Research paper

 

Instructions for Research Paper 1:

Address the following sections and make sure your paper meets the requirements specified. Write
approximately 5-7 pages. You need to address each of the sections below, but you do not need to
follow the order in which these sections are listed.
Subheading Requirement Points Possible
Study purpose Introduce your topic. Provide a background about

your topic based on literature. Remember to address
the following:
What are you studying? Why is this topic important
– address the “so what”. What is known about this
topic? (You don’t need to provide your literature
review here, but a short summary of what research
has been done on this topic and what was found. If
there is little research that exists, state that. You will
expand on this part in the literature review section.)
Provide citations wherever relevant. All of your
statements of facts should be backed by references.

5

Conceptual
context

Introduce all relevant concepts you will use in your
study here. Define these concepts operationally (the
definition relevant to your study). Have previous
studies explored the relationship between these
concepts? If so, mention briefly what this
relationship is. Again, you will explore this in your
literature review section.

4

Literature review
& gaps in
existing research
knowledge

Provide a summary of the existing literature relevant
to your topic. Include findings from qualitative,
quantitative, and mixed methods studies.
Remember, summarize and synthesize instead of
simply listing each study and finding. Synthesize in
your own words and avoid using any direct quotes
from the literature.
Critique the existing literature by highlighting
existing gaps in the research (e.g., not enough
literature exists; or if an issue has not been studied in
a particular population; or there aren’t qualitative
studies that explore the research study).

5

Research
question

Discuss briefly how your study will address this
existing gap in literature. State your research
question clearly.

2

Appendix: Your
personal and
professional
experience

Provide a short summary as an appendix of your
personal and professional experience. This section
should only focus on why you were interested in this
topic and how your personal or professional

2

experience qualifies you or urged you to pursue this
research question.
Note: This is not like the subjectivity essay, you do
not need to discuss your social location, personal
biases and assumptions, etc. You may choose to
write this section as a straightforward bio if that is
easier.

Use of APA
format

Use APA style guide for cover page, headers and
footers, page number, grammar, citations, and
references.

2

Total Points Possible: 20