According to National Survey on Drug Use and Health, western US states seem to, on average, have a higher depression rate among people than the eastern states do. Conduct research to find out what factors contribute to depression. You may decide to narrow
1. Include a formal outline of your research paper. Outline should consist of your working thesis, at least 4 of your main arguments, and at least one researched supporting detail for each argument all written in bullet format, but complete sentences.
2.Include at least 10 sources, 5 from newspaper and magazine articles from De Anza databases(http://www.deanza.edu/library/articledata.html Enter ID 11353501), 1 from a book, 1 from a scholarly journal and 3 from the Internet.
3. Include in-text citations and Annotated Work Cited page(s)
Process
Choose and Narrow Down a Topic
Most topics on the list need to be tailored to fit a short research paper such as the one assigned in this class. Based on your own preference, you can design the focus of your research project. For example, if you are working on Hollywood’s portrayal of race, gender and class in movies, you can select a genre of films to work on.
Construct a Working Thesis
A working thesis is your preliminary thesis or stance on the topic. You may conduct an informal research just to learn more about your topic and develop a working thesis. This thesis will most likely be modified, complemented, or completely changed in the process of your research. Always evaluate your working thesis for practicality, originality, and effectiveness as a research tool. Is your thesis too specific or too general? Has this thesis been presented and proven before by someone else or is it an original idea? Does it state a stance on the topic?
Compile Your Sources
You must first decide on a research strategy. How are you to complete this task? Where will you find your information? How well are you familiar with your school library as well as your local public library?
Even though Internet research seems to be the most time-efficient way to go, your research should not be limited to only online sources. The library offers numerous resources that may not be available to you in soft copy format. For those of you who cannot physically visit the library, De Anza Library offers many valuable databases and e-books among other online material.
Explore DA library’s website and become acquainted with it. Note the ample resources it offers including newspaper, magazine, and scholarly journal articles. At the end of this step, you should have compiled a list of sources you have located and planned to use in your paper. Write a summary of each source and ensure to save its citation information. You will use this summary in your annotated work cited page.
Evaluate Your Sources
Read your sources with a critical eye. The author’s background, easily found on the Web, helps you decide whether he/she has a biased perspective. Online sources can be especially suspicious. The domain name (.com,.org,.gov,etc.) often reveals some truth about the authenticity of the website. When evaluating your sources, also check the date of publication. An article written in 1990 on advertising may not apply to today since advertising has changed drastically since then. Of course, if you are comparing two different eras, you will need the older publications as well.
Take good Notes
Special attention must be given to taking notes to avoid plagiarism when summarizing, paraphrasing, or quoting from other sources. Effective notes are in your own words with minimum quoting.
Draft an Annotated Working Bibliography in MLA Style
This bibliography, as your preliminary theis, can and will be added to and subtracted from. To save time, keep this bibliography in alphabetical order, the way it should be formatted in the final paper. This way, you can easily find and refer to specific entries. Take organized notes. Construct a working outline for your paper. Draft your research paper. Prepare your Reference page. Revise your research paper.