Final Assignment

Format for Research Papers

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To recap the Format of the Paper:

• Title Page of the Paper. The title of your paper should be brief but should adequately inform the

reader of your general topic and the specific focus of your research. Keywords relating to parameters,

population, and other specifics are useful. The Title Page must include the title, name, course name and

number, and Professor’s Name.

I. Introduction, Research Question, and Hypothesis: This section shall provide an overview of

the topic that you are writing about, a concise synopsis of the issues, and why the topic presents a

“puzzle” that prompts your research questions, which you will include. This section will be 1-3 pages.

This section can be preceded by an epigraph that creates interest in the topic. Ensure that you follow

proper format for epigraphs!! You did this section in HW1.

II. Review of the Literature: All research projects include a literature review to set out for the

reader what knowledge exists on the subject under study and helps the researcher develop the research

strategy to use in the study. A good literature review is a thoughtful study of what has been written, a

summary of the arguments that exist (whether you agree with them or not), arranged thematically. At

the end of the summary, there should still be gaps in the literature that you intend to fill with your

research. It is written in narrative format and can be from 5-7 pages depending on the scope and length

of the paper. You did this in HW2.

III. Methodology and Research Strategy: This section provides the reader with a description of

how you are planning to conduct research. It explains what research approach you have chosen, and

where you will seek data to test your hypothesis. It describes any special considerations and defines any

limitations and terms specific to this project, if necessary. This section can be brief or more

complicated, depending on the project, written in 3 - 5 pages. You considered what approach and data

collection method would be right for your projects in HW1.

IV. Findings and Analysis: This section provides the results of your research and the analytical

arguments that will make as a result of your findings. In a quantitative project, this section would

provide the results of the data collection and an analysis of what it illustrates in empirical terms. This

section should also provide the evidence that proves (or disproves) the hypothesis. This section could

be 3 - 5 pages depending on the length of the paper and scope of the project. The outline will be short.

Format for Research Papers

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V. Conclusions: This section will contain the concluding analytical arguments based on what

research has revealed to answer the research question. Like any conclusion, it should provide a synopsis

of the project, the strategy, and the results and what they add to the body of knowledge. This section

should also offer suggestions for avenues of future research for other scholars, as all knowledge is

evolutionary. This section can be 3-5 pages depending on the scope of the project. The outline will be

short!!

VI. References (or Bibliography): This section will contain all references, cited in Turabian format

and alphabetically arranged. Entitle this section as either “References” or “Bibliography” depending on

the type of citation you use in the rest of the paper. You should have been compiling these and adding

to them as you’ve gone along. They should be error free!!!

CONDUCT A CHECKLIST OF THE FINAL DRAFT!!

I LOOK FORWARD TO READING YOUR PAPERS!!