Help with Research
Having to do a research paper can be really overwhelming, scary, even depressing. But it can also be exciting. In this tutorial you will learn how to make research a pleasure. Here you'll get the basics for doing research, which is the stuff you've got to do before you can sit down and write.
Here are three tips to guide your research:
THREE TIPS FOR A GREAT RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
A research project has got to have a topic. If your instructor has assigned you a topic, find something about it that interests you, something that grabs your attention. Get curious about it. Google it. If it's a topic you've come up with yourself, make sure it's really something you are interested in. Think about it. Think about how it affects your life or the lives of people you care about. Make friends with your topic - make it your own.
Think of yourself as an explorer who has discovered a new land, and can't wait to learn everything he can about it so he bring back the good news to everyone at home. Take your topic and find out everything you can about it. Read about it on the internet, in encyclopedias (online and in print), in books, articles, journals, watch it on TV and in the movies.
If you love your topic, you'll learn a lot about it. Then you'll be able to give it all over in a paper.
The second tip for great research is to stay focused as you explore your topic. You're going to see a lot of material and come across a lot of ideas. Keep track of the important stuff you find and organize it all in one place. Write down the main ideas, as well as the sources where you got them. Get yourself a notebook or open up a Word file to make a list of your ideas and their sources.
Let's say you're using the internet to get information about your topic. Create a folder in the Favorites or Bookmarks section of your browser, and store all the pages you've found useful in it. Later, when you're writing the bibliography or works cited section of your research paper, you'll be able to list all the sites you've visited so that your readers can see what you saw.
The third and final tip we'd like to offer you is to take your time with your research. Don't let it overwhelm you. Give yourself time to let the ideas cook in your mind - think about them, write about them casually, talk about them with other people, blog about them. As you let the ideas mature in your mind, you'll be able to focus on the aspects of the topic that interest you the most, and you'll be ready to narrow it all down.
When you feel like you know your topic well, it's time to decide what the main point of your research paper is. What is the main message you're trying to get across to your readers? Once you've decided what that message is, write it down, and all the information you've gathered will start to come together. That's when you're ready to start writing the paper.
Use our Writing a Thesis tutorial to put together a strong message.
Use our Outline, Structure Of An Essay and Rough Draft tutorials for putting your paper together.
When you have a draft, use our Transitions and Active Voice tutorials to polish your style.
Good luck!
Remember our three tips for conducting research:
- Make the topic your own
- Stay focused
- Take your time