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Term PaperTerm Paper

Mohammad Alauddin MSS (Government &Politics) MPA( Governance& Public Policy)

Deputy Secretary

Welcome to the Presentation

Special Foundation Training Course For BCS (Health) Cadre. Officers BIAM Foundation, May, 28, 2010.

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Term paperTerm paper is one of the writing assignments required of trainees in Foundation Course. We know that research in common parlance refers to search for knowledge. It is in this sense, term paper is a kind of research outcome.

Introduction

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What is Research?

Research is an ORGANIZED and SYSTEMATIC way of FINDING ANSWERS to QUESTIONS

SYSTEMATICSYSTEMATIC because there is a definite set of procedures and steps which you will follow. ORGANIZEDORGANIZED in that there is a structure or method in doing research. It is a planned procedure, not a spontaneous one. It is focused and limited to a specific scope. FINDING ANSWERSFINDING ANSWERS is the end of all research. Whether it is the answer to a hypothesis or even a simple question, research is successful when we find answers. Sometimes the answer is no, but it is still an answer. QUESTIONSQUESTIONS are central to research. If there is no question, then the answer is of no use. Research is focused on relevant, useful, and important questions. Without a question, research has no focus, drive, or purpose.

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Research Process

Formulating the Research Problem

Review of literature

Formulating objectives and Hypothesis

Research Design

Data collection

Data analysis

Generalization

(report writing)

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What is a Term Paper?

Assignment

Term paperTerm paper : Field work normally not required, desk review

of available materials.

Dissertation

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Why Term Paper?

For having clear understanding on a topic.

Critical examination of a concept Reaching to a conclusion on a topic

on reading relevant books, journals, browsing internet etc.

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The researcher has to prepare a report of what has been done by him. Research report may take the form of a scientific paper for a journal, a paper to be presented in a seminar, or a thesis or dissertation. Although the format of the report for each of these may slightly vary in respect of length and details of style, the general outlinegeneral outline is common to all. Report should be written in a concise and objective style in simple language avoiding vague expressions such as ‘it seems’, ‘there may be’ and the like.

Writing a Term Paper

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The FormatThe Format

Normally a paper is made up of three main parts:

the preliminaries

the text and

the reference matter.

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The Preliminaries

Title pageTitle page: the name of the institution (usually centered at the top of the sheet), the exact title of the paper, the date and the name of the writer-all suitably capitalized, centered and spaced upon.

Half-title pageHalf-title page: the part number and title of the part it precedes are centered upon the page, typed in capital letters throughout. It is assigned a page number appropriate to its place in the paper, but the number does not appear on the page.

Summary/AbstractSummary/Abstract: one paragraph-not exceeding 250 words

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The Preliminaries

Preface/AcknowledgementsPreface/Acknowledgements

Included in the preface are such matters as the writer’s reasons for making the study, its scope and purpose, the aids afforded him in the process of research and writing by institutions and persons. If the writer things he has nothing significant to say about the study that is not covered in the main body of the paper and wishes only to acknowledge the assistance of various kinds he has received, the heading “Acknowledgements” rather than “Preface” should be used.

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The Preliminaries

ContentsContents

The entire body of typed matter should be centered upon the page; that is, the blank space above and below the typing should be approximately equal always allowing, however, no less than two inches at the top of the page.

List of tablesList of tables

List of illustrationsList of illustrations

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The Text

IntroductionIntroduction:: The text ordinarily begins with an introduction, which may be Chapter I. It is the first major division of the text and provides some background of the problem studied. It should include:BackgroundStatement of the problemObjectivesJustification of the studyMethodologyScope and LimitationsThe first page of the introduction is page 1(Arabic numeral) of the paper.

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The Text

Main bodyMain body:: The main body of the paper is usually divided into chapters ,each chapter having a title and each beginning on a new page.

Conclusion:Conclusion: Towards the end of the main text the researcher should put down the concluding remarks.

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Reference Matter

AppendixAppendix:: It provides a place for material that is not absolutely necessary to the text. In it may be placed tables too detailed for text presentation, schedules and forms used in collecting materials, copies of documents not generally available to the reader and sometimes illustrative materials. The appendixes would be numbered or lettered (I,II etc., or A, B, etc.).

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The Bibliography

The bibliography lists the sources used in the preparation of the paper.

Vancouver StyleVancouver Style: In this style the reference are arranged in order of their appearance in the write up and given a unique number.

Harvard StyleHarvard Style: In this style reference are listed in alphabetical order of author’s name and each author’s publications are shown in chronological order of date of publication.

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The Bibliography

For each reference, information is provided in the following way:For an article:For an article:Author (s) (surname followed by initials), Title of article, Name of the Journal, Year; Volume number and pages of the article.For a book:For a book:Author (s) (surname followed by initials), Title of book, Edition, Place, Publisher, Year, Number and pages in the bookFor a chapter in a book:For a chapter in a book: Author (s) of chapter (surname followed by initials); Chapter title.... In... Editors of book (surname followed by initials,) ed. Title of book, Place, Publisher, Year: Page number of chapter.

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THANK YOU