13.7 Research
Writing a research essay can seem overwhelming at first. It often requires significant time, effort, and careful organization. Still, it can also be a rewarding chance to dive into a topic that genuinely interests you. Through the research process, you build meaningful knowledge in your chosen area, and the act of writing helps reinforce and deepen your understanding of what you’ve learned. Research is something that you will probably do a lot in your personal, academic, and professional careers. Think back to our chapter on doing research for an academic paper.. That chapter has a lot of good information on getting you started for a larger research paper.
Steps of the Research Writing Process
How does a research essay grow from a collection of brainstormed notes to a polished final draft? No two projects are identical, but most projects follow a series of six basic steps.
These are the steps in the research writing process:
- Choose a subject.
- Conduct research.
- Organize research and ideas.
- Draft your essay.
- Revise and edit your essay.
Here is a brief look at what each step involves.
Step 1: Choosing a Subject
To narrow the focus of your subject, you may try free-writing exercises, such as brainstorming. You may also need to ask a specific research question—a broad, open-ended question that will guide your research—as well as propose a possible answer, or a working thesis. You may use your research question and your working thesis to create a research proposal. In a research proposal, you present your main research question, any related sub-questions you plan to explore, and your working thesis. For more information on how to create a research proposal, see the section Research Proposal and Annotated Bibliography.
Step 2: Conducting Research
When going about your research, you will likely use a variety of sources—anything from books and periodicals to video presentations and in-person interviews.
Your sources will include both primary sources and secondary sources. Primary sources provide firsthand information or raw data. For example, surveys, in-person interviews, and historical documents are primary sources. Secondary sources, such as biographies, literary reviews, or magazine articles, include some analysis or interpretation of the information presented. As you conduct research, you will take detailed, careful notes about your discoveries. You will also evaluate the legitimacy and reliability of each source you find.
This stage is often helped by starting and continually updating an annotated bibliography.
Step 3: Organizing the Research and Your Ideas
When your research is complete, you will organize your findings and decide which sources to cite in your essay. This is aided by completing an annotated bibliography (perhaps one you started in the previous step), which is a list of your sources along with notes about each. You will also have an opportunity to evaluate the evidence you have collected and determine whether it supports your thesis or the focus of your essay. You may decide to adjust your thesis or conduct additional research to ensure that your thesis is well supported.
For more information on how to write an annotated bibliography, see the section Research Proposal and Annotated Bibliography.
Step 4: Drafting Your Essay
At this stage, you are ready to combine your research findings with your critical analysis of the results in a rough draft. You will incorporate source materials into your essay and discuss each source thoughtfully in relation to your thesis.
When you cite your reference sources, it is important to pay close attention to the rules and conventions for citing sources to avoid plagiarism (the act of using words, information, or ideas from a source without acknowledging that source). For information on citation, see the chapter MLA Format and Citation.
Step 5: Revising and Editing Your Essay
In the final step of the research writing process, you will adjust your essay. You might add or cut out sections for clarity, focus, or completeness. You might also reorganize your essay’s structure or revise for unity and cohesion, ensuring that each element in your essay connects to the next logically and naturally.
Once you feel confident in the strength of your writing, you will edit your essay for proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and formatting. When you complete this final step, you will have transformed a simple idea or question into a thoroughly researched essay.
