Writing About Your Research Topic

Phase Three of the project involves the actual writing. So far you might have investigated a variety of sources, including:

Ø interviews

Ø observation/descriptions

Ø articles in periodicals in the library

Ø articles on the Internet

Now you must put this information together. Your paper could include the following items depending upon purpose, audience and type :

1. an introduction

2. a thesis

3. citations from periodicals (either magazines, journals or newspapers)

4. citations from articles from the Internet

5. at summary of an article

6. paragraphs reporting the results of interviews

7. paragraphs depicting your observations

8. paragraphs discussing your reflections

9. paragraphs explaining solutions

10. a conclusion.

Of course, feel free to add to this. If you have been completing the tasks according to your schedule, at this point all you have to do is put your different information together to form the first draft, perhaps adding some additional information to pull your ideas together. You have learned the most important rule in research -- if you divide the project into discrete units, the process is relatively painless.

However, if you are scrambling around trying to put something together, you have discovered the second most significant rule in research -- don't let one part of the process stop you from completing other tasks. If you have run into stumbling blocks, you may not have all of the information yet, for example, your interviews may be missing; still you should combine what you have into some kind of first draft.

This paper will use standard MLA documentation style. Refer to a handbook if you are unsure how to document your paper and prepare your Works Cited.