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Six Steps To A Wonderful Research Paper

By: Steve Morton

If you've not yet taken a research paper course before entering college, you may find yourself with the complex job of turning in good assignments. If this is your scenario, here are some useful guidelines to assist you...

1) Get A Good Grasp Of The Assignment

Make sure that you have read through it from top to bottom to understand task at hand. It helps to make an outline of any main thoughts, keywords and action words.

2) Choose The Most Simple Assignment

If your teacher gives you a choice, pick the research paper that most suits you; one that interests you and maybe you know something about. This will greatly accelerate the process and make it more fun. If you have no interest in the topic, it's likely to show when you turn in your essay.

If you don't like the assignment or any of the choices, try to change it up to one to make it more palletable. For example, maybe the research paper is to be about classical music, but you hate that style because you're a rock music fan. You've got it made! You could write your essay on the historic rock band "Yes". They put a lot of classical music into their music and became leaders in fusion rock.

3) Ask A Lot of Questions

Start brainstorming and write down every question you can think of. This will lead to even more subjects. Then, start questioning everyone you can from friends and family to teachers. Ask them what they know about the subject matter and get their input. Do keyword searches on the internet to find subtopics, information and answers. Visit wiki and authority sites, as well as government sites and offline libraries. Make notes of your research. If you take data from books, websites, etc., be sure to write your resources down on paper for reference and a bibliography.

4) Decide On An Interesting Delivery Format

Students are often instructed by a college professor as to what mode they want the research paper to be. But if left more open for your choosing, some good options are contrasts and comparisons, statistical analysis, argumentative, problem and solution, narrative and interpretation. You could also combine modes for sharper views. You could divide it up into nicely arranged sections to point out a variety of aspects of your research, such as the impact your topic made on civilization, a certain era or different cultures, or discuss different financial, personal or social aspects of the topic.

5) Maintain Narrow Subject Matter

You will likely have limited time and a limited amount of pages or words with which to work. Be smart and don't get to broad about your topic. The entire Asian War is not going to be covered well in a few pages, but the affects of chemicals used in battle might.

6) Have A Very Pointed Thesis

As you present your research, start narrowing everything down, leading you into the point you are trying to make. A paper with just a lot of statistics will not be good if you never 'get to the point', whether it is your opinion or a main fact that you've been leading up to; some kind of a 'drive it home' point is necessary.

You could leave the audience or professor thinking by presenting a mix of scenarios for them to weigh. Or, maybe answer the questions yourself by stating your hypotheses, thus creating your thesis. Any type of disagreement, concurrence or conclusion about your research could make a good thesis statement if constuctively done.

Summation

Remember, when you are doing your research, you are not trying to read all of the books nor reference materials. You are doing a research paper, not a book report, so just scan looking for information and ideas you need or can apply. Don't weigh yourself down, but also, don't just compile statistics. Wrap it up in an educational package that's simple to ascertain and digest. Your paper should make the professor leave it feeling better for having read it.

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Phil Irish also has published quite a few articles about Online Dietitican Degrees and Online Bachelor's Degrees

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