Final Research Paper Preparation
Review the Final Research Paper instructions located within the Final Research Paper link in your online course or under the "Components of Course Evaluation" section of this guide.
a. Topic: Refer to the Final Research Paper guidelines for your topic selection. Confirm your topic, and identify how this selection relates to your academic and professional pursuits. Review the feedback from your topic choice presented in the Week One discussion. How did your argument stand up to the examination of your peers?
b. Thesis: Write a direct and concise thesis statement, which will become the point or perspective you will argue or prove in the Final Research Paper. Refer to the Ashford Online Writing Center for information on how to develop a solid thesis statement.
c. Annotated Bibliography: To help prepare for your final paper, you will be writing an annotated bibliography to indicate the quality of the sources you have read. Please make sure to cite each source using APA style. After each citation, write a brief paragraph (around 150 words) summarizing the source and examining how it will support you in defending your argument.
Academic research and papers should meet certain standards of quality recognized by the academic community. What constitutes quality, academic research?
a. Primary sources, which are documents from the time period being discussed
b. Secondary sources supported by research in primary sources
c. Credible sources (experts in the area of study)
d. Relevant research (materials are pertinent to the area of study)
e. In graduate work, the use of peer-reviewed journal articles (journal articles reviewed by recognized experts in the relevant field of study) is required.
f. Educational and Government websites may be appropriate in some cases, but should be evaluated carefully.
The paper should be five to seven pages in length (excluding the title pages) and formatted according to APA style. You should use at least five scholarly sources, three of which can be found in the Ashford Online Library, to support your points. Of the five sources, two will be your primary sources, and one will meet the multimedia requirement.
The paper should use the templete below
Topic: Just list your topic here
Thesis Statement: Write your thesis statement here. Remember that a thesis is ONE sentence that provides the main assertion your paper will be focused on explaining/supporting. You should NOT use first person in the thesis or any part of the paper. (so no I, me, we etc. in your writing). You should also avoid using an announcement style thesis such as "This paper will..." You will write a paragraph introduction giving a general overview of your topic and then you will end it with that one sentence thesis statement.
Annotated Bibliography: (At least five scholarly sources - at least three from the Ashford library and at least one multimedia source)
(remember this is your references in APA format, and a short summary in your own words of what the source is about and how it will help you write your paper. Your summary should be a paragraph or two explaining what is in the source. You should NOT copy/paste the abstract, but should write the summary in your own words). Make sure that all the sources are scholarly, at least two are primary sources, and at least four are journal articles from the Ashford library. (no wikipedia, infoplease, etc.) Please write each source under the appropriate heading below. I have placed one example in each. Please delete my example and replace with your own sources.
Example of a source from Ashford Library (please delete from your final version)
Tolbert, C.J. (DECEMBER 2010). Mini Symposium: Race and the 2008 Presidential
Election. Political Research Quarterly , Vol. 63, No. 4, pp. 860-862.
The article speaks to Barack Obama being the first African American president of the United States. It also speaks to his campaign strategy of hope and change. The article also makes mention of the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s from an equality perspective. It also covers the mobilization of minority voters during this time.