Honors
 ECONOMICSand GOVERNMENT

MR. CRAWFORD

RESEARCH PAPER  

Assignment

During the second semester, research will be assigned pertaining to a controversial issue in either American Government or Economics.  This research will culminate in a term paper in which the student will take a position on the issue and give a well-documented, clear, and convincing argument supporting this position.

This is NOT a DESCRIPTIVE paper; it is a POSITION paper--so take a position and DEFEND it.

DO NOT USE FIRST PERSON or any variations on first person including the use of “ONE”

USE SIMPLE SENTENCES AND SIMPLE WORDS.

This Paper should be IN YOUR OWN WORDS (IYOW).

This Paper must be printed out, not hand-written.

This Research Paper will be graded on organization, content, creativity, and clarity.

The Research Paper will be a substantial portion of your second semester grade, and will scored out of 225 possible points.
Due Dates:

Library day

   Tuesday    2/2/10

Topic 

(5 points) Friday       2/5/10
Thesis (5 points) Monday    2/8/10
Working Bibliography (10 points) Friday       2/12/10
Outline (25 points) Friday       2/19/10
Introduction (25 points) Friday       2/26/10
Finished project (150 points) Monday    3/8/10

Any portion of the Research Paper and/or the process (above) NOT turned in by the due date(s) will be graded with a 10% penalty per day. 

Possible Topics

Check 0ut the List of Possible Topics.

Take the World's Shortest Political Quiz, and determine your own place on the political spectrum. 

Identify your results, and then prioritize each issue from the quiz according to your personal political and economic views.

Create a list of keywords to cover the possible topics which you might want to research and write about for use in the library during research days.

Organization of the research paper

This paper should be at least 7 pages long and no more than 10 pages long, double-spaced with normal sized font (size 12)--NOT including bibliography. 

The first paragraph of this paper should be your INTRODUCTION; the first sentence will be the THESIS STATEMENT.

The THESIS STATEMENT should be a clear NORMATIVE (subjective) statement of the position the paper will take on the issue using the correct vocabulary and concepts from government and economics. 

Your INTRODUCTION paragraph will also contain an OUTLINE  of the arguments and evidence which will used to support the THESIS of the paper. These should NOT just be restatements of the THESIS in different grammatical forms.

The paragraphs following the INTRODUCTION will be SUPPORTING PARAGRAPHS. 

Each individual supporting point in your OUTLINE will be the TOPIC of a SUPPORT PARAGRAPH

Every SUPPORT PARAGRAPH will being with a TOPIC SENTENCE

SUPPORT PARAGRAPHS will expand on the POSITIVE (objective) POINTS which relate to your TOPIC and back up your THESIS, these facts must support the main THESIS.

Real world examples and fact must be incorporated into the support for the THESIS.  Additionally, make use of facts, details, statistics, and testimonies to better support the TOPIC points. This can be done using Court Cases, journal articles, newspaper stories, etc. 

You MUST cite your facts.

The last sentence in every SUPPORT PARAGRAPH will be a TRANSITION word, phrase, or sentence.

A TRANSITION word, phrase, or sentence links the SUPPORT PARAGRAPHS and helps the reader to follow the flow of the logic and sequencing of the paper.

The final paragraph in the paper will be the CONCLUSION.

The CONCLUSION restates the main THESIS and reminds the reader of the main ideas that were developed in the SUPPORTING PARAGRAPHS.  

It is important to restate the THESIS and the supporting ideas in an original and powerful manner as this is the last chance to convince the reader of the validity of the argument presented in the paper.

Because the purposes of the first and last paragraphs are so similar some writers construct them at the same time.

Content of the written work:

The Research Paper must have a bibliography.

The credits section, entitled “Works Cited”, follows MLA format; this includes all research and cited material within the written work.

The Research Paper must have a minimum of EIGHT (8) SOURCES:

 Five (5) data base sources that can be accessed through the Cone Library or other reliable journal sources.

Three (3) primary source documents.

Any internet sources must be proven to be reliable, and must be approved by me.  

Textbooks are a good place to start the research process but CANNOT be used as sources.

Wikipedia, blogs, and all general encyclopedia (Encarta, Britannica) sources are NOT allowed.

All sources must be cited at least once in the paper, using MLA format.

When an author or paper is being directly quoted quotation marks proper citations must be used.

Proper citations must also be provided when the information is paraphrased from a source acquired during research.

Citing sources in the text

In MLA style, references to sources are placed in the text of the paper to briefly identify sources for readers and enable them to locate the source of the cited information in the Works Cited list. These parenthetical references should be kept as brief and as clear as possible.

  • Give only the information needed to identify a source. Usually the author's last name and a page reference are all that is needed.
  • Place the parenthetical reference as close as possible to the material being documented and where a pause would naturally occur, preferably at the end of a sentence.
  • Parenthetical material should complement, not repeat, information given in the text. If you include an author's name in a sentence, you do not need to repeat it in your parenthetical statement.
  • The parenthetical reference should precede the punctuation mark that concludes the sentence, clause, or phrase that contains the cited material.
  • Electronic and online sources are cited just like print resources in references cited in the text. If an online source lacks numbering, omit numbers from the parenthetical references. If a source includes fixed page numbers or section numbering, such as numbering of paragraphs (pars.), cite the relevant number

EXAMPLES

Author's name in text

Dover has expressed this concern (118-21).

Author's name in reference

This concern has been expressed (Dover 118-21).

Multiple authors of a work

This hypothesis (Bradley and Rogers 7) suggested this theory (Sumner, Reichl, and Waugh 23).

Two locations

Williams alludes to this premise (136-39, 145).

Two works cited

(Burns 54, Thomas 327)

References to volumes and pages

(Wilson 2:1-18)

References to an entire volume

(Henderson, vol. 3)

In text reference to an entire volume

In volume 3, Henderson suggests

Corporate authors

(United Nations, Economic Commission for Africa 51-63)

Works with no author
When a work has no author, use the work's title or a shortened version of the title when citing it in text. (If abbreviating a title, omit initial articles and begin with the word by which it is alphabetized in the Works Cited list.):

as stated by the presidential commission (Report 4).

Online source with numbered paragraphs

(Fox, pars. 4-5)

 

IMPORTANT! – All teachers will be submitting the paper to “turnitin.com” to check for plagiarism as well as original content. Plagiarism will be reported to the Honor Council.  Original content must be over 80% and quoted content can not be over 20%. UNLESS YOU ARE DIRECTLY QUOTING AN AUTHOR (WITH QUOTATION MARKS) THE ENTIRE PAPER MUST BE WRITTEN IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

The following appears in the Academic Honesty Policy and Syllabus on Blackboard

  1. Do not submit any paper not written wholly and exclusively by you.
  1. Do not claim to have read a literary or other written work if, instead, you have merely seen the movie, read summary study notes, or taken some other “short cut.”
  1. Do not consult, collude, or collaborate with any other individual unless your teacher has given you written permission to do so for a specific assignment.
  1. Be sure to use quotation marks and to cite the source correctly when you use a direct quote.  Be sure to quote exactly, word for word, reproducing even the exact punctuation marks.  With a direct quote, you will need parenthetical reference and a work cited entry, in addition to quotation marks.
  1. Even if you paraphrase completely, you must document ideas, opinions, and interpretations not wholly your own.  You will need a parenthetical reference and a work cited entry each time you paraphrase.
  1. Generalized or common knowledge does not need to be documented; specialized knowledge does.  When in doubt, it is safer to document. 
  1. When you paraphrase, you must express the material in an entirely new way AND you must still cite the source.  You are guilty of plagiarism if you change only a few words and/or if you fail to cite the source.

 

YOU WILL NOT BE GRADED ON THE NUMBER OF PARAGRAPHS IN YOUR BRIEF

YOU WILL NOT BE GRADED ON THE NUMBER OF SENTENCES IN EACH PARAGRAPH

YOU WILL NOT BE GRADED ON THE NUMBER OF WORDS IN EACH SENTENCE

YOU WILL NOT BE GRADED ON THE NUMBER OF SYLLABLES IN EACH WORD

YOU WILL BE GRADED ON THE ORGANIZATION, CONTENT, CLARITY, AND PERSUASIVENESS OF YOUR RESEARCH PAPER.

RESEARCH PAPER RUBRIC

Clarity of Expression in the written work:

o        Writing flows smoothly from one idea to another (transitions)

o        Ideas are clearly expressed (sentence structure)

o        Mechanics are correctly implemented:

·         spelling, punctuation, capitalization

·         diction (slang and colloquialisms are omitted)

o        proper citation of sources – MLA format required

o        proper grammar usage

o        third person point of view (unless a direct quote)

o        proper use of paragraphs