So far this semester, you’ve been conducting primary and secondary research, analyzing data, putting sources in conversation, and coming up with answers to your research questions. This is where you will be conducting your own survey, interview, case study or archival search.
The complete Research Essay involves you assembling those disparate parts into one, coherent essay. Your final research essay will require you to revise your literature review, Report #1, and Report #2 based on feedback you received on those assignments.
Format: Write a 8-10 page academic research essay using APA or MLA style and proper formatting (including numbering all pages and omitting headings and spacing between sections). Your complete research essay should include the following sections:
Title Page
Abstract
Introduction
Literature Review (includes 7-10 sources; 5 sources must be scholarly)
Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusions
References
I: Title Page (not included in the 8-10 page count)
Please format your title page following APA or MLA guidelines.
II: Introduction & Background Information
Your introduction “sets the stage for your study and directs readers to the purpose and context” of the project (6). Longer than the abstract, your introduction should give your reader a better understanding of what your project is exploring and why the work is significant. Your Introduction should include the following:
An overview of the scope and purpose of your research (what are you studying and
why?)
A description of your community of study and specific research population
How the study was conducted (methods),
Detail of the research’s significance (results),
Definition of key terms
Answer to your research question (your thesis)
Your introduction and background must undergo revisions based on feedback from the Reports #1 and #2.
III: Literature Review
A literature review is a genre of research writing that is used to conduct preliminary research on an issue. A literature review asks you to identify sources, summarize sources, synthesize sources, and make conclusions based on your findings. In this assignment, you will need 7-10 sources (with at least 5 being academic sources). Your literature review will lead to your research questions and to the directions your Research Essay ultimately takes. The final Lit Review should be a polished thesis-driven literature review that includes: An introduction that contextualizes the issue (background information)
Body section that discusses 7-10 sources utilizing a clear organizing structure
Conclusion in which you make claims regarding the current state of the research on your topic; and outline your research questions.
IV: Methods
Because the goal of primary research is to conduct research that is “measurable, observable, and replicable” (Driscoll 154), it is important that you accurately represent the steps you took and what you did as you completed your study. Your methods section requires you to “provide enough information to readers for them to understand what you collected and how you collected it” (170).
Format: Following APA or MLA format, create a methods section that includes a description and rationale for participants, research setting, and details about how you recruited participants, collected data, and analyzed it. Remember to include any limitations or challenges that arose as you collected your data.
Your methods section must include all methods used this semester and undergo revisions based on feedback from the Reports #1 and #2.
V: Results
In the Results section of your research paper, you’ll report and explain the findings you gathered from your primary research. The Results section should state the findings of your research in a logical sequence without interpretation or bias (your interpretation will come in the Discussion section). The results are “the foundation for the analysis, conclusions, and recommendations that will appear in the next/forthcoming” sections.
Begins with re-stating the context/problem under investigation and research questions to be examined.
Summary of key findings arranged in a logical sequence that follows your methods section.
“Inclusion of non-textual elements, such as, figures, charts, photos, maps, tables, etc. to further illustrate key findings, if appropriate.
A systematic description of your results, highlighting for the reader observations that are most relevant to the topic under investigation [remember that not all results that emerge from the methodology used to gather the data may be relevant].
Use of the past tense when referring to your results” (“Results”).
The length of your Results section will depend on (a) the methods you used and (b) the questions you asked your participants.
Your results must undergo revisions based on feedback from the Reports #1 and #2.
Information regarding Results section is from the University of Southern California Library’s Research Guides (http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/results)
VI: Discussion
The Discussion section “synthesizes and discusses the results in light of the study’s research questions, literature review, and conceptual framework” (10). Within this, you’re looking for patterns/themes as well as inconsistencies/ambiguities. This section is where you really try and think of what your research means. Here you’re helping readers reflect on the findings of your research and helping them see the bigger implications of your work (the so what?). Your Discussion section should include:
Analysis of your findings (looking for patterns; seeing how your results agree/disagree with the literature).
Interpretation of unanticipated findings when you first started out.
Explore alternative/competing explanations for what you found and address those.
Discusses limitations of the study.
The discussion section is where you situate your research within the larger academic scholarship, ultimately making your own contribution to the conversation.
Your discussion must undergo revisions based on feedback from the Reports #1 and #2.
VII: Conclusions & Recommendations
The conclusion and recommendations section brings all of your work back together, offers concluding thoughts, and discusses recommendations for future research, take-aways for your readers, or suggestions for things to do/change. The recommendations you suggest must be doable. Your conclusion must undergo revisions based on feedback from the Reports #1 and #2.
VIII: References (not included in the 8-10 page count)
Please format your References page in APA or MLA format. Make sure you double check your citations throughout your essay that they appear in the References page and vice versa.
IX: Appendices (not included in the 8-10 page count)
Remember to include the following in your Appendix:
Interview questions
Interview transcript
Format
Times New Roman
12 pt.
Double space
