Seven Steps of Marketing Research

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Writing A Term Paper
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What is an essay or term paper?

• A piece of academic writing that contains an
  argument or claim.
• An argument is a coherent series of statements
  based on some premise and which lead to a
  conclusion and which is generally intended to
  persuade
• A claim, in academic terms, is something that is
  asserted to be true or valid, and which must be
  based on factual evidence. Academics critically
  analyse and evaluate the evidence upon which
  claims are based.
• This means it must address an issue or raise a
  question and present the appropriate data or
  information to illustrate it in a logical
  sequence, and then analyse and comment on it
  critically

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• Because it is an argument, an essay, has a
  definite structure
• Introduction

• The what/who what when where, of the general
  topic and specific focus of the essay
• The why and how, the central issue, claim or
  question addressed, and the aims and outline
  structure -- A statement of the argument and an
  indication of the evidence you intend to marshal
  in support of it

• Conclusion..

• refers back to the introduction - how the aims
  were met.
• a summary of the argument and the subsidiary
  arguments used to demonstrate it.
• limitations of the present work
• suggestions or recommendations for future study
  or research

4

• Body

• Scene Setting
• the presentation and analysis of that evidence
• The theoretical context/background to the
  question/issue raised, which may include ideas or
  hypotheses or reference to previous research as
  well as fully-fledged theories.
• The situational context/background section will
  specify the who/what/where/when/how /why and show
  the link between the theory etc. chosen and any
  practical applications or provide the historical
  context within which the theory evolved.
• The rationale or justification for the links
  between the theoretical and situational contexts
  need to be given.
• Examples

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• Analysis/ explanation
• an examination of the results or outcomes or
  changes - including the expected and unexpected -
  in detail,
• a comparison between theories/theory and
  practice, predicted and actual results.
• This may include discussion of/comparison/contrast
  with similar studies or different approaches
  (theory or practice) with reference to other
  writers' experience/theories and your own
  deductions/inferences based on the previous
  sections

6

• Evaluation
• discussing problems and remedies, whether they
  exist in the theory (theories) or in practice or
  in both and what contribution they make to
  understanding and knowledge (to what extent the
  theory was able to predict practice/how far
  practice followed the theoretical guidelines)
• the need to modify or adapt the theory or methods
  of application
• any areas ignored by the theory/research or any
  imbalance (perhaps gender bias) of emphasis or
  application, all leading to suggestions and
  recommendations in the conclusion

• Introduction and Conclusion 10-15
• Scene Setting 50 maximum for purely
  descriptive elements
• Analysis and Evaluation 30 minimum

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Selecting a Topic
Anthropology of Art too broad The Art of Africa
An anthropological approach too broad The Art
of the Dogon An anthropological approach just
right The Art of the Dogon between 1750 and
1880 too narrow
8
Turn the topic into a Question
The cultural construction of Gender
Is gender a cultural construction?

• provides focus and direction. When you have a
  question you are forced to answer it, and forced
  to come to some conclusion.
• an argument is a reply to a question whether
  implicit or explicit

9
Analyze the Question

• Helps to maintain topic focus
• Helps make your note taking more efficient.
• the structure of your essay emerges from the
  analysis of the question.

Brainstorming. Think of as many other related
questions as you can

• alternatives
• opposites
• definitions
• implications
• exceptions
• qualifications
• comparisons
• examples
• who, what, where, when, and why

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• The cultural construction of Gender Is Gender
  culturally constructed?
• What is gender?
• Why gender and not sex?
• What does cultural construction mean?
• Why cultural instead of, say biological?
• Who says its a cultural construction
• Is gender constructed?
• If so how is it constructed?
• What are the theories of gender construction?
• What are some examples?
• What are the implications of gender being
  culturally constructed?
• Is there anything else thats culturally
  constructed such as race?

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The Essay Plan

• Write down all you know about the topic.
• Put the questions in some sort of order
• Consider the type of writing - description,
  comparison, theoretical, case study etc.
• Key argument/issues/questions
• Time frame reading, writing, downtime,
• Select a working title

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Research
Before you begin your research, or when you begin
a fresh research session, quickly read over the
essay topic and your plan to refresh yourself
about what it is youre looking for.
Begin Research Early Sources of Information

• encyclopedias
• Introductory texts
• Internet
• Books
• standard works
• Reading lists
• Bibliographies
• Periodicals
• Library catalogues
• Archives

work up a reading list or bibliography of
potential sources of information.
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Anthropology Encyclopedias
GN307 .E57 1996 Encyclopedia of social and
cultural anthropology Barnard, Alan (Alan
J.) GN307 .E53 1996 Encyclopedia of cultural
anthropology Levinson, David, 1947- GN25 .C66
1994 Companion encyclopedia of anthropology
Ingold, Tim, 1948- GN307 .W56 1991 Dictionary
of concepts in cultural anthropology Winthrop,
Robert H. GN11 .S49 1986 Macmillan dictionary
of anthropology Seymour-Smith, Charlotte.
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http//anthro.net
Anthro Net
Portal for anthropology websites
Free to all
15
Anthro-Tech http//vlib.anthrotech.com/Cultural_A
nthropology/
Another Anthropology portal Free to All
16
Anthropology Index Online http//aio.anthropology.
org.uk/aio/AIO.html
Index to Current Periodicals in the The
Anthropology Library at the British Museum Free
to All
17
Academic Search Premier
coverage of some 4300 periodicals with full-text
of some 2600 peer-reviewed scholarly publications
covering many academic areas of study, including
social sciences, humanities, education, computer
sciences, engineering, language and linguistics,
arts literature, medical sciences, and ethnic
studies.   Includes full text articles
Must be U of C student
http//web18.epnet.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca204
8/search.asp?tb1_ugsidB184A8532DE3AC2D486E2
DA8BD2DB89A7C90B51B40sessionmgr3dbsaphcp1DF
CF_ushdTruehsTruessSOsmESA444_usohdFa
lsedb5B02Daph1BEEnewsrch1
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Anthropological Plus
Combines Anthropological Literature from Harvard
University and Anthropological Index. An Index
of journal articles, reports, etc. in
anthropology from the late 19th century to the
present. Covers all core periodicals in the
field in addition to local and lesser-known
journals. Good for finding articles, but this is
not full text
Must be a U of C student
http//eureka.rlg.org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/Eure
ka/zgate2.prod
19
Article First
Indexes articles and provides tables of contents
for about 12,500 journals in science, technology,
medicine, social science, business, the
humanities, and popular culture.  
Must be a U of C student
http//newfirstsearch.oclc.org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgar
y.ca/WebZ/FSPrefs?entityjsdetectjavascripttrue
screensizemediumsessionidsp05sw01-55947-efsi7c9
7-m5ukwgentitypagenum10
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JSTOR
Electronic archive of many journals Coverage
begins at start of each journal and stops within
3-5 years of the present. Provides full text of
journals.
Must be a U of C student
http//www.jstor.org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/jstor
/
21
eHRAF
contains a variety of source documents (books,
articles, and dissertations) indexed by culture
and subject Good for cross-cultural comparisons
of particular aspects of culture. Contains
full-text articles
Must be a U of C student
http//ets.umdl.umich.edu.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/
e/ehrafe/
22
Project Muse
full-text, articles from over 300 humanities,
arts, and social sciences journals
Must be a U of C student
http//muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/index.
html
23
Bibliography of Native North Americans 
Indexes monographs, essays, journal articles,
dissertations and government publications
covering native American topics and issues,
including education, anthropology, psychology,
political science, sociology, and legal and
medical research.
Must be a U of C student
http//web5.silverplatter.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary
.ca/webspirs/start.ws?customerunivcalgdatabases
BN
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Ingenta

• Indexes articles from 20,000 journals and books
  in all disciplines.
• Coverage is from 1988 to the present.
• Provides document ordering at user's cost
• Good for finding articles in books

Must be a U of C student
http//www.ingentaconnect.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary
.ca/search/advanced
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• Social Sciences Abstracts (Wilson)
• Indexes and abstracts articles from 400 English-
  language periodicals from a broad array of social
  sciences disciplines.
• Coverage is from 1983 to the present with
  abstracts from 1994 to present.

• Sociological Abstracts
• Indexes and abstracts articles from 400 English-
  language periodicals from a broad array of social
  sciences disciplines.
• Coverage is from 1983 to the present with
  abstracts from 1994 to present.

• Social Sciences Citation Index H83 .S642 2000

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• Assess the text
• Skimming
• Scanning
• Index
• Reading in Depth

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read critically

• Does what the author say make sense?
• What premises is his or her argument based on?
• What is the context in which the argument is
  presented, especially important if it is an older
  text.
• What is the main point the author is trying to
  make?
• Has he or she made it successfully and supported
  it with appropriate examples and illustrations.
• Is the author saying something new or just
  synthesizing the ideas of others?
• Does what he or she have to say agree or
  contradict what other authors you have read say.

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Taking Notes

• Know what kind of ideas you need to record
• Don't write down too much
• record only ideas that are relevant to your focus
  on the topic and they will mostly summarize
  rather than quote.
• Copy out exact words only when the ideas are
  memorably phrased or surprisingly expressed--when
  you might use them as actual quotations in your
  essay
• Otherwise, compress ideas in your own words.
  Paraphrasing word by word is a waste of time.
  Choose the most important ideas and write them
  down as labels or headings. Then fill in with a
  few subpoints that explain or exemplify
• Don't depend on underlining and highlighting.
  Find your own words for notes in the margin

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• Label your notes intelligently
• record bibliographic information in a master list
  when you begin looking at each source.
• Use authors name and brief title/date on tye
  cards or sheets you take the actual notes on
• Try as far as possible to put notes on separate
  cards or sheets. This will let you label the
  topic of each note.
• label the topic of each note.
• Leave lots of space in your notes for comments of
  your own -- questions and reactions as you read
• Put page numbers in the margin for direct quotes
  and paraphrases

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Writing
Order your notes Write an outline of the argument
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• Be Objective
• Since the aim of an essay is to persuade, it
  requires presenting a well-reasoned argument
  rather than an appeal to emotion
• Dont omit contrary opinions or facts
• Dont fail to support opinions with facts, and
• Dont use emotive language
• Avoid colloquialisms
• Signpost
• using a word or phrase that informs the reader
  the point in the argument he or she has reached
  or the direction it is taking.
• There are three major difficulties with the
  functionalist approach to understanding society
• Use subheadings

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The First Draft

• The primary purpose of the first draft is to get
  your ideas into some coherent orderto fashion
  your essay into an argument.
• Polishing it comes later.
• Do it quickly
• leave it for a day or two.

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Edit the rough draft

• are the points made relevant?
• is it on topic?
• does it fully answer the question?
• is the argument logical?
• are the points in the right order and supported
  with examples?
• is it convincing?
• is it the right length
• Read through your essay with cohesion in mind. Is
  the relationship between one paragraph and the
  next clear?

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• The Second Draft
• The purpose of the second draft is to achieve
  claritysaying what you mean.
• Are the sentences in each paragraph ordered
  logically
• Are the sentences grammatically correct including
  ensuring that they are actually sentences.
• Delete any repetitive or extraneous material
• Ensure paragraphs are linked and that the essay
  flows easily
• Ensure that the style is appropriate and
  consistent

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• The third draft
• The third draft is for editing and polishing.
• Here you want to make sure that youve used the
  right word in the right place
• that there are no spelling mistakes
• that the essay says exactly what you want it to
  say, and does so concisely and clearly.

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Tips Tip If you know its going to take several
days to write your essay, leave yourself a note
at the end of each session about the direction
you intended the argument to take. This way you
can pick up where you left off. If youre using a
computer leave a symbol, such as an asterisk, so
that you can go immediately to the spot where you
left off by using the find facility. Tip Use a
thesaurus and dictionary to ensure that you are
using the right word. Tip Print out a copy of
the second draft and edit it on paper. You will
be surprised at how much you will pick up by
seeing it in a different format. Tip To ensure
that the material you are presenting has
relevance put yourself in the readers place and
ask yourself why is the author telling me
this. If the knowledge is not essential to the
argument then perhaps it should be eliminated.
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Tip Keep deleted sentences and paragraphs in a
separate file or at the end of your document. You
may find later that something you have deleted is
actually worth including. Before beginning the
final edit, read through your essay and the
deleted material to see if it contains any
relevant information that needs to be
included. Tip Dont forget to make backup copies
of your essay on floppy disks or CD as well as on
the hard disk. You might also consider making a
copy in straight text format in case your
computer crashes in which case you can use almost
any computer to complete it. Email it to
yourself. If your computer crashes you can
retrieve it from the remote computer. Tip When
you begin to write try and ensure that you have a
minimum of two uninterrupted hours, otherwise
youll find that you have to stop just when
youre getting into it.
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• Tip If you get stuck and dont know what to
  write next. Try 
• taking a break
• working on a different part of the essay
• talking about the difficulty with a friend. The
  solution often occurs to you when you verbally
  state the problem.
• Going back to your plan
• Tip Learn to use the split-screen facility of
  your word processor. (Or keep two documents open
  simultaneously.) You may find it easier to cut
  and paste large chunks of text.
• Tip learn to use your word processors shortcut
  keys in order to manoeuvre around your
  documentespecially how to go to the beginning
  and end of your document and to the previous
  insertion point.

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  Tip Put your essay aside for a few days give
it a friend, relative or partner to read. Tip
Tell a friend or relative what the argument of
your essay is, or what it is that youre trying
to say. Then copy it down and use it for your
introduction. By verbalizing your argument you
tend to say it in simpler terms making it clear
to both you and your reader. By telling a friend
you force yourself to make a clear statement of
it. Tip. Read your essay out loud.
Tip. Purchase a copy of the latest edition of
The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E. B.
White (its lt 10) or download the first edition
free at http//coba.shsu.edu/help/strunk/ It
will help improve your grammar and make your
writing more effective.
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• To present a coherent, clearly-worded essay based
  on research, you need to be able to
• determine what the question asks,
• plan the essay,
• know where to find the relevant information,
• know how to extract that information by reading
  critically,
• with purpose, and by taking notes,
• critically analyse the issues,
• argue a case,
• structure the information and your ideas
  logically,
• express your ideas with clarity,
• edit your writing and present your work
  professionally,
• be original,
• focus on the topic consistently, and,
• manage your time.