How to Conduct Research and Write Your Paper

Tips on how to research and write your papers!
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1. Think

Organize your thoughts and articulate your argument.  Write down the argument that you want to make.  This may be the answer to your research question.  Then, identify 4 or 5 key claims that will best make your argument, and use those as points on your outline.  Review your notes, and identify the supporting evidence that you have for each claim.  Finally, add one more level of supporting ideas.  These should be a blend of your own ideas, and those of scholars that you’ve read.

Check out Purdue Owl's guide to writing an outline. 


Sample Draft Outline of a Single Section

      Why members joined the IRA (motivations)

a.       Solidarity

                                                              i.      Most volunteers had family members in the IRA when they joined

                                                            ii.      Most volunteers were of the same demographic (white, lower-class, Catholic)

b.      Psychology

                                                              i.      Collectivism vs. Individualism

                                                            ii.      Group Dynamics

                                                          iii.      Frustration-Aggression Theory

2. Write

Articulate your thoughts, consistently referring to your outline to stay organized.  It may be helpful to write your paper on a separate document from your outline, to remove the temptation to copy your notes word for word.  Your paper should consist of your own original thoughts and language, informed by (not copied from) the notes you’ve taken.

3. Cite

Be sure to mark down exactly where you found the information that you use in your paper.  If you took good, accurate notes, this information shouldn’t be too hard to find.  You can go back and format your citations later, but make sure that you provide the key information (author, title, page number) as you write.  This will save you the effort of going back and looking up each piece of information in your notes to find out where you got it from.  Citing as you take notes and as you write your paper is one of the most important things that you can do to avoid plagiarism.

Remember!

This is an iterative process.  You should be constantly revising your research question and arguments.  You cannot write a good research question without doing research, and you cannot do good research without having the direction of a research question.  You will have to go back to the drawing board more than once, and that’s okay.