Writing an Article     Part 1

Introduction to Research

There's a ton of information available online about writing papers for college classes, mostly provided by college and university writing departments. But when your political science or biology or economics instructor assigns you a research paper, writing the paper is only half the battle. Before you can start writing, you have to explore the subject to find a topic, locate relevant information, analyse the issues and organize your arguments. These activities take more time and require different skills than the final step — writing the paper. And many students haven't had a lot of formal training in how to do research and prepare information for writing a "research paper."

Librarians provide a lot of help to students in the exploring, finding and organizing phases of their writing projects. They've done research on how students approach these tasks, how they feel while they're doing them, and what kinds of activities lead to a successful research paper ( Kuhlthau, 1993 and 1994).

The assignment is your final product, but a research article involves an extensive process before you can generate the product. This Step by Step section will guide you through this process from getting the assignment to writing the paper.

Read over the instructions for the assignment to make sure you fully understand what the instructor has in mind and on what basis you will be graded. The Roane State Community College OWL (Online Writing Lab) (Henley, 1996) describes some common types of research papers as:

Report

Sometimes, a teacher will assign topics or give students a range of topics to choose from and ask that the students write a research paper on the topic. This type of research paper is really a form of individual study. The measure of success is how well the student can conduct research, analyse and organize the information and communicate it clearly in written form. Frequently, reports require an oral presentation to the class as well.

Issue Analysis

A research paper may highlight a particular issue or problem in a field of study. The paper may focus on analysis of the issue and its solutions, possibly from both historical and current perspectives. The posture of the writer is frequently that of a neutral observer more than an advocate for a particular position. The success of the paper is often based on how completely and clearly the writer has identified the key aspects of the issue and their significance to the field to which they relate.

Advocacy or Persuasion

A research paper may involve taking a stand on an issue and defending it against opposing points of view. The student will research the issues and read others' arguments for and against. The paper will anticipate and deflect arguments against the position, while presenting supporting evidence in favour of the position. Success will depend on how persuasively the paper makes its case and defends against possible opposition.

There's also a quick reference list of different types of papers with short descriptions of each type at the Houston Community College Systems Library, available at its Web site, (http://www.hccs.cc.tx.us/Library/TipSheets/Essay.html). See also our links to Common Types of Papers and Papers on Special Subjects for articles on the unique aspects of various types of essays and research papers.

Be sure you understand what kind of a paper you've been asked to write, since the approach you'd take could be vastly different, depending on the purpose of the paper and the expectations of your instructor!

1.2 Consider the process you'll use

The paper is your final product, but a research paper involves an extensive process before you can generate the product. If you focus too quickly on the end product, you may miss some of the important research steps and find yourself writing a paper without enough understanding of the topic to do an A+ job. Browse over the rest of the steps suggested in this manual to get an idea of the process and think about how you'll approach each step. Start a journal or notebook and begin jotting notes about not only "what" you plan to do but also "how" you plan to do it.

For a quicker overview of similar research steps, and why they're important, see "Steps in the Research Process," (Hord, 1995 B) at the HCCS Libraries' Web site (http://www.hccs.cc.tx.us/Library/Center/Lobby/Steps.html).

1.3 Set your deadlines for each step of the assignment

Ideally, you will have at least four weeks from the date it's assigned to complete a research paper of 7 or 8 pages (2,000 to 2,500 words). Shorter papers requiring fairly simple research (4 or 5 pages - 1,500 words) may not require four weeks' "lead time," while a 15 page or longer paper might be a semester-long project. The page "Scheduling Your Project" will help you set time deadlines for yourself.

1.4 Think about possible topics

The word "topic" is used variably by many teachers of writing and research to mean anything from the very general "subject matter" to the very specific "thesis statement." In this manual, the term topic is broadly defined, while focus means a narrower perspective on the topic, and thesis statement is the main point of your paper, which cannot be determined until after research and analysis is complete. Look over Step 2, Discovering a Topic, and Step 3, Looking for and Forming a Focus for more information about these distinctions.

1.5 Info Search - browse, read, relax

Start by thumbing through the textbooks or course pack for the class in which your paper was assigned. Browse the table of contents, chapter headings and subheadings, to get an overview of the subject matter. Visit your library and browse in the catalog and reference room to find out what sources are held by the library which may relate to your class. Browse some of the subject-indexed sources on the internet with the same purpose. The Info Search section of this manual will help you learn how and where to browse.

Your objective in this step is to get a "bird's eye view" of the general subject matter, to give your brain some ideas to work on while you're getting ready for the step of choosing a topic.

1.6 Relate your prior experience and learning

The process of successful research and writing involves building on what you know. You don't need to know a lot about a subject in order to use it as your topic, but choosing one you're totally unfamiliar with could be a mistake. It may take so much time and effort to become informed about the subject that you don't really have time to get into the depth required by your assignment.

1.7 Jot down your questions and ideas about possible topics

Use your notebook to starting recording questions which interest you or ideas for possible topics. If you're researching a paper for a 20th century American history class, write down questions you wonder about:

Why did the stock market crash in 1929?
Who was the worst 20th century American President?
Did the Cigarette Smoking Man from X-Files really kill JFK?

You'll end up with a list of ideas and musings, some of which are obviously ridiculous and not reasonable topics for your paper, but don't worry about that at this point. Think about things which interest you and which build upon some experience or knowledge you have or build upon things you're presently learning in class.

Also see the links to Reading Techniques and Journal Writing for tips on how to use a journal to help you in researching and writing a paper.

1.8 Brainstorm, alone and with others

Toss ideas around in your mind. Bounce ideas off of your classmates, your teacher or (heaven forbid) your siblings and parents, to get their reactions and ideas. Many times another person will have a fresh perspective you might not have thought of, or something they say will trigger an idea for you.

Use the notes you've made and the thinking you've done so far to select some areas for general reading. Use the library's reference room--encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs--to get an overview of possible topics (even if your instructor has told you that you can't use an encyclopedia as a reference--that's not important at this stage). Explore CD-ROM tools in your library, like newspaper and magazine indexes, searching with key words representing your topic ideas. Explore the internet by using several of the resources organized by subject. The Info Search section of this manual will help you learn how and where to find these resources.

Remember to keep your concept of topic rather broad at this stage--you can look for a focus later, after you know something about the topic. Read the article " Narrowing Your Essay Topic," from the University of Victoria, ( http://webserver.maclab.comp.uvic.ca/writersguide/Pages) for some specific examples of broader and narrower topics. Also consider framing your topic as a question, as recommended by the HCCS Libraries in " The Art of Research Questions" ( http://www.hccs.cc.tx.us/Library/Center/Lobby).

2.2 Continue thinking and jotting down questions and ideas in your notebook

As you read, ideas and questions may strike you - write them down, or you'll lose track of them. Look for issues which interest you, which arouse your curiosity or your passion (no, not that kind of passion, unless it's a human sexuality course). Consider the audience for your research paper: what kinds of things have been discussed in class that seemed to interest the class and the instructor? What kinds of issues were touched upon but could use further study and elaboration?

Here is advice from Colgate University on this process:

Write down all the ideas that occur to you--the brilliant insights, the stupid questions, the complaints, the emotions, the reactions, the things you're reminded of--everything. (Typically these ideas will crowd into your head as you write out your answers to the prewriting tasks. Instead of pushing them aside, forgetting them, or telling yourself that they are irrelevant, write them down. Later you may find relevance to things that at first seemed immaterial.) ( http://www2.colgate.edu/diw/model.html)

Also see the links to Planning and Starting the Writing Process, especially the Ideas section and Reading Techniques and Journal Writing.

2.3 Info Survey – what print and electronic resources are available?

When you've narrowed your choices down, make a quick survey of the research resources which will be available to you on each potential topic. How much information seems to be available in your library's catalog? If it's a current topic, is there information in newspaper and magazine indexes and are those newspapers and magazines held by your library? Is there much authoritative information on your topic on the internet? Is the available information slanted to one side of an issue versus another? How much work will it take to get the information you need if you choose a particular topic?

2.4 Try different topics on for "size"

The topic you choose should "fit" in several important respects: your interests and knowledge, the purpose of the assignment, the type of paper (report, issue, argument), the length of the paper. Don't worry too much about having a broad topic at this point--in Step 3 you'll be looking for a focus to narrow the topic down to a manageable size for research and writing. Look for topic ideas at Researchpaper.com (http://www.researchpaper.com/) or in your library. Ask the reference librarian if the library has books of suggested topics like 10,000 Ideas for Term Papers, Projects, Reports & Speeches (Lamm, 1995).

Now you'll be using the library's online catalog, online indexes and the Web search engines along with the reference room and the subject-based Web directories. Learn how in the Info Search section.

3.2 Info Search - preliminary note taking

As you read, start taking notes of what you're learning about your topic--concepts, issues, problems, areas where experts agree or disagree. Keep track of the bibliographic references for the information you're using, and write down a note or two of what's contained in the book, article, Website, etc. There's nothing more frustrating than knowing you read something earlier about a particular point and not being able to locate it again when you decide it's something you need.

Find out what kind of citations are required by your instructor and make sure you're recording what you'll need to do your bibliography. See links to Citing Sources.

3.3 Purposeful thinking about possible focuses

While you're learning about your topic, intentionally look for possible focuses in the material. You could spend enormous amounts of time reading, especially about an interesting topic, without being any closer to a focus unless you purposefully keep that goal in your mind while you read.

3.4 Choosing a focus or combining themes to form a focus

Try your choices of focus on for "size" as you did your topic. Which ones fit the assignment, the size, scope and type of the paper? Think about which of your possible focuses has the best chance for making a successful A+ paper. If you find several themes within your topic which each are too small to support the entire paper, can they be combined to form a focus?

If you haven't yet read the linked articles on

• Ideas
• The topic
• Thesis statement

Browse through them to get suggestions for focusing and narrowing your topic.

TOP