Every project has a beginning, and every idea begins when you think it into existence. Photo Credit: Unsplash
So, it’s the first day of the semester, and your professor is going over the course syllabus with your class. You flip to the assignments section and see, ‘30 PAGE RESEARCH PAPER DUE’ on the last day of the course. Your heart stops. You’ve never written a research paper for this subject, let alone a paper this long. Where do you even start?
The professor explains that the paper will be the culmination of planning, researching, and writing over the course of the semester. Most likely, professors will provide deadlines throughout the semester (e.g. first draft due, peer review due) that will help you pace your process and keep on track. In my experience, research projects are a challenge like no other, where a successful end result depends on the preparation and considerations done in advance of any kind of final paper content. I believe it is critical that before you start, you need to define a research question that entices and motivates your intellectual curiosities.
First and foremost, breathe—you are so capable of this project, and you’re not alone in this process.
The next step I suggest is to grab a writing instrument and plenty of open space to jot or diagram on. It’s time to brainstorm. There are different brainstorming structures you might follow (e.g. mind-mapping, typing out sentences and then making a word cloud) to give your thoughts a bit of structure, but don’t worry if they don’t necessarily make sense yet. Use photos, words, colors, collage, anything to convey your ideas. Your goal here is to let your unconscious flow. Here are some considerations and suggestions:
- What originally motivated you to take this course? What did you hope to learn about?
- Look through the syllabus: are there certain topics that stand out to you? Why?
- Is there anything you came across in the media, in conversations, etc. that have a related element to the topic at hand?
- Do you know if there has been research done in this particular topic? What questions do they ask? If there hasn’t been a lot of investigation, ask yourself why?
- What questions do you have that might add to, support, or challenge the topic at hand?
Take a step back from your brainstorm pile. Maybe take a break (or even a day or two, whatever feels right). Now, it’s time to synthesize and collect your thoughts from before. Are there any recurring trends or themes you can pull out from your page? What do you see your mind continue to go back to? I recommend jotting down these items into a short question, sentence, or phrase. For example, say you’re working on an American Congress research paper. Short snippets you wrote down were ‘fundraising practices,’ ‘PACs,’ etc. Perhaps your head is looking in the direction of how candidates’ raise and spend money or who/what/why supports the election of candidates. It’s a good time to consider the scope of these ideas by looking at the syllabus guidelines for the paper again.
Now, this synthesizing step can certainly be aided by meeting with your professor. I personally find it extremely helpful to attend office hours in order to receive your professor’s feedback and guidance. Professors will likely have a better idea about the scope of your general research topic, such as who the prominent scholars may be or what the prevailing opinion on a question is, and they can help you workshop and expand your options. Thinking out loud may also illuminate new ideas for you. And not to mention, building rapport with and showing the way you think to your professor is never a bad idea. I have also found it helpful to have group topic-sharing time during class. Maybe you’ll be inspired by someone else’s potential research questions or be able to add on to other’s.
Ultimately, crafting a research question that you’re genuinely excited by is critical to producing an end product that you are proud to see enhance the intellectual conversations in your field. There are many factors in the social sciences field, such as funding or grant applications, that might limit your capacity as a more seasoned researcher. But as an undergraduate, the world is at your fingertips.