Research Paper: Updates, new due dates, guidelines

Research Paper
Updates, new due dates, guidelines

Short Research Paper

• *new due date* Monday April 27th
• 4-5 pages (1200 words)
• uses 3 sources
• Do not use encyclopedia type sources (if you do, it will not count as one of your 3)
• At least one source should be a book
• Try to use at least one scholarly article
• You may use interviews, but only as one of your required sources.
• Worth 5% of your final grade

Long Research Paper

• *new due date* Wednesday, May 13th
• 7-9 pages
• Uses six sources
• Include a copy of all your sources (you can copy relevant pages from the books you use)
• Worth 20% of your final grade. About ½ of your grade will be awarded based on how well the paper is written; the other ½ will be awarded based on the quality of your sources and how well you use them in your paper.

Possible Structure for long paper

• Introduction: Explain your interest in the issue, provide overview of the problem or question, end with thesis
• Problem or Question: explain and define the problem or question by giving specific examples of it, perhaps individual cases and situations as well as facts and statistics.
• Source of the problem/ reason for the question: how has this problem developed or what has caused it? (Note: the problem and its sources could be combined into one section).
• Consequences of the problem/ question: What are the typical results or consequences of this problem? What are the typical responses to the question?
• Possible solutions: What solutions have been applied to this problem?
• Conclusion: What have you learned from your research? What have you proven to us about this problem? Your focus and your thesis and your conclusion will probably be on why this problem matters and what should be done about it.

Possible structure for short paper

• The short research paper will be a reduced version of the suggested outline. You might do a shorter version of every point OR you might simply explore the problem/question, its sources and consequences, and save the possible solution for your longer paper.



Sources

• Length is a good indicator or what is useful. A one page interview is too short; an in-depth interview would be more useful. Similarly, a book review would be too short or superficial; a scholarly article or full chapter from a critical study would be valuable.
• Luria Library “Online Research Databases”
• Google Scholar
• Davidson Library at UCSB

The Final Draft (Due May 13th)

Please submit in a large envelope (with your name on it) in this order
1. Outline: this should reflect the final structure of your paper. It should be typed.
2. The paper
3. Works Cited page in MLA format
4. On the same page or subsequent page, present a list of “Works Consulted” if there are sources you read but did not end up using in your paper (only list sources you actually read)
(Staple these first four items together)
5. A copy of your proposals w/ my comments.
6. A copy of your progress report w/ my comments
7. A copy of your short research paper w/ my comments
8. A copy of short research paper w/ peer review comments
9. Copies of your sources, clearly labeled and in alphabetical order, matching your “Works Cited” page (for books, just submit copies of the pages you cited from). Please staple each source separately, writing or circling the author’s name on the first page of each stapled packet. Also, please highlight or underline the ideas you quoted or paraphrased, and write, in the margin of the source, the page number of your paper where I can find that quote or paraphrase.