THE RESEARCH ESSAY

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THE RESEARCH ESSAY

• Every students' guide to success

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What is a research essay?

• The research essay leads you into the works of
  others and asks you to compare their thoughts
  with your own
• Writing a research essay involves going to source
  material and synthesizing what you learn from it
  with your own ideas
• You must find texts on the subject and use them
  to support the topic you have been given to
  explore
• You must take particular care to narrow your
  topic so you don't get lost in a mountain of
  information

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STEP 1 Topic

• Usually assigned by your teacher
• Usually chosen from a list
• Can be self generated, with your teacher's
  approval
• Not a research question
• Not a thesis statement

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STEP 2 Understanding the topic

• Involves preliminary research and then refining
  of your topic through the careful examination of
  the available resources
• Involves preliminary READING
• This step is crucial in the writing of a research
  essay because once you've settled on a general
  subject area or sketchy topic, you'll need to
  determine if refining is necessary (narrowing or
  broadening)

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Step 3Refining your topic

• The amount of resources is often a great guide
  if you are required to use 6 to 8 resources for
  your paper and there are over 500 available,
  that's a good sign to narrow your subject area to
  a more specific topic.
• If you can only find 1 or 2 good resources, this
  is a good indicator that you need to start
  "broadening" your horizons (i.e. changing your
  focus)
• The popularity of the subject area or topic is
  your second clue are the resources available?
  overused? commonplace? being used by other
  students?
• In other words, do your resources tell you very
  little that's new and interesting about your
  topic?

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Step 4Create a Research Question

• First, list all of the questions that you'd like
  answered about your topic and then choose the
  best question
• Make sure it's not too broad or too narrow, based
  on your preliminary research
• Your thesis statement is the answer to this
  question
• Vitally important to the flow of your essay

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TOPIC vs. RESEARCH QUESTION

• TOPICS
• protests against the Vietnam War
• middle-class women's sexuality during the Jazz
  Age
• mathematical discoveries of the Incas
• the lasting effects of global warming
• RESEARCH QUESTIONS
• To what extent did working-class Americans
  participate in protests against the Vietnam War
• To what extent did sexual experimentation
  increase in the 1920s?
• To what extent did the Incas place such
  importance on mathematical work?
• To what extent is global warming impacting
  precipitation levels in Central Africa?

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FORMULATING THE QUESTION

• Start with To what extent
• Combine with any of the following key words
• Adaptations
• Characteristics
• Defence
• Importance
• Purpose
• Roles
• Survival
• Value
• Changes
• Conditions
• Function
• Kinds
• Relationship
• Structure
• Types

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Step 5 Thesis Statement

• A sentence that explicitly identifies the purpose
  of the paper or previews its main ideas
• The answer to your research question
• Found in the first paragraph of your essay
• Restated in your concluding paragraph

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IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR THESIS

• A thesis statement is an assertion, not a
  statement of fact or an observation
• Fact or observation People use many lawn
  chemicals.
• Thesis People are poisoning the environment with
  chemicals merely to keep their lawns clean.

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Cont'd

• A thesis takes a stand rather than announcing a
  subject
• Announcement The thesis of this paper is the
  difficulty of solving our environmental problems.
  
• Thesis Solving our environmental problems is a
  difficult task because of the lack of commitment
  from corporations, weak government guidelines,
  and feelings of apathy amongst the general
  public.

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Cont'd

• A thesis is the main idea, not the title. It must
  be a complete sentence that explains in some
  detail what you expect to write about
• Title Social Security and Old Age.
• Thesis Continuing changes in the Social Security
  System makes it almost impossible to plan
  intelligently for one's retirement.

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Cont'd

• A thesis statement is narrow, rather than broad.
  If the thesis statement is sufficiently narrow,
  it can be fully supported
• Broad The American steel industry has many
  problems.
• Narrow The primary problem if the American steel
  industry is the lack of funds to renovate
  outdated plants and equipment.

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Cont'd

• A thesis statement is specific rather than vague
  or general
• Vague Hemingway's war stories are very good.
• Specific Hemingway's stories helped create a new
  prose style by employing extensive dialogue,
  shorter sentences, and strong Anglo-Saxon words.

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Cont'd

• A thesis statement has one main point rather than
  several main points. More than one point may be
  too difficult for the reader to understand and
  the writer to support
• More than one main point Stephen Hawking's
  physical disability has not prevented him from
  becoming a world-renowned physicist, and his book
  is the subject of a movie.
• One main point Stephen Hawking's physical
  disability has not prevented him from becoming a
  world renowned physicist.

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Step 6 Research

• Now you can finally develop your arguments based
  on the thesis
• Understand and use two types of resources
• primary and secondary
• A primary source is an original document or
  account that is not about another document or
  account but stands on its own
• A secondary source is one that interprets
  primary sources or are otherwise a step removed

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Step 7 Begin your research

• Locate a variety of resources
• First-----READ, READ, READ
• Do NOT start with the Internet
• Indexes, Indexes, Indexes
• Evaluate Is information current?
• Does the source have authority?
• Have you used primary sources?
• Are your secondary sources superior?
• When you identify a good sources, always record
  source info
• Always take notes systematically (written or
  electronic)
• Avoid plagiarism by identifying general vs.
  subject-specific knowledge

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Step 8 Documentation

• The basic rule Document any specific ideas,
  opinions, and facts that are not your own
• Do not document common knowledge
• For example
• The World Trade Centres collapsed on Sept., 11,
  2001 (common knowledge)
• The World Trade Centres collapsed on Sept., 11,
  2001, and this was in inside job. (not agreed
  upon as common knowledge)
• A good rule is if in doubt, document

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Wikipedia is not your friend

• The following is taken directly from Wikipedia
• Wikipedia can be a great tool for learning
  information. However, as with all sources, not
  everything in Wikipedia is accurate,
  comprehensive, or unbiased. Many of the general
  rules of thumb for conducting research apply to
  Wikipedia, including
• Always be wary of any one single source (in any
  mediumweb, print, television or radio), or of
  multiple works that derive from a single source
• Where articles have references to external
  sources (whether online or not) read the
  references and check whether they really do
  support what the article says
• In all academic institutions, Wikipedia, along
  with most encyclopedias, is unacceptable as a
  major source for a research paper. Other
  encyclopedias, such as Britannica, have notable
  authors working for them and may be cited as a
  secondary source in most cases. For example,
  Cornell University has a guide on how to cite
  encyclopedias.
• However, because of Wikipedia's unique nature,
  there are also some rules for conducting research
  that are special to Wikipedia, and some general
  rules that do not apply to Wikipedia.

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Never cite Wikipedia

• Teachers realize you're going to use this website
  at some point, regardless of what we say.
• Use the site during your initial stages of
  research, when you read many sources to
  familiarize yourself with your topic.
• After that, go elsewhere. There's nothing wrong
  with returning to Wikipedia to confirm a fact
  that you find elsewhere, or for background info,
  but never cite Wikipedia as a source.

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Processing Information

• This is the most difficult step
• It involves analysis and evaluation
• Interpret What does it mean? Is it
  relevant?
• Can I use the information? (i.e. Is it legitimate
  evidence?)
• Thesis tweaking may be necessary
• Finally, it requires accurate and appropriate
  documentation through copious and accurate notes

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MAKE GOOD NOTES

• HOW TO TAKE NOTES
• First of all, make sure that you record all
  necessary and appropriate information author,
  title, publisher, place of publication, volume,
  span of pages, date.
• Never forget your Bibliography
• Keep a running list of page numbers as you take
  notes, so you can identify the exact location of
  each piece of noted information.
• Note cards are a good way to organize
• Electronic notes are fine but do not copy and
  paste
• Templates are available in the library for those
  who find note cards too small

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STEP 9 THE OUTLINE

• gives you the structure on what you need to say
  and where
• tells you whether your thesis statement will
  work
• Each major outline point is your topic sentence
  for each major paragraph
• Written in point form
• Acts a guide for the first draft
• Includes evidence sources cited

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STEP 10 FIRST DRAFT

• Now, you just start writing
• Includes an introduction, body paragraphs with
  integrated evidence, and a conclusion
• Shouldn't take too long as you've done most of
  the work already
• The first draft is NEVER the final draft

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STEP 11 REVISION

• The editing and rewriting process
• Should occur a few days after you've written the
  first draft
• Includes peer editing
• Is NOT proofreading
• This is the time to become your audience and your
  marker and evaluate your work from their point of
  view

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STEP 12 PROOFREADING

• deals largely with surface details and
  presentation
• start at "higher order" concerns (how the essay
  and individual paragraphs hold together)
• then move down to "lower order" concerns
  (sentences, word choice, mechanics)
• ADD, CUT, REPLACE, MOVE words, sentences,
  paragraphs, information, citations

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STEP 13 DOCUMENTATION

• Embedded citations, footnotes, endnotes
• Bibliography (this is not your Endnotes)
• Consult available sources about MLA, APA,
  Chicago, Turbian by going to www.glenforestlibrary
  .com and click on Research Tools under the
  Library tab
• Avoid plagiarism at all costs
• Hint the Bibliography and footnotes/endnotes is
  the easiest thing to mark for a teacher
  therefore, it's the first place you can lose marks

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STEP 14 WRITING AN ABSTRACT

• An abstract is a self-contained, short, and
  powerful statement that describes a larger work.
• Components vary according to discipline an
  abstract of a scientific work often contains the
  scope, purpose, results, and contents of the
  work.
• An abstract is not a review
• Contains key words found in the larger work
• The abstract is an original document rather than
  an excerpted passage.

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THINGS TO INCLUDE IN YOUR ABSTRACT

• Reason for writingWhat is the importance of the
  research? Why would a reader be interested in the
  larger work?
• ProblemWhat problem does this work attempt to
  solve? What is the scope of the project? What is
  the main argument/thesis/claim?
• MethodologyAn abstract of a scientific work may
  include specific models or approaches used in the
  larger study. Other abstracts may describe the
  types of evidence used in the research.
• ResultsAgain, an abstract of a scientific work
  may include specific data that indicates the
  results of the project. Other abstracts may
  discuss the findings in a more general way.
• ImplicationsWhat changes should be implemented
  as a result of the findings of the work? How does
  this work add to the body of knowledge on the
  topic?

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WHY WRITE AN ABSTRACT?

• You may write an abstract for various reasons.
• The two most important are selection and
  indexing.
• Abstracts allow readers who may be interested in
  the longer work to quickly decide whether it is
  worth their time to read it.
• Abstracts should contain keywords and phrases
  that allow for easy searching.

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An example of an Abstract(for a research essay
on battery life)

• Advertisers are always touting more powerful and
  longer lasting batteries, but which batteries
  really do last longer, and is battery life
  impacted by the speed of the current drain? This
  essay reveals which AA battery maintains its
  voltage for the longest period of time in low,
  medium, and high current drain devices. The
  research is based on an experiment where the
  batteries were tested in a CD player (low drain
  device), a flashlight (medium drain device), and
  a camera flash (high drain device) by measuring
  the battery voltage (dependent variable) at
  different time intervals (independent variable)
  for each of the battery types in each of the
  devices. My thesis states that Energizer will
  last the longest in all of the devices tested.
  The research results support my thesis by showing
  that the Energizer performs with increasing
  superiority, the higher the current drain of the
  device. The research also reveals that the
  heavy-duty non-alkaline batteries do not maintain
  their voltage as long as either alkaline battery
  at any level of current drain.

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STEP 15 HAND IT IN

• That wasn't so bad, was it?????

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WEBSITES ON HOW TO WRITE AN ESSAY

• http//members.tripod.com/lklivingston/essay/
• http//www.geocities.com/soho/Atrium/1437/
• http//www.english.bham.ac.uk/staff/tom/teaching/h
  owto/essay.htm
• http//www.utoronto.ca/writing/essay.html
• http//www.aresearchguide.com/styleguides.html
• http//www.aucegypt.edu/academic/writers/home.htm
• http//www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-project
  s/project_sample_abstract.shtml