THE RESEARCH PROCESS:

(Before beginning, be sure to read/review all steps to familiarize yourself with the research process.)

STEP ONE: ESTABLISHING AND NARROWING THE TOPIC

Select a topic that is suitable for the assignment and one that interests you. Try to avoid topics that are:

1. Too general. You will need a topic that can be covered in depth within the page limits of your assignment.
2. Too personal. If you are exceedingly involved with a topic you may become too emotional about it and fail to convince your reader that the thesis is valid.
3. Too familiar. If you already know the subject well, you might become bored with it.
4. Too local. A topic that applies just to your school or community may be too difficult to research.
5. Too complex. Be wary of topics that require a great deal of technical or scientific terminology unless you are really familiar with that terminology.

STEP TWO: LOCATING PRELIMINARY REFERENCES

You will now need to see whether you can locate sufficient sources to handle the topic you have chosen. As a rule of thumb, for the preliminary bibliography, try to locate double the number of sources that will actually be required for the assignment. Remember, some of the sources you locate at this point will be repetitious and others will not be of use to you when you actually read them.

If you cannot locate double the number of required sources, your topic may be too narrow. Conversely, if you find that you are overwhelmed by the number of sources available, this may be a sign that your topic is too general. One method of tracking the amount of source material is, as you locate a source, write it on a 3 X 5 index card in the proper bibliographic form. MAKE CERTAIN THAT YOU HAVE USED THE STYLE OF CITATION THAT YOUR TEACHER REQUIRES.

If you take the time to put the source in the correct bibliographic style early in the process, it will save you time later when you have to prepare your final reference page. If each source is on a separate card, when you are ready to write the final bibliography, you will simply need to put the cards in alphabetical order and copy them onto your bibliography page.

SOURCES OF MATERIALS

1. Recency. The more recent your research, the more valid it will be (unless, of course, you are doing historical research).
2. Variety. Try to vary your sources so that your evidence will be as strong as possible. For example, avoid using several issues of the same magazine or the same newspaper, and do not limit yourself to one type of publication, such as all news magazines or all religious magazines.
3. Primary sources are the most direct kind of information. If you are writing about literature or the arts, the actual novels, short stories, poems, plays, films, paintings, sculpture, and so on are the primary sources. Diaries, notes, letters and autobiographies are other kinds of primary materials. Interviews made by a market researcher, observations of an astronomer, a music historian relating the circumstances of the discovery of a new-found Mozart manuscript-- all these are primary sources. If you want to know what the president of the United States believes about foreign policy, go directly to his speeches and writings. Neil Armstrong's report of his moon walk is a primary source and is more reliable than someone else's report of the event. Do not overlook public documents as primary sources: The Congressional Record, the U.S. Census Reports, and so on are helpful.

Primary sources are not always easy to find, particularly in the limited time you have for most research assignments. Sometimes they are impossible to locate and you may be forced to depend entirely on secondary sources. But you can always use your ingenuity. For instance, as a primary source for research on "The Effectiveness of the City of X's Water Supply System for Fire Fighting," you might interview or correspond with some of the people responsible for drawing up the master plan for the water supply and with some of the fire fighters who have had to rely on that water supply. You might also correspond with the manufacturer of a pollution control device newly installed by a company in your city to obtain information about its development and to get leads to other companies that have used it and can tell you about its effectiveness and costs.
4. Secondary sources are one step removed from the original and are often an evaluation, commentary, or summary of primary materials. Helpful as they are, they need to be considered for what they are: writings of another person on a subject. Therefore, they will probably show the biases of the author, just as your own research paper will probably reflect your own bias.

Although secondary sources are useful, there is a danger in relying too heavily on them, especially if you ignore the materials on which they are based. You should, therefore, check on them carefully by going back to the original (primary) source when possible, by viewing the materials skeptically and critically, and by learning something about the authors as a way of judging veracity, reliability, or bias. Then you will have a clearer picture of the usefulness of the secondary sources through your own gathering of research information.

Avoid using the following as documented sources:

1. General encyclopedias. The encyclopedia is good source to provide you with an overview of your topic, but avoid using it as a documented source of evidence.
2. Digests or summaries of articles. Instead of using a digest or a summary of an article, try to locate the original and use it as a source.

STEP THREE: FORMULATING THE THESIS STATEMENT OR THE THESIS QUESTION

When you are assigned a research paper, you need to devise a thesis statement that serves as a focus for your paper. A good way to accomplish this is to turn your topic into a question. THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION WILL BECOME YOUR THESIS.

STEP FOUR: OUTLINING

The outline is a blue print of your paper. It presents the major topics (arguments in analytical research) that will be discussed in the paper. The topics are presented in the same order in which they will be discussed in the paper.

THE PRELIMINARY OUTLINE

The preliminary outline establishes the main issues (arguments) that you will research.

Creating a preliminary outline at this point assists you in taking notes. You will then know exactly what topics you are looking for in your sources because these topics will be the major divisions of your outline.

The outline should be completed as soon as you have an overview of your topic so that your research is directed to the actual topics that will be discussed in your paper. With a preliminary outline in hand, you are less likely to take notes on material that will not be useful. Note: This outline may well be changed (topics added or deleted) as you proceed with your research.

STEP FIVE: TAKING NOTES

A. WHAT KIND OF EVIDENCE WILL YOU USE?

You should try to use a combination of the following types of evidence:

1. Facts/statistics. Facts are verifiable pieces of information. Statistics are number facts.
2. Opinions. Opinions are judgments or conclusions that are not completely verifiable. Opinions of experts in a field are stronger evidence than opinions of ordinary people. This becomes particularly important when choosing electronic sources.

B. HOW DO YOU TAKE NOTES?

You may take notes in the following forms:

1. Facts/statistics notes. When you take notes dealing with important facts or statistics, use as few words as possible. Avoid complete sentences and list the information or facts, if you can.
2. Opinion notes. When you borrow an author's opinion, you may use either the paraphrase or quotation note:

a. Paraphrase. A paraphrase is a retelling of the author's opinions using your own words. The paraphrase normally follows the order of the author's ideas and is usually about as long as the original material.
b. Quotations. Writing down the exact words used by an author should be done sparingly. Avoid copying long quotations. A quotation should be used when you feel the author's words are particularly impressive.
c. Summaries. After reading a number of articles on the same subject, organize the information in your own words and draw your own conclusions.

C. WHAT SHOULD YOU AVOID IN TAKING NOTES?

1. Repetition. Do not take notes on the same piece of information more than once.
2. The obvious. Do not take notes on that which you already know or that which is general information.
3. Imbalance. Do not take so many notes from one source that your paper almost becomes a report on that one source.
4. Ignoring pages. Do not forget to record the page of the source where you found the evidence.

D. QUOTATIONS AND NOTES

1. The majority of your notes (approximately 75%) should be fact/statistics or paraphrased opinions. Avoid taking all your notes in quotation form!
2. Remember, if you copy more than four consecutive words from an author, you must use quotation marks.
3. Quotations of four lines or fewer should be written in the text of the paper with quotation marks before and after.
4. Long quotations (those of more than four lines) need to be indented two inches from the left margin only of the text, maintaining the double spacing before and after the quotation. DO NOT use quotation marks at the beginning or end of the passage; the indentation is a signal that the lines are a quotation. Do not indent the beginning of the quotation (even if it is the start of a paragraph) unless you are quoting two or more paragraphs consecutively.

E. PLAGIARISM and Obtaining an Unfair Advantage

(from the Academic Regulation on Plagiarism and Obtaining an Unfair Advantage)

PLAGIARISM: presenting as your own the ideas, opinions or work of others whether copied from source material, purchased, or otherwise obtained without giving proper credit through documentation. Examples of such actions include but are not limited to

copying ideas, opinions, text, diagrams, illustrations, graphs, charts, pictures, -anything- from print or non-print sources
cutting and pasting from electronic sources
purchasing or copying pre-written papers

Obtaining an unfair advantage: stealing, cheating or lying with the intention of achieving a better grade on tests, quizzes or academic assignments by dishonest methods. Examples of such actions include but are not limited to

obtaining or passing on unauthorized copies of or information about tests, quizzes or other course assignments
unauthorized use of notes (written, electronic or other), books, or other data during a quiz or a test
stealing or concealing school course materials with the purpose or result of depriving other students of their use
stealing or copying of another student's answers, homework or assignments
assisting another student in any of the actions described above

A paper is considered plagiarized as a whole; there is no distinction between a small amount of material that is plagiarized or a large amount. The same consequences apply regardless of the type or amount of copied material.

Consequences for violations of this regulation during a student's academic career at RHAM High School are as follows:

First Offense

a grade of zero for the assignment
a discipline referral
contact parent/guardian
recorded on discipline file

Any Subsequent Offenses

a grade of zero for the assignment
documentation of offense will be placed in the student's permanent guidance file
a mandatory meeting with parent, teacher and guidance counselor

Note: Violation of the Academic Regulations will have an impact on candidacy for and membership in the National Honor Society, academic scholarships and awards, as well as college recommendations.

F. DOCUMENTING THE RESEARCH PAPER

WHAT IS DOCUMENTATION?

Research requires that you borrow information, ideas, and opinions from other sources, and you must give credit to those sources. The process of giving credit to sources is called documentation.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DOCUMENTED?

Generally you will need to give credit to everything in your paper that you have taken from an outside source. These are referred to as Works Cited or References (Instructor's choice). All sources that have been cited (documented) in the paper will be included in the list of references at the end of the paper. Examples include:

1. Quotations using four or more consecutive words from the source
2. Facts (including statistics) that are not general knowledge*
3. Ideas even if you agree with the idea but did not think of it until you read it
4. Opinions -even when paraphrased

*You will have to decide what is general knowledge and what is not. For example, you would not need to document the fact that George Washington was the first president of the United States because that is general knowledge. Likewise you would not need to document any fact that appears in all (or most of) the sources. For example, you would not need to document the fact that George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1732 because you would find this information in any source that presented background information on Washington, and the fact is not disputed.

HOW DO YOU DOCUMENT?

When you document, you inform your reader of the source of your information or evidence, including the exact page(s) where the information was found. Within the paper, documentation is internally cited using parentheses showing author and page number. EXAMPLE: (Smith 42).

Even though there are a variety of documentation styles presently used, this booklet focuses on the MLA (Modern Language Association) style. MLA recommends procedures for documenting an extensive variety of sources, including such non-print materials as films, television programs, interviews, and computer software.

STEP SIX: CREATING THE FINAL OUTLINE

Once you have taken notes on all your sources, you will create your final outline. The final outline should include not only the topics (arguments in analytical research) of your paper but also the sub-topics that will be discussed to explain the major topics (or to prove each argument valid in analytical research). The subtopics will be presented as "A, B, C" under the Roman numerals. Your instructor may require you to include descriptions of your evidence in this final outline. These would be included as 1s, 2s, 3s... under each subtopic. The divisions of your outline should be relatively balanced in the number of topics and subtopics that will be discussed and likewise relatively balanced in the amount of evidence per sub-topic.

The topics in the final outline should be presented in the order that will be most effective. Some common organizational patterns are:

chronological
order of importance
cause and effect
problem/solution

STEP SEVEN: WRITING THE ROUGH DRAFT

With your final outline and your notes in hand, you will be ready to write the paper itself. Follow your outline exactly as you have organized it. If you have changed your mind about the organization, you will need to change your outline. Remember, as you write this paper, follow the guidelines for writing a good formal essay and be certain to revise and edit.

STEP EIGHT: REVISING AND EDITING THE DOCUMENT

Revising includes reviewing structure, logic and content. Editing includes reviewing grammar, spelling, punctuation and sentence structure.

STEP NINE: PREPARING THE FINAL COPY

You are now ready to prepare the final copy of the paper. The format of your final copy is dependent on the preference of your instructor. The paper should be as carefully and neatly prepared as possible and will generally include the following parts:

1. Title Page. MLA style places your name, your instructor's name, the class/period, and the date the paper is submitted (in that order) on the top left hand margin of the page, adhering to the one-inch margin rule. APA style uses a separate title page, with all information centered on the title page.
2. Final Outline. The outline follows the title page and serves as a table of contents. (The outline is included only if required by the instructor.)
3. Body of the Paper. The pages of the body should be numbered consecutively. Begin numbering the paper on the first page. Put your last name followed by the page number in the upper right hand corner of each page, 1/2-inch below the top edge of the paper. DO NOT LABEL OR SEPARATE YOUR INTRODUCTION AND CONCLUSION FROM THE BODY OF THE PAPER. Write or type on only one side of each piece of paper. Use a one-inch margin on all sides of the page. Begin the first page at the left hand margin one-inch from the top of the page. If you type the paper, double space the body of the paper. Do NOT add an extra double space between paragraphs.
4. References. All works consulted and cited must be on a separate page(s) to be placed at the end of the paper. All entries must be listed alphabetically by author or editor's last name, or first word of the title. Double space, both within and between all entries. Begin each entry at the left margin and indent five spaces or use a 1/2-inch tab in the second and any subsequent lines. This page will be entitled “References” or “Works Cited,” depending on instructor preference, and the heading should be centered one inch from the top of the page. Double space between title and first entry

STEP TEN: PROOFREADING

Proofread your paper carefully and, if possible, have someone else also proofread it. MAKE CERTAIN THAT YOU KEEP A COPY OF THE FINAL PAPER UNTIL THE ORIGINAL IS GRADED. Also keep all note cards and your notes. This is proof that YOU have done the work.

STEP ELEVEN: PUBLISHING FINAL COPY

Prepare a final copy of the research paper. The research paper should be neatly written in ink, typed, or processed on a computer. Proofread to check for errors. Any additional corrections should be made.

HAVE YOU FOLLOWED THE PROCESS? REVIEW THE CHECK LIST BELOW.

__ STEP ONE: ESTABLISHED AND NARROWED THE TOPIC?
__ STEP TWO: USED ADEQUATE SOURCES AND PROPERLY CITED THEM?
__ STEP THREE: FORMULATED A THESIS STATEMENT OR THESIS QUESTION?
__ STEP FOUR: DEVELOPED A PRELIMINARY OUTLINE?
__ STEP FIVE: TAKEN ADEQUATE NOTES, AVOIDED PLAGIARISM BY USING PROPER DOCUMENTATION?
__ STEP SIX: CREATED A FINAL OUTLINE?
__ STEP SEVEN: WRITTEN A ROUGH DRAFT?
__ STEP EIGHT: REVISED AND EDITED THE ROUGH DRAFT?
__ STEP NINE: WRITTEN A FINAL COPY?
__ STEP TEN: PROOFREAD THE COPY?
__ STEP ELEVEN: PUBLISHED A FINAL COPY/ KEPT A ROUGH DRAFT AND NOTES? SAVED TO YOUR HARD DRIVE AND DISK?

DOES THE REFERENCE PAGE FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES?

1. All direct quotations, ideas borrowed from a source, summaries, paraphrases, statistics, specific facts, cartoons, graphs and/or diagrams are included.
2. The list of Works Cited begins on a new page at the end of the paper.
3. The title of the page (follow the preference of the instructor: Works Cited/ References/ Bibliography) is centered and is 1-inch from the top of the page.
4. The entire page of the documented citations is double spaced; an extra double space is not added between entries.
5. The list is alphabetized by the last name(s) of author(s) or editor(s); if the work has no author or editor, the entry is alphabetized by the first word of the title other than A, An or The.
6. The first line of the entry begins at the left marin; any additional lines are indented one-half inch or 5 spaces. Web addresses have the hot link feature turned off.
7. Bullets or numbers are NOT used to indicate each entry.