Writing a research essay is an essential aspect of academics and should not be avoided on account of one’s anxiety. In fact, the process of writing a research essay can be one of the more rewarding experiences one may encounter in academics.
The hardest part in writing essay, apart from choosing the topic, is to figure out what research questions are and how to write them, how to write an introduction paragraph, find research essay example on different topics as well as solve formatting question and references used in your work.
What is research essay?
If you aren’t clear on what a research essay is, then you won’t get very far when writing one.
A research essay is just as its name suggests — a form of academic writing that necessitates the independent investigation of a specified topic and reports the unique results of that investigation.
A research essay teaches the reader about a topic as it clearly identifies the thesis and the main points of the essay.
Thus, you are required to write a research question. This is a question associated with your research essay topic that acts as a guide, enabling you to focus and provide unique arguments.
How to write research questions?
A good way to begin the research essay is through recording information on note cards so these can be used in the writing process. You should make a list of anything you read that is relevant to your study: the skills and knowledge you bring to the research task, a reasonable sample to undertaken meaningful analysis for it. One of the options here is to write list of research questions that might help you in doing so:
- Can you map out the contemporary debates and critiques in the area? What are the main practice issues to consider?
- Where (i.e. in what settings) does the work you are interested in take place? What access do you have to it?
- Will you be able to have the interviews or surveys transcribed?
- Are there sources of secondary data that you could access?
- Are there possibilities for documentary analysis?
Creating a research question is a task. Good research questions are formed and worked on, and are rarely simply found. The following tips highlight some of the good questions to establish a clear purpose for your research in relation to the chosen field.
Good research questions are:
- Relevant: Arising from issues raised in literature and/or practice, the question will be of academic and intellectual interest.
- Manageable: You must be able to access your sources of data (be they documents or people), and to give a full and nuanced answer to your question.
- Substantial and original: The question should showcase your imaginative abilities, however far it may be couched in existing literature.
- Fit for assessment: Remember, you must satisfy the learning outcomes of your course. Your question must be open to assessment, as well as interesting.
- Clear and simple: A clear and simple research question will become more complex as your research progresses. Start with an uncluttered question then unpeel the layers in your reading and writing.
- Interesting: Make your question interesting, but try to avoid questions which are convenient or flashy.
Introduction paragraph.
Apart from research question, knowing how to write a research essay introduction paragraph is yet another part in the process of writing a research essay.
This is the place where you are informing the reader about the rationale behind the work, justifying why your work is an essential component of research in the field. The introduction gives an overall review of the paper. It works upon the principle of introducing the topic of the paper and setting it into a broad context, gradually narrowing down to a research problem, thesis and hypothesis.
A good introduction explains how you are going to solve the research problem, and makes the reader delve further into your work.
Therefore, it leads to the question of deciding on the topic or problem to be researched.
How to choose research topics?
Choosing an essay topic is one of the most important parts of writing a great essay or paper. Many things require essay writing and if you choose the right topic, it will be easier to write your paper. What follows is a list of the best research essay topics divided into categories to make choosing one easier.
- Technology
- Environment
- Business and Education
- Science
- Sports
- Agriculture
- History and Art
- Health and Lifestyle
- Architecture
- Criminal Justice
- Human Resource Management
- Marketing
- Medicine
- Politics
- Media and Communication
- What, why, and how topics
Research essay examples
A research essay should lead the reader to the works of others as it guides to compare previous research to the current research essay.
You can find the list of free sample research essays that you can use as a model assignment while doing your own work, 5 page research paper example, free research essays, college research essay sample, and scientific research essay from a range of different disciplines.
The next thing is to know about research essay format.
Research essay format
Whether you need to write a 3000 word essay or a 10 000-word dissertation, it can be difficult to set out in your mind exactly in what direction you need to follow.
Depending on your paper subject or formatting guidelines, you may have to organize your paper in a specific way. Whether it should follow the rules prescribed by the APA, MLA or Harvard standard – you should know how to cite referenced used according to each citation style.
How to write research essay
Becoming an experienced researcher and writer in any field or discipline takes a lot of practice. Summing up all the points above, here are few words of advice on writing a successful research essay:
- Find a broad subject first then narrow it down
- Make sure you have enough resources for your topic
- Check references from the library
- Develop an objective
- Get advice
- State your conclusions
- Revisit your thesis or objective
- Put finishing touches on your essay.
Concluding Paragraph
All things considered, it seems reasonable to assume that there should be a lot of work done as in researching a topic and organizing your essay to determine your main points, consider formatting guidelines, finalize your outline as well as editing and proofreading while writing it.
With this in mind, the completion of these tasks finalizes your paper!
Despite many of us had a time when we were overloaded with a pile of writing assignments, and had even thought of custom essay writing, not everybody dared to make a decision and employ some proper services that provide help with research essay writing.
Using the services of essay writers is quite helpful as they help you in quick learning in your writing as well as they provide you the best writing for your articles.
If you want to get high quality research essay or thesis papers on time and for a reasonable price, you should be addressing writing services as it may be more benefitial.
Related articles and references materials
- http://www.c-sap.bham.ac.uk/socscidiss/s7.html
- https://essaybasics.com/100-best-research-paper-topics/
- https://www.quora.com/How-can-I-access-research-papers-for-free
- https://researchrundowns.com/intro/writing-research-questions/