This guide is intended to help students organize and write a quality research paper. Also included are recommendations concerning how to successfully manage and complete specific class assignments. Note that, if you have any questions about a writing assignment, you should always seek advice from your teacher before you begin. Requirements set forth by your teacher will always supersede instructions provided in these general guidelines.
Before beginning your paper, you need to decide how you plan to design the study.
The research design refers to the overall strategy that you choose to integrate the different components of the study in a coherent and logical way, thereby, ensuring you will effectively address the research problem; it constitutes the blueprint for the collection, measurement, and analysis of data. Note that your research problem determines the type of design you should use, not the other way around!