Finance Writing Help

Writing a Research Paper

PET 3510

Writing a Research Paper

• Choosing Your Topic • Narrowing Your Topic

• Writing a Thesis Statement

• Creating an Outline

• Breadth. You may need to start broad and let your research take you narrower. “Cone it down”

• Originality. Choose a topic that will allow you to contribute to the field, rather than just regurgitate facts.

• Sources. Choose a topic that has scholarly grounding.

Choosing Your Topic

• Focus on a specific TYPE or CLASS

• Focus on a particular PLACE or REGION

• Focus on a certain TIME PERIOD

• Focus on a certain ASPECT o Social, legal, medical, ethical, biological,

psychological, economic, political, philosophical, etc.

• Focus on a specific POPULATION o Gender, age, occupation, ethnicity, nationality,

educational attainment, species, etc.

• Focus on a RELATIONSHIP with two or more topics

• COMBINE different kinds of focuses

Narrowing Your Topic

1. Use journalistic questions: who?, what?, when?, where?, why? how?

2. Review recent literature (journals, trade papers, etc.)

3. Recall questions asked.

4. Apply your paper to your career goals.

Narrowing Your Topic

Thesis sTaTemenT • The thesis statement is like an outline in miniature. It

is a “roadmap” for the rest of the paper.

• A typical thesis statement gives brief mention to each of the paper’s main points, and it also states the overall argument the writer wishes to make.

• It directly answers the question asked of you.

• It makes a claim that others might dispute.

• It is usually a single sentence near the end of the first paragraph that presents your argument to the reader.

idenTifying a sTrong Thesis sTaTemenT

• Do I answer the question?

• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose?

• Does my thesis pass the "So what?" test?

• Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering?

• Does my thesis pass the "how and why?" test?

The Writing Process

• Aids in the process of writing • Helps you organize your ideas • Presents your material in a logical form • Shows the relationships among ideas in your

writing • Constructs an ordered overview of your

writing • Defines boundaries and groups • Prevents you from “straying” from the topic

Benefits of an Outline

• Research: Perform initial research to learn about your chosen topic.

• Brainstorm: List all the ideas that you want to include in your paper.

• Organize: Group related ideas together.

• Order: Arrange material in subsections from general to specific or from abstract to concrete.

• Label: Create main and sub headings.

Creating an Outline

• Begin early! A strong, detailed outline is a crucial step of the writing process.

• Refer to your outline often. A strong outline provides a consistent backbone during the writing process.

• Be as specific as possible. This will be your guide throughout the entire writing process.

Outline Tips

• Avoid having too many subheadings. This may indicate that you can further narrow the topic of your paper.

• Don’t be afraid to change your outline. Further research may provide additional information or counterpoints.

• Allow yourself enough time to make changes. Attempting a complete overhaul of your paper the night before it’s due is both frustrating and often futile.

Outline Tips

7 Parts of a Research Paper 1. Abstract

– Brief summary of the paper (100-200 words)

2. Introduction – 5 W’s & The H

3. Review of Literature – The cone

4. Methods – The research recipe

5. Results – What you got – Use charts & graphs

6. Discussion – Why you got what you

got – What it means – How to use this

information – Future directions

7. References