Category: <span>Writing</span>

Before we can write social research, we need to read it. When we’re just starting out, reading the large volumes of material we need to become familiar enough with a topic can become really overwhelming sometimes. Here are a few tips I’ve offered to students to help them read more effectively for coursework or for their own research projects.… Read More “Reading Social Research”

Writing

Although there are differences across journals, methodologies, and disciplines for how one is to organize a research paper. In general, a basic research paper in the social sciences will be organized more or less along the following lines:

  1. Introduction
  2. Review of the Literature
  3. Theory
  4. Methods
  5. Results
  6. Discussion
  7. Conclusion

Sometimes, the review of the literature and the theory get smooshed into the same section and the same goes for discussion and conclusion.… Read More “Paper Outline”

Writing

  • Read all of the feedback you get before drawing conclusions, starting to address any concerns, or giving up.
  • Spell check before handing any work over, but also proof reed yourselves because spiel cheque canned catch everything. Get a peer, partner, or other person to read your work; if it doesn’t make sense to them, rework it.
  • Read More “Paper Checklist”

    Writing

    Below is a checklist you can use to help guide your writing, whether it’s for a term paper, a thesis, or a peer-reviewed publication. Good papers should be able to answer yes to all of the questions.

    Organization

    • Does the title clearly and accurately tell the reader what the paper is about?
    Read More “Good Writing Checklist”

    Writing

    Sometimes starting a paper feels like the hardest part, especially you when have a lot of information in your head you just want to get down on paper. To simplify the process, I almost always give my students the following template for writing a basic introduction to any research paper:

    Paragraph 1: Contextualize the issue, end with the last sentence giving the research question and/or thesis statement

    Paragraph 2: Explain how you’re going to answer this question, give some details about what method you’ll be using

    Paragraph 3: Explain why the reader should care.… Read More “A Formula for the Introduction”

    Writing

    A “lit review” or a literature review or a review of the literature is the section of a research paper that provides an overview of the state of the research on the topic of the paper. This is where one would explore all the empirical evidence for what “is” with the issue.… Read More “Lit Review vs. Theory Section”

    Writing

    The methods section of a research paper is kind of like the instructions you get with a piece of furniture from IKEA. It tells you how the furniture was or will be put together but not why it works, why we care, and it’s not the thing itself.… Read More “Methods Section Components”

    Writing