Essay Writing Workshop

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Essay Writing Workshop

1. What is a Research Paper?
2. How to prepare a Research Paper?
3. Useful References

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I. What is a Research Paper?

• An organized, logically coherent body of text
  that reports the findings of scientific research.
• Focused Question-oriented
• Scientific value-free, objective, replicable
• Structured, organized, logical one leading to
  another
• Analytical, informative, referenced, footnotes

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• Not a free expression of personal opinions
• Not a newspaper column
• Not a paper in a magazine
• Not a chapter in a textbook

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II. How to prepare a Research Paper?

• Identification of research questions
• e.g. HK industrial relocation to Pearl River
  Delta causes and consequences
• Gathering of references, information, data, and
  maps
• Analysis of information and data in tables,
  graph, and maps? report findings or points
• Outline of the paper before writing

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a. Title of the essay

• theme
• study area
• time period

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b. Structure
Questions of your research? Study area and time
period? Your research method? Significance?

• Introduction
• Description with your own heading
• Patterns observed from analysis
• Illustrations in tables, graphs, and/or maps
• Report findings in organized form
• Explanation with your own heading
• How do we make sense of the observed pattern?
• What are reasons behind the scene?
• How can you prove the logical connections you
  argue?
• Conclusion and Discussion
• Did you answer the questions you raised at the
  outset?
• What are the main findings or main points?
• What have we learned from your research?

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Table, graphs, maps, references,
footnoting

• All tables, graphs, maps must be referenced
  into text

Table number, title, data sources Graphs
number, title, data sources Maps

• title
• legend
• scale
• orientation
• data sources

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• References to give credit to authors
• (Lin, 2004, p. 316)
• Footnotes distracted explanation in
  details
• Bibliography in alphabetical order according
  to last name
• Plagiarism? Immediate failure!

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III. Examples

• Veeck, G. and Pannell, C.W. (1989) Rural
  economic restructuring and farm household income
  in Jiangsu, Peoples Republic of China. Annals
  of the Association of American Geographers Vol.
  79, No.2, pp. 275-292.
• Lin, G.C.S. (2001) Evolving spatial form of
  urban-rural interaction in the Pearl River Delta,
  China. Professional Geographer Vol. 53, No. 1,
  pp. 56-70.

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VI. Useful Websites

• Geography website
• http//geog.hku.hk/undergrad/
• Student Help Study Skills
• http//www.hope.ac.uk/gnu/stuhelp/revis.htm

http//www.education.ex.ac.uk/cpd/projects-handboo
k-dissert.php