THE RESEACH PAPER AS A FORM OF EXPLO3TATION.docx

THE RESEACH PAPER AS A FORM OF EXPLO3TATION.docx

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THERESEACHPAPERASAFORMOFEXPLO3TATION

THERESEACHPAPERASAFORMOFEXPLOTATION

Duringyourschoolcareeryouhaveprobablywrittenmanypersonalessaysthatpresentedyourthoughts,feelings,andopinionsandthatdidnotrefertoanyothersourceofinformationorideas.Somesubjectsandassignments,however,requireustogobeyondourpersonalknowledgeandexperience.Weundertakeresearchwhenwewishtoexploreanidea,probeanissue,solveaproblem,ormakeanargumentthatcompelsustoturntooutsidehelp.Wethenseekout,investigate,andusematerialsbeyondourpersonalresources.Thefindingsandconclusionsofsuchinquiryappearintheresearchpaper.Thetermresearchpaperdescribesapresentationofstudentresearchthatmaybeinaprinted,anelectronic,oramultimediaformat.

Theresearchpaperisgenerallybasedonprimaryresearch,secondaryresearch,oracombinationofthetwo.Primaryresearchisthestudyofasubjectthroughfirsthandobservationandinvestigation,suchasanalyzingaliteraryorhistoricaltext,afilm,oraperformance;conductingasurveyoraninterview;orcarryingoutalaboratoryexperiment.Primarysourcesincludestatisticaldata,historicaldocuments,andworksofliteratureorart.Secondaryresearchistheexaminationofstudiesthatotherresearchershavemadeofasubject.Examplesofsecondarysourcesarebooksandarticlesaboutpoliticalissues,historicalevents,scientificdebates,orliteraryworks.

Mostacademicpapersdependatleastpartlyonsecondaryresearch.Nomatterwhatyoursubjectofstudy,learningtoinvestigate,review,andproductivelyuseinformation,ideas,andopinionsofotherresearcherswillplayamajorroleinyourdevelopmentasastudent.Thesortsofcivilitiesthatconstitutearesearchpaper—identifying,locating,assessing,andassimilatingothers’researchandthendevelopingandexpressingyourownideasclearlyandpersuasively—areatthecenteroftheeducationalexperience.

Theseskillsarebynomeansjustacademic.Likethesearchpapersyouwriteinschool,manyreportsandproposalsrequiredinbusiness,government,andotherprofessionsrelyonsecondaryresearch.Learninghowtowritearesearchpaper,then,canhelpprepareyouforassignmentsinyourprofessionalcareer.Itisdifficulttothinkofanyprofessionthatwouldnotrequireyoutoconsultsourcesofinformationaboutaspecificsubject,tocombinethisinformationwithyourideas,andtopresentyourthoughts,findings,andconclusionseffectively.

Researchincreasesyourknowledgeandunderstandingofasubject.Sometimesresearchwillconfirmyourideasandopinions;sometimesitwillchallengeandmodifythem.Butmostalmostalwaysitwillhelptoshapeyourthinking.Unlessyourinstructorspecificallydirectsyouotherwise,aresearchpapershouldnotmerelyreviewpublicationsandextractaseriesofquotationsfromthem.Rather,youshouldlookforsourcesthatprovidenewinformation,thathelpfullysurveythevariouspositionsalreadytakenonaspecificsubject,thatlendauthoritytoyourviewpoint,thatexpandornuanceyourideas,thatoffermethodsormodesofthoughtyoucanapplytonewdataorsubjects,orthatfurnishnegativeexamplesagainstwhichyouwishtoargue.Asyouuseandscrupulouslyacknowledgesources,however,alwaysrememberthatthemainpurposeofdoingresearchisnottosummarizetheworkofothersbuttoassimilateandtobuildonitandtoarriveatyourownunderstandingofthesubject.

Actually,aresearchpaperisanadventure,anintellectualadventureratherlikesolvingamystery:

itisaformofexplorationthatleadstodiscoveriesthatarenew—atleasttoyouifnottoothers.Themechanicsoftheresearchpapershouldneveroverridetheintellectualchallengeofpursuingaquestionthatinterestsyou.

THERESEARCHPAPERASAFORMOFWRITING

Aresearchpaperisaformofwrittencommunication.Likeotherkindsofnonfictionwriting—letters,memos,reports,essays,articles,books—itshouldpresentinformationandideasclearlyandeffectively.Youshouldnotletthemechanicsofgatheringsourcematerials,takingnotes,anddocumentingsourcesmakeyouforgettoapplytheknowledgeandskillsyouhaveacquiredthroughpreviouswritingexperiences.

LANGUAGEANDSTYLE

Effectivewritingdependsasmuchonclarityandreadabilityasoncontent.Theorganizationanddevelopmentofyourideas,theunityandcoherenceofyourpresentation,andyourcommandofsentencestructure,grammar,anddictionareallimportantconsiderations,asarethemechanicsofwriting—capitalization,spelling,punctuation,andsoon.Thekeytosuccessfulcommunicationisusingtherightlanguagefortheaudienceyouareaddressing.Inallwriting,thechallengeistofindthewords,phrases,clauses,sentences,andparagraphsthatexpressyourthoughtsandideaspreciselyandthatmaketheminterestingtoothers.

Becausegoodscholarshiprequiresobjectivity,carefulwritersofresearchpapersavoidlanguagethatimpliesunsubstantiatedorirrelevantgeneralizationsaboutsuchpersonalqualitiesasage,economicclass,ethnicity,sexualorientation,politicalorreligiousbeliefs,race,orsex.Discussionsaboutthissubjecthavegenerallyfocusedonwordingthatcouldbelabeledsexist.Forexample,manywritersnolongerusehe,him,orhistoexpressameaningthatincludeswomenorgirls:

“Ifayoungartistisnotconfident,hecanquicklybecomediscouraged.”Theuseshe,her,andherstoreferapersonwhomaybeeithersexcanalsobeavoidedthrougharevisionthatrecaststhesentenceintopluralorthateliminatesthepronoun:

“Ifyoungartistswhoarenotconfident,theycanquicklybecomediscouraged.”or“Ayoungartistwhoisnotconfidentcanbecomequicklydiscouraged.”Anothertechniqueistomakethediscussionrefertoapersonwhoisidentified,sothatthereisareasontouseaspecificsingularpronoun.They,them,their,andtheirscannotlogicallybeappliedtoasingleperson,andheorsheandherorhimarecumbersomealternativestobeusedsparingly.Manyauthorsnowalsoavoidtermsthatunnecessarilyintegrateaperson’ssexwithajoborarole.Forinstance,anchorman,policeman,stewardess,andpoetessarecommonlyreplacedwithanchor,policeofficer,flightattendant,andpoet.（Foradviceoncurrentpractices,referto1.12GUIDESTOWRITINGonp43-46inJosephGibaldi’sbook打印）

SOMESTRATEGIES

DEFININGanditslanguage

Inwritingtheiressaysorpapers,studentsoftenhavetomakedefinitions.Forexample,theymighthavetodefinewordswithspecialconnotationsintheirfieldsofstudyortoexplainsomeabstractorcontroversialtermstheyuse,tomakesurethattheirreadersunderstandthemexactly.Acommonmisconceptioninstudents’mindsisthattheirreaders（theirteachersorpeers）mustknowwhattheymeanbyaspecialterm.Thismaybeso,butstudentsshouldalsounderstandthatawordmaymeandifferentthingstodifferentpeople,anditisthestudents’obligationtomakesurethatthereisnoambiguityaboutthemeaningoftermtheyuse.

Todefinesomethingistostateclearlyandpreciselywhatitsessence,meaningorscopeis,asdistinctfromotherthings.Therearetwomaincategoriesofdefinitions―realdefinitionsandnominaldefinitions,andthelatterarewhatartsstudentsaremoreoftenaskedtomake.Alldefinitionsarebasedonaspecies–genusform,butthesimpleformaldefinitioncanbeexpandedinvariouswaysintoextendeddefinitions.Definitionsmaybeasshortasonesentence,oraslongasanessay.Italldependsonthetypeofdefinitiontobemade,thewriter’sperspectiveonthething-to-be-defined,andthereadersforwhomitisintended.

Themakingofdefinitionsisbothamentalandlinguisticprocess.Theessenceofdefinitionmustfirstbedeterminedinthewriter’smind,andthenthenextstepistoworditasclearlyandpreciselyaspossibleinnon-figurativelanguage.Mucheffortisneededtohone（refine/improve）ordefineadefinitionuntilitissatisfactory,andcanstanduptoinquiry.Sometimesawritermaywanttorestrictadefinitionofatermtoaspecialconnotation,ortoapersonalopinion.Inthatcase,hetellsthereaderso,andthedefinitionhemakesiscalledastipulateddefinition.

SERIALIZING

Serializingisderivedfromtheverb“toseriate,”whichmeans“arrangeinorderlysequence”.Serializingisonlyanothernameforarrangementofideas,events,etc.,inlogicalorder,asorderoftime,importance,orspace.Inprocessanalysis,serializingisnormallyinchronologicalorder,ortimesequence,astrategyofexplicitstepsinhow-to,ordirectiveprocessanalysis,andoflessexplicitstepsinhoworinformativeprocessanalysis.Inbothcategories,noessentialstepshouldbeomitted,andallstepsshouldbelinkedtogethertoformabalancedcoherentwhole.Theexplicitstep-ortime-markersfortimesequencingareusually1,2,3,etc.,orFirst…;second…third…orFirst…;then…finally.

Sequencinginorderofphysicallocationhasdifferentconventionsofstep-marking,andtheseconventionsarerelatedtovariousformsofdirection-giving.Serializinginspatialorderisusedtodescribephysicalfeaturesofapersonorofaplace,astheeyemovesfromonepositiontoanothertogetanoverallpictureorimpression.Thefocuspointforspatialsequencingcouldbefixedormoving.

Thelanguageusedinserializinginprocessanalysisisnormallyclearandspecific,thoughforinformativeprocessanalysis,thelanguagecouldbequiteliterary.Inspatialsequencing,however,factualdescriptionsarealsoclearandspecific,butfictionaldescriptionscouldbehighlyfigurative.

Serializingisoftencombinedwithotherstrategieslikeclassificationand