RESEARCH HELP

Research Process

 

Pre-research – Explore different ideas for your paper.  Learn some basics about your topic so you can determine if you want to write on the topic or how much information is available on the topic.

 

Determine your topic and create questions – Create one guiding research question that you will or can address in your paper. Then, create what, why and how questions that address your guiding question.  Do not create any yes or no questions.  Yes and no questions will not help you write your paper.

First create what, why and how questions on your topic.  Use those questions to create your guiding question.

 

Find credible sources and create a "Works Cited" page - The school library site has books, websites and electronic resources with reliable information. Many of the school sites will generate citations for your "Work Cited" page.

 

Select Information & Create Notes – Find relevant facts, statistics, expert opinions and anecdotes to support your thesis. Include your citation information on your cards so you can easily create your in-text citations.

 

Create your outline - Use one of the methods presented in “The Create your Outline” document.  Organize your note cards.

 

Write your Paper.

 

 

 

 

Writing down information helps you process information and build your expertise on a subject.    It can be frustrating to write a paper when one does not fully understand the topic. Having a strong understanding of the topic will make a paper a breeze to write. Also, note cards can be helpful in organizing a research paper.