The research project – SBA guidelines H
I GUYS, this week our focus is on your research paper. By this juncture, you would have started working on your paper, and the aim of this lesson is to provide you with guidelines for acing the paper.
The school based sssessment is ONE RESEARCH project/paper. This contributes 21% of the final grade for the external examination. The project will be marked out of 35.
The project should be between 1,200 and 1,500 words, excluding bibliography, appropriate quotations, charts, graphs, references, appendices and so on
Use Times New Roman for your font style, size 12, double-spaced.
Your first page should be your cover page and should have the following information. (See below). Next is your Table of Contents Then the next page should have the following information – Theme, Research Question/Statement of the Problem and Rationale Example Theme: Metropolitan Movements Towards Emancipation Topic: The Abolition of Slavery Statement of the Problem - The statement is usually time bound, geographically focused and is testing a hypothesis/view. Example How accurate is the view that it was primarily economic motives that led to the abolition of chattel slavery in the British Caribbean in 1834?
Rationale – The rationale sets the historical context of your paper and outlines the reason(s) you are undertaking your research. Example (This, along with all responses, is tied to the question above.)
The system of chattel slavery resulted in the enslaved Africans experiencing immense horrors on the plantation. The system would end in 1834. primarily because of economic motives rather than social and political factors. The aim of this study is to provide a critical examination of the subject – abolition of slavery – and the major factors that would have influenced it. By doing such a study, the researcher is providing an added wealth of knowledge on an area of study that has been important to Caribbean history students. The study seeks to answer the following questions:
a) What economic factors played a crucial role in the abolition of slavery?
b) How influential were the social and economic factors in ending the system of slavery?
Include on the next page the following information – Data Collection, Presentation of Data and Introduction.
Data Collection – This section outlines the primary and secondary sources that you will be using and the benefits of such sources. Example The study requires the extensive use of primary and secondary sources. The use of primary sources is critical as it provides firsthand information on the economic challenges facing the British Caribbean sugar industry. The secondary sources will be used to supplement the information found in the primary sources, as well as for a richer understanding of the subject. The primary and secondary source data will be accessed from public libraries.
Presentation of Data – This section should outline the various forms in which you will be presenting the information that you gathered. Example The presentation of data will take the form of graphs, diary extracts, and photograph illustrations.
Introduction – The introduction sets the historical context of the paper and provides and summary of what you will be discussing. It should also have your aim of study/thesis statement – a sentence that provides the central argument of your paper. Example The system of chattel slavery ended on August 1, 1834 in the British Caribbean. Its end would signal emancipation of the enslaved persons from estate labour. The anti-slavery movement in Europe was a long, drawn-out process that developed as a broad-based alliance of religious sects, politicians, philosophers, intellectuals and industrialists. The question that arises in any such discussion, however, is what factor(s) played a role in the end of such a system? Each European government was pushed to emancipation of the slaves by a combination of political, economic, moral and cultural forces. The aim of this study demonstrated that it was primarily economic factors that led to the abolition of slavery. Your focus will now shift to the body of the paper, your bibliography and appendices.
The body of your paper is written as one continuous document with subheadings. Ensure that at the end of your paper you have a conclusion. The bibliography is very important and your research paper must not be submitted without one.
Your bibliography should be listed in alphabetical order at the end of your paper. Please note that your bibliography is a list of sources which you used, and also quoted. Lastly, your appendix. Each appendix should be on a separate page. It should also have a title and identify the source from which the information was taken.