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GETTING STARTED
Developing your “Previous Work” section with web-based research forms the cornerstone of this approach to writing research papers.

It may seem a bit formulaic to follow the steps presented below, but it is amazingly effective. One of the benefits of the approach is that it compels the researcher to take a step back and to investigate the work that has already been done in the field, and to develop a sense of the evolution of the thoughts and ideas in the area. It also allows the researcher to work from a deeper base of knowledge.
Step 1: Identify your Research Topic

• In one sentence or less, state your main research topic.
• In a paragraph, expand your statement and develop and explanation and a justification.

Step 2: Define Key Terms for Understanding your Research Topic

Develop a list of 10 to 20 terms that are critical for understanding your research topic, the issues and ramifications of your research, and previous work done in the field.

• This list can be expanded as you continue to write your paper.
• Develop at least a one-paragraph description / definition for each.

Step 3: Identify 5 Main Categories, Topics or Themes within your Research Topic

List five or more topics or themes involved in your research.

• This list will be expanded with sub-categories
• It will form the basis of your online research
• It will be used as a point of departure for developing a history of the ideas relating to the various categories of your research
• It will also be used for developing the “Previous Work” section.

Step 4: Online Research in the 5 Main Categories

Online research in the main research categories should take place in the following areas:

• Using general search engines such as http://www.google.com
• Use the OCLC FirstSearch service, which connects libraries and their holdings http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/
• Use online journals in your general categories of research. You may wish to look at general search engines such as the Center for Research Libraries: http://www.crl.edu/default.asp
  

Step 5: Develop “Previous Work” Section Around Online Research in the 5 Main Categories

Find at least ten articles for each of the five main categories. This will result in a total of at least 50 references.
The references should:

• Provide a “history of ideas” or an evolutionary chain around the various categories
• Help explain the issues involved in your research

  Create an “Article Overview” for each of the articles you find.

  Information to include in the “Article Overview”:

• Name of authors of the published study you are referring to
• Date published
• Where the study took place, and what it covered
• Principle findings
• Why the findings or ideas in the article are relevant to your task
  

Step 6: Explain Your Research Methodology

A one-paragraph overview, with a step-by-step approach. If there are any similar studies which can be found on the Internet, be sure to list those.

Step 7: Justify Your Methodology

Explain how and why you developed the approach you’re going to use. Describe successful uses of the same (or similar) approach.

Step 8: Explain How you will Test your Method and Your Results to Assure Yourself of the Validity of your Results

The big reality check comes here. Describe how you will test your data and your findings. Will you use statistics? Which ones? Why? What sort of evidence will you use to support your claims, and how will you test your multiple working hypotheses?

Step 9: Develop an Abstract

The abstract should be a single paragraph (150 words or fewer) stating the nature of the investigation and summarizing its important conclusions. The abstract should be suitable for separate publication and be adequate for indexing. Even if you have not yet done your research, you should at least be able to anticipate certain findings (based on your multiple working hypotheses).

Here’s an outline to follow when putting together an abstract of research that you have either already done, or of work you plan to do.

1–Start with a sentence like this, “This paper presents the research design, research problem, and anticipated possible results research conducted xxx”

2–Use one sentence to summarize your research problem and the reason the research is important.

3–Use one sentence to describe your research design and methodology (where, what, when, etc.)

4–Describe how you plan to analyze your data.

5–Possible results or outcomes (list at least three)
After you have finished these steps, you will be ready to summarize the data you collected, present your analysis of your data, and discuss your findings.