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Level 1

Mini-Research #1

Purpose:

To learn the skeletal structure of research papers.
This assignment is the core of the course. Everything we do for the rest of the course is built upon this paper.
There are A LOT of tedious directions to this assignment; this level is also training in focusing on details.

Don't over think this assignment;
its similar to working out;
just do the routine.

Process:

Write a 1-1/2 to 2 Page paper.

The Skeletal Structure

Each of the numbers below is its own paragraph.
You'll use this structure throughout the entire course.

Introduction
Scope/Subject of research
Literature Review
Theory
Analysis ¹
Analysis ²
Conclusion

1. Introduction

This part will be the first paragraph, but we will write this part last

2. Scope/Subject

Write a scope/Subject of research, #2 above (should take ~5 minutes)
- Choose a subject: I will discuss this subject with you IN CLASS
- Write three to five sentences about your subject.
- Imagine I am an alien who just landed on the planet and I have no idea what that subject is.

3. Literature Review

Write the Literature Review, #3 above. (should take ~15 minutes)
- This paragraph will answer this basic question: What are three articles on the web about your subject?
- In 3 to 5 sentences, briefly summarize at least three sources that discuss your subject.
- Don’t quote the pieces; just talk about them.
- Give these four elements for each source: author, "article title," Website Name, and summary.
Example:
- Jim Spencer in his article "Surfing the Summer" on the website ABC.News.Go discusses the surf culture along Florida’s coasts. Susan Gomez in the article "Hang Ten" on the website Surf.com covers the connection of surfers to the environment. In another article, David Womack in his article "Salt Life" on the website FloridaToday.com refers to the wider beach culture of which surfers are a part.
Caveats

Don't use web pages that are merely selling items.
The articles must be flowing text articles, not bulleted information such as these pages on my site.
Find articles on websites that have human names as authors (no nicknames). If the article does not have an author name, find a different article.
NEVER use encyclopaedias or dictionaries.
Just skimming the articles is fine enough for our practice of creating a skeletal research paper; no need to read and absorb all of the article for this paper.

4. Theory

Write a theory, #4 above. (should take ~15 minutes)
- Write five to ten sentences about this theory: _________________ (You'll be given this in class)
- Any abstract concept, such as love, justice, etc, is arguable and has different shades of meaning.
- Forget everything you've already written.
- Focus on this theory; do NOT connect the theory to the subject that you already wrote about.
- Say what the word means.
- Do not use the following words in your theory paragraph: defines, defined, or definition
- Give examples of your theory from real life.
- Do NOT connect the theory to the object that you already wrote about.
Add a quote to the Theory paragraph.
- Find an article that has an author's full name (no nicknames) that discusses your theory.
- Try using your theory and the word psychology in Google together.
- Without adding the word psychology , you'll probably only get definitions.
- Do not use encyclopaedias or dictionaries.
Take any sentence from that article and quote it in the theory paragraph.
- We'll focus on quoting sources in the next assignment: mini-research 2 (where you'll take this mini-1 paper and do a bunch of stuff to it in order to turn it into mini-2)

5 and 6 Analysis

What, exactly, is Analysis
- Imagine having the subject Dogs for the subject/scope.
- If you Google the word Dogs, how many web pages will Google give you?
- With that many pages of the subject Dog, how can you shrink the subject to a 2-page paper
- If we choose a theory, say Love, then we can apply that word to Dogs and that will narrow down how we think about the subject of dogs.
- However the concept of Love, like your theory, is a vague term that needs to be explained.
  - Do we mean love like the Brits love the Queen?
  - Do we mean love like "my favourite food"
  - Do we mean a deep emotional bond of caring?
- Using that last "definition" of love, we could each write a 5 to 10 sentence theory paragraph about love as caring for one another's health and about attention and time together.
- For the analysis, we have to re-look/ re-see dogs through the concept of love.
- I can come up with TWO ways in which love and dogs go together: caring for their health (vet visits, feeding them, flea baths) AND caring for them through attention (petting them, playing with them.)
  - Subject: Dogs
  - Theory: Love as caring for and being with someone
  1. Analysis ¹: There are many ways we love our dogs through caring for their health.
  2. Analysis ²: We show our love for our dogs by playing with them and petting them
Your Analysis for Paragraphs 5 and 6.
- Take the theory and apply it to the subject.
- You'll need TWO ways that your theory and your subject connect.
- One of those ways will be a five to ten sentence paragraph (Analysis ¹)
- The other way will be a second five to ten sentence paragraph (Analysis ²)
- STATE then DEFEND
  - Every paragraph in the paper needs to STATE in the first sentence the main point of the paragraph
  - then the rest of the paragraph defends or expands on that first statement.

7. Conclusion

Three to five sentences.
Don't conclude.
Don't summarize the paper.
Don't wrap it up in warm fuzzies.
In research, conclusions are the place where you say how you or others could continue with the research on your subject.
To do so, think of at least three other common theories. There is a brief list of virtues/values here
- Someone could continue researching your subject/scope by seeing how the idea of creativity connects with it. Another continuation of my research could be the connection between idealism and Your subject/scope [Add at least one more sentence so you have a minimum of three]

1. Introduction

A one sentence paragraph.
Yes, that breaks a rule about paragraph sizes.
In research, we write the introduction last.
In research, an introduction summarizes the entire paper because--
STATE and DEFEND
Combine these four parts of the paper together in one sentence.
- Subject from the scope
- Theory
- phrase from Analysis ¹
- phrase Analysis ²
There are numerous ways to write those four parts into one sentence
Here are those four parts from my examples above:
- Subject: Dogs
- Theory: Love
- Analysis¹: Health of the dogs
- Analysis ²: Giving dogs attention.
Example of introductions:
- By looking at dogs through a lens of love we can see how we care for them in two ways: health and attention.
- or
- Paying attention to a dog's health and giving dogs attention are two ways we show our love for dogs.

A Works Cited: page 3

On its own page (Page three of the assignment) create a Works Cited Page of just that one source you used in the theory.

Wrap it up to send

Remove any variation of you: You, Your, Yours, Yourself, You're

You can never use those words in a research paper (unless you are quoting someone else's words)

Must have perfect formatting according to the Formatting assignment.
Must have all SEVEN parsgrsphd of the research paper, as outline in the Skeletal Structure above.
The paper must end somewhere 1-1/2 to 2 pages.
Your writing cannot go onto page 3
Works Cited will be page 3
Do NOT put Lit Review sources in the works Cited.
For Mini-Research 1 there will be only one source in the Works Cited, the one you quoted in the theory paragraph.
Assignment and File name
- In the masthead the assignment name is this: Mini-Research 1
- Label the file as this: LastnameMiniResearch1.docx