Research Papers

Doing it right

the first time

How to beginThe best researchers keep an open mind

going into their research process. They do NOT begin researching with a set-in-stone predetermined outcome in mind.

They choose their subject and the slant they think they want to take, and then begin looking for information, both on the Internet and in print resources.

Once they have a hefty stack of resources laid out on index cards (minimum 10 per required typed page), they then begin organizing and a Thesis appears from the research.

Plan of Attack

• 1) Research and collect data from many sources• 2) Separate information into stacks as you go

based on type and use color to identify on index cards – only add ONE idea, definition, statistic, quote, or paraphrase per card

• 3) Lay out cards. Read them, and shuffle until you get a good flow

• 4) Create a Thesis Statement based on your layout and the conclusions to which you come

• 5) Begin to write

Index Card LayoutWhen you begin to research, have your index cards ready to go.

Collect each piece of information on the cards and color code them based on

what TYPE of information it is, not where it came from.

TYPE OF INFO

MLA CITATION ON BOOK, ARTICLE, OR SITE

INFORMATION FOUND: STATISTICS, QUOTES, DATES, PARAPHRASING, ETC.

QUALITY OF INFORMATION OR AUTHOR, QUESTIONS IT

RAISES, THOUGHTS ON THE INFO, ETC. IN A DIFFERENT INK.

Citation made Simple

Commit yourself to collecting the MLA citation information WHILE you are researching.

Keep the OWL at Purdue University website open as you research so that you can refer to it often so your citation is in the proper order before you begin writing.

Formatting the Paper

• Title Page: Title, Author, Teacher, Course, and Date, all centered

• First Page: begin at the top, indent all paragraphs

• All pages: Double Spaced, no extra space between paragraphs

• Works Cited Page: separate from paper, Center “Works Cited”, double space, do not skip spaces between citations, indent all but the first line of each citation.

Research Paper Example

China’s “Voluntary” Birth Control Law

Genji Bailey

Dr. Hellstrom

English 401 Spring 2003

March 13, 2003

Human rights advocates abhor China’s so-called voluntary birth control law

because they say that it gives the communist government of China the right to commit

human rights offences against it’s own people. Others disagree because the population

of China is expected to hit 1.6 Billion by the year 2050 which will place intensified the

pressure on natural resources and the environment. With 58,000 babies born each day,

family planning has become a necessity and a legal requirement. Women in China have,

since 1979, been required to obtain a Birth Coupon prior to conception and unwanted or

illegal pregnancies have been aborted. (Croll 5) All this is supposedly, according to the

Chinese government, restraining the population. There are exceptions in the rural areas

where officials cannot keep close tabs on citizens, but for the most part China claims that

the population growth has been tethered. How this has been achieved has become a

world-wide human rights debate.

The horror that has become the reproductive life of the Chinese woman

in the later 20th Century has not and most likely will not change for a

long time. China's ruthlessly enforced childbearing restrictions have

resulted in the mass murders of infant girls. They are being killed

by any means necessary: through gross neglect, abandonment,

infanticide and, in recent years, the abortion of fetuses. (Croll 7) All

forms of birth control are legal in China, even if the child is in the

process of being born at the time.

China’s “Family Planning” has also strengthening cultural preferences

for boys because the sex of the single child has became a very important

question. (Croll 3) China’s policy had led to a high ratio of 118 newborn boys

to 100 newborn girls by couples who preferred sons because China is a

country in which traditional Chinese thinking is that men are more important

than women. (Brookes 3) In some areas, birth control officials have required

that women undergo pregnancy tests so prevent them from giving birth too

soon after marriage, according to the Chinese press, because they are to only

allowed give birth only within approved time periods. The killing of female

babies, selective abortion by gender, and abandoned newborn girls are not

uncommon methods of birth control. (“One-Child” 9)

Chinese defectors claim that brutalities have not only been committed

against the illegal children but against those parents that do not submit to the

one child law. Local birth control agency offices pay informants to report on

unauthorized pregnancies of neighbors and the women who violate China's

policy on pregnancy could be seized during a nighttime raid, or have their

homes destroyed as the government forces the offenders to submit to

abortions. (Brookes 6) In the early 1970's, the world was shocked by mass

campaigns to round up women and sterilize them almost like cattle. (“One-

Child” 1) Then in the early 1980's, sterilization target goals were set and made

mandatory for people who had two children. At its peak in 1983, tubal ligations,

vasectomies, and abortions amounted to thirty-five percent of the total birth

control methods in China. (Cook 8).

Today, China prides itself on having achieved the "three lows" low birth rate, low

death rate, and low growth rate. China's census last year reported a population increase

of 11.6 percent since the previous count 11 years ago. The growth rate also fell sharply

during the decade, which saw an annual population growth rate of 1.07 percent - 0.4

percent points lower than the 1980s' growth rate. The census also found that the size of

Chinese families had dropped significantly, from an average of 3.96 people to 3.44

people. The Chinese government claims that its stringent birth-control policy had

succeeded in avoiding a population explosion that would have endangered China's ability

to feed its people. It says that the "one child" policy was responsible for preventing

250 million births in the past 20 years. (Bezlova 14) Unfortunately, the methods by which

these numbers have been achieved are at best questionable, and at worst murder.

Works CitedBezlova, Antoaneta. "China to formalize one-child policy." Asia Times Online.

24 May 2001. 11 March 2003. <http://www.atimes.com/china/CE24Ad02.html>.

Brookes, Adam. "China’s Unwanted Girls." BBC News. 23 August 2001. 11 March 2003

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1506469.stm>.

Cook, Thomas. "Unfair burdens: impact of the population control policies on the human rights of

women and girls." Human Rights in China. 30 June 1995. 10 March 2003.

<http://hrichina.org/public/contents/article?revision%5fid=4162&item%5fid=4161>.

Croll, Elizabeth, Karen Kinnear, and Lai Ching Leung. “One Child Policy: A Quick Fact Sheet.” China

Family Planning Policies. 10 March 2001. 10 March 2003.

<http://www.zenkei.com/sarah/subj_1child.htm>

"Twenty-Years After Chinese "One-Child" Policy, Abuses Run Rampant." French Press Agency.

2 January 2001. 10 March 2003. <http://www.ifrl-pac.com/e-mail_nwsltr/010104/>.

Another Research Paper Example

Comparing and Contrasting the Baby Boomers and Generation X

Genji BaileyDr. Hellstrom

English 401 Spring 2003February 13, 2003

The Baby Boomers, generally thought to have been born between 1946 and 1964, and

Generation X, generally thought to have been born between 1965 and 1980 (Amoruso 1), would to all

outward appearances, seem to be the closest two generations in history. In actuality though, they

have created what is thought to be the biggest ever generation gap. In fact, the only things that they

share are a slight overlap in age and the surge in technology that they have both incorporated into

their lives. The characteristics of their childhoods and core values are so vastly different that a huge

rift of misunderstanding has formed between the two groups.

Baby Boomers grew up in a time when the streets were safe and parents were happily married or

at least stayed together for the kids. Boomer mothers stayed home with their children, read Dr. Spock

and expected their offspring to be the saving grace of America. Boomers were brought up in child-

focused homes when the Beaver Cleaver middle class was touted as the ideal. Then the Boomers

became “yuppies” (Young Upwardly-Mobile Professionals 5). They created the two-income household

and overspent to the point that overwhelming debt drove many of them into personal bankruptcy and

divorce. Interestingly, Boomers considered their careers better, personal freedoms greater and lives

more meaningful than their parents (Howe & Strauss 3).

In contrast, Researchers Howe & Strauss describe the birth years of Generation Xers as the "most virulently anti-

child period in modern American history.” Gen Xers were the first generation born to a society that took The Pill to

escape parenthood. Gen X kids were the first “latch-key” generation and grew up in day-care centers and malls with

friends and gangs as their true families. Typically both parents of Gen Xers wanted to work, which we now realize was

a direct cause of what some have called the “divorce epidemic.” Gen X kids tried to learn New Math in the chaos of

“open concept” classrooms and watched the collapse of ideals as Watergate unfolded in their living rooms. They were

intellectually arrogant, socially immature and became thirty-something just as the television show Thirty-Something got

canceled (Howe & Strauss 8).

The Boomers, on the other hand, had parents that touted a good work ethic, loyalty to your family and employer,

and honesty. During the Boomer rise to Corporate America’s highest towers the economy flourished, disposable

income became more abundant, and extravagance became the norm. The age of indulgence allowed Boomers to

provide their children, without much sacrifice, everything advertised in name-brand commercials. Decades of luxury

and indulgence have had an adverse effect on the children of the Boomers, what could be called “Generation ADD,” but

the consequences of the lavishness have not yet taken their toll because the oldest ADDers are just reaching drinking

age (Amoruso 11).

As a generation, Generation X has married late, is more interested in function than

comfort, and don’t cook because their mothers were never home to teach them how.

Xers grew to maturity right along with computers and embraced the Internet where they

could be a part of a society which does not require them to have real relationships with

real people. Gen Xers are just now coming into the home and auto buying market with a

vengeance. Companies are scrambling to switch gears from Boomer desires because

Gen X is more interested in getting back to the Beaver Cleaver neighborhood, recycling,

and in buying vehicles that they don’t have to replace every few years (Howe & Strauss).

They expect better quality for their dollars and are not upwardly mobile if it requires taking

time away from their families. They also do not see any security in loyalty to a single

employer which has caused the employment market to make drastic adjustments

(Amoruso). Gen Xers do not believe it is worth their time to rise the Corporate ladder,

and even if they wanted to, and are pessimistic about long term stability.

Boomers on the other hand have refused to give way to the Xers and are

working harder to stay at the top and, as a general trend, are putting off

retirement. Boomers still see themselves as the personification of

righteousness and judgment, just as they did in the 1960's, and now have

thrown their hat, as they did when they burned their draft cards and bras,

wholeheartedly into the political arena. Boomers as a generation want to

redirect the nation toward what they consider worthy purposes. They are

prodding the nation to address social issues such as crime, health,

homelessness, and education by voting for politicians such as Pat Robertson,

Jesse Jackson and Pat Buchanan (Howe & Strauss 4).

Gen Xers realize that their parentless childhoods have made them

street smart and they are beginning to suspect, according to researchers

Howe & Strauss, “that they are a necessary generation for a society in dire

need of survival lessons.” They accept that they are the clean up crew and

will have to shoulder more economic, political and ecological burdens than any

previous generation if America is to stay strong. Gen X does not expect to ever

see a cent of Social Security and it shakes its collective head in shame at the

rising National Debt. They see themselves as the generation that will be

sacrificed to save the nation and world but they do it willingly for their children.

Each generation looks at the developments in the world and their own entrance

and exit from the world stage from different points of view. Currently these two groups make up

the most influential generational powers in the marketplace and workforce and impact each other

in ways that neither of them realizes. They are bonded by technology and history, but separated

by viewpoints.

Gen Xers accept that the size of the Baby Boom generation has reduced the number of jobs

available, and they have acclimated. They are individualistic businesspeople and entrepreneurs

that find Dot Com dollars an attractive option because they fuel the pseudo-society with

which Gen X is comfortable (Krotz 13). Boomers, regardless of how nervous these nomadic and

quirky workers make them, have had to admit that the problem solving and goal reaching skills the

Gen X worker exhibits are a benefit to business and are beginning to take advantage of what Gen X

has to offer (Krotz 9). Hopefully with time and understanding these two powerful and influential groups

will drop their arrogant self-centered attitudes and find common ground for the good of the nation and

the world.

Works CitedAmoruso, Dena. “Generation X Powers New Home Design Trends.”

Reality Times. 2001. Lycos News. 11 February 2003.

http://realtimes.lycos.com

Howe, Neil and William Strauss. “The New Generation Gap.”

Generation X Papers. 1991. Reaching Generation X for Jesus. 10

February 2003. http://tomorrowtoday.biz

Krotz, Joanna L. “Why Can’t Boomers and Gen X Just Get Along?”.

Marketing Intelligence. 2003. Microsoft bCentral. 12 February 2003.

<http://www.bcentral.com/articles/krotz/157.asp>