Writing Resources

Assignment: Research Paper

Anthropology

The final research paper will give you an opportunity to explore in some depth a topic of interest to you pertaining to some aspect of aging. The paper should be based in part on your own original research. The paper must also make use of theories or perspectives from at least three different course readings.

Due date: Your final research paper is due by the assigned deadline in Prof. Lamb's mailbox (Brown 229). Please also upload one electronic copy onto the digication site. If you have trouble uploading it onto digication, then please email a copy to TA Casey Miller.

Content

The research paper should include the following key elements:
  1. A motivated thesis or main argument of some kind. (Just like in a shorter paper, a research paper should have a central thesis or argument as well as a clear explanation of some tension, puzzle or question that makes the thesis interesting and important.)
  2. Data: Your own original research drawn from one or a combination of the following: academic or popular cultural books, journal articles, medical texts, interviews, participant observation fieldwork, an analysis of websites or media images, etc. Be sure to cite your sources well and to provide lots of rich evidence and examples (your data)!
  3. Your own analysis of the data. Be sure to avoid just a simple long descriptive presentation of data without any analysis or argument.
  4. Remember: Your research paper must make use of at least three course readings.

Structure

  1. Title
  2. Introduction: 1-3 paragraphs, including the following elements (not necessarily in this order):
    • Motive (conveying why your topic is interesting and important)
    • Topic (1-2-sentence description of the paper's key topic, central problem and/or driving question(s)
    • Methodology/sources (can be woven into the topic)
    • Thesis
    • Optional: An introductory hook or anecdote
  3. The body of the paper, organized into sections with headings.
  4. Conclusion: One or a few paragraphs long, synthesizing your paper and re-presenting your thesis. You may also wish to push beyond or complicate your original thesis in some ways.
  5. Works cited or references

In addition, please remember to submit your preliminary work— paper proposal, thesis + preliminary outline and draft introduction — with the final paper. (It is fine, however, if you end up modifying your paper's focus, structure or thesis.)

Length

The recommended length is 10-12 pages, double-spaced, 11-12-point font with 1-inch margins.

  • It’s OK if the paper is a little longer than 12 pages as long as you feel that each part of the paper is important and you have very carefully edited the paper to avoid being excessively wordy or repetitive.
  • If your original draft is shorter than 10 pages, you may wish to add more so that it will not feel too "thin" to the readers: For instance, you might wish to expand your own analyses or concluding reflections, add more detail and specificity from the course readings you choose to engage with, add an opening anecdote or "hook" to the paper’s introduction, and/or add more detailed data to the body of the your paper.

Formatting

Since this is a writing-intensive class and we have worked hard on style and formatting all semester, we the readers will be very particular about things like grammar, proofreading, proper citations, presentation details (numbering your pages, including a works cited page), etc. Be sure to clean up any of the kinds of common grammatical errors that we have been correcting all term and look over your notes from our "Writing Tips of the Day."

Sarah Lamb and Casey Miller

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