Senior Research

1. Senior Research Writing the Research Paper

2. Using Noodle Tools • Go to noodletools.com • Click on “Current Users: Sign In” • Click “Create a Personal ID” • Click “Register” • Username – Windber • Password – ramblers • Fill out the registration form

3. Explore the Topic Further • Write down everything you know and don’t know • Ask these questions: • I already know: • I want to find out who: • I want to discover what: • I want to learn when: • I want I want to know where: • I want to understand why: • I want to find out how:

4. Limiting the Topic • Choose a general topic area • Begin to think through the questions • Do some preliminary reading of the subject to begin to narrow it • Limit by deciding to do the research on a specific area of this general topic • Zero in on a specific, limited, topic that can be covered in a 7 – 10 page research paper

5. Limiting the Topic • Example: • Sat • Difficulty of the test • How to take the test • The reliability of the scores

6. Write a Thesis Statement • Tells the reader what your subject is and, more importantly, how you plan to treat your subject • Serves as a personal guide to help focus on your subject • Helps you to prioritize your research time

7. Write a Thesis Statement • Should be three sentences in length • State the importance of your subject • Should highlight the debate • Should express a specific feeling or attitude toward that subject; expresses the stance you wish to defend

8. Write a Thesis Statement • The Process: • Select a general subject: SAT • Narrow your subject: SAT Reliability • Put idea into a question: Is the SAT reliable? Is the SAT biased? • Answer your question • Compose your slant: The SAT is not always a reliable indicator of whether or not a student should be accepted to college or The SAT shows bias toward females. • Compose final thesis

9. Write a Thesis Statement • Sample Final Thesis • Each year nearly one thousand students are rejected from college admissions offices due to low SAT scores. This staggering number of students who are rejected from colleges has caused some educators to question the reliability of the SAT in its role to determine whether or not a student should be accepted into college. This paper will, therefore, demonstrate that the SAT is not a reliable indicator of whether a student should be accepted into college.

10. Write a Thesis Statement • Checklist: • Make sure your thesis statement focuses on a single, limited subject. • Make sue your thesis is stated in clear, direct sentences. • Make sure your thesis conveys your point of view or attitude about the topic. • Make sure you have access to enough good information to support your thesis statement. • Make sure your thesis directs you to write a paper that meets all the requirements of the assignment.

11. Search for Information • Print articles that would have information needed • Skim those articles and highlight specific pieces of information you need • Label the highlighted information with: intro material, argument, support, etc. • Begin to create a preliminary bibliography at the same time of those sources that you will be able to use

12. Search for Information • Required to have a minimum of 10 sources • Sources can be a combination of data bases, books, or approved web sites • Make sure you can identify the type of source • Enter the sources on noodletools.com

13. Preliminary Outline • Read/ take notes • Take notes on note cards of the information that will address your thesis • Create your own headings for the notes • Summarize, paraphrase, quote directly (see slides that follow on these techniques) • Prepare a preliminary outline of the main headings you came up with while you were taking notes • Your preliminary outline should be only the main subject headings i.e. Roman numerals

14. Preliminary Outline • Introduction • Description of the SAT • Uses of the SAT • Background • History • Argument #1 • Argument #2 • Argument #3 • Opposition • Conclusions

15. Writing a Summary • A condensed version of someone else’s work • Concentrates on the factual information • Does not contain personal opinions or evaluations • You call on your ability to comprehend, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate • See Write for College, 496 - 498

16. Writing a Paraphrase • A clarifying type of summary • Helps to understand the meaning of difficult or symbolic piece of writing • See Write for College, 499

17. A Writing Plan • Use your thesis and preliminary outline to guide your note taking • Keep refining your outline as necessary when you find new information • Add specific subject headings under your main points in your outline as you take notes • Your outline will serve as the blueprint for your paper, but should change showing improvements as you add new information

18. Writing the First Draft • Introduction • Should do two things: • First, should say something interesting, surprising, or personal about your subject to gain the readers’ attention • Second, should identify the specific focus, the thesis, of your research • A revealing story, quotation, interesting or surprising facts or statistics • Background information • Provide important definitions • Your thesis

19. Writing the First Draft • The Body: the part that supports or proves your thesis • Two methods: • Writing freely – put aside the outline and note cards and write as much as you can/refer to notes when you need quotes, statistics, etc. / fill in when you are finished with whatever is missing/reorganize • Writing Systematically – follow carefully your outline and note cards/lay out the first section/write a general statement to covers the main idea/use the note cards to add supporting facts and details/ repeat the process for all main points in the outline

20. Writing the First Draft • The Body: the part that supports or proves your thesis • Process should be organized as follows: • Information • Argument • Support (facts, statistics, quotes) • Use transitional statements and phrases to move one piece of information to the next

21. Writing the First Draft • Conclusion – should leave the readers with a clear understanding of the importance of your research • Review the important points • Draw concluding arguments

22. Parenthetical/Interior References • This is a technique for giving credit for your sources in the body of the research paper. • To give credit, insert the appropriate information ( usually the author’s last name and page number) in parentheses after the words or ideas taken from another source (Magill’s Survey 1484). • Place them where a pause would naturally occur to avoid disrupting the flow of the writing (usually at the end of the sentence and inside the end punctuation).

23. Parenthetical/Interior References • If all the information within a paragraph of the paper is from the same source on the same page, then just put the notation at the end of the paragraph. • If the next borrowed information is from the same source, different page, then just put the new page number in parentheses (1485). • If the next borrowed information is from a different source, then use the author/title and page (L’Engle 15).

24. Manuscript Rules for the Paper • Typed • Double – spaced • 12 pt. Times New Roman or 10 pt. Arial • No bold or specials • All titles should either be underlined or in italic • Page numbers start with the first page of the paper and end with the Works Cited page. Your last name followed by the page should appear in the upper right hand margin • Margins should be 1 inch all the way around • Please use nothing but black ink

25. What Needs to be Turned in • Title Page • Outline • Paper • Works Cited • Note cards