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SES 1301: Foundations of SES

This course guide lays out, step-by-step, how to conduct and write your research paper for SES 1301.

Outline/Writing Timeline

Progress Before Step

67.5%

Progress After Step

92.5%

Creating an Outline

Go over your headings and consider overarching subjects. Also, consider how you would want to convey your found information to your readers.

Step 4a: Group Quotes

The first step in producing an outline based on your findings is grouping quotes on the same or similar subjects. These overarching subjects will most likely be your top headings with more specific headings fitting under the top heading.

Example

Pre-Group Headers
  • Health Benefit of Keto Diet 1
  • Negative Health Effects of Keto Diet 1
  • Addressing the Negative Effects of Keto Diet 1
  • Comparative Studies between Keto and Exercise
  • Challenges to Staying on Keto
  • Health Benefit of Keto Diet Variant 2
  • Negative Health Effects of Keto Diet Variant 2
  • Addressing the Negative Effects of Keto Diet Variant 2
Post-Group Headers
  • Health Benefit of Keto Diet 1
  • Health Benefit of Keto Diet Variant 2
  • Negative Health Effects of Keto Diet 1
  • Negative Health Effects of Keto Diet Variant 2
  • Addressing the Negative Effects of Keto Diet 1
  • Addressing the Negative Effects of Keto Diet Variant 2
  • Comparative Studies between Keto and Exercise
  • Challenges to Staying on Keto

Step 4b: Collapse Your Headers

The next step in producing your outline based on your findings is collapsing the same or similar quote subject headings into one overarching heading that will, very likely, become your main headings.

Example

Pre-Collapse Headers
  • Health Benefit of Keto Diet 1
  • Health Benefit of Keto Diet Variant 2
  • Negative Health Effects of Keto Diet 1
  • Negative Health Effects of Keto Diet Variant 2
  • Addressing the Negative Effects of Keto Diet 1
  • Addressing the Negative Effects of Keto Diet Variant 2
  • Comparative Studies between Keto and Exercise
  • Challenges to Staying on Keto
Post-Collapse Headers
  • Health Benefits
  • Negative Health Effects
  • Addressing the Negative Effects
  • Comparative Studies between Keto and Exercise
  • Challenges to Staying on Keto

Step 4c: Reorganize Headers

The final step in producing an outline based on your findings is reorganizing the headers and quotations into a logical flow.

Example

Pre-Reorganization of Headers

  • Health Benefits
  • Negative Health Effects
  • Addressing the Negative Effects
  • Comparative Studies between Keto and Exercise
  • Challenges to Staying on Keto

Post-Reorganization of Headers

  • Health Benefits
  • Negative Health Effects
  • Addressing the Negative Effects
  • Psychological Effects of Keto
  • Challenges to Staying on Keto
  • Comparative Studies between Keto and Exercise

Writing Your Paper

Now that we have concluded our research and organized our findings by creating an outline, we now focus on writing the paper.

Step 5a: Create Your Paragraphs from Your Notes

Expound on your ideas, criticisms, and the article relevancy and incorporate the quote into your own paragraph.

Example:


An often-heard complaint from non-Athlete academics is that Universities allow athletes to solely focus on sports, allowing them to languish academically. Essentially, "Who cares about academics? Allow the athlete to make grade so they are eligible to play." However, we must not allow this to happen. The University and the library must do more. As Caniano (2015) said concerning Universities, “They must actively promote and support academic excellence.” (p. 91). For the academic library, the question we need to ask ourselves is, "How can we promote and support academic excellence?"

References

Caniano, W. T. (2015). Library outreach to university athletic departments and student-athletes. Journal of Library Innovation, 6(2), 89-95. Retrieved from http://www.libraryinnovation.org/

Step 5b: Connect Completed Paragraphs

Here we're making introduction, conclusion, and/or transition sentences.

From the example above, I know that my next few headers and sections will be about the means to promote and support.

Example:


An often-heard complaint from non-Athlete academics is that Universities allow athletes to solely focus on sports, allowing them to languish academically. Essentially, "Who cares about academics? Allow the athlete to make grade so they are eligible to play." However, we must not allow this to happen. The University and the library must do more. As Caniano (2015) said concerning Universities, “They must actively promote and support academic excellence.” (p. 91). For the academic library, the question we need to ask ourselves is, "How can we promote and support academic excellence?" Various methods that other libraries have attempted include creating a remote reference desk, creating specific athletic web guides, and starting to liaison with the athletic departments.

Going to the Students

An often heard maxim from the business world is "Going to the where the customer needs you" or some variant. One means of going to where the students are is the creation of a remote reference desk within the university's gym. ... ... ... [Here I would bring in the next quote block involving this topic. Incorporating my notes about the benefits and negatives of this outreach and service effort.]

References

Caniano, W. T. (2015). Library outreach to university athletic departments and student-athletes. Journal of Library Innovation, 6(2), 89-95. Retrieved from http://www.libraryinnovation.org/

Step 5c: Wrapping Up

Since we have created our main body of our paper with proper connections and the incorporation of our quotes, we can now conclude the writing portion of the paper by creating the introduction and conclusion paragraphs. These should be relatively easy since you have already written the main part of your paper and have formulated your opinion based off of your findings.

Your Introduction

For your introduction, its about presenting your:

  • Research question/statement
  • Provide a brief outline of your paper, informed by your actual outline
  • Present your initial opinion/conclusion

Your Conclusion

For your conclusion, its about summarizing your opinion, based off your findings, and hitting your opinion/conclusion home.