Research Papers

What is doing research?

Research, at its simplest, is what we often do in daily life: finding out as much as we can about an interesting topic from others and forming our "own opinion."

But in daily life we usually do this with friends, that is, people who have the same opinion as we do. Out of politeness and love we rarely test their opinions by questioning their motives, their values, the correctness of their reasoning, or the accuracy of their information. It would be like questioning our own motives, values, reasoning, and information.

Similarly, we avoid asking those we don't like about the basis of their opinions. Often, we simply reject them out of hand for purely emotional, not rational, reasons.

In short, we rarely ask others, or ourselves, "Why should I believe you?"

But this is exactly what researchers do!

"Doing research" is putting your opinion to the test. This process can be exhilarating or uncomfortable, fascinating or boring. Consequently our minds play tricks on us. We magnify the importance of what we agree with. We minimize the significance of what we do not agree with. We forget inconvenient facts and unintentionally manufacture convenient ones. Researchers must discipline themselves to avoid these pitfalls to accurate understanding.

The discipline of good researchers is keeping copious notes about what they read and think. These notes remind us of what facts we have "forgotten," of our motives and values, and the validity of our reasoning. This process often requires researchers to change, clarify, or refine their opinions, sometimes radically, as they do their research.

Researchers believe that the discomfort of research is worthwhile because the best opinions to guide our actions are based on the most accurate information, logical thinking, and well-examined values and motives.

learning is researching is writing

BTW, STUDYing for class is research, too!

What is "writing a report?"

A research paper is a refined report of the notes taken during the messy research process. Through it you do the following things:

• You introduce the reader the topic you researched by showing how it is important, significant, and timely. In other words, tell readers why they should care about the topic.
• You state what you think about the topic. That is, you provide the reader with your theme (the "point" of the paper) or thesis (i.e., claim/opinion/position statement).
• You provide a literature review showing the range of opinions about the topic and their various strengths and weaknesses. By doing this you also convince the reader that you know enough about the topic to have a worthwhile opinion about it.
• You provide a logical discussion of the facts supporting your position while showing how and why other opinions are incorrect. This convinces the reader that you are "thinking straight" about the topic.
• You finally outline your conclusions.
• Lastly, you provide a list of all references cited by you in the paper.

In short, you convince your readers that they should believe you.

You may want to use the above list as a broad outline of your research paper. However, there are other ways of organizing a paper. Remember, though, that all the items on that list must be covered to show that you have a well-thought out opinion on any subject.

For a quick version of the importance of writing and kinds of writing, go here.

Holy Cow! ESSAY TESTS are reports on research!

Don't get sucked into the black hole of procrastination!