Research Paper

AD140 6 April, 2005College of Advancing Studies Brendan RappleBoston College

Defining a Research Topic

Unlimited Topic (MUCH TOO BROAD)

• "The Teaching of English as Revealed in the Courses of Study of the English-Speaking Nations of the World."

• "Life and Times of Sigmund Freud"

Slightly Limited Topic (STILL TOO BROAD)

• "Psychological Theories of Sigmund Freud"

• "An Examination of Different Emphases in the Psychological Views of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung"

Appropriate/Manageable Topics

• "Freud's Theory of Personality Applied to Mental Health"

• "Freud's Theory of Infantile Sexuality"

• "An Analysis of the Relationship of Freud and Jung in the International Psychoanalytic Association, 1910-1914"

Too Narrow a Topic

• "Freud's Pets

Unlimited Topic (Much Too Broad)

"Who Gossips and Why?"

Slightly Limited Topic (Still Too Broad)

"When Do People Gossip?"

Adequately Limited Topic

• Content Analysis of Selected Gossip Columns in Five Women's Magazines During the Decade 1980-1989

Topic

• Suppose you wish to evaluate a certain number of social studies textbooks used in XYZ School District for evidence of sex role stereotyping.

Clearly One Must Examine the Books Themselves

Possible Problems that One may Face• They may not be in the local college/public library

• They may not be accessible through Inter Library Loan

Think of Broader Context

• Perhaps you might want to examine areas other than social studies.

• Essential to examine very carefully the concept of "sex role stereotyping"

-- not easy to define and measure

• Look at general "philosophical" studies of this concept.

• Look at sex role stereotyping in history.

• Look at changing sex roles in home, workplace, wider community.

In short, it's good to broaden one's reading, to place your own study in context.

Another Error to Avoid

• Choosing a topic that is not manageable

• Important factors to bear in mind

• time

• resources

• energy

• travel

• researcher's knowledge and experience (e.g. do

you speak Chinese?)

Another Possible Error

• Choosing a topic that will not keep your interest, enthusiasm.

Questions to Bear in Mind

• Is the research politically acceptable? (to the funding agency or the individual/committee who decides)

• Is the research socially acceptable? (to the funding agency or the individual/committee who decides)

• (What about an advocacy of euthansia to raise the per capita income)

N.B. Remember The Audience

Definition of Terms

• STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: How is intellectual potential and performance in high school related to success in college?

Intellectual potential: student's scores on the verbal and quantitative components of the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

Performance in high school: G.P.A. combined with assessment of activities outside the classroom (e.g. editing the school paper, playing the cello in the school orchestra).

Success in College: G.P.A., length of stay in college, extracurricular activities.

Another Example

• STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: "An Examination of How Feminist Organizations in West Berlin Helped in the Reunification and Democratization of Germany during the latter part of the 1980s."

Possible problem words:FeministDemocratization

We must know how the RESEARCHER defines the term.

All research, whatever type, must include at least the following:

1. Statement of a problem to be solved.

2. Consideration of prior information related to the problem.

3. Collection of data relevant to a solution for the problem.

4. Analysis of the data and relation of findings to the original problem with a view toward stating a solution.

Audience

• Keep the type of audience in mind

• Your writing should be pitched at level of expected readers

• Use the terminology appropriate to them

• Physics terms for physicists; sociology terms for sociologists

• No jargon, e.g., for ordinary reader

• Generally, "plain English" is the best strategy

Are Your Readers

• Professionals in the field?

• General readers who have

different levels of knowledge?similar levels of knowledge?

• What special interest do they have in this topic?

Statement of the Problem

– State the research problem right away

– What exactly do you want to study?

– Why is it worth studying?

Statement of the Problem

• Who will benefit?

• Will it improve the electric car?

• Will it help cut heating costs?

• How original is the study?

• Does it emanate from inconsistencies in previous research work?

• You may mention here if the problem has arisen from your own experience.

Literature Review– Often lengthiest section of the proposal

– Provides context for proposed study

– May demonstrate why it is important and timely

– Clarifies relationship between your study and previous work on topic

– Helps you to define your topic

– Suggests new ideas to you

Literature Review– Acquaints you with new sources of data

– Do past studies agree or disagree?

– Are there flaws in the body of existing research that you feel you can remedy?

– Helps avoid needless replication of previous research

– Helps you to avoid errors in planning your study

– Helps to better interpret significance of your own results

Procedures/Methodology

• When you are planning to use people as subjects in your paper, consider the following:

• Who or what will you study in order to collect data? • Identify who is available for study. • Indicate how you will reach them.• Will it be appropriate to select a sample?• If so, how will you do that? • If relevant, how will you ensure that subjects are not harmed by

the research?

Data-collection Methods• How will you actually collect the data for your study?

• Will you conduct an experiment or a survey?

• Will it be purely documentary research?

• What libraries, archives are you using?

• Will you undertake field research?

• Or are you going to focus on the re-analysis of statistics already created by others?

Tests, Questionnaires, Observations, Other Devices

• Are you yourself designing the instruments to be used?

• Have you tested these instruments?

• Will permission to use them be required?

• Are you attaching a copy in an appendix?

• Will a pilot study be required?

Documents

• Plan precisely documents/material you will need, e.g.such primary source materials as letters, manuscripts, diaries, autobiographies

• Where are they located?

• What condition are they in?

• Will permission to use them be needed?

• Is the sample appropriate?

• Is it large enough?

Limitations of Study

• Important to state precisely what you intend to do.

• Important to state precisely what you do NOT intend to do.

Limitations may be, e.g., of

• time• personnel• gender• age• geographic location• nationality• (and an infinite number of others)

Advantages of Precisely Limiting

• Makes the topic more focused.

• Researcher covers herself from possible criticism for ignoring areas.

Ethical Considerations

• Scrupulous honesty e.g. relinquish a pet theory that evidence calls into question

• Refrain from any manipulation of the data

• Plagiarism

Human Subjects

• Will you be able to gain permission to use them?

• Will you be able to keep subjects' identities confidential?

• What extra precautions will you take for children?

• Will subjects be able to sign consent forms (e.g. children, handicapped)?

Will they be exposed to risks?

--no physical danger

--no situation of stress

--no situation of discomfort

--no situation of embarrassment

--no invasion of privacy

--no potential threat to reputation

• Set out a timetable -- should be a realistic estimate of time required to complete the project.

Schedule/Timetable

Beginning to Write Your Paper

• Common Parts of Many Research Papers:

– Title and Cover Page– Executive Summary/ Abstract– Statement of the Research Problem/Area– Literature Review– Procedures/Methodology– Limitations of Study– Main Text of Paper – Hypotheses, Findings, Conclusion, etc.– Bibliography– Appendices

• But all of the above are not essential in all papers

Title/Cover Page

• Title

• Author's name, address, phone no., e-mail, fax no.

• Name of the institution

• Date

Executive Summary/Abstract

Usually written last

PURPOSE: Summarizes for the reader the basic structure/content of

the proposal

• Normal scholarly process.

• Should include all resources used in the proposal.

• Should adopt a particular style, e.g. MLA, APA, Chicago etc. -- style must be consistent.

• Helps the reader to form an opinion of quality of the sources available (and your ability to find them).

Bibliography

Appendices

• Charts, graphs and other information which may interfere with the flow of the proposal or lengthen it may be placed in the appendices.

• Always worthwhile to lavish care on a research paper.

• Writing is perhaps the most important skill in today’s workplace.

Writing

Paragraphs

• Keep paragraphs short

• Use subheadings to clarify the structure

• they break up the material into more readable units.

• they give the reader a place to "dive in" if she doesn't want to read all of the material.

Subheadings

• Write the first draft straight through

• Do it quickly -- this preserves continuity -- gives coherence

• So easy to revise using word-processors

Writing Drafts

Common Errors

• Unattainable goals

• Failure to focus -- going on tangents

• Failure to cite essential pertinent studies

• Failure to maintain a coherent, logical thesis

• Poor organization of paper

• Poor language, grammar etc.