In the body of your paper (the search results) be sure to write a paragraph for each source, and try to compare and contrast the sources wherever you notice significant similarities or differences. Be sure to provide your evaluation of each source. When/where was the source published?

One of the academic skills you’ve been working on in the past few weeks is how to do effective research using both popular and scholarly sources. For this assignment, you will write an I-Search essay exploring a research question about a social issue of your choice. This assignment will allow you to continue practicing research skills, constructing a thesis, structuring an essay, and summarizing/paraphrasing/quoting from sources.
Begin by reading the document in this week’s folder titled “What Is an I-Search Paper?” Then, follow the instructions for SW #6 to find an appropriate research question and have it approved. The topic you will investigate should be related to one of the social issues we’ve explored in our recent readings (issues related to race or gender, substance abuse, family dysfunction and domestic violence, MMIW, physical/sexual abuse, mental illness, etc.). Start by developing a research question: a specific question that will lead your research in a productive direction (not just a simple question with an easy factual answer). You can relate your question to some aspect of athletics if you wish, and if it is logical to do so (as in the areas of race or gender, for example), but you don’t have to.
You will need to find and use at least five sources for this paper. Three of these can be popular sources (websites, articles in newspapers or magazines), and at least two should be scholarly articles found through the RMC library’s databases. Be sure to assess the credibility of all of your sources, and make sure they are no more than ten years old. You will need to create a Works Cited list of all of your sources in MLA format, and you should use MLA format for in-text parenthetical citations as well.
Once you have found five sources that provide insight in response to your research question, you’re ready to write your essay. Unlike a regular research paper, an I-Search paper is at least partially about the process of your research, and it can have a personal voice (you can use “I” and talk about your own interest in the topic and how your perspective evolved as you learned).
Your essay will have three parts, as described in the “What Is an I-Search Paper?” document: your search story, your search results, and your search reflections. In your introduction (the search story), make sure you provide your research question and also include a thesis that tells how your sources have answered the question. (This doesn’t need to be a definitive answer—you only have five sources, and the issue is likely quite complex. Just say what you learned.) In the body of your paper (the search results) be sure to write a paragraph for each source, and try to compare and contrast the sources wherever you notice significant similarities or differences. Be sure to provide your evaluation of each source. When/where was the source published? What kind of source is it? Who are the authors? Etc. Your conclusion will be your search reflections.
Don’t forget your Works Cited list of your five sources at the end of your paper, but don’t include the list in your word count for the paper. Give your paper a title (not just “I-Search Paper” or “Essay #2”).
Note that this should not be an argument paper. Your paper should be informative, rather than persuasive.

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