thinking about the subject matter to start to feel an interest in not only the obvious points, but also the deeper issues.
Begin to explore the topic. Start not only with a search on google.com, but move to the more interesting meta-search engines such as http://www.dogpile.com and http://www.looksmart.com. For recent articles in Time, People, and other wide-circulation journals, you may wish to search http://www.pathfinder.com
Find an issue with two clearly-defined sides.
It’s much easier to take a position if the issue is a controversial one which has two clearly defined sides. If not, your arguments are likely to be fairly muddy. Further, it will be more difficult to acknowledge the counter-argument to your thesis statement (the “anti-thesis”).
Granted, by breaking down an argument into two simple sides, you reduce the possibilities of subtlety and complexity. However, it makes it easier to write. You can always put in the caveats and provisos later.
Find expert opinions.
While you’re still researching your topic, start collecting expert opinions. These will help you support your case. Even better, they’ll give you new ideas about your topic, and will facilitate brainstorming.
Not surprisingly, good place for “expert opinions” is your friendly neighborhood virtual library. If you are a university student, check out FirstSearch, which you may access through your library’s portal. For online journals, try the Internet Public Library at http://www.ipl.org/div/serials/
Find examples or case studies.
Everyone likes to read a story. If you use examples and case studies, and you’re willing to present an in-depth view of it, you may be amazed at how your paper comes alive. You will not have to rely on impassioned speeches, high hysteria, or other easily ignored (and overwhelmingly discredited) approaches. Appeal to the voyeur in your audience – let them peek into real lives and real stories!
Pathfinder.com is a good way to search the Time-Warner family of magazines, which includes the online versions of People, Time, babytalk, Southern Living, Parenting, InStyle, The Progressive Farmer, cnnMoney, Fortune, Entertainment Weekly, and more. Depending on your subject, you may need to go to an online magazine that contains articles that pertain to your investigation. You may need to research online journals for more scientific or research-oriented articles. The Internet Public Library’s “Reading Room” http://www.ipl.org/div/serials gives you access to journals, many of whom provide articles as pdf files.
For business case studies, Forbes.com http://www.forbes.com offers an excellent search engine, along with full-text articles and maps. These are free, although there are some annoying pop-up ads and potentially system-freezing applets and javascript.
Magatopia.com http://www.magatopia.com provides links to online magazines, grouped by category. The breadth and scope of the online magazines are excellent, although the magatopia.com search engine seems to be less effective than others. The Forbes.com search engine, in contrast, is one of the best I’ve seen.
What do you want to achieve with your essay? Think beyond the requirements of a class.
Nothing is more tedious than reading someone’s “canned” essay. This is not to say that it was plagiarized, although heaven knows there are plenty of opportunities to grab a paper at such heinous sites as termpaper.com. In theory, those sites are grand – they allow nice “A” students to “share” their wealth of knowledge by posting papers and giving a boost to struggling students who will simply use their papers as a point of departure.
My personal feeling is that this is cheating – not only in the legal sense, but in a “human dignity” sense. You’re cheating yourself of an opportunity to write about something you care about. Moreover, people who plagiarize are reinforcing a sense of themselves, by saying (implicitly if nothing else) that their words are not as good as the words of others. This is not true! Everyone’s ideas have value. Speak up! Let yourself be heard!
Let your emotions guide you.
A persuasive essay is difficult to write if you don’t care about your topic. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you have to become a passionate advocate, organize campaigns, lead rallies, or anything extreme. However, it does mean that you have to do enough thinking about the subject matter to start to feel an interest in not only the obvious points, but also the deeper issues.
Begin to explore the topic. Start not only with a search on google.com, but move to the more interesting meta-search engines such as http://www.dogpile.com and http://www.looksmart.com. For recent articles in Time, People, and other wide-circulation journals, you may wish to search http://www.pathfinder.com
Find an issue with two clearly-defined sides.
It’s much easier to take a position if the issue is a controversial one which has two clearly defined sides. If not, your arguments are likely to be fairly muddy. Further, it will be more difficult to acknowledge the counter-argument to your thesis statement (the “anti-thesis”).
Granted, by breaking down an argument into two simple sides, you reduce the possibilities of subtlety and complexity. However, it makes it easier to write. You can always put in the caveats and provisos later.
Find expert opinions.
While you’re still researching your topic, start collecting expert opinions. These will help you support your case. Even better, they’ll give you new ideas about your topic, and will facilitate brainstorming.
Not surprisingly, good place for “expert opinions” is your friendly neighborhood virtual library. If you are a university student, check out FirstSearch, which you may access through your library’s portal. For online journals, try the Internet Public Library at http://www.ipl.org/div/serials/
Find examples or case studies.
Everyone likes to read a story. If you use examples and case studies, and you’re willing to present an in-depth view of it, you may be amazed at how your paper comes alive. You will not have to rely on impassioned speeches, high hysteria, or other easily ignored (and overwhelmingly discredited) approaches. Appeal to the voyeur in your audience – let them peek into real lives and real stories!
Pathfinder.com is a good way to search the Time-Warner family of magazines, which includes the online versions of People, Time, babytalk, Southern Living, Parenting, InStyle, The Progressive Farmer, cnnMoney, Fortune, Entertainment Weekly, and more. Depending on your subject, you may need to go to an online magazine that contains articles that pertain to your investigation. You may need to research online journals for more scientific or research-oriented articles. The Internet Public Library’s “Reading Room” http://www.ipl.org/div/serials gives you access to journals, many of whom provide articles as pdf files.
For business case studies, Forbes.com http://www.forbes.com offers an excellent search engine, along with full-text articles and maps. These are free, although there are some annoying pop-up ads and potentially system-freezing applets and javascript.
Magatopia.com http://www.magatopia.com provides links to online magazines, grouped by category. The breadth and scope of the online magazines are excellent, although the magatopia.com search engine seems to be less effective than others. The Forbes.com search engine, in contrast, is one of the best I’ve seen.
What do you want to achieve with your essay? Think beyond the requirements of a class.
Nothing is more tedious than reading someone’s “canned” essay. This is not to say that it was plagiarized, although heaven knows there are plenty of opportunities to grab a paper at such heinous sites as termpaper.com. In theory, those sites are grand – they allow nice “A” students to “share” their wealth of knowledge by posting papers and giving a boost to struggling students who will simply use their papers as a point of departure.
My personal feeling is that this is cheating – not only in the legal sense, but in a “human dignity” sense. You’re cheating yourself of an opportunity to write about something you care about. Moreover, people who plagiarize are reinforcing a sense of themselves, by saying (implicitly if nothing else) that their words are not as good as the words of others. This is not true! Everyone’s ideas have value. Speak up! Let yourself be heard!
