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Research Paper Planning Guide for Beginners

Learn how to plan and structure your research paper effectively. Select a subject, state your objective, write a preliminary bibliography, and prepare a working outline. Develop essential skills such as reading, writing, organizing, and more.

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Research Paper Planning Guide for Beginners

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  1. Part I Planning the Research

  2. Step 1:Select a Subject • Research: is the process of gathering facts and evidence about a topic. • Once you have gathered your information, you write a formal presentation, called a research paper.

  3. Step 1:Select a Subject • Paper presents the results of your investigation. • Research paper makes a point and then supports that point with evidence.

  4. Skills Needed • Reading • Writing • Organizing • Planning • Note-taking • Thinking clearly

  5. Step 1: Select a Subject • Can be assigned a general topic area • Can be an idea of your own • REMEMBER! SELECT A SUBJECT THAT INTERESTS YOU!

  6. Step 1: Select a Subject • UNDERSTAND THE LIMITS OF YOUR ASSIGNMENT • Length of the paper • Time allotted to do it • Subject: Is it content specific?

  7. Step 1: Select a Subject • UNDERSTAND THE LIMITS OF YOUR RESOURCES • Too technical or complex • Enough info?

  8. Step 2:Narrow the Subject into the Topic • Read background information • Far East • Japan • City Life • Puppet • Religion • Sports • Baseball • Sumo Wrestling • Rituals

  9. Step 3: State the Objective • Thesis-statement of your objective • -point you want to prove • -main idea of the entire research paper

  10. Step 3: State the Objective • Not an indisputable fact • Examples: The Bororo men of the Amazon think that knocking out their front teeth makes them beautiful. • George Washington was the first president of the United States

  11. Step 3: State the Objective • Not a personal opinion Example: Tattooing hurts too much to be worth it. I think pierced ears are disgusting.

  12. Step 3: State the Objective • Opinions can NEVER be supported with facts! • Only evidence would be your own opinions!

  13. Step 3: State the Objective • Topic: Beauty • Excellent Thesis: People all over the world are willing to suffer for what they think is beautiful. • Not an indisputable fact • Not an insupportable opinion

  14. Step 3: State the Objective • People all over the world are willing to suffer for what they think is beautiful. • Must gather evidence to support • Thesis presents argument or “angle” to defend with evidence!

  15. Step 3: State the Objective • Thesis: The Sioux Indians are being treated more unfairly today than they were in the 1890’s. • Words “treated more unfairly” must be defined and then proven in the research paper.

  16. Step 3: State the Objective • Ask questions: • Who? • What ? • Where? • When? • Why?

  17. Sample thesis statements • The lyrics in Beatles’ songs reflect where and how the members of the group were brought up. • Much of Martin Luther King Jr.’s success resulted from his use of the passive resistance techniques proposed by Mahatma Gandhi. • World War II radically changed American eating habits.

  18. Part II Doing the Research

  19. Step 4: Write a Preliminary Bibliography • A bibliography is a list of books, articles and other materials about your topic; it is the list of sources you will use for research.

  20. Step 4: Write a Preliminary Bibliography • Preparing a list of sources at this time will help you assure that there are enough materials available for a satisfactory paper.

  21. Step 4: Write a Preliminary Bibliography • At this stage the list is preliminary or working bibliography because during the rest of the research you will constantly make changes in the list as you discover new material and reject others that are not useful.

  22. Step 4: Write a Preliminary Bibliography • Start at library: look up nonfiction books-which are listed three ways: • Author • Title • Subject-this search is what you will use the most! Use Boolean terms: and, or, not.

  23. Step 4: Write a Preliminary Bibliography • And: Poverty and Crime

  24. Step 4: Write a Preliminary Bibliography • college OR university

  25. Step 4: Write a Preliminary Bibliography • cats NOT dogs

  26. Step 4: Write a Preliminary Bibliography • All sources should be entered in Noodletools as they are found. • You can delete as needed

  27. Step 4: Write a Preliminary Bibliography Research outside library: • Interviews • Surveys/questionnaire • Writing letters • Television and radio programs (DVDs) • Community service organizations • Museum exhibits/special centers

  28. Step 5: Prepare a Working Outline • Organizes information you gather • Plan for researching • Why called working outline? • Purdue Owl

  29. Step 5: Prepare a Working Outline • Write the thesis at the top of the paper • Example: The art of glassblowing has a long and interesting history.

  30. Step 5: Prepare a Working Outline • Divide your thesis into two subheadings: • The Art of Glassblowing • The History of Glassblowing

  31. Step 5: Prepare a Working Outline I. The Art of Glassblowing A. Materials B. Tools C. Techniques

  32. Step 5: Prepare a Working Outline II. The History of Glassblowing A. Inventors B. Development C. Early Applications

  33. Step 5: Prepare a Working Outline Thesis: The art of glassblowing has a long and interesting history. I. The Art of Glassblowing A. Materials B. Tools C. Techniques II. The History of Glassblowing A. Inventors B. Development C. Early Applications

  34. A Sample OutlineResearch Question: What role does language play in Shakespeare's Hamlet? Thesis: Hamlet’s inner turmoil is conveyed to us not only through voice and gesture, but more importantly, also through word play, unusual choices in syntax and word choice. I.                    Wordplay - Life as fiction                         1.      Claudius                         2.      Gertrude                         3.      Hamlet II.                 Syntax - Soliloquies illustrate Hamlet's inner emotions                          1.      Examination of first soliloquy                          2.      Hamlet’s response to his father’s ghost III.               Word Choice - Shakespeare's introduction of new words to the English lexicon                          1.      "To be or not to be" soliloquy – use of the word "quietus"                         2.      Hamlet’s choice of words in communicating with Gertrude                          3.      The graveyard scene                          4.      Hamlet’s final words

  35. Step 6: Take Notes • Write down the information from your reading (research) that relates to your thesis! • Statistics, facts • Quotations, expert • Examples • Use online note cards

  36. Step 6: Take Notes Three types of note cards: • Summary-main idea in a short paragraph • Paraphrase-put information in your OWN WORDS ! • Direct Quotation-Copy “word for word”

  37. Part III Writing the Paper

  38. Step 7: Outline the Paper • Write thesis on top Example: Baboon family life and human family life are remarkably similar.

  39. Step 7: Outline the Paper • Then take your note card subject headings and develop your main points for the outline. • Example: young baboons hunting for food adult arguments interviews at the zoo

  40. Step 7: Outline the Paper • Organize your note cards so that they are in logical order/group similar ideas • Student: “First I worked with the pile of note cards on the baboon young.”

  41. Step 7: Outline the Paper • Student: “I decided to put the note card about protection by parents first. This way I can talk about baboons when they’re first born.” • Student: “ The next step is how they learn survival skills from their parents, so I put those note cards next.

  42. Step 7: Outline the Paper • Student: “On this card there’s a good quote that ties with my thesis: ‘A young baboon’s physical independence from its mother does not sever their relationship. As with humans, emotional bonds endure.’”

  43. Step 7: Outline the Paper • Student: “This will make a good link with the next idea-curiosity of the young. I can show how once they gain independence they begin to explore, just like human children.”

  44. Step 7: Outline the Paper • Choose a pattern of organization -Chronological (time) -Spatial (area) -Classification (topics/characteristics) -order of degree (importance/value) -cause to effect or effect to cause

  45. Step 7: Outline the Paper • Choose a pattern of organization -Compare/contrast (similarities/differences) -Analytical (parts and their relationships) -Inductive/synthesis (specific-general) -Deductive order (general-specific) -Order of impression/association (sequence) -Hierarchical order (class to subclass/subclass to class) Sample final draft of outline

  46. Step 8: Write the Draft • At this point you fill out each section of your outline to present your ideas and support them with the information in the note cards.

  47. Step 8: Write the Draft • Introduction: -start paper with an attention device Examples: Quotations Stories Questions Unique Facts/statistics Anecdotes

  48. Step 8: Write the Draft • Introduction: • Thesis statement should be last sentence in the introduction before the body of the paper starts.

  49. Step 8: Write the Draft • Body of Paper: -develop main ideas -support with details

  50. Step 8: Write the Draft • Conclusion: -restate thesis and end with a clincher -Make your conclusion powerful

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