Writing a research paper
So you've done your research, made your outline, taken your notes. Now how do you put it all together into a written paper to hand in to your teacher?
1. Thesis Statement - Your first step is to revise your statement of purpose (sometimes called essential question) into a thesis statement. Your SOP is what you wanted to learn or prove with your research. Your thesis statement is what you learned; it's the main idea of your entire project. 2. The Body
3. Introduction - The very first paragraph of your paper grabs the reader's attention, gives background on your topic and states your thesis. 4. Conclusion - The final paragraph of your paper should focus on why the topic is important. Why should readers or listeners care about this topic? 5. Works Cited page 6. Revise - If your teacher provided a rubric, grade yourself. You've worked hard and want to earn credit for all of that work. Helpful Links
Starting the Writing Process - This guide offers tips to help you begin to write the paper.
Using Appropriate Language - The way we write for school is usually very different from how we speak to our friends. This page, and the related links on the lefthand menu, help you use the right language for your audience. Expository, Argumentative and Narrative Writing - Required by HHS teachers, these types of writing often are based on research done by the student. Find tips and samples here. |
Writing A Lab Report A lab report is a different kind of research paper. You're reporting not on what others have learned, but on what you have discovered in your experiment. There is a specific format to follow, and your must cite your sources.
Below is the general format for a lab report. Your teacher may have his or her own requirements. 1. Title Page: Include your name, title of the lab, name of course, teacher, and the date. 2. Introduction: Connects the lab concepts to what you've learned in class. The intro provides background information on the history of the concepts tested, scientists, theories and any laws tested in the experiment. It should contain any prior knowledge on which the experiment is based including an explanation of principles, definitions, experimental techniques, theories and laws. Outside sources must be cited. The intro often includes the: 2a. Purpose:Where you tell the reader your reason for doing the lab in the first place (what you are trying to test or discover). The purpose should be clearly stated in one or two concise sentences. 2b. Hypothesis: What you predict will happen in the lab. It should be stated in a concise manner. “If… then” statements are recomended to indicate the relationship between cause and effect. 3. Materials: A bulleted list of the materials that were needed. Specific sizes of equipment and quantities of reactants should be included (a 250 ml beaker, or ~ 50 g of CuSO4). 4. Procedure: Describes in a step-by-step manner the process for doing the lab in enough detail that a reader could replicate the activity. Full sentences should be used when writing the steps of the activity, but the list of steps may be bulleted. 5. Data: This is a collection of observations, measurements, multiple trials, data tables, charts and observations. 6. Analysis:This is how you interpret the data you have collected. 7. Discussion: Restate the purpose of the lab and the hypothesis. Include specific data and analysis from the lab that supports or negates the hypothesis. Explain what you have found in literature research concerning the topic of the activity. (How do the results compare with what was found out? What is the significance of their results?) Include any weaknesses or problems you encountered, how they may have affected the results and how you might avoid them in the future. References should be used in this section and proper citation should be followed. 8. Conclusion: One or two concise sentences summarizing the results of the lab. 9. Works Cited: Required in APA style Reminders:
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