Thats the Way I Write....Research Papers

I find that research papers are some of the most important papers one writes in college. More likely than not you'll be researching something that has to do with your degree, which means you'll be learning something that you truly need, or truly want to know, which sadly enough I have found tends to be rare as an undergraduate. As one might think, since the outcome of this particular sort of writing is so important and rewarding, the process tends to be a bit more difficult, and the work a bit more complicated. What I have gather so far is that there are a number of steps to follow that make this process more organized, and more efficient.

First, find you topic. This may be relatively simple, especially in college, as they are often handed out to us. However you may find yourself with a broad concept or idea, from which you will have create your own topic. In either case it is important to be specific. There is no shortage of information in our multi-technical world today. If we choose a topic that is too broad, we need to boil it down to what is important, or of the most intrest to us. For example, you may be interested in tourism in the south west region of the United States. This sounds specific, but if you concentrate the bulk of your research on a specific event in a specific town you might get more information. If you choose an Indian arts festival in Santa Fe, then pick out a few trends that occur within that event, then you can compare that to some more statistics in other cities. Which will give a personal look at your topic, and open up some generalizations that may be useful.

Second, you have to start the research. Classes have taught us the importance of finding legitimate research. Dot-com sites do not prove to be as useful of a tool as a peer-edited journal. This does not however rule out the use of less legitimate sources such as dot-com sites, it is important though to uses these resources in a proper manner, and to always double check any "facts" from these sites. The primary point to remember is to site sources correctly, this is the part that I tend to have more trouble with, many research papers often entail the use of a number of different sources, which are all sited with different etiquette. What also can be tricky in this part of writing is knowing what to site, when, and how. I have found that the more that you site, the safer it is. Anything that is a fact that is not relatively well known, ought to be sited, and any concept, thought or idea, that is not your own should not be portrayed in a manner that makes the audience believe it is, and should always be credited to the original creator.

The third step is to start writing. At this point I gather the information I have and put the main points together in an order that will better help the audience to understand the research that I have done. This is a pre-writing step much like an outline. At this point the paper is planned, I have my research done, and my sources cited. So I can sit at the computer and start to write.

So the fourth step is to create the paper. At this point I write paragraph by paragraph, based on my outline. I often leave the intro and the conclusion meek, then come back to it. I focus most of my energy on the body of the paper. I make multiple drats, and review and re-read it a number of times before making it final. This part is all about being meticulus, being a perfectionist, and trying to stay focused on the subject matter. Again, I sometimes get caugtht up in language, trying to make it sound smart, rather than focusing on the point I am trying to get the audience to understand.

Research papers take time, and require the writer to not only be well informed, but thoughtful. The reader is writing what you wrote because he or she is expecting your opinion, your thoughts, and your attitude to come out in the piece. These things are just as important as gathering the unorganized information that is out there and constructing it to a form that help others to understand it. This entails what a research paper is, keeping this end in mind will help keep your means in check.