Steps in the Research Process
1. Establish your topic and focus.
·
Make sure that
your topic addresses the assignment as required by the instructor.
·
Check with your
instructor to make sure that that the topic is appropriate.
·
Narrow or broaden
the topic so that it is appropriate for the number of pages required.
2. Develop your research question.
·
Develop an
Essential Question which will focus your research and provide you with
opportunity to develop your topic in depth. Writing about a subject is a way of
learning about it, so this question will provide you a way to increase your
knowledge about your topic.
·
This question
should be critical in nature, and not a question that is topic-oriented that
requires nothing more than moving words from a resource to your paper and
creating a report.
3. Develop a Working Thesis.
·
Develop a
declarative sentence which asserts the main point of your research topic. This
main point of your paper, the thesis, will be a preliminary answer to your
Essential Question.
4. Explore, search, and gather resources.
·
Find and explore
sources that will give you information that helps you to examine and answer
your Essential Question. This information should come from a broad range of sources,
including books, other print sources, non-print sources, and the Internet.
·
Record your
sources using appropriate M.L.A. bibliographic format.
·
Record your
notes, making sure to differentiate among quotations, summaries, and
paraphrases using correct M.L.A., A.P.A., or other appropriate note-taking format.
5. Develop a preliminary outline.
·
Review and
organize your note cards or re-arrange your computer notes in order to
establish a framework for your outline.
·
Determine which
areas of your research require additional information.
6. Write a draft of your paper.
·
Follow your
outline and use it as the framework for your paper.
·
Write in third
person, scholarly Voice.
·
As you write,
integrate appropriate research quotes, paraphrases, and/or summaries from your
research into your text. Follow your instructor’s guidelines about the number
of sources and cited materials used.
·
Document your
sources using M.L.A., A.P.A., or other appropriate parenthetical in-text
citation format.
7. Draft a Works Cited Page.
·
On a separate
page at the end of your paper, list the works you have cited in your paper following
the M.L.A., A.P.A., or other appropriate parenthetical Works Cited page format.
·
Pay very close
attention to the details of correct bibliographic format.
8. Revise the paper.
·
Pay particular
attention to content, focus, organization, paragraphing, and coherence.
·
Make sure that
your paper adheres strictly to the M.L.A. format for citations and form.
9. Draft the final copy.