Ireland Conflict :: essays research papers fc

Conservation of the Amazon Rain Forests The rainforests are essential for life on earth, and destroying them could result in an ecological imbalance and the loss of many valuable resources; therefore measures must be established to protect the world’s rainforests. The rainforests are a major factor in the stability of the environment, especially in the greenhouse effect and the help to fight pollution. The Amazon Rain forest is the largest tropical rain forest of the world. It covers about 2 million square miles and about two-thirds of the forest is in Brazil. The rain forest lies in parts of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Columbia, and Venezuela. The rainforest receives about 50 to 175 inches and the average temperature is about 80 degrees. The Amazon rain forest contains a huge variety of plants and animals than any other place in the world. A statistic shows that a two and half acre area contains about 280 or more species of animals and trees. The growth of resources has made the rain forest decrease in size over the years. Only six percent of the rain forests are being protected today. Human activities are out of control and the forests are depleting rapidly. The rain forests are the homes to a variety of animals. These animals such as monkeys, gorillas, and leopards are a big source of food, which the native villagers heavily depend on. Many villagers depend on certain animals for me dicine. The two major factors that are destroying the rain forests are logging and poaching, logging being the greater of the two. â€Å"The further aspects of man’s impact on the vegetation of the rain forests must be mentioned: (1)the commercial exploitation of trees for lumber, (2)the continued exploitation of wood for fuel, including charcoal, and (3)the introduction of exotic trees for production of raw materials.†(Bennett 230) Logging itself, does not have to be so destructive. The multiple clearances of land are what is so destructive. The forest has the ability to replenish itself if given the proper time to. The problem is that as soon as the new trees reach a suitable size they are cut again. Some areas of the rain forest have been cleared three times in thirty years. Logging has grown extensively, and there is a spread of it into the last intact forests. One of these is the Amazon River Basin. The Basin is being logged from every side.

The Differences Between the UK and US Constitutions Essay -- Politics

The Differences Between the UK and US Constitutions The question invites an analysis of how the differences between the UK and the US constitutions establish the political systems in both countries, and further whether there is distinction between the political systems. Initially I will define what a constitution and a political system are. Subsequently in the main body of the text I shall analyse the differences between the constitutions, and how they influence each separate political system. Loosely defined, a constitution creates institutions and should state any definite power, indicates the relationship between different state institutions, and how the constitution can be amended. In my essay I shall illustrate the differing state institutions in America and Britain, who has the power according to the constitution, and accordingly which state institutions wield the power and authority, and additionally if the difference in ease of changing the constitution is responsible for a difference in political system. In my conclusion I shall assess whether my investigation is corresponding to the statement. Friedrich (1937) believed a constitution should be 'a system of effective regularised restraints on government action, therefore should be a statement of individual rights.'[1] This leads to the question, should a constitution include a Bill of Rights like the American constitution's amendments? In America there are freedoms in religion, speech and the press for example, yet Britain has no enforceable Bill of Rights in its constitution. There are essential rights and freedoms in the European Human Rights Act but this is at the h... ...rnment and Politics: An Introduction (Hampshire: Palgrave, 2001), p. 186. [2]James Q. Wilson, American Government (Boston: Houghton, 2000), 54. [3]Simon Hix, "Britain, the EU and the Euro," in Patrick Dunleavy, Andrew Gamble, Ian Holliday and Gillian Peele, eds., Developments in British Politics, (Hampshire: Macmillan Press Ltd, 2000), p.54. [4]Wilson, American, 32. [5]Vernon Bogdanor, "Britain: The political constitution," Vernon Bogdanor, ed., Constitutions in Democratic Politics (Aldershot: Gower, 1988), 56. [6]Hailsham cited in Bogdanor, "Britain," 66. [7]Richard Hodder-Williams cited in Joseph Hogan, "The no-win Presidency and contemporary presidential-congressional relationships," in Robert Williams ed., Explaining American Politics: issues and interpretations (London: Routledge, 1990), p. 48.

Cellular Reproduction :: science

Cellular Reproduction Cellular Reproduction is the process by which all living things produce new organisms similar or identical to themselves. This has to happen because if a species were not able to reproduce, that species would quickly become extinct. Reproduction consists of a basic pattern: the conversion by a parent organism of raw materials into offspring or cells that will later develop into offspring. The reproductive process, whether asexual or sexual always involves an exchange in hereditary material from the parents so that the new organism may also be able to reproduce. Reproductive processes can be categorized into either asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction. Asexual reproduction is any form of reproduction that does not require the union of male and female reproductive material (sperm or egg). Most single celled organisms reproduce by the asexual process known as fission, which is commonly called mitosis. Fission is The splitting of a nucleus into two roughly equal parts accompanied by the release of a pretty large amount of energy. Interphase, the first phase of the cell cycle and also the phase before mitosis, starts as soon as the cell is born. Interphase is broken up into three phases, G1, S, and G2. During the G1 phase, the cell increases in mass except for the chromosomes, which stay the same. Protein synthesis is also occurring during this phase. If a cell doesn't divide further, it remains in the G1 phase. Next is the S phase, in which the mass of the cell continues to increase, and DNA is duplicated, and then the chromosomes divide. During the G2 phase of Interphase, the cell becomes double its mass at birth, the chromosomes beg in to shorten and coil, and the centrioles appear, the cell is now ready to enter into mitosis. In the first phase of mitosis, prophase, the chromosomes become visible and the centrioles split in half and then move to opposite sides of the cell. At this point chromosomes have formed into two chromatids separated by a structure called a centromere. Spindle fibers are barely visible. During metaphase, the second phase of mitosis, the two chromatids line up along the equator of the cell. Each chromatid has its own spindle fiber. Next comes the third phase of mitosis, Anaphase, in which the centromeres break in half, causing each of the two chromatids to start to be pulled to different sides of the cell.

Academic and Career Goals Essay

Academic and Career Goals Sometimes it seems like life is inhibiting me from achieving my goals. I define my objectives as I see them. I associate them with my values. Knowing that the task at hand is essential to realizing my dreams, but I am unable to do it. I have thought about other ways to get around the problem, I keep getting back to the talent I’m missing. Accomplishing a new ability might feel like a huge undertaking. It’s been my experience that if a talent is necessary in getting closer to achieving my dreams, education is not a bad thing after all. I begin on an excursion to take the first of many steps gaining enlightenment while pursuing my academic and career goals. Furthermore, education is the most important aspect in people’s lives. It is becoming even more important than it has been in the past. In today’s society, education is essential in order to be successful economically and socially. The benefits of education are boundless. I believe the stages from elementary to high school; students are getting an inadequate amount of education. Furthermore, education is a mandatory process. Individuals who continue their education in colleges and universities will become more experienced meanwhile increasing their chances of getting a well-paid job. In essence the desire to return back to school has been a dream for a long time. I have had to start a little later in life but I have finally found my passion in graphic design. Since becoming a young adult, I have had to work multiple jobs and mentally trapped in a state of barely surviving; I needed to have an encouraging transformation that would allow me to achieve a better financial steadiness. My reasons for returning back to school are much more than becoming a graphic designer; having the instability of a lower income was extremely pertinent for my self-worth. I ACADEMIC 3 have been particularly apprehensive for such a long time that making life altering decisions will optimistically create an end result for me and my family. During this day and age, numerous individuals are going back to the school to further their education; due to many families having challenging times in making their ends meet. The employers are seeking individuals who possess college degrees; which inspires people to further  their education. Having a college degree often leads individuals into a secure and a well-paying job in order to adequately support their family. In today’s society and principles, individuals with a college degree are viewed to be more devoted, well-informed, teachable, and respected to potential businesses. Additionally, when I was younger and inexperienced, my day dreams were of going college and gaining the experience that would lead me to a successful career. Unnecessary time had passed; and unfortunately, I had to work instead of continuing on with school. Many of my older friends talked about their experiences, and my high school friends were also excited about the idea of joining the working class. After being employed with several jobs, I felt as if my life was not reaching full potential. My self-esteem became low and I felt distraught. Furthermore, I needed to motivate myself and decided to pursue my college degree. There is a point in everyone’s life where they will have to become financially independent. Unfortunately, for some people this process can be difficult. Planning my life has been a roller coaster and extremely difficult. I have been dependent on others most of my life, and realized I had to take consequences for my actions. For all intents and purposes I look to the future to attain a college degree, to better myself and accomplish my Academic and Career Goals. ACADEMIC 4 References Ashford University. (n. d. ). Ashford writing center. Retrieved from https://content. ashford. edu/ Sole, K. (2010). Essentials for College Writing. San Diego, Bridgepoint Education, Inc. https://content. ashford. edu.

Cell Phones Advantages&Disadvantages Essay

1.0 Introduction When I have been on different school placements during my time at the College there has always been one thing I have paid more attention to and noticed in every school. This situation is a very common thing among students in Malaysia and also occurs among people who normally use more than one language. This phenomenon is called code-switching and usually happened in bilingual societies. What is code-switching? It is when a person mixes two languages in a single sentence or a conversation. This issue was ordinary to take place in Malaysian students which is learning more than one language. Our country students usually learned more than three language likes national language, mother language and etc. Our ministry of education set English as a second language in Malaysia, so Malaysian English Language Instructors and ESL (English as second Language) requires learners tend to use more than one code of language in the context of formal classroom. Now, we wants to discuss the factors that cause ESL learners to code switch and how to overcome it. 2.0 Main Body 2.1 Feel More Comfortable, Environment, Lack of Confidence The first factors it cause students cannot switching code immediately because they not usual to use English and also feel custom and more comfortable to use their own language. They prefer to use their own language because it is more smoothed and easy communicate with their friend. Besides that, they also did not have a good environment or social to speak English. Take one example, we was grow in a family which does not often speak English and we just only use our mother language to communicate with our family’s in home, that is a big problem for us to learn and speak English properly. The problem will cause the students lack of confidence to speak English because they do not have basic for speak to other people. Last but not least, they also will feel shy to use English because they are afraid of speaking mistakes. 2.2 Lack of Motivation, Lack of Interest, Lack of Enforcement Furthermore, they also lack of motivation because they do not get any courage from their friend or family. When students do not have enough vocabulary word they  cannot speak any perfects English. If they cannot speak English properly, they will give their friend laugh and it will causes they do not have more interest in English. Besides that, they will also give up to learn English and also will drop out of study. Motivation may be expect to improve when class take into account students likes in teaching style and lesson material. Additionally, parents did not enforce their children to speak and learn English in home. Parents also lack of accompany with their children to teach them important of English or another language in the whole world even tourism and doing business. 2.3 Watch more English videos, more interaction, talk with others race After the factors let us talk about solutions to overcome the problem students who are face it. Lecturers can takes some video from youtube or google to share with students but ensure the video can help students to improve their English. They can also listen music English or see an English movie to increase their listen and speaking skill. We must let students have more interaction and practice among them when during lesson. Lecturers should break them into different group with different language or country to get more chance to be in touch with English in class. 2.4 Join the activity can improve English, Attended to tuition, Penalty The parents need to speak with them in English and without home language at home to improve their basic in speaking. Parents also can send them to counselling or campaign for training them to use English in social life. Students must me hardworking and go to a place which availability of additional resources or knowledge to increase their vocabulary. To give those students cannot handle the basics English parents should force them to attend tuition class. When students in the school or college, lecturers must be ensure students are in the English speaking zone to communicate with their friend without other language. Last but not least, if those students who are not follow the rules must give a heavy penalty to let them remember and would not do a same mistake against. 3.0 Recommendation and Conclusion The use of mother language is not conclusively a threat to English as a language or a subject at school. In school or college lecturers should be concern about students have the ability to differentiate the two language and separate them in formal and non-formal communications in class.  Therefore, poor performance in English cannot blame on home language, but a person’s background. In my view educators should take the responsibility and teach suitable things to enable the primary level students learn in English. Its can make them understanding in a better command of English. 4.0 REFERENCES 1) Jtonec. (2012). A Description of How the Teacher of Language and Literature May Use Drama in Education to Overcome Low Linguistic Competency and Low Self Confidence. Available: http://www.studymode.com/essays/a-Description-Of-How-The-Teacher-1221891.html. Last accessed 12 May 2014. 2) Timmytimmkins.(2010). Effective ESL Elements. Available: http://www.studymode.com/essays/Effective-Esl-Elements-406002.html. Last accessed 10 May 2014. Question 2 1.0 Introduction In this global computer science and technology, who does not have a cell phone these days? Even a child in primary school some of their parents also will give them a phone to them for easily to stay contact with parents. However in this era of technology, a cell phone most amazing things is that they are no longer just used for calling or texting. Actually, a cell phone is not just only a tool for communicate with family and it is also a tool for multimedia such as smartphones. The smartphones can use in multimedia likes games, pictures, songs and it will bring out many advantages and disadvantages for us so with this mind. Hence, should students be permitted to use cell phones in school has become a hot topic of discussion among individual. Thus, let us discuss and debate about this topic. 2.0 Main Body 2.1 Access Information, Useful Application Firstly, it goes without saying that the advantages of cell phones is it can help students to overcome some of their academic problems. This is due to the reason that cell phones allow them to download some useful software such as dictionary. When they cannot understand what their lectures teaching about due to the vocabulary, they can find the meaning of the vocabulary and try to translate it to their own language by using the dictionary software  so that they will manage to understand what their lectures teaching about. In addition, they can also access ‘google’ to find the materials which they need. This is because internets have a pool of information to provide the information that they acquire. On the other hand, the student parents can also check their children whereabouts by using a phone. Besides that, the smartphone also has a lot of function such as calendar, calculator, maps finder and many technology software. I can take an example that I will use software to supervise my homework and revision to ensure that I will not waste the precious time. 2.2 Replace Pen and Paper, Use To Memory, E-learning Apart from that, using cell phones to do home works or assignments can replace the pen and reduce the paper so that this will help to reduce deforestation as well as keep away from greenhouse effect. The cell phones can also become a â€Å"memory card†, when the student insufficient time to write down all the points that the lecturers given or he or she absents the lessons, they can just take a picture and do revision at home. Furthermore, they still can take out these pictures to revise before the examination. In this way it is killing two birds with one stone a stone. Additionally, they can use for E-learning in internet by using a cell phone with their friends and lectures to discuss homework or which are they do not understand in the lesson. 2.3 Distraction Class, Cheating, Bullying Every coin has two sides, cell phone also bring some disadvantages to us. Let us discuss the disadvantages of a cell phone right now. The cell phones also bring out many troubles to students like distract the lecturer and all their friends. The meaning distract is stand for while lecturer teaching in the class the students who play games and the worst is cell phones ringing will disturb the whole class force to stop the class. After that, the students will also laugh at which classmates those who are not using the latest phone. They cannot understand their parents work hard also unable to buy a latest phone to them because new phones price is too expensive and even run up to two thousand. 2.4 Annoying Lecturers, Health Hazard, Safety of Students When lecturers is teaching in the class, the students which is mischievous will take the lecturer funny picture and upload to the social network to annoying their lecturer. These types of students do not have manners because they did not give any respect to their lecturer. England scientist investigate point out if each people using cell phones in one day more than 2 hours, they will get health hazard like shortsighted, radiation, skin cancer. So, if students bring cell phones to school they will get more times to be in touch with the disease above. Beside, students can keep play their phones and did not pay attention when they go downstairs or cross the road. It is very dangerous actions and do not behave their self and their family. 3.0 Recommendation and Conclusion In the last, students bring cell phones to school have both of advantages and disadvantages but they should know how to use the cell phones in the place is correct. We can come to a conclusion that although mobile phones have their weak points, they are very useful when they are necessary. Students are the decision makers. Therefore, we can choose which are good and bad. According to my opinion cell phones are very useful things if we use them in a proper way in the school it may help students solve many problems. 4.0 REFERENCES 1) RaulBarrera. (2012). Disadvantages of Cell Phones in School. Available: http://www.studymode.com/essays/Disadvantages-Of-Cell-Phones-In-School-1074638.html. Last accessed 6 May 2014. 2) HayItsGio. (2012). Cell Phones in School. Available: http://www.studymode.com/essays/Cell-Phones-In-School-1317488.html. Last accessed 4 May 2014.

Forecasting the manpower needs of Ya Kun Essay

Question-1: How would you forecast the manpower needs of Ya Kun? There are few ways by which we can forecast the manpower needs of Ya Kun Kaya. They are: * Trend analysis * Ratio analysis * Scatter plot and * Computerized system Based on trend analysis, we can find new recruit by studying the variation of their past employment levels which means that they can provide an initial estimate of future staffing needs, but employment levels rarely depend just on the passage of time. They looked their past performance of sales, productivity and so on to estimate their employee also because if their performance goes beyond their expectation like Ya kun that have many outlets throughout the world, they may required more employee either full time or part-time. Other forecasting method that we can use to forecast their manpower is ratio analysis. In this method, the forecasting would be based on the historical ratio between some causal factor (like sales volume) and the number of employee required such salespeople. In this case, Ya Kun need more employee because they need more salespeople to run the business in each of their outlets. The sales volume for Ya Kun also one of the factor that Ya Kun need to recruit employee. Compared to trend analysis, ratio analysis assumes that productivity remains about the same. Another method we can use is scatter plot to forecast their manpower. In this method, the personnel may use two related variables to indicate the relation between the two such as sales volume and number of employee. If these two factors are related, then the points will tend to fall along straight line then the personnel can forecast the need of new recruitment. Computerized forecasting also is one way that can be used to forecast their need of manpower. With programs like these, employers can more accurately estimate how many employee that they need to projected productivity and sales. Question-2: What are the advantages and disadvantages of Ya Kun’s hiring part-time workers? Advantages of hiring part-time workers include: * Flexibility in scheduling as they help to fill in the gaps when the full-time workers go on leave or are taken ill. * Part-timers will complement the full-time workers. * Allows Ya Kun to tap into a larger available pool of job applicants as many more people may be willing and able to work part-time as opposed to full-time. * They may be deployed strategically during peak hours. Disadvantages include: * They may be less committed to the company. * It may be more difficult to integrate them as they only work occasionally. * Having too many part-time workers may affect teamwork. Question-3: A good attitude and commitment are two important attributes that Ya Kun looks for in its job applicants. Is a job interview an effective method to assess these two attributes? What else can Ya Kun do to get reliable information on these two attributes? A job interview may not be the most effective method to assess these two attributes as they are not directly observable during the interview process. In order to obtain reliable information on these two attributes, managers of Ya Kun may: * Ask the job applicants for referrals in the application pack, and contact the referrals to obtain information regarding these two attributes. * Use critical incidence interviews to test if the job applicants have past examples of these attributes. * Provide job applicants with a realistic job preview by telling them about all the challenges and worst case scenarios that their staff faces. This allows the applicants to have a better idea of the job and make a better-informed choice of whether to take up the job or not. * Use role-playing exercises where the applicants play the role of the staff, and the managers the customers, so that the managers may observe how the applicants may potentially react when they are actually working for Ya Kun. Question-4: What suggestions would you make to Ya Kun to improve its recruiting processes? Ya Kun’s low turnover rate and large pool of hardworking committed workers indicates that its recruitment processes are working well. However, to improve their recruiting process, Ya Kun’s managers may choose to: * Use more internal referrals as employees know what kinds of applicants will fit well with the prevalent company culture. * Hire a larger ratio of part-timers to full-timers as this allows them greater flexibility in scheduling. * Convert part-timers to full-timers if they perform well and if they are open to the switch. * Maintain contact with those employees who have left the company so that they can be informed of any new positions in the company. Q1. Ya Kun can forecast the manpower needs by using ratio analysis to conduct a quantitative analysis of information in a company’s financial statements. Ratios are calculated from current year numbers and are then compared to previous years, other companies, the industry, or even the economy to judge the performance of the company. Based on the analysis, Ya Kun could increase their salesperson to run the business in their outlet. Ya Kun can even use trend analysis as an aspect of technical analysis that tries to predict the future movement of a stock based on past data. Trend analysis is based on the idea that what has happened in the past gives traders an idea of what will happen in the future. Based on trend analysis, Ya Kun can find new recruit by using their past experienced by estimating the number of staffs needed in future. The organization could either recruit full- timers or part timers. YaKun also can use computerized system to predict the manpower needs for their organization. The employer could estimate the number of staffs needed to increase their sales. Q3. A job interview is not really an effective way to assess these attributes. It is because a job interview is only a process in which a potential employee  is evaluated by an employer. During this process, the employer hopes to determine whether or not the applicant is suitable for the job by looking at their experience and academy level. If Ya Kun is looking for an employee with a good attitude and commitment they could use behavioral interview questions. Through this way the employer could ask questions related on what they did in past jobs or life situations that are relevant to the particular job and skills. The answers given by the applicant can be used to predict their future performance in similar situations. Ya Kun could also use situational interview questions. During the question and answer session the applicant will be ask to imagine a situation and respond base on it. Based on the answers given, the employer could predict the commitment level of the applicant. Ya Kun could use the two weeks training period to study more about the applicant because it is difficult to judge the attitude and commitment level during theinterview. Usually commitment level and attitude will be only revealed after acertain period of time.

How To Write A Research Paper Essay

This guide covers research papers, and provides advice on forming a title for your research paper, how to plan your paper before you start, and filtering material for your research paper. What is a research paper? The terms ‘research paper’ and ‘term paper’ are frequently used interchangeably. However, the terms do not mean the same thing. ‘Term paper’ was used in the past exclusively to refer to the project (indeed research based) that was due at the end of a term, semester or quarter whereas ‘research paper’ had a more specific meaning, i.e. a paper written as a summary of research. Hence ‘research papers’ may be written at any level (before, during and after attending university), they may be published works in a professional journal and they may represent the results of practical research, which would not ordinarily be conducted for a term paper. This is the context in which we will discuss the term ‘research paper’ herein. A research paper is an academic written assignment that is the product of a research project. This may span days, months, weeks or even years. Typically, research papers will involve the examination of a particular issue, and discuss: * The background or history of that issue * Any outstanding questions relating to the issue (the research paper will commonly focus on one particular question and seek to establish evidence to answer this) * The current data and statistics relating to the issue * The problems relating to the issue as revealed by the data * The problems relating to the issue as revealed by practical primary research (i.e. carrying out interviews, tests etc) or secondary research (i.e. looking at other people’s research) * Proposed solutions to the problems, and the strengths and weaknesses of these * Conclusions drawn from the data, research and evidence, as examined * Recommendations in relation to these conclusions. We will look at each of these elements in turn, in order to understand how a student or professional can write a good research paper. Forming a title for your research paper Unlike most types of assignment, the research paper title is usually decided upon AFTER you have completed the paper. This is so that the title accurately reflects the contents of the paper. However, your research paper will need a working title. This helps you to focus and helps others to understand what you are doing – for example, your lecturer/instructor or, if working at a higher level, those funding your project. You should therefore return to this section when you have completed your paper. You then need to pick a concise, accurate title for your research paper that will make readers want to look at your content, help others find your paper in databases, and explain exactly what is covered by the paper with a high degree of accuracy. A research paper will commonly have a title of 15-20 words in length. Every word must be necessary for the title – and so for example, ‘Project on†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ ‘Paper on†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ ‘Research on†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ should be removed as these types of phrases are not necessary. Example concise research paper titles: * Unemployment by Constituency * Transport in New York Research Paper Subtitle Unlike a research paper or essay, it is very common to give your research paper a subtitle. This explains your title more fully, puts it in context and qualifies the extent, or scope, of the research. Example subtitles (relating to the above example titles): * 2007-2008 trends using constituency maps * Transport governance and provision since X was elected in 1999 Researching/gathering information for your research paper As your research paper needs to show a good depth of reading, good research skills are paramount! But before you start, a key thing to bear in mind is that you MUST reference all material that you use in your paper. So the first thing to do is find out what referencing style is required (either by your university or, if you are writing a research paper for a journal, by that journal) and start to record the location of your sources using that referencing style. If you do this as you perform the research, you’ll save yourself hours of time later on. Here are some research tips to get you started: RESEARCH STEP 1 * Form a list of keywords from your research paper’s working title * Use a thesaurus to find words that mean the same thing as your list of keywords RESEARCH STEP 2 Most students will begin researching using the Internet and indeed, this is a great way to get ideas for your research paper. So start with Google, type in your keywords and bookmark the most relevant information sites that appear in relation to the issue. Then identify all current matters that relate to your issue from those sites. Note: Internet websites provide a fast source of up-to-date information but unfortunately they are not a reliable source. Use a search of the web as a starting point but unless the website is hosted and edited by a ‘reliable’ organization (such as the Government), don’t rely on its contents as a source for your research paper. Find another means of verifying the information. RESEARCH STEP 3 Now you’ve identified a list of issues and current debates for your research paper, you need to find some quality source material. The first stage is to find the most recent books written about the issue you’re researching. Whilst books are not as up-to-date as journals and articles, they will contain valid points-of-view that need to be considered. So where do you find books for your research paper? * Google Books – this is a good place to start as it has several thousand books that have been scanned in, together with details and snippet views of those which haven’t been scanned in. * Amazon.com – Amazon is a good source because you can see which books are being released, and their release date, as well as using ‘search inside’ to look through the contents of many books (this latter service only works if you have placed an order before) * Questia – Questia has thousands of books scanned in although you have to pay a small subscription fee. Your university may also provide you with access to a library and you can then search through their databases to find the most relevant and recent books for your research paper. The best way to scan whether a book is relevant to what you’re writing about is to look through the index. You’ll quickly see if there’s anything useful in the book for your research paper. RESEARCH STEP 4 Now you have the latest books for your research paper, you need to start looking for journals. These really should be your main type of source material. Open University Web Resources is an excellent list of such journal databases, although you’ll need an ATHENS password to use some of them. Our favorite journal databases for consistently excellent and up-to-date content are: * ScienceDirect – 2,000 peer-reviewed journals, books, handbooks etc * EBSCO- thousands of journals, millions of articles * Emerald- thousands of journals in management and library and information services, engineering, applied science and technology * Ingenta – 4,500+ journals in all fields and a further 20,000 abstracts The latter source, Ingenta, gives you FREE access to the bibliography which is useful for your research paper even if you don’t have an athens login. Locate articles relating to your subject and check out the bibliography for further reading which you might be able to locate online without passwords. You can sometimes obtain a free trial of these databases giving you temporary access. Also, the four websites also have a good number of journals that you do not need a subscription to view. These are often indicated by a special icon. For example (from Ingenta): RESEARCH STEP 5 There is one final type of source material you need to consider, and that is the news. If you’re lucky enough to have an athens password, your first stop will be Lexis Professional (formerly known as LexisNexis Executive) which contains the full text of newspapers and other news sources worldwide; as well as company data, annual reports and business directory information from Disclosure, Extel, ICC, and Worldscope. If you don’t have an athens password, any good news site will suffice – US News, CNN etc. Of course, if you are researching an issue which affects another country, you should be looking at that country’s main news website. What you are looking for is any current developments that may affect the research for your paper. This may be statistics released by the Government, consultation papers, proposed changes in legislation, current developments or debates etc. Don’t forget, newspapers are NOT a reliable source of information. You are using them to find information for your research paper but you should substantiate this information once you have found it. If it is reported that the Government has released some statistics, go and find those on the Government website. If a consultation paper has been released, go and find the paper and read it. Filtering the material for your research paper The five step research process reveals a lot of information for your research paper and you’ll need to filter it down, or you’ll have too much to analyses. This does, however, beg the question – how many sources should you use? The answer to this depends on the level of your research paper. If it is an assignment for your degree, you should look at using roughly 9 quality sources per 2,500 words. If it is for some post-graduate course, you can easily double that. A professional research paper (for publication) might use 30-40 sources per 2,500 words. The emphasis in all cases, however, should be on quality and not on quantity. A good selection of research material from a variety of quality sources (i.e. not just books, not just journals, not just the internet and not just the news) is far better than a huge selection of research material from poor quality, unreliable sources of a similar type. To help filter the information you have found for your research paper, you are going to need to evaluate its quality. This involves a consideration of whether: * The source is a quality source -it’s reliable, dependable and highly likely to be accurate. * The source is unbiased – watch newspapers which may have political views. Ask yourself if the writer has presented a balance argument, or has deliberately played down one side of the argument to prove his own personal views. * The source is relevant to your research – does it specifically tie in with your working title? * You haven’t already got enough material to prove what this source proves – if you aim to back up each of your arguments in your research paper with 2-3 pieces of evidence (for a very high quality paper) or at least 2 for a student paper, then you can filter out any material that is excessive of this. Creating an outline for your research paper A basic outline will look something like this: * Working title (as discussed previously) * Purpose – this is a short statement to say what the paper is for. It helps people who are looking for research papers themselves to assess the relevancy of your research paper to their studies. Example purpose statement: This paper shows the number of people claiming benefits recorded as resident in each constituency in the United States in July 2008, together with comparisons with the levels in July 2007 and July 1997. This paper also presents residence-based unemployment rates for all constituencies in the United States. * Methodology – this is a statement of how you will carry out your research. You have already done some ‘secondary research’ but you may also wish to carry out ‘primary research’ for your paper. Primary research (sometimes called ’empirical research’) is research you carry out yourself and data that is produced as a result of this, which has never been published before. Primary research may be carried out through face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, postal surveys, website surveys or focus/discussion groups. Be careful before carrying out research over the phone or through the post though – some states allow people to restrict how they are contacted. Secondary research is the study of data that exists already such as books, journals, statistics, other research papers, websites, news reports, magazine articles etc. You have already carried out secondary research through the five step research process. So which research method is best for your research paper? Instinctively you may think that the primary data will provide the most interesting results. However, if your time and budget are both limited, do not be tempted to embark on a study. You will do far better analyzing existing studies than producing a low-quality study that is limited in its value due to the amount of time and finance you can devote to it. * Scope of research – all research is going to be limited to certain factors. A paper on ‘crime’ cannot investigate all types of crime, committed by all sexes, all ages, globally. So how are you going to limit your paper? What areas of the issue will you look at and which will you discard? Your statement of scope will be about 150-300 words long and explain exactly what you are going to cover in your research, and what you are going to leave out (usually with brief reasons). If you are carrying out primary research, you may want to set out the limitations of this here too. * Introduction – this is where you set the scene for your reader. You explain what you are researching and why. You identify the issues you will be looking into and you say what you are going to prove. It is therefore a good idea to write this last, along with your final title! * Background/history – this section of your research paper isn’t essential but might be appropriate. You might want to explain the development of the issue and how particular matters have arisen. Don’t bother unless it is necessary, to put the matter in context. * Body – this section of your research paper will be broken up into sub-sections, each dealing with a particular sub-matter. Aim to present balanced evidence in each section on the points you wish to raise, and try not to reach any conclusions at this stage. The ‘body’ is the body of your research, not the analysis. * Findings/Discussion – here’s where you analyze the research you have conducted and say how your findings are relevant to the issue. It’s a very important section, without which you will have merely stated other people’s findings and opinions without contributing anything yourself. * Conclusion – this section of your research paper returns to the introduction and stated aims, and spells out very clearly how you achieved them, referring to the points you have proved and the evidence you have used to prove it. It should not be repetitive but instead, it should summarize the results of your research. You should also ensure no new material is introduced at this stage – if you have new material for your research paper, put it in the body and findings sections. * Recommendations – this section of your research paper is very much optional and will depend on whether such a section would be appropriate for the subject you are studying. Law research papers almost always will include recommendations. What sort of recommendations should you make? These might include: * How policies/the law/practice should be changed, based on your findings * What further research must be carried out before making any sensible recommendations. Your recommendations must actually relate to what you have established in your research paper. You cannot randomly introduce things at this stage that you think might be useful. They must be logical recommendations, based on your research and analysis, and they should follow on from the conclusion. Now you have written out an outline for your research paper, you will literally be able to ‘fill in the blanks’ and your paper should evolve and progress naturally, following the headings you have chosen. Keep referring back to your working title as you write, as well as to your methodology and scope. This should limit you to material that is most relevant and ensure you don’t include excessive, unnecessary points. Finishing your research paper Now you’ve written up your research paper, you’ll need to do a little editing and proofreading to ensure the finished product achieves the grade you’re looking for. This includes: * Weeding out any unnecessary material. Evaluate what you have written and whether it is needed, keeping the methodology, scope and working title in mind * Proofreading your research paper. Read it out loud, have someone else read it for you, run a spell check, run a grammar check – go over the paper several times and make sure you haven’t made any errors. There are often extra marks for students in respect of presentation. * Checking your referencing. Every source should be properly referenced. Quotations should be in â€Å"quotation marks†. Your work should contain a full list of references and a bibliography. References are sources you actually cite in your work whereas the bibliography includes sources which you may have read, and may have influenced your writing, but you haven’t specifically cited.