This section shall contain a survey of the existing literature about your topic and where your particular research fits into it.

You should summarize the question or problem to be investigated and show your reader why the question or problem merits investigation (the “so what” factor). Your writing should show that you have read relevant material recently and then integrate that information into a well-argued presentation that follows your thesis statement. Your paper should be about 15-20 pages (not including title page or other front material, charts, graphs, reference list, appendices, etc.).   Papers longer than 22 pages will have points deducted.

Here are the elements that your paper must consider:

·         Title of the Paper. The title of your paper should be brief but should adequately inform the reader of your general topic and the specific focus of your research. Keywords relating to parameters, population, and other specifics are useful.

·         Introduction and Research Questions. All papers should have an introduction that provides background information on the topic, tells the reader why the topic is important, and states the thesis.  This section should lead to the research question.

·         Thesis- What are you attempting to do and why is it significant? state it clearly. Make sure that it follows logically throughout the paper.

·         Review of Literature- This section shall contain a survey of the existing literature about your topic and where your particular research fits into it. For this section, you should have reviewed at least six academic sources and six additional sources related to your specific question and be able to identify how these sources approach your research question.  You may re-use material from the literature review assignment.

·         Evaluation Criteria- Make sure to state clearly the criteria you are using to evaluate the case.

·         Discussion- Here, you will lay out the narrative of your own argument. What has your research of the topic revealed to you? This section should be informative and written to support what will be your conclusions.

·         Conclusions- This section will present the findings of your research and support your argument and the answer to the research questions. The conclusion often returns to the issues raised in the introduction. Was your thesis/hypothesis proven or disproven? How was your initial purpose fulfilled by your research? How do your results compare to the results of the other studies you cited in your introduction? While all these questions may not be pertinent to your research, answering as many as possible will contribute to a well-designed and well-written paper.