Research Paper for Undergraduates

1. Definition of Research paper and Requirements

 
2. Choosing a proper topic:

What to do:
• Choose an area and a topic you are interested in and familiar with.
• Ask yourself if there are questions you want to ask of that area or topic.
• Choose a proper and manageable scope.  Be aware that it takes time to narrow down your topic.

 
What to avoid:
• Over-controversial topic (death sentence) or questions whose answer involves value judgment (we should all live short and happy).
• What you have no knowledge of at the moment of writing the proposal.  (e.g. whether to keep on building nuclear power plant in Taiwan)
3. Research:
I. Preliminary Research -- before you decide on a topic:
• Get some related dictionaries and encyclopedia
• Check our library (website: http://www.lib.fju.edu.tw/) and local libraries ( http://theorynt.cs.ccu.edu.tw/agent/mainpage.exe ) to see how many books are available under that topic.
• Search Engines: Yahoo; Northernlights; Yam; Chinese Yahoo
• Major Gateway: Study Web