Writing a Research Paper

1. Writing a Research Paper Humanities and Social Science

2. General Comments • Research styles and types can vary in each discipline. • Research can be inconclusive or theses can change. • Research helps you tell your story in a common structure. • Don’t forget that you can consult with a librarian to uncover the resources you need! • http://www.viterbo.edu/library

3. Humanities

4. Purpose of a Humanities Paper • Knowledge is developed through observation, reflection, and analysis. • Focus: interpretation of texts, themes or ideas. • Build from existing data and to expand knowledge through new insight.

5. Anatomy of a Humanities Research Paper • Introduction • Body • Conclusion • References

6. Introduction • Tell them what you are going to tell them. • What does your research focus on? • General introduction to the boundaries of the discussion: setting up the frame of the exploration/argument/discussion, and your thesis.

7. Body • Exploration of your thesis, supported by evidence. • Evidence from a source text. • Evidence from other research sources. • Critical points of your argument, building towards the proof of your thesis.

8. Conclusion & References • Tell them what you told them. • Re-state thesis and critical conclusions. • Citations for all items you used in your work.

9. Social Sciences

10. Purpose of a Social Sciences Paper • Controlled investigation and inquiry in order to clarify social issues. • Variety of qualitative and quantitative methods used: • Surveys, interviews, experiments, observations, etc. • If hypothesis based, similar to scientific papers. • If a case study or literature analysis, similar to humanities.

11. Anatomy of a Social Sciences Research Paper (hypothesis based) • Background/Introduction • Literature Review • Methodology • Results • Discussion • Conclusion • References

12. Background/Introduction • Tell them what you are going to tell them. • What is your thesis, or what does your research focus on? • Why is your work important/unique?

13. Literature Review • “Standing on the shoulders of giants” • What research has been done around your topic? • What are gaps in current scholarship? What unique contribution does your work have?

14. Methodology/Hypothesis • What you planned to show with your research. • An expansion of your thesis into specific details. • Description of how you gathered information/sources studied/populations observed, etc.

15. Results • Statistical or descriptive data on what you found. • Specifically addresses Methodology/Hypothesis questions. • Not the spot for interpretation.

16. Discussion • How does your Results impact your Methodology/Hypothesis/Thesis? • What did you discover? • Was your thesis challenged, validated, or a little of both? • Integrate research from literature review to tie your work back to the body of scholarship.

17. Conclusion & References • Tell them what you told them. • Lessons Learned • Possibilities for future research. • Citations for all items you used in your work.

18. Questions? Gretel Stock-Kupperman glstock@viterbo.edu reference@viterbo.edu MRC 109 (Library)