Guideline # 6: Inquiry ISS3 RESEARCH PAPER

PRINCIPLE: The purpose of the research paper is to communicate to others what you have learned and to demonstrate your successful passage through (one iteration of) the process of inquiry.

GUIDELINES: The research paper and its requirements will be discussed at length in your individual class. As a general guide, your textbook (Hubbuch 1996) will provide you with procedural and formatting guidelines for putting a good paper together.

The topic of your paper must follow the research/paper proposal that you handed in earlier, as modified by the comments you received and any discussions you have had with your instructor subsequently. It should focus on weighing the evidence for and against the four or more alternative outcomes or answers to your central research question posed in your proposal.

Major sections should include

• Statement of your major research question
• Statement of the underlying assumptions of your paper
• Four or more alternative answers to your central research question, including for each:
• Description of the evidence for and against each answer or outcome
• Statement about how you collected and analyzed the evidence
• Statement of where your understanding has progressed or what your conclusions are
• Statement of how your paper further the understanding of the theme of the course
• What new research questions arise from your paper?
• Bibliography

DUE: Week 12, April 5th, 6:30 p.m.

LENGTH: No more than twelve double spaced pages, excluding charts, diagrams, bibliography and title page (approximately 3,000 words)

WEIGHTING: 30% of final grade

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