RESEARCH

RESEARCH PAPER

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I. CHOOSING A TOPIC

A. CHOOSE A TOPIC ON PAGE 282 IN CWSR.

B. COMPLETE THESE FOUR SENTENCES:

1. My topic is _____.

2. Should __________?

3. (Group A) believes _____

should _____ because _____,

_____, and _____.

4. (Group B) believes _____

should not _____

because _____, _____, and _____.

II. GATHERING SOURCES

A. LIST TWENTY ARTICLES

1. PERIODICALS ONLY (NO BOOKS)

2. CURRENT TO WITHIN THE LAST

FIVE YEARS

B. SOURCES

1. INTERNET (OVID)

2. CD-ROM

3. BOOK INDEXES

4. BOOK COLLECTIONS

C. CHECK THE BLINN COLLEGE HOLDINGS

NOTEBOOK (BLUE)

D. MAKE COPIES

1. TEN COMPLETE ARTICLES MINIMUM

2. CURRENT ARE ON SHELVES

3. BACK ISSUES ON MICROFICHE

III. TAKING NOTES

A. READ & HIGHLIGHTKEY WORDS/NO

SENTENCES

1. NAMES

2. DATES

3. PLACES

4. NUMBERS

EXAMPLE: WITH A WINGSPAN OF 9’, THE WHITE PELICAN IS HUGE. IT IS WHITE WITH BLACK PRIMARY FEATHERS AND HAS A YELLOW THROAT-POUCH. THE WHITE PELICAN FLIES WITH ITS HEAD HUNCHED BACK ON ITS SHOULDERS AND ITS LONG FLAT BILL RESTING ON ITS CURVED NECK (PETERSON 8).

B. USE A SEPARATE NOTE PAGE FOR EACH

ARTICLE

C. HEADING

1. “TITLE OF ARTICLE”

2. TITLE OF MAGAZINE

3. TITLE OF SIRS BOOK

4. AUTHOR'S FULL NAME

5. PAGE NUMBERS

EXAMPLE: NOTES: Peterson, Roger

Tory. “Birds of America” National

Geographic. 118 (January 1952):

243-265

D. NOTES/NEVER SENTENCES

1. NOUNS/NO VERBS (ACTION

WORDS)

2. PLAGIARISM (COPYING ALL OR

NEARLY ALL OF A SENTENCE)

3. PARAPHRASE/DON'T QUOTE

a. THIS IS YOUR PAPER

b. SOURCES SUPPORT YOU

(2-3 AUTHORS PER

PARAGRAPH MINIMUM)

c. ONE SHORT QUOTE PER

TYPED PAGE

d. QUOTES =

CHERRY/BANANA SPLIT

NOT SALT/FRENCH FRIES

e. PARAPHRASE =

SENTENCE/PARAGRAPH

f. SPECIFIC INFO. (NAMES,

DATES, NUMBERS)

EXAMPLE: NOTES: Peterson,

Roger Tory. “Birds of America”

National Geographic. 118 (January

1952): 243-267.

WHITE PELICAN. HUGE: 9’

WINGSPAN. WHITE, BLACK

PRIMARY FEATHERS, YELLOW

THROAT-POUCH. FLIES: HEAD

BACK ON SHOULDERS, BILL

(LONG, FLAT) ON NECK (CURVED)

E. CORRELATE NOTES TO OUTLINE

1. RE-READ YOUR OUTLINE AND

DECIDE WHAT INFORMATION

YOU WILL NEED AS SUPPORT

2. RE-READ YOUR NOTES AND

LOOK FOR INFORMATION YOU

CAN USE AS SUPPORT

3. USE A RED PEN TO LABEL NOTES

WITH THE FOLLOWING CODE:

4. IDEAS FOR BODY PARAGRAPH

ONE = IA, IB, OR IC.

5. IDEAS FOR BODY PARAGRAPH

TWO = IIA, IIB, OR IIC.

6. IDEAS FOR BODY PARAGRAPH

THREE = IIIA, IIIB, OR IIIC

IV. PLANNING THE PAPER

A. PRE-WRITING

1. ROLE

2. AUDIENCE

3. PURPOSE

4. CLUSTER (YOUR IDEAS)

5. PATTERN OF ORGANIZATION

6. THESIS (YOUR OWN)

7. 3 TOPIC SENTENCES (YOUR OWN)

8. FORMAL OUTLINE

V. WRITING THE PAPER

A. USE YOUR NOTES TO WRITE YOUR

ESSAY/NEVER USE PHOTOCOPIES

B. ROUGH DRAFT/INTRODUCTION

1. BACKGROUND

2. DEFINITIONS

3. THESIS

C. ROUGH DRAFT/BODY PARAGRAPHS:

(DEVELOPMENT = 50%/50%)

1. (25%) YOUR TOPIC SENTENCES

2. (25%) YOUR MAIN IDEAS

3. (50%) THEIR FACTS

(a) PARAPHRASE

(b) THEIR IDEAS

(c) YOUR WORDS

(d) 2/3 SOURCES (AUTHORS)

PER PARAGRAPH, MINIMUM

4. INTERNAL DOCUMENTATION

(a) WHICH IDEAS =

WHICH SOURCES

(b) EVERY 2-3 SENTENCES

(c) (AUTHOR'S LAST NAME

AND PAGE NUMBER)

(d) IDEA (SMITH 12).

(e) LOTS OF INT.DOC. /PARAG.

(f) REFERS READER TO

WORKS CITED PAGE

EXAMPLE (in essay):

White pelicans are large birds that

have a wingspan of up to nine feet

(Peterson 8).

D. ROUGH DRAFT/CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH

1. TODAY'S SOCIETY

2. HISTORY/PROBLEM

3. CURRENT SITUATION

4. SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATION

(PURPOSE)

5. THREATEN/PROMISE

6. END POSITIVELY

E. ROUGH DRAFT WORKS CITED PAGE

1. LAST PAGE

2. TITLE: WORKS CITED

3. LIBRARY INFORMATION OF

SOURCES USED

4. ALPHABETIZE BY AUTHOR'S

LAST NAME

5. DO NOT NUMBER THE SOURCE

6. PP.279-293 C.W.S./PP.456-473

L.B.H.

EXAMPLES:

Newspaper:

Malnic, Eric. “Jet Engine, Wing Flaps

Under Study.” Los Angeles Times.

2 Sept.1988, sec I: 1+.

Magazine:

Lopez, Steve. "Grandfather's

Footsteps." Newsweek 17 Dec.

1990: 49.

Journal with volume number:

Gordon, J.M. "Ideal Solar Concentrators

for Photoelectrochemical cells."

Solar Energy. 40 (1988): 391-95.

Journal with volume number and series

number:

Bagley, Bruce M. "Columbia and the War

on Drugs." Foreign Affairs. 67.1

(1988): a70-92.

SIRS:

Gilman, Robert. "No Simple Answers."

In Context (Spring 1992): 10-13.

Rpt. in Population, Vol. 5. Ed.

Eleanor Goldstein. Boca Raton, Fla.:

Social Issues Resources Series,

Inc.1993. Art. 44.

INTERNET:

Angier, Natalia. “Chemists learn why

vegetables are good for you.”

New York Times 13 April 1993: C1.

New York Times Online (database).

Online (publication). Nexus (computer

service). 10 Feb. 1994 (date of

access).

VI. EDITING THE PAPER

A. PEER CRITIQUE

B. FINAL DRAFT

VII. ORAL PRESENTATIONS

A. Presentation

1. In a 10-minute presentation, tell the

class what you have learned from

your research.

2. Grades will be based on quality of

evidence.

3. Creativity will also greatly affect

grades.

EXAMPLES: games, posters, overheads,

handouts, props, plays

B. Evaluation

1. All students must evaluate one

another on a scale of 1 (poor)

to 5 (excellent).

2. Evaluations are worth one half the

total presentation grade.

VIII. TURN IN FINAL DRAFT OF RESEARCH PAPER

A. 1^ST PAGE SHOULD BE THE RESEARCH

ASSIGNMENT HANDOUT.

B. BEHIND THAT, INCLUDE ALL EIGHT STEPS

OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT IN

CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.

C. THE FINAL DRAFT SHOULD BE THE LAST

ASSIGNMENT IN THE RESEARCH FOLDER.