RESEARCH PAPER WRITING

Writing a research paper is like writing any other academic paper, but youre
including information, opinions, ideas from other people (i.e. intellectuals) and
scholarly books.
Comparison of Qualitative-Quantitative Research
Characteristics
Qualitative (were doing
this one)
Time of Execution
Short Time Frames
Sample Size
Small
Type of Analyses
Subjective, Interpretative
Research Skills
Representativeness

Psychology, Sociology,
Cultural Behavior, Social
Psychology
Limited

Quantitative
Usually Long Frames
Large
Statistical, Descriptive,
Causal
Statistics, MR, DSS,
Decision Models
Good

Paraphrasing
- putting material (including major and minor points) into your own words
and sentence structures
- you can paraphrase a theory, an idea, the results of a study, or a passage in an
original source, as long as you use your own words to describe it
- is often the same length as the original text, just that it is in your own words
Organize Your Ideas
- use mapping, outlining or arranging of ideas
Sections of a Research Paper
1. Abstract limited to about 200 words and offers an overview of:
What the research paper contains
Research question
Research strategy used
Explanation of results
Discussion and recommendation(s)
- written last and in past tense
2. Introduction features:
Summary of information from sources
How researcher intends to develop the research
Statement of the problem (may be written in either
statement or question form)
3. Body main discussion of the issue
a. Presents how the research strategy was used in concise, complete and
clear manner

b. Presents the results using good graphs, tables and/or relevant forms
of transcriptions (ex. Interviews) and visual aids
c. Combines the results with the other studies as well as the points in
the introduction in order to answer the problem
4. The Conclusion and Recommendation summarizes your research and
answers your research question. It presents recommendations and
suggestions for future research work and for the institution the researcher
intends to help/support
5. Reference List (Bibliography Page) includes complete citation for each
source cited in the research paper
6. Appendixes sometimes used to provide a verbatim copy of instructions to
participants or a copy of particular materials used in a research study (e.g.
interviews, surveys, graphs, pictures)
Structure:
- Title Page
- Abstract at most 200 words
- Introduction 1 to 2 pages only
- Body 2 to 4 pages
- Conclusion 1 page only
- Appendixes 3 to 5 pages
- References
*recommendations can be written in bullet from
*1.5 spacing, 1 margin for all sides, TNR, font size 12, MLA format for references
DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 21, 2014