Stage 12 of Semester Paper
Final Paper k
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Instructions for Stage 12 of the Semester Paper
Final Paper with All Sections Complete and Corrected
For this final assignment, you will combine the drafts you completed during the various stages of your research paper into one comprehensive and polished document.
Please read the example from a prior student paper before continuing. There may be minor variations between the example and the instructions below. If so, please follow the instructions.

Please complete your paper on a word processor and email the final paper to me prior to 5PM on the due date. Make sure that you save your document in either Microsoft Word format (.doc) or Rich-Text format (.rtf, if you are not using Word). Email the paper as an attachment - do not copy the text into an email message. Please place your name at the top of the first page above the abstract.

Make absolutely certain that you keep an electronic copy of your paper as it represents a good deal of work. I would suggest that you save a copy to a removable disk, a CD, or a second computer. If anything would happen whereby your paper does not reach me or is lost, you will be required to provide a copy.

Your paper should include the following (in this exact order). Do not include the numbers before the section headings, but your sections should contain the headings below in the same format as found in the example (bold type on a separate line).

1) Paper Title and your name (these do not require section headings, but items 2 through 11 do)

2) Abstract - a short summary of your questions/hypotheses and your findings. ...200 words or less.

3) Keywords - if someone wanted to search for information on a topic and you wished them to find your research paper, what keywords would help them with their search if your paper were published and included in a database? Include several keywords under the abstract.

4) Introduction - you have not yet submitted a draft of an introduction to your paper. Write a short introduction of 1 to 2 pages that describes the general topic of your paper and why it is important or of interest to you.

5) Literature Review - (3 to 4 pages) you already should have completed a draft of your literature review. Make any corrections that I have noted and then copy this section into your final paper.

6) Hypotheses - (1 page) you already should have completed a draft of your hypotheses section. Make any corrections that I have noted and then copy this section into your final paper. Remember that your hypotheses should be based on your literature review. In other words, they should address a particular question that prior research has not yet answered, or they should analyze data from a different population that you may have reason to believe behaves unlike populations studied previously. In other words, use wording that we previously discussed. I will deduct points if you say things like, "the literature review supports/proves my hypotheses."

7) Methods - (1 to 2 pages) you already should have completed a draft of your methods section. Make any corrections that I have noted and then copy this section into your final paper.

8) Results - (1 to 2 pages) you already should have completed a draft of your results section. Make any corrections that I have noted and then copy this section into your final paper. Make certain that you are using the proper terminology when discussing the differences among the categories as I explained previously.

9) Discussion and Conclusion - (1 to 2 pages) you have not yet submitted a draft of this section. Write a short conclusion that summarizes your paper and its findings. If your hypotheses are supported, explain (speculate somewhat) on what they mean and why they are important. If they are not supported, explain what your results may indicate instead.

10) References - you already should have completed a draft of your references section. Make any corrections that I have noted and then copy this section into your final paper.

11) Appendix (Optional) - If you wish to include additional information, such as more information about the survey question, you may include it here if you wish.

Checklist:

1) Is the Title Sheet on the top of my paper with my name on it?
2) Did I include all of the sections above?
3) Did I correct the problems with my drafts?
4) Did I incorporate each stage into a polished paper (removed unnecessary information, etc.)?
5) Did I check for spelling errors?
6) Did I use a proper citation format in the narrative (author's last name, year)?
7) Does the literature review contain only the author's last names, and not the first names?
8) Did I include the page numbers in the citations if I quoted (author's last name, year, page number)?
9) Did I used the appropriate language when I discussed the differences in my categories/groups/Independent-variables? In other words, I should not be using the term "significant" unless I am using the option of performing a statistical test of significance.