Research papers tend to be very formulaic. In other words, they tend to follow a very similar structure no matter what subject or class you are writing them for. So, to write effective research papers, it's important to learn the structure.
In different fields, particularly if you get into a research-heavy field where you are doing studies yourself (like psychology or many sciences), you will likely find that there are different research paper expectations and structures. You will also likely run into other academic genres like literature reviews or research papers where you are the primary researcher conducting a study. However, the following structure is a common one used for many fields, so it will follow the expectations for many undergraduate and general education classes.
Since you will be writing an ethnography, which is a bit different, this structure will not be how your entire paper is organized. However, the scholarly section of your paper will still follow a similar format.
Your paper will likely be organized as follows:
Part I: Observation section (see the example papers in your ENGL 1190 Reader for what this might look like) with the interview(s) either incorporated in this section or used to transition into the scholarly section.
Part II: Scholarly section: this section of your paper will follow a similar structure to a traditional research paper, which is covered below.
Generally, research papers at the undergraduate level (and many at the graduate level) will follow the following organization:
Introductory paragraph (for the ethnography, this paragraph will also serve as a transition from your observation/interview sections to the scholarly section of your paper)
Introduces the topic and the thesis statement.
Does not introduce any specific research yet (no citations in this paragraph).
Background Information
If your paper requires background information for the reader to understand your research, this is a good spot for it (right after the introduction but before you get into your claims and research).
The background information section can be as short or as long as you need it.
You may want to include older research that leads into newer research here or even primary sources to establish there is a problem.
For example, if you want to establish the problem of textbook cost and how students feel about it, you could use news articles, blogs, social media posts or any other form of primary or popular research here to show the reader the context around the issue.
This is the only area of the research paper for this class where primary or popular research is allowed.
Any research mentioned here should be cited with an in-text citation (including primary and popular research). Additionally, anything cited also needs to be in your reference page.
Body paragraphs
These are the paragraphs where you make your claims and points that relate to your thesis, support those claims with evidence, and then discuss or analyze the evidence for the reader. See the section on paragraph organization below for more on how to write paragraphs in research writing.
Each main point (i.e. paragraph) should typically have more than one source supporting it.
You can spread out one claim over more than one body paragraph if you have a lot of research to get through, but make sure there are transitions between those paragraphs to show that you are continuing to discuss that same point.
You will generally want at least 3-5 body paragraphs for a paper this size. If you are assigned a longer research paper, you will need more points and paragraphs for your topic.
Complications or Other things to consider
After you have gone through your research and all the points you want to make, you want to address any research that doesn't support your point, doesn't quite fit, or potential gaps in the research. This shows that you have read widely (not just hunted for articles that support your point and ignored the rest) and that you understand any complications in your topic.
Conclusion paragraph
Here you will wrap up your point. Similar to the introduction, you should not be introducing new research in this paragraph.
For your ethnography, I recommend that you use this paragraph to also connect your scholarly research thesis/points back to your community to wrap up the whole paper neatly.
Reference page/Works cite/Bibliography
For APA style, you will have a reference page. But even in most other styles, you will still need a list of your referenced citations at the end of your paper.
For APA style, you will also have a title page at the beginning of your paper.
For more information on any of these parts, the Writing Center at the University of North Carolina has an excellent website on writing.
Paragraph organization (the structure within any given paragraph) in research writing is equally important. While you can read more on introductions and conclusions at the University of North Carolina's Writing Center website, we'll go into body paragraphs a bit more below.
Similar to the overall paper organization, paragraphs in academic writing follow a common formula:
Topic sentence: This is the first sentence of your paragraph that introduces what that paragraph is going to be about.
Research/evidence: The bulk of the paragraph will then get into the details of the research and continue to make claims, support those claims, and/or transition between evidence from multiple sources to support your topic sentence and your thesis.
Discussion or analysis of research: After you have presented your research and points, it's essential that you discuss this. Do not assume that the reader is automatically going to know what the research is suggesting about your point. You need to lay it out for them at the end of the paragraph. Additionally, try to stay away from stating your discussion as "this proves..." Instead, work on exploring the idea further.
There is growing evidence that excessive screen time can have negative impacts on children's mental health. A study conducted by Twenge and Campbell (2019) found that the more time adolescents spent on electronic devices, the more likely they were to report symptoms of depression and anxiety. This is concerning, given that children today spend an average of seven hours per day on screens (Rideout et al., 2019). While some screen time can be beneficial for educational purposes and social connections, excessive use can have detrimental effects on young minds. Therefore, parents and caregivers should be mindful of the amount of time children spend on screens and encourage activities that promote physical activity, face-to-face social interaction, and creative expression.
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the effects of mindfulness meditation on mental health. Research conducted by Khoury et al. (2015) found that mindfulness-based interventions, such as mindfulness meditation, have a positive impact on psychological well-being. The study reviewed 47 randomized controlled trials with a total of 3,515 participants and concluded that mindfulness meditation is associated with reduced symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress. Furthermore, the authors suggest that mindfulness meditation can lead to improvements in overall life satisfaction and emotional regulation. These findings are consistent with other studies that have also shown the potential benefits of mindfulness meditation on mental health. Therefore, it appears that incorporating mindfulness meditation into mental health treatment plans may be a promising approach for improving psychological well-being.
Note: I used ChatAI to generate these example paragraphs, so the information and citations may not be accurate (AI occasionally likes to just make up stuff), but the examples still illustrate the format and style of the paragraph.
The following handout from the Odegaard Writing & Research Center at the University of Washington has a helpful breakdown of body paragraphs and some examples.