From The Craft of Research

Why do we write up our research?

What is the value of having a clearly-formulated problem and thesis in a research
paper?
Why is the So what? question important?
What is the value and drawback of these types of sources: primary, secondary,
and tertiary?
How can we use sources to develop questions for research?
What bias must we guard against in our research?
According to Booth, Colomb, and Williams, what are the five key elements of an
academic argument?
What is the difference between practical and conceptual/theoretical arguments
or thesis statements?
What type of claim is most significant?
What is a hedge and why it is important for claims and arguments?
What is the difference between reasons and evidence? How are they used in
arguments?
What does it mean to say evidence must be accurate, precise, sufficient,
representative, and authoritative?
Why should you test your own argument? How can you address weaknesses in
the argument?
What is a warrant in an argument? How should it be used?
What types of plans or arrangements of papers are useful? What types should be
avoided?
When should we use quotes, paraphrases, and summaries in our reports?
How do we write a parenthetical citation, a journal citation, or a book citation in
Chicago author-date style (Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition)?
Examples: Parenthetical: (Mojzes 2011, 25)
Book:
Mojzes, Paul. 2011. Balkan Genocides: Holocaust and Ethnic Cleansing in
the Twentieth Century. New York: Rowman and Littlefield.
Journal from an Electronic Database:
Sletzinger, Martin. 2011. A Glimmer in the Balkans. The Wilson Quarterly
35 (1): 42-48. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41001067
What elements should be included in an introduction or conclusion?

What should we remember in revising style, in addition to correct grammar,

spelling, and organization of ideas?
1. Express crucial actions in verbs
2. Make your central characters the subjects of those verbs; keep those
subjects short, concrete, and specific
3. Begin sentences with familiar information
4. Use active sentences for things the writer does (claim, conclude, propose)
and passive sentences to describe experimental procedures
5. Put complex information, new technical terms, or introductions of following
material last