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"I have to write a research paper."
It can be about anything I want, but it has
to be organized around an arguable THESIS ("a position...that a
person advances...by argument," Merriam-Webster's Collegiate
Dictionary, 10th Edition). And it should be about something I
have at least some interest in, since I have to spend time finding
sources, evaluating them, reading parts of them, organizing the
information I find in them, and writing the paper, 6-8 pages
long.
I’ll use the Chesapeake College Library to find my sources,
but...
| First, I need an IDEA.
For example:
I hear alcoholism called a disease. But I thought
diseases were caused by germs or viruses or bad cells or genes, sometimes.
Is alcoholism a disease like that? It looks more like a bad habit to me. I
know alcohol abuse can cause disease, like cirrhosis of the liver, but is
alcoholism itself a disease? This is how I develop my
"research question." |
What is the research question?
The research question is a statement
identifying what you plan to research. Once you decide on a broad
topic, as I did when I began with the term alcoholism, you should jot down
questions that begin to focus or narrow your research. In discussing
my IDEA, I came up with several questions:
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Do germs cause
alcoholism?
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Is alcoholism a bad habit?
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Is alcoholism a disease?
Once
you have these questions choose the best question to begin your
research--one that is not too broad or one that is not too narrow.
Remember...a good research question will provide a pathway for research;
however, you will decide upon your thesis statement as a result of your
initial research.
Clearly, I’m not sure what I think about
alcoholism as a disease but I guess once I start
finding sources, I’ll learn a little more about the subject and clarify my
idea into an arguable thesis.
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What’s your idea? No idea? Think about your friends,
family, community, etc. Anything?
EXAMPLE:
My cousins are home-schooled. My
aunt is their only teacher and they don't get to be around other
kids. But they seem really smart! Sometimes I think home
schooling is a good idea, sometimes not.
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Browse through a newspaper, news magazine, or news Web site.
Anything?
EXAMPLE:
I think we might have captured
Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan if President Bush hadn't gone to
war with Iraq. There aren't enough soldiers to go around.
Still no idea? Take a look at
OPPOSING
VIEWPOINTS, a database that explores current, often controversial
issues.
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Write a few sentences describing your idea/research
question and submit your work to your instructor according to your
instructor's directions. |
END OF PART I
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