1.3 Assignment
Getting Started
A researcher's introduction to a body of work, including the thesis statement, is a collaboration of directed information for a specific audience. The introduction explains the research currently being conducted, as tasked by the researcher, and why the researcher is dedicating efforts to research the specific subject.
Research, of any quality, will exhibit an introductory foundation that provides a preliminary view of what is to come from the study. The thesis statement serves as a centralized synopsis that allows readers to understand the direction that will be taken with the subject matter.
Research can often be personal, whether previously conducted on a particular subject or not. Nonetheless, the introduction and thesis statement should grab the reader and allow any audience to understand the work that is going to be performed.
Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:
· Apply strategies and guidelines for writing an effective research paper.
· Create an introduction explaining the motivation, focus, purpose, and overview of the research paper.
· Develop an argumentative thesis statement demonstrating a strong opinion on a criminal justice or homeland security topic.
· Identify potential subjects for your case study.
Resources
· Media: Writing in the Social Sciences
· Website: IWU Resources
· File: Research Paper Criteria.docx
Background Information
The first step of writing a research paper is to find a topic and narrow it down so it is feasible to research. Your goal is to sway your reader to your way of thinking or believing. You want to make a claim and then convince your reader. Your claim is written at the beginning of your paper in the introduction.
An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true, based on the evidence provided.
Write an introduction to your thesis statement that provides the background and motivation for choosing your research topic. Your introduction should effectively demonstrate the focus and purpose of your study within this research paper. For this introduction, you are also to design research questions (two to three, with one that describes your overarching theme) that derive from your thesis statement and support your introduction of the issue you are researching. Finally, you will identify two to three potential subjects of your case study.
Let's consider an example. You believe that police officers in large urban police departments may be adversely affected by the increasing demands of report writing using computers, as they do not receive adequate training.
You devise a thesis statement or research problem to be addressed in your case study:
"The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of increased computer-based report writing for police officers located in large urban police departments."
Next, you design a research question that supports the issue you are researching:
"What are the effects of increased access to computer-based technology for report writing on court testimony performance for Newark, N.J., police officers with less than three years on the job?"
Instructions
Topic – Study is to determine the effects of defunding the police funds
1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
2. View the lesson presentation Writing in the Social Sciences.
a. Complete the interactive activities to learn more about the writing process for a research paper, including narrowing the focus of a topic and creating a thesis statement.
3. Using the Internet or journals, research topics concerning criminal justice and homeland security that are of interest to you.
4. Review the writing resources available by going to the IWU Resources link under the Course Dashboard.
a. Learn more about the process of writing an argument paper, including how to create a compelling thesis statement, by visiting the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) website.
i. Use search terms such as "thesis statement" and "argument papers" to locate the relevant information.
b. Another suggested resource is "Writing a Thesis Statement" provided by the Writing Tutorial Services of Indiana University, Bloomington.
5. Write an introduction to your thesis statement that provides the background and motivation for choosing your research topic. Your introduction should effectively demonstrate the focus and purpose of your study within this research paper.
6. Create a thesis statement that meets this criteria:
a. Your thesis statement should be specific, where it states a problem, creates a hypothesis, and allows for this to be tested effectively in real time during your research.
b. You should be addressing an issue in criminal justice or homeland security that you feel needs to be addressed. Explain what your research results can do to assist or validate this problem or conflict.
c. You can choose to research a qualitative case study previously conducted, with another human subject. You should create a design that addresses the same issue yet, based on your methods, will create the same or better results for the problem addressed. Create research questions that derive from your thesis statement in order to allow the reader to understand what you are attempting to accomplish.
7. Download the Research Paper Criteria.docx file. Use this document to review and evaluate your capstone research paper in progress against the required criteria. Is your work on each section of the paper satisfactory, or does it need improvement?
8. Write a paragraph where you identify potential subjects of your case study:
a. Who will you contact? Identify two-three potential candidates should one person decline, or be unable to complete your questionnaire. Consider those you know in the field. Put out an initial inquiry – is the subject willing to be interviewed?
9. APA in-text citations and references should be used for all references made in your writing.