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| To conduct excellent research, the student must first develop two very important parts of the the research project: First, the student must develop a topic. This might be easy if you already have a placement, or your advisor/teacher has given you some direction on selecting a topic. If you need to develop a topic from scratch, this page will help you develop that topic. "In general, then, give yourself plenty of time to think through and rethink your choice of topic. Look for a subject or an issue that will continue to engage you throughout research and writing" (MLA Handbook 5th ed. 5). Second, the student must develop an essential question that will drive the research. This is more difficult than developing a topic, but it is an important part of the research process. "Research projects are designed to answer questions the answers to which you do not already know, so spend some time formulating a good essential question" (Fulwiler The College Writer's Reference 4th ed. 73). Next the student must develop two very important skills. First, the student must have excellent search skills. Second, the student must understand how to organize the sources for the research into a bibliography. Follow the steps below or you can try other methods of research. |
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Choosing a topic starts with your interests. However, to develop a topic that will sustain a research project, the student should spend some time thinking about those interest and then weighing the merits of the topic. Go to this Site to find a worksheet that will guide you through this process. Then, with worksheet in hand, search the following sites for possible topics:
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Develop an Essential Question |
| An essential question is the question that your research will answer. If the question were based entirely on the research paper, then the question is closely related to the topic. In the case of the senior project, the essential question drives the entire project, not just the research paper. Go to this Site to find a worksheet that will guide you through this process. Here are some examples: |
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An Essential Question Driving a Research Paper |
Topic |
Essential Question |
American Revolutionary War : |
How did the American Revolutionary War impact the future economy of the United States? |
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Why did General Washington use the tactics that he did during the Revolutionary War? |
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Evolution: |
How does the theory of evolution compare to other theories or beliefs about the origin of the Human race? |
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or |
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Is the theory of evolution backed up by solid evidence? |
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An Essential Question Driving a Placement in a Larger Project |
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Topic (or Placement) |
Essential Question |
Law Office : |
How has the justice system evolved over the past one hundred years? |
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or |
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Is law a good career path for me ? |
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Carpentry: |
How do I build a table? |
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or |
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Is carpentry something I am good at or will enjoy as a career? |
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The Difference |
| In the case where the essential question is driving the research topic, the research and the research paper will answer the essential question. In the case where the essential question is driving the larger research project (senior project), the research might only give a preliminary answer to the essential question because the other stages of the project (field work) is also a type of research that will be used to answer this type of essential question. Perhaps the research and the research paper will be used to prepare the student for a placement so that he or she is in a position to use the placement to answer the essential question. |
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Try These Resources to Help You Develop an Essential Question
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| Your search begins with understanding your library. Harriton's library gives you a solid print collection searchable through your computer. Just go to the Harriton Library Web Page and click on Spectrum Web Catalog to search for books in the collection. You can search for a wide variety of newspaper, magazine, and journal articles from the same page: click on ProQuest/Electric Library and search your topic. Although using your library is recommended because the resources are already evaluated and considered valid, Internet research can add to your overall search. In order to speed and enhance your Web search, use an academic search engine such as WebTrekker or Web Feet, also available on the on the Harriton Library Web Page. In either case your search skills are an important part of the research process. Below are suggestions and resources to help you with these skills: |
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Search Skills |
| For keyword searching skills, try this resource: University of Arizona Library |
| To understand search engines, try this resource: Effective Internet Searching Skills |
| To understand how to evaluate a Web page, click Evaluate Sources from the library page : Harriton Library Web Page |
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| A bibliography is an accurate record of resources. A person should be able to read your bibliography and find those resources based on the information that you provide in the bibliography. There are a number of types of bibliographies, but they all follow the same format. The only difference is how and when they are used. A working bibliography, for example, is a list of the all the resources that you have collected for a research project. A teacher might ask you for a working bibliography as a step in the research process. A works cited is a bibliography that appears at the end of a paper and lists only the works that were cited in that paper. All research papers require a works cited page. An annotated bibliography is a list of works with annotation after each entry. The annotation can be anything the teacher wants, but is often simply a summary. MOst bibliographies follow either MLA format or APA format. For further information, try the resources below: |
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| For models and examples of MLA bibliography and citation format, click Document Sources from the library page: Harriton Library Web Page |
| For models and examples of APA bibliography and citation format, try this resource: Purdue University OWL |
| For other models and examples of bibliographies and citations, try this site: University of Vermont Libraries |
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Other Methods of Research |
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| Return to Senior Project Guide |
| Return to Senior Project Main Page |
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