Outline of a Research Paper

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I - Introduction
Introductory paragraphs
Statement of the problem
Purpose
Significance of the study
Research questions and/or hypotheses
CHAPTER II - Background
Literature review
Definition of terms
CHAPTER III - Methodology
Restate purpose and research questions or null hypotheses
Population and sampling
Instrumentation
Procedure and time frame
Analysis plan
Validity and reliability
Assumptions
Scope and limitations
CHAPTER IV - Results
CHAPTER V - Conclusions and recommendations
Summary
Discussion
Recommendations
REFERENCES
APPENDIX

Chapter I
Introduction
Introductory paragraph
Chapter I is an introduction to your research paper. The introductory paragraph
should attract attention of the reader and acquaint him or her with the subject of
research. Introduction should not exceed several pages. This is necessary to
stress significance of your study at this stage to make reader interested in
reading through the whole paper.
Statement of the Problem
This statement, even though it should be only one sentence, is very important
part of research paper. Statement of the problem should be easily identifiable,
clear and brief. Of course you should accompany problem statement with one or
few paragraphs where you should relate the problem of this particular research to
other problems in various fields. This is possible to use argumentation of
authoritative sources which claim that this problem is really important. Do not be
afraid to add dramatic value to the problem.
Purpose
The purpose section of your research paper is also a brief statement of what you
expect to accomplish by this study. What results you expect to get? What
problems can be solved if you conduct this particular research?
Significance of the Study
In this section you should explain how your study relates to other studies and to
more significant problems. Do not forget to answer the following questions in this
section:
Why is your study important?
To whom is it important?
What benefit you expect to occur if your study is done?
Research Questions and/or Hypotheses and/or Null Hypotheses
In this section you should either present your hypotheses (if applicable) or simply
list research questions.
Chapter II
Background
This chapter is primarily a review of literature. Usually students deal with
research topics that have been previously explored in numerous studies. Often
this is the longest chapter in the whole research paper. It is very important as it
gives knowledge about previously conducted research and shows what is left to
be explored in the study.
This is also possible that you would want to provide definition of terms in this
section of your research paper.

Chapter III
Methodology
Methodology is a section of research paper which is meant to describe in details
your research plan. You can begin this section with restatement of the research
purpose and questions that you expect to answer during this study.
Population and sampling
In this section you should define the population that you use for your research
purposes. Then you should describe the sample that you have chosen from this
population and explain how you did this. Then you should provide some research
of your sample population and finally infer the results from the sample back to the
population. This is very important to do because reader of your research paper
should be convinced that your sample sufficiently represents the population.
Instrumentation
Here you should describe the instruments that you use for your research such as
surveys and questionnaires. Pay attention to what your instruments are designed
to measure. Remember to include copies of your surveys and other instruments
in appendix section.
Procedure and time frame
In this section this is necessary to describe procedures that will be followed while
conducting research.
Analysis plan
Please pay special attention to this section of your research paper. Analysis plan
should be detailed and clear. Explain how each of your research questions will be
addressed and analyzed, what statistical tests you will be performing. Pay
attention to proper description of all variables and decision making criteria.
Validity and reliability
In this section you are expected to describe validity and reliability assessments.
Precisely describe the steps you took to assess validity. Then you should present
information on how you will measure reliability.
Assumptions
Not a single research can be conducted without at least some assumptions. You
should think carefully of all assumptions youve made while planning your
research. One example of an assumption may be one that your sample will
represent population. Most researchers will also usually assume that
respondents will provide truthful answers to your surveys.
Scope and limitations
In this section you should not only describe how budget, time and other
constraints limit your research but you should also notice how the quality of your
research results will be influences with these limitations.

Chapter IV
Results
Description of the sample
In this section you should again address the issue of your sample population in
order to convince reader that it is truly representative for your research.
Analyses
In this section you should actually follow the plan described in methodology of
your research paper. You should provide brief and dry analysis of collected
information.
For each research question, which you listed in the introductory chapter, your
must restate its essence and state null hypothesis is applicable to your particular
research. Then follow to presenting the statistical tests which youve performed
and finally report results. Please note that providing numerical information is not
always enough. You should attempt to explain the meaning of such numerical
information. Remember that explaining results is the essence of next chapter, so
do not attempt to do it in this section.
Chapter V
Conclusions and recommendations
This chapter is about summary of your findings, discussion of those and
presenting recommendations based on those findings. Note that you should not
mix your personal beliefs and feelings with scientific results of your research. You
should also note in this section how your research can be improved and
extended.
References
Finish you research with a list of references that you have used for your research
paper in a proper format and in alphabetical order.
Appendix
Along with your research paper you should provide the copies of instruments
youve been using in your study. This is also possible to include the form of
informed consent here.