Writing The Research Paper Winker - Ch 1 basic information Winkler McCuen-Metherell Seventh Edition

1. 1
Basic Information about the Research Paper

2. Fear of the Research Paper
• Research paper provokes anxiety
• A research paper is an excellent tool. It is a mini-
classroom intended for your benefit.
• It is an intense learning process focused on a topic you
choose (a test of the writer’s judgment).
• Research techniques will help you later in life , such
as writing a business/marketing paper.
• Choose a subject you really like , which will also be
easier to write.

3. Definition of the Research Paper
• A Research Paper
• From the French word rechercher, which means to
seek out.
• Requires you to seek out information about a subject,
take a stand on it, and back it up with opinions, ideas,
and views of others.
• Usually between five and fifteen pages long.

4. Format of the Research Paper
• Every research paper must conform to a format
• Modern Language Association (MLA) – a society
of language scholars www.mla.org
• Example pg. 4 of text
• American Psychological Association (APA) – a
society of scientific scholars
• Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) – created by a
board of editors

5. Reasons for the Research Paper
1. Forces you to learn a lot about your chosen
subject
2. Teaches the conventions of scholarly writing
3. “Learning by doing” method (learn
researching skills)
4. Other benefits:
1. Use logic, imagination, common sense
2. How to track information/organize
3. Use internet for searching, discriminate opinions
4. Budget your time, learn to conceive/manage a research project from
start to finish

6. The Report Paper and the Thesis Paper
• Report Paper summarizes and reports your
findings on a particular subject
• No judgment or evaluation of findings
• Just logical sequence
• Thesis Paper takes a definite stand on an issue
• A proposition or point of view that your are willing
to argue against or defend
• More likely to be assigned a Thesis Paper

7. Report Paper or Thesis Paper?
• How the Beatles got started as a rock group.
• Report Paper
• The Beatles’ lyrics gave hope to disenchanted youth
in the 1960’s.
• Thesis Paper
• The steps involved in passage of federal government
legislation.
• Report Paper
• Lobbyists wield disproportionate influence on federal
legislation.
• Thesis Paper

8. Drafts of the Research Paper
• Takes a minimum of 3 drafts
• 1st
Draft – rough and scribbled over, rewriting, back
and forth (recursive) supposed to be messy! (See
Text pg. 6)
• 2nd
Draft – fewer and smaller changes (but can
involve big changes – writing is unpredictable and
rarely smooth) (See Text pg.7)
• 3rd
Draft – final draft to submit (See Text pg. 8)

9. Writing the Research Paper:
Steps and Schedule
What You Must Do What you Must
Produce
When It Is Due
1. You must select a topic that is complex enough to be
researched from a variety of sources but narrow enough to be
covered in 10 or so pages.
Two acceptable topics,
one of which the
instructor will approve
At the end of the
first week
2. You must do the exploratory scanning and reading of
sources on your topic.
At the end of the
second week
3. You must gather information on your topic and assemble it
into some usable sequence.
Notes, a thesis
statement, and an outline
At the end of the
third week
4. You must draft a thesis statement expressing the major idea
behind your paper.
5. You must outline the major parts of your paper.
6. You must write a rough draft of the paper arguing, proving,
or supporting your thesis with information uncovered by your
research. You must acknowledge all borrowed ideas, data, and
opinions.
A rough draft of the
paper
At the end of the
fourth week
7. You must prepare a bibliography listing all sources used in
the paper and you must write the final draft.
The paper, complete
with bibliography
A the end of the
fifth week

10. Writing the Research Paper:
Steps and Schedule
What You Must Do What you Must
Produce
When It Is Due
1. You must select a topic that is complex enough to be
researched from a variety of sources but narrow enough to be
covered in 10 or so pages.
Two acceptable topics,
one of which the
instructor will approve
At the end of the
first week
2. You must do the exploratory scanning and reading of
sources on your topic.
At the end of the
second week
3. You must gather information on your topic and assemble it
into some usable sequence.
Notes, a thesis
statement, and an outline
At the end of the
third week
4. You must draft a thesis statement expressing the major idea
behind your paper.
5. You must outline the major parts of your paper.
6. You must write a rough draft of the paper arguing, proving,
or supporting your thesis with information uncovered by your
research. You must acknowledge all borrowed ideas, data, and
opinions.
A rough draft of the
paper
At the end of the
fourth week
7. You must prepare a bibliography listing all sources used in
the paper and you must write the final draft.
The paper, complete
with bibliography
A the end of the
fifth week