What are the basic elements in a research paper?

Module 4 Paper: A Research Paper

research paper must identify the sources of information both within the
paper and at the end of the paper. Please provide the basic information of the
authors, the titles, the publishers or agencies, and URL for online sources. Online
references should also include all the above-mentioned information. (APA is the
standard style manual for communication studies; feel free to use MLA if you are
more familiar with it.) A source should be identified with authors’ last names and date
of publication in the paper and with full information at the end of the paper. Without
such identification, a paper will be considered as a case of plagiarism, a violation of
students’ Code of Conduct as defined in the Student Handbook.
It is possible for the two of you to work on this paper together. At the beginning of the
paper, please make a clear statement such as “Jane White and John Black have
collaborated for this paper and therefore share same responsibilities and credits for
this paper.” Without such a statement the paper will be treated as a case of
plagiarism. Each one of you still needs to submit the paper from your individual
course space and thus receive the grade for the paper in your own course space.
What are the basic elements in a research paper? Please read the following carefully.
A research paper generally has a format of asking a question, doing research for
answers, organizing and analyzing the information from your research platform,
and making inference relevant to your research goal based on the information you
choose to present in the paper. A research paper needs to identify the sources of
information (your references).
Asking a question. Before you ask a question for your research, you may ask
yourself what kind of career you would like to have after you finish college.
Then ask yourself, if you must work and live in a different cultural setting, or
work and live with people from a different culture, what are you going to learn
from and do with the differences? Generally, we establish your research
platform first and explain the platform in the introduction of the paper.
For example, students who major in interior design or architectural design need
to study different styles of different cultures. Students who major in medical
sciences need to study how medical treatment and care are provided in different
countries or how medical practices differ from one culture to another culture.
The question you ask yourself needs to be something like this: if my company
needs me to open the market in Ghana, what kind of information I would need
to have before I start my trip? Or for me to reach my Chinese clients, what do I
need to do to prepare myself culturally? These are only a few examples.
Please make your choice for your profession or career or if you prefer, for
personal growth and relationship.
Research Theme/Question. Ideally you need to study different cultures or
countries for this class. Realistically during this class of 3 months if you learn
how to study one culture or one country, then in the future you can learn all the
necessary ones with the similar methods. So please choose one culture or
country according to state/nation border line (e.g., Somalia, Kuwait, Mongolia,
etc.) or according to racial/ethnic line (Chinese, American, or African, etc.) or
other choices (e.g., the culture of the Deaf community in American in
comparison with the Deaf community in other countries). Since this course
satisfies SUNY guidelines for the study of “other civilizations” (in comparison
with the Western civilization), please select a culture of choice from a nonwestern civilization.
For the national culture in this paper, you need to focus on the cultural profile
as mentioned in the third lecture of this module. Please look more specifically
for information upon people’s values, beliefs, attitudes, codes of conduct,
families, jobs, social life, cultural achievements such as literature, music, and
architecture, etc. Here are some possible clues and cues of cultural profile to
search for: what cultural patterns different from the American values, beliefs,
attitudes, and codes of conduct? What kinds of family people typically have,
what kinds of jobs, professions, or careers are common to their society and
different from the American society, what kinds of social life people have (after
work life, sports, entertainment, etc.), or what kinds of history, philosophy,
literature, and arts people are proud of?
For your professional life, you may start with a reading of Chapters 6 or 10.
Once you come up with a choice of culture for the sake of your career (or
personal relationship and growth), then start library research. You can access
our college library online. Using published academic journals or books usually
leads you to the most reliable sources of information and in-depth analysis.
Organize and analyze your gathered information. Once you have your
information, organize the information according to its relevance or importance
to your research platform. You need to have sufficient descriptive details to
show your understanding of the culture you have chosen to study. Then make
sure you explain the relevance or importance of each piece of information to
your career or personal growth. In other words, why each piece of information
is important to you? In which ways you have understood your culture of choice
based upon the information? In which ways your understanding through the
research is important to your professional or personal growth?
Relevance or Inference. For each main point you must compare your culture of
choice with your native or home culture. Make sure you bring in your native
culture (e.g., American) and professional or personal (e.g., a future teacher of
the Spanish language) into the discussion. In other words, if you are born as an
American, you need to compare the American culture with your culture of
choice in the analysis of each main point (not just in the conclusive paragraph).
If you are a teacher of the Spanish language, your analysis should be different
from another person who studies the Spanish culture to be an architect. What
kind of relevance can you draw from such a learning process? What kind of
inference you have made towards your culture of choice?
My Criteria for M4 Paper 2 Evaluation:
1. if you have selected a specific country or culture in view of your professional
(or personal growth) as assigned
2. if you have done an academic research for the paper (Please include all the
within-the-paper citations, and the end references so that your readers can
check the credibility of your sources. Please make your best efforts to use
published academic sources of information.)
3. if you have gained and provided adequate information and analytical
understanding to the chosen culture (analytical understanding is very often your
comments upon the information you have collected — what does the
information mean to you professionally or personally?)
4. if you have used standard English language, grammar, and a reasonable order
of organization in writing.

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