Paper 3

In this assignment, you will complete a 5-7 (not including title page, reference page, or other extraneous pages) page final paper that explains your research findings on your chosen topic.

Introduction and Thesis Questions/Statement:

Introduce your topic and explain its relevance to you personally.  Summarize the significance of this topic for others (e.g., the reader, groups, society).  Describe the research questions that will guide your inquiry or the thesis statement that you will explore.

Analysis Using Concepts/Theories:

Clearly and significantly apply at least three concepts/theories from our text to your research topic.  While this sounds like what you did in Assignment Two, this is no longer an exploration of how these might apply.  Rather, these applications should be strong and well-supported in the final draft.

Application of Research:

Clearly and significantly apply findings from at least 5 meaningful, up-to-date resources, 3 of which are from reputable peer-reviewed academic journals. Your research in Assignment Two should help you with this, but remember that the final paper will include a full discussion of applications that help to answer your research questions or explore your thesis statement.

Do not simply piece together annotations.  Create a meaningful report that brings all of these ideas together.

APA Formatted Citations and References:

Your paper will adhere to the general standards of the APA-formatting guidelines.  It will include a cover page, a short abstract, body (introduction, findings, analysis, conclusions) and a reference page.

This site offers you answers to the most frequently asked questions on APA style as well as other useful APA information:

http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/index.aspx

The Purdue Online Writing Lab offers information about APA guidelines and formatting:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Grammar, Spelling, Proper Formatting:

Ø  The BODY of your paper will be 5 – 7 pages in length  (this does not include title page, reference page, or other extraneous pages).

Ø  Your paper will be double-spaced, 1″ margins, Arial or Times New Roman 12 point font.

Ø  Did you spell check and re-read your paper for grammar and flow?

Ø  Your paper will adhere to the standards of APA-formatting guidelines.

The paper should be well-organized and demonstrate collegiate-level effort and thought.

This is listed last, but it is certainly not the least.  If your paper meets the previous five requirements, you are ready to finalize your content.  Here are the questions I’ll be asking myself as I read your work:

Ø  Is your work a blend of what you learned from your research sources and your own observations and experiences?  Is it more than just an opinion paper?

Ø  Did you cover your chosen topic well?

Ø  Did you answer your research questions?  Did you fully explore your thesis statement?

Ø  Did you demonstrate that you thought about what you learned?

Ø  Did you spell check and re-read your paper for grammar and flow?