What Is In A Research Paper

If nothing else, begin with the Encyclopaedia Britannica, a wonderful but sadly neglected resource.Read a few books or articles on topics you find of interest.requires the author to do no more than list facts and datesa good encyclopedia entry, maybe, but not a good research paper.

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Obviously, you need to have a firm grasp of the facts of the case, but you must then move on to answer a serious and important why or how question in the paper itself.

Real research means something other than reading secondary sources in English or pulling information off the Internet. What counts as a primary source, though, depends on what kind of question you are trying to answer.

In your research, you should endeavor to get as close as possible to the events or phenomena you are studying.

But, of course, no one can speak every language and interview every participant in a political or social event.

There are, however, gradations of primary evidence.

The best sources are those in original languages that are linked to persons directly involved in the event or development that you are researching.And you should do all this as early in the course as possible.A research question, at least in the social sciences, begins with the word why or how.Think of it as a puzzle: Why did a particular political or social event turn out as it did and not some other way?Why does a particular pattern exist in social life? From the outset, keep in mind one important point: Writing a research paper is in part about learning how to teach yourself.The process forces you to ask good questions, find the sources to answer them, present your answers to an audience, and defend your answers against detractors.Why does a specific aspect of politics work as it does?How has a social or political phenomenon changed from one period to another? Why have some countries been more successful in the transition from Communism than others?Why did the Labour Party win the last British general election?How have conceptions of race changed in the US since the 1960s?