The process of researching, or the act of finding information in general, is important for students who are doing school work. However, many students don’t know how to properly research a topic. This article will teach you how to research as a high school student!
How to research as a high school student
1. Understand what you are being asked to do.
Before you begin any research, go over the research topic to ensure that you understand what is required of you. This will allow you to do your research with total assurance on what you are researching on, which is one approach to get it correctly.
If you are given the opportunity to choose your research subject, choose one that is of interest to you and where you will have full access to the resources required to complete the research. Choosing a subject is crucial throughout the whole research process since it impacts the effectiveness of the research.
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2. Start by reading other researched work
There is a necessity to review previous research papers to get ideas on how to proceed with your research. To begin your research, read textbooks, theses, and journal articles. This will keep you up to date on all of the information you’ll need to start your research, which is an important aspect of the process.
When reading other researched papers, figure out what piqued your attention so that you may make your own more appealing and flawless.
3. Perform preliminary research and develop a thesis statement.
After you have successfully decided on a research subject, write down any debates that are pertinent to the research topic and select a case on which to base your research. If possible, reference additional sources and construct some research questions such as “What, Who, Where, Why, and How.”
Topics that are very broad should be avoided. Depending on the results of your preliminary investigation, write out a thesis statement that explains what your research paper will be about.
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4. Gather information to back up your claims and build a research paper outline.
After that, the following step of producing an academic research paper is to locate the precise information you want to include in the research. Make a list of all the major themes and subtopics that need your attention based on this knowledge.
When generating your supporting evidence, be sure to take into account all of the information you acquired and decide on the best way to separate and arrange your data.
5. What should you include in your research?
High school research, like other types of research, is often divided into three sections: introduction (which covers background, literature review, analysis and implications), body, and conclusion. The opening section allows you to discuss the main goal of your research effort and what people will discover as they read through your research.
The background discusses how you arrived at this topic or the significance of the topic you chose to research. If possible, a history of the topic should be noted here. In contrast, the literature review discusses the materials you have read, the experience you have gathered, and finally, how the books you have consulted lay out a case for what you are trying to explain to the reader.
After writing a strong beginning to your research paper, the body of the study is where the explanations are found; here, your viewpoint on the issue is required, which will assist in eliminating individual perspectives and language. While the work’s conclusion, which is the last component of your research, should contain a solid overview of everything that has been discussed in the introduction and body.
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6. References section
This follows directly after the conclusion section; choose a style and adhere to the style that you are using. Include data or tables that you may have mentioned but did not explicitly reference after making your reference, if any.
7. Create the first page and properly reference your sources.
Citing your sources improves the accuracy of your work, particularly the acquired data, and it helps bridge the gap between your research article and the larger scientific community.
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8. Proofread and edit
After you have successfully completed your research paper, the next step is to look over it to ensure that there are no errors. Format the words that need formatting, read and re-read the complete research paper, or if feasible, revise and rectify every inaccuracy after writing a paragraph so that the document transition stays thorough throughout.
To summarize
There are different ways to research as high school student, but the ones described above will get you a solid outcome.