Purdue University North Central Writing Center Handout

An Informal Guide to Beginning Research Papers

Choosing your subject

            The topic may be determined by the instructor of the course in which the paper is required or you may have a choice of any relevant topic within that discipline.  Make sure you understand your options!

            In some English composition classes, you may be permitted to write on a topic of your own choosing.  If that is the case, make sure that you select a subject area of real interest to you  since you are the one who will have to live with it.  If approval of the instructor is required, be sure to get it.

Don’t...

1.       try to save time and effort by re-working a paper you did in high school.  You’ll be bored to tears!

2.       choose a subject which requires the use of technical or highly specialized material beyond your own understanding.

3.       attempt a biography.  No one’s life can be examined in depth in a few weeks or covered in a 10-20 page paper.

4.   choose a topic which can be exhausted by the use of a single source:  how to wax skis, how a camera works, etc.  Remember the meaning of research- the search for answers to significant questions.  No one researches for answers that he or she already has or that can be acquired simply by asking.  Research means consulting a number of authorities in the subject in order to answer a question important to the researcher.  It is complete only when the researcher is satisfied that he or she has found the answer to the question.

5.   choose a subject with unanswerable questions, for example, is there a God?  how do we end poverty?  who is the best poet?

6.   choose a subject that is too broad.  Remember that you are to complete the paper this century!  Whatever your general subject area, you must restrict your subject, right at the beginning, to something workable.  For example, do not research transportation, maybe high-speed trains;  not education, maybe funding for special education;  not solving the battle of the sexes, maybe the need for non-sexist textbooks.

Doing Your Background Search

            Once you have selected a restricted topic, do some background reading to learn what the general area encompasses.  An encyclopedia or similar reference work is useful now.  What you want now is an over-view of your topic to make sure that you know enough to proceed intelligently.  Don’t skip this step!  Now the time for real thinking has come.

            As quickly as possible, write down as many questions as you can about your topic (Who, What, Where, Why, How, How Many, To What Extent) You don’t need to know the answers!  In fact, to make things more interesting for yourself, you really shouldn’t know the answers to all of your questions.  When completing a long research project, the last thing you need is an apathetic attitude toward your subject matter.  Reread your questions, adding to the list as necessary.

            Check the questions for which you might be interested in finding the answers.  Eliminate any questions you can already answer with a “yes” or  “no” or those which would depend upon a value judgment.  Reread the questions you have checked.  Is there one which particularly intrigues you?  If so, underline it, then try to assess what answering the question might involve.  Choose one main question and hold all other possibilities in reserve in case your first choice cannot be used.

Evaluating Your Resources

            Go to the library to check out what is available on your topic, restricting yourself  to scanning material which could help you to answer your question:  Be realistic.  Research requires authoritative, specialized, and up-to-date material.  Because of PU/NC’s limited library holdings, you could be forced to reconsider your question in light of the material available.  Take the time to find out whether you can reasonably expect to find what you need.  If in doubt, consult the library staff.  Check out the internet for sources.  Talk to your professor.  He or she may have recently read about that topic and might be able to recommend the best source.  Utilize the resources most readily available to you.

            If the chance of your locating the necessary material seems dubious, you may wish to consider the possibility of a question you have held in reserve.  It could be that you need to go back to Square One and begin the question process anew.  Do not go any further until you have settled upon a feasible question!

Re-evaluating Your Topic

            As you read material limited to your question, you may discover that the subject is more complex than you realized.  It may be that your question is too broad to be covered fully in the time and space allowed.  If so, study your question.  Can you break  it down, narrowing it with other questions?  If so, then write them down, go through the process again, and choose another question of your liking.  By now, because of the greater knowledge you have gained through more specialized reading, you should be able to pose a question which you can handle.

            As you read material related to your question, you may discover that you overlooked a more significant aspect of your topic because of prior ignorance.  You may need to adjust your question, reshaping it in light of your greater understanding of the topic.

            It may be that a new, more significant question comes immediately to mind.  If so, write it down!  A vague question will result in a vague paper, and an unwritten question is often a hazy idea.

            When you are satisfied that you have a question that can lead you to a satisfactory and complete answer, you are ready to begin taking notes.

Confining Your Research

            If you think carefully about the question you are researching, you will recognize that  your question will determine what material you need.  If it helps to answer the question, you need it!  If it doesn’t contribute to your answer, you don’t.

              By confining your research material this way, you have a method of control, safeguarding you against unproductive work. Take no notes from those books that don’t answer your question.

            You will know when your research is completed.  If you have answered your question fully so that there are no unanswered questions, you have done your job and are ready to write your paper.

Structuring Your Paper

            Now the structure of your paper should be obvious to you.  Basically, this is the general idea:

Þ           This is the conclusion I have drawn about my topic.  In other words, this is the answer to my question.  In formal terms, here is my thesis.  (Simple, isn’t it?  A thesis statement is a complete sentence answering the question.)

Þ           Knowing that you have no reason to accept that statement on my word alone, I will present to you the evidence I acquired from experts in the field which led me to the answer I reported to you.  Here is that evidence arranged in a logical order so that you can understand the reasoning behind my conclusion.  If you wish to check this for yourself, you can find the sources I used by referring to the Works Cited included in this paper.

Þ           Now that I have presented the evidence, I will restate my answer (thesis), which you should now be able to accept.

            In other words:

            I.   Here is what I am going to tell you.

            II.  Now I am telling you

            III. This is what I told you!!!

            If you need further assistance with style, notes, bibliography, typing form, etc., the Writing Center (TECH 359), has material available to you, either by appointment or on a drop-in basis.