Basic Template of the Final Project Paper
Title of Paper (make it meaningful)
Names of All Group Members (Alphabetically by last name)
Intro Paragraph
- Hook introduces topic (why should people care about your research question?)
- Clearly states research question
- Outline of topics/concepts/themes that will be covered
- Brief outline of methods that can be found in the papers you review
Part 1: Body Paragraphs: Reviewing Content
- Each starts with a topic sentence that gives an accurate summary of what will be discussed within the paragraph – no citations in topic sentences
- Organized thematically (based on whatever concept groupings you think make sense for your research question)
- Transitions within and between paragraphs mean ideas flow smoothly into each other
- Include APA style in-text citations
Part 2: Body Paragraphs: Reviewing Methods
- Each starts with a topic sentence that gives an accurate summary of what will be discussed within the paragraph – no citations in topic sentences
- Discusses a method that has been used to address your research question (should discuss 3 different “groupings” of methods (or paper types) that you found
- Explains why the methods you found are well-suited to addressing this question
- Transitions within and between paragraphs explain different methodological approaches
- Include APA style in-text citations
NOTE: You can have a sharp distinction between Part 1 and Part 2 of the paper, or you can blend them together. Either approach can work equally well.
Conclusion:
- Reviews the “state of the art” with regards to this research question – what is known and what is unknown.
- Reviews flaws, issues, or biases present in existing literature
- Points out gaps in the literature and avenues for future work
- At least 1800 words in final paper
- At least 16 peer-reviewed sources cited in the final paper
- At least 22 sources in the annotated bibliography
- Be focused around a well-articulated research question (it should be obvious why the papers that are included belong there)
- Synthesize existing work (the paper should be organized by concept, method or theme – it should not simply summarize a series of papers one-by-one)
- Be critical (point out flaws, debates, conflicting results, potential confounds or biases, etc.)
- Highlight gaps in the literature, remaining questions, and avenues for future work
- Include papers that utilize at least three of the methods we discuss in class (i.e. experiments, surveys, interviews, case studies, focus groups, diary studies, ethnographies, human measurements or automated data collection). (Note: these methods can come from different papers!)