How to write a Research Essay?

A research essay is a type of essay that involves a writer reading about someone’s else researches, analyzing them and also comparing them with their ideas. It generally involves organizing and synthesizing source materials and then synthesizing them with your ideas and what you have learned from them. Often, people mistake the research essay for the term paper. This is not correct. The research essay is meant to lead people to the research of others, and make them compare that research to the research that they are currently reading. Often, students in high school, college and also students studying for their masters and Ph.D. are required to write research papers for various topics, and this often causes a lot of problems for these students. Below are some basic steps that will help students to perfectly understand the process of writing their research essay.

Decide Your Topic and Create Your Thesis Statement.

First of all, before you start writing your research essay, you have to decide on the topic the essay will be on. Sometimes your teacher will have given you what you are to write about, in these cases you do not have to select another topic. But if you have not been given a topic and you want to choose one, select a topic that will interest your target audience and write a befitting thesis statement to match.

The thesis statement should encourage the reader to find more about the topic that is being discussed. The thesis statement should ask questions like ‘what is the problem’ ‘why write about this problem’ ‘what does the reader what to know about this topic’. Asking the following questions from the reader will make them want to know more. Also, the answers to these questions should be found in the body of the letter.

Make Proper Research and Brainstorm your ideas.

What are the things to be discussed on the topic? What are the main ideas you should focus on? What information can you find on the topic? The answers to these questions should be what is at the back of your mind as you make your research.

Before you start working on your paper, you should think of various research sources that will support the thesis statement you are using in your essay. A good research essay should have credible sources that will back up the thesis statement and make your essay professional. These sources can be scholarly journals, educational sites, and trusted internet sources. As you make the research, some important information such as the name, author, or date these articles were published should be noted as these should be clearly stated on the site page.

Create an Outline

After you have collected your ideas and you have enough resources to write your essay, you should now write your outline. This outline is just like a roadmap that is meant to keep you focused when you are writing your essay and prevent you from drifting off track. Your essay outline should include only relevant information that fits under all the sub-headings and directly support your thesis statement.

Create a Draft

After you have written your outline, you now have a clear direction of how your essay will look like. The next step for you is to create a draft that will include a title, in-text citation and also a reference page.

Your draft is one of the most important aspects of the research essay as it is one of the first places that anyone reading your essay will see. It should contain important keywords that present the topic of your paper, the method used in the research and also the results you have achieved.

Structure of the Research Essay

Just like all other essays, the structure of the research essay comprises the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. These are the major parts of the research essay so some details on how to write them are given below.

The Introduction

The introduction is the first part of the main essay that should be aimed at grabbing the attention of the person reading your essay. To write a good introduction, the introduction should contain a provocative question, statistical data, an anecdote, and also some unusual facts. Provide a little background information about the topic you want to write about and let your reader know how you plan to approach the topic.

Finally, finish your introduction with your thesis statement or your research question.

The Body

The outline you have written is very important while you are writing the body of your research essay as you should follow it through you are writing. Although you can make some adjustments to your outline which will, in turn, reflect in your body but be always sure to follow your outline at all times.

Begin a new paragraph with a new topic sentence and ensure all the paragraphs are logically arranged. All the paragraphs of the essay should also be linked by connecting words and phrases that will make your essay look good.

The Conclusion

The conclusion of your research essay should be based on your thesis statement. While doing this, do not restate the thesis statement word for word, instead, paraphrase it and summarize the major point of your paper. You can also provide some recommendations based on the results of your research.

After you have finished writing the essay, the next step is to revise the essay and check for errors, irrelevant sentences, and phrases. Make corrections on your grammar or punctuation mistakes if you find any.

Following the tips that have been given in the article above will enable you to avoid mistakes and also allow you to write the perfect research essay.