University of Babylon
College of Education / Department of English / 3rd year (sections (A and B)
Second semester, 2011
Subject: Methods of Research
First Lecture: Writing Research Paper
Writing Research Paper
A research paper is a long composition in which you present information, the opinions of others, and your own opinions and conclusions which you have gain by reading rather extensively on the subject. A research paper is not a personal essay; it is not an extended commentary upon a single book or treatise; it is not a biased treatment of a subject; it is not a collection of quotations fitted together cleverly into a coherent pattern; it is not a collections of footnotes; nor it is a conglomeration of ill-assorted paraphrases; quotations, statistics and the like, hurriedly and unskifully assembled into a travesty of a research paper.
Note-Taking
The phase of preparing a research paper that frequently has less supervision than any other is note-taking; yet the ultimate success of the paper depends in great measure on quality and amplitude of the notes.
Note-taking is the heart of research, not merely a preliminary step. It is a careful, thoughtful process. If you notes of high quality, you will not have to rewrite them for the paper. You cannot quote everything, for only about 10% to 15% of your paper should feature direct quotation of the secondary sources.
Your goal for the note taking process is to end up with note cards that contain the essence of the material you ve reviewed. The notes are primarily for your own use in the writing of the paper, and their worth is to be judged largely on the ground on how well they serve that purpose. Legibility, clarity, exactness, and completeness are certainty of paramount importance. Equally important is the ability to spot pertinent information and to distinguish what is useful from what is not.
Rules for the Use of Note Cards
It s better to take your notes on cards. The larger cards afford more space for long notes but they are more expensive and more wasteful of space when notes are short, You should plan not to be without cards at your studies. You can take these rules into consideration for attaining accuracy in hand-writing notes:
1. Write plainly and accurately without crowding.
2. Use ink because penciled notes become blurred after repeated shuffling of cards.
3. Label each card using code words at the top of the card.
4. Write one item per card to facilitate shuffling and rearranging data.
5. Write on one side of the card. Material on the back of a card may be overlooked.
6. State the source below the note itself clearly and accurately (author, work, page).
7. Write a full note. When you have a source in your hands, write full, well-developed sentences. Full wording in the note will speed the writing of your first draft. Avoid photocopying everything.
8. Organize your notes into a system, and classify them by their subject heading at the top.
9. Label your personal notes. Write notes to record your own thoughts, but mark them with "my idea" or "mine".
Second Lecture
1. Outline Note Cards
2. Summary & Paraphrased Note Cards
3. Quotation Note Cards
4. Commentary Note Cards
5. Documentary Note Cards
1. Outline Note Cards
A note may be in form of an outline covering either a whole article or part of it. You should not wrap the actual discussion represented in the source. Before progressing very far into note-taking, you should prepare a preliminary outline or, at least, a list of major issues. To develop a preliminary outline, you must follow these steps:
1. Jot down ideas or cods words in a rough list.
2. Give order to the list by arranging items into major and minor ideas.
2. Summary & Paraphrased Note Cards
A summary is a brief synthesis of the original material in your own words. It condenses the words from a source into a much shorter version. It may cover either all or part of the work in question. One time to use summary note card is when you want to capture the main idea of a source but don t care about the exact words.
Paraphrasing is a technique for restating on your own the thought, meaning, and attitude of someone else. In other words, you interpret an idea, opinion or statement by rewriting it. With the précis, you act as a bridge between the source and the reader. You must capture the wisdom of the source in approximately the same number of words ( that is one of the duties of the research ). It requires you to name the source (who), indicate the source s attitude with your verb (how) and rewrite the material (what). Specific wording of the source.
It is worth mentioning that paraphrasing keeps the length of the note about the same as the original but converts the original into your language and style. It does place within quotation marks any
When you write a summary or paraphrase, be careful to avoid duplicating the author s wording. Changing a word or reviewing the order of phrases or sentences does not result in adequate summary or paraphrase.