The Iliad of Homer Essay -- essays research papers

The Iliad of Homer Honor is something men and women have fought for century after century. Even now, thousands of American and British men are fighting in Iraq, near to where the Trojan War was to have taken place. These men fight for the greater good. They fight for those in Iraq who are unable to fight for or otherwise defend themselves. They fight for honor. The characters in the Iliad are motivated by their own form of honor, or arete, known similarly as the Homeric Code. And it is because of this code that the Trojan War began. The characters in this story are shown to possess arete, but some have different ideas as to how vastly and to what rate it should be respected. And because of this, many a man’s honor is disturbed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Homeric Code can be defined as â€Å"unwritten rules that guide the conduct of the Homeric Heroes.† For the Homeric Heroes, success means survival and greater honor; failure means death and removal from the struggle for honor. What the Heroic code means is that honor is more important than life itself. It is obvious throughout the books that the characters of high honor are the ones that ignore warnings to stay away from danger, battles, and the like. Courage, physical abilities, and social status are also important contributions to the Homeric code. To truly understand this code and the true dedication to it as told by Homer, means becoming accustom to the values kept by those in this story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ...

Corporate Governance Is The System By Which Companies Are Directed And Controlled Accounting Essay

The first version of the UK Code on Corporate Governance was produced in 1992 by the Cadbury Committee. The authoritative definition of Corporate Governance in the context of the Code: ‘Corporate administration is the system by which companies are directed and controlled. Boardss of managers are responsible for the administration of their companies. The stockholders ‘ function in administration is to name the managers and the hearers and to fulfill themselves that an appropriate administration construction is in topographic point. The duties of the board include puting the company ‘s strategic purposes, supplying the leading to set them into consequence, oversing the direction of the concern and coverage to stockholders on their stewardship. The board ‘s actions are capable to Torahs, ordinances and the stockholders in general meeting. ‘ The board of managers leads and controls a company and hence an effectual board is the cardinal to the success of the company. The Department of Trade and Industry ( 2004 ) agreed that effectual boards are as much concerned with public presentation as with conformity in run intoing the demands of company jurisprudence and using the rules and commissariats of the Combined Code. However, the UK Corporate Governance Code ( 2008 ) concluded a similar standard as Combined Code ( 2004 ) on board effectivity. ‘Firstly, there should be a formal, strict and crystalline process for the assignment of new managers to the board. Second, all managers should be able to apportion sufficient clip to the company to dispatch their duties efficaciously. Third, all managers should have initiation on fall ining the board and should regularly update and review their accomplishments and cognition. The board should be supplied in a timely mode with information in a signifier and of a quality appropriate to enable it to dispatch its responsibilities. Fourthly, the board should set about a formal and strict one-year rating of its ain public presentation and that of its commissions and single managers. Last, all managers should be submitted for re-election at regular intervals, capable to continued satisfactory performance. ‘ The UK Code on Corporate Governance ( 2010 ) besides stated that the intent of corporate administration is to ease effectual, entrepreneurial and prudent direction that can present the long-run success of the company. Good Administration has ever association with success companies and would assist companies pull investing capital. The apprehension of corporate administration that the work of Cadbury Committee insisted: ‘The state ‘s economic system depends on the thrust and efficiency of its companies. Therefore the effectivity with which boards discharge their duties determines Britain ‘s competitory place. ‘ ( Cadbury, 1992 ) Furthermore, the Cadbury Committee emphasized the freedom driven within a model of effectual answerability, which is the kernel of any system of good corporate administration ( Cadbury, 1992 ) . There is an increasing realisation the higher criterions of corporate administration are non merely necessary to guarantee answerability, but b esides to positively better corporate public presentation ( Clarke, 2007 ) . More sophisticated methodological analysiss are now being applied with more promising consequences, with ‘an increasing organic structure of finance literature proposing companies with superior administration offer better comparative investing public presentation or lower investing hazard ‘ ( Clarke, 2007 ) . Clarke ( 2007 ) found that the board of managers is the fulcrum of corporate administration: the critical link in which the lucks of the company are decided. Stiles and Taylor indicated the same point of view in 2001: ‘The board is the nexus between the stockholders of the steadfast to-day operations of the organisation ‘ .The effectivity of non-executive managersCorporate administration has become a heated-discussed subject in developed economic systems late as a consequence of widespread failures of the planetary fiscal system ( Shleifer and Vishny, 1997 ) . There is small uncertainty about the primacy of this status as it is normally accepted that a ‘lack of monitoring by independent, disinterested non-executive managers has been a major cause for the assorted corporate dirts that we have witnessed ‘ ( High degree Group of Company Law Experts, 2002 ) . Kakabadse et Al. ( 2010 ) observed that ‘the struggle of involvement that occurs by holding a board dwelling about wholly of insider executive managers means that independent rating of company determinations is earnestly compromised ‘ . In the point of position, lawfully, the foreigner non-executive managers, who are expected to dispatch the responsibilities of trueness, attention and good concern judgement, are every bit responsible for the direction of the corporation ( Lorsch and Maclver, 1989 ) . On the other manus, practically, Weimer and Pape ( 1999 ) suggest that the non-executive managers advise the inside executive managers on a major policy determinations while bearing the involvements of stockholders. In the facet of Agency theory, it assumes that the presence of independent non-executive managers on the company boards should assist to supervise direction on behalf of stockholders by presenting an independent voice in the council chamber ( Solomon, 2010 ) . It would cut down the ill-famed struggles of involvement between stockholders and direction. So, an independ ent board needed to be created both competent and free from prejudice. Harmonizing to Firth et Al ‘s research findings in 2007, boards with a big proportion of non-executive managers are more likely to implement performance-related wage strategies. They conclude that the independent non-executive managers help to aline the involvements of stockholders and the CEO via the compensation of CEO. However, the non-executive managers have non escaped unfavorable judgment during the planetary fiscal crisis. Burgess ( 2009 ) observed that ‘the quality of former non-executive managers in RBS has been questioned as many of them had limited banking experience and could barely be regarded as independent, peculiarly when the bank had a really powerful CEO doing it hard for the non-executive managers to stand up to him ‘ . In the recent research findings, Lawler and Finegold ( 2005 ) revealed that there are no important relationships between board effectivity and the pattern of holding a non-executive chair or that of holding an independent individual functioning as a leader. It indicates that a good functioning corporate administration system is more than merely seting a construction in topographic point. Although the jurisprudence puting the regulations of board responsibilities, it still have a big portion of the existent administration and control of corporations occurs that non written into Torahs. It would be utile to hold an equal apprehension of agent or direction motive and behavior within a corporate scene ( Marnet, 2007 ) . It is reported in the 6th International Conference on Corporate Governance and Board Leadership ( 2003 ) that on the footing of in-depth interviews with 60 board members of Belgian listed companies, the managers were asked to sum up what they believe are elements of a good board of managers. The quality of the board meetings and board composings are two most important elements of a good board of managers. A good manager must fix the information good including the information and format before the meeting. Besides managers must demo involvement in what the company and its concern units are making. Furthermore, the quality of treatments or arguments is important for an effectual board meeting. Each manager should hold an chance to talk up freely and lend in the meeting. Berghe and Levrau ( 2005 ) said that the board of managers must be critical but to continue a comfy and constructive clime during the board meeting. The study besides emphasizes the determinations made by board of manag ers may non be dominated by direction or stockholders. It should be considered good and might look on the board agenda more than one time. On the other manus, the function of board of managers is, as one manager explained, â€Å" We need to be able to see the present, whilst maintaining an oculus on the hereafter † . An effectual board of managers must hold the bravery to take hazards. Furthermore, supervising and control is a 2nd function of boards. They should purely supervise the development of the results, and confront these with the fiscal programs. Most of the recent codifications strengthen the independency of board. On the one manus, they adopt an addition in the proportion of independent managers on the board. On the other manus, they advocate a more extended and restrictive definition of independency. That is to state, most of concerns express a strong belief of independency that has potency to forestall future dirts. However, manager ‘s independency is non plenty. In-depth analysis of the corporate dirts at Enron, WorldCom and others has revealed that the happening of struggles of involvement throughout the concatenation of monitoring was one of the cardinal issues in those prostrations. ‘Not merely at board or corporate degree, but besides at the degree of the external proctors struggles of involvement seemed to hold flourished, taking to state of affairss wherein the personal involvements of the parties involved prevailed over corporate and societal involvements ‘ ( Van den Berghe and Baelden, 2003 ) . The dirts have demonstrated that good administration will non come by composing codifications of best pattern and supervising the formal application of these recommendations. Some of these companies complied with all the necessary ordinances, but yet, it went incorrect. In fact, there are a batch of corporate administration advocators who province the sentiment that an independent manager should non merely happen himself officially in the right place, but needs besides †something more † than the features determined in the corporate administration codifications and recommendations ( Berghe and Baelden, 2005 ) .Director ‘s TrainingThe Tyson Report on the Recruitment and Development of non-executive Directors in 2003 provinces that as non-executive managers ‘ duties and liabilities addition, companies should put more in preparation. Companies that score high Markss on studies of good corporate administration normally devote considerable clip to developing their non-executive managers. The Combined Code ( 2008 ) considered the information and professional development as an indispensable requirement for managers. The chief rule observed that ‘all managers should have initiation on fall ining the board and should regularly update and review their accomplishments and cognition ‘ . It is suggested in the Combined Code ( 2008 ) that ‘the managers should continually update their accomplishments the cognition and acquaintance with the company required to carry through their function both on the board and on board commissions ‘ . On the other manus, the company should supply the necessary resources for developing and updating the manager ‘s cognition and capablenesss. In the Code Provisions, it is suggested that the president should supply the new managers a ‘full formal and tailored ‘ initiation when they join the board. The company still needs to offer an chance for major stockholders to run into the new non-executive manager. The Institute of Directors ( 2009 ) discovered that the effectivity of freshly appointed non-executive managers should be improved by rapidly constructing their cognition of the organisation. The organisation should supply an initiation for those non-executive managers help them cognize where they can utilize the accomplishments and experience they have gained elsewhere for the benefit of the company. In the Review of the Role and Responsibilities of Non-Executive Directors, Derek Higgs ( 2003 ) recommends that a comprehensive, formal and trim initiation should ever be provided to new non-executive managers to guarantee an early part to the board. Basically, non-executive managers will already hold relevant accomplishments, cognition, experience and abilities. However, widening and reviewing their cognition and accomplishments will add to their credibleness and effectivity in the council chamber ( IoD, 2009 ) . The David Walker ‘s 2nd study with fiscal recommendation in December 2009 recognized the importance of larning lesA ­sons from the prostration of the Bankss, while at the same clip admiting the deficiency of grounds presently available as to the overall effectivity of non-executive managers on boards. The study is much made of the demand for behavioral alteration with an accent on the civilization within the council chamber and the importance of constructive challenge of the manageA ­ment. One of the of import proposals concerned with the initiation, preparation and the development of non-executive managers. However, the function of a manager peculiarly that independent non-executive manager is fundamenA ­tally different to that of a senior operational director from whose ranks most non-executives are recruited. The function requires a holistic position of the organisation, non merely one specific functional country. Edward Walker-Arnott ( 2010 ) observed ‘non-execu tives require an expressed grasp of their typical function as administration histrions, including their responsibility to rigorously challenge and measure the competency of the executive squad on behalf of stockholders ‘ . This position may non come of course to many managers as they make the passage from executive to non-executive functions. Walker-Arnott ( 2010 ) besides implied that independent non-executive managers as a distinguishable professional grouping could benA ­efit from specifying themselves. The peculiar group of managers would integrate approA ­priate director-level preparation. It would besides advance values of independency, challenge, and public service amongst its practicians. It is possible to hold an external initiation procedure that non-execA ­utive managers were to the full acknowledged of their administration duties, including their legal responsibilities and the outlooks of stockholders and other stakeholders. For new reachings, the quality of the initiation procedure is critical. It needs to give managers an ‘early feel ‘ for the concern and an apprehension of the issues they are likely to be covering with whilst, in the interim, giving them an early chance to do a positive part and add value to the board ( DTI, 2004 ) . A high quality executive squad will non digest the managers for a long clip in footings of board kineticss therefore it is important for new non-executives to catch up the measure every bit rapidly as possible. ICI ‘s attack gives us an illustration of the successful application on initiation procedure. Peter Ellwood, Chairman of ICI, believes that a proper initiation procedure for new managers makes sound commercial sense: ‘The Board is jointly responsible for the success of the Company. The relentless hunt for universe category public presentation must get down within the Boardroom. To work optimally, non-executive managers need to truly understa nd non merely the concern but besides their personal and corporate duties. They have to hold a feel for the company, non merely turn up to meetings. We are looking for them to hold an apprehension of what drives the concern and how they personally can do an effectual part ‘ . In pattern, at ICI, the procedure of initiation is designed to suit for both single and the specific spreads in their cognition or experience. For illustration, the initiation arranges new managers to run into as many people in the company as they can, across the sections such HR, Finance every bit good as out in the field. They are advised to hold a travel to admit to the concern and will go on to make this throughout their clip on the board. The ICI thought it is of import for new managers whether they are maintaining up to rush. ‘Each new manager has a formal initiation session led by the Company Secretary, augmented by the Assistant Secretary and person at a senior degree with a good trade of co mpany experience, explicating the issues for ICI ‘ ( DTI, 2004 ) . The Sessionss chiefly covered such as Risk, Regulation and Practice, including fiducial responsibilities, responsibilities of attention and diligence, how the board is managed, what makes an effectual board, the Combined Code and other ordinances. New managers become more effectual as subscribers more rapidly. The experience is valuable for new managers. Peter Ellwood is undoubted of the benefits to the concern: ‘It ‘s bottom line common sense to give new managers a thorough initiation. It ‘s non rocket scientific discipline but good pattern, because it means that the people fall ining the board will be more effectual. ‘ He still emphasized the initiation will add new manager ‘s value and do them effectual much more rapidly and use their endowment for benefit of the concern and its stockholders at the beginning. The Boardroom late carried out a study of taking institutional stockho lders in order to inform the development of its personalized development programmes for managers and senior executives ( DTI, 2004 ) . The responses from the stockholders perspective highlight one of the importance is that an effectual initiation procedure with strong support for doing initiation preparation compulsory for new managers.Director ‘s Skills and QualificationsBy and large talking, concern experience is of import for a non-executive manager. However, an effectual board is necessary formed by a assortment of backgrounds. The Higgs Report assumed that ‘the interplay of varied and complementary positions amongst different members of the board can significantly profit board public presentation ‘ . Harmonizing to the premise, non-executive managers would be chosen by different genders, nationality, expertness and experience. The responses from research and audience indicate the grounds that there is a deficit of good people to take on non-executive functions . In some fortunes, the board seems to hold sufficient supply of endowment nevertheless the job is non being good dealt with. It has been suggested that campaigners for non-executive managers is narrow. It is clearly that the company is interested in enrolling the best people for this place. However, it is hard for board to separate the virtues of them without prejudice and subjective judgement. The Higgs research shows that ‘Non-executive managers are typically white males approaching retirement age with old public limited company manager experience. There are less than 20 non-executive managers on FTSE 100 boards under the age of 45. In the telephone study for the Review, seven per cent of non-executive managers were non British, and one per cent was from black and cultural minority groups ‘ . The study still mentioned the proportion of genders in non-executive managers: ‘The really low figure of female non-executive managers is striking in comparing with other professions and with the population of directors in UK companies overall. The labour force study investigates that across the corporate sector as a whole, around 30 per cent of directors overall are female. Merely six per cent of non-executive stations are held by adult females, and there are merely two female presidents in the FTSE 350. However, the diverseness and mix of experience and gender would beneficial for the board in playing an consultative function in determination devising and puting scheme program. With the similar backgrounds non-executive frequently tend to believe in a similar but narrow facet. In add-on, it is reported that in some countries adult females managers tend to be more strongly represented in functions such as human resources, alteration direction and client attention which are non regarded as traditional paths to the board. The enlisting or replacing of the non-executive managers is non merely sing the basic accomplishments and making of single but besides the diverseness and mix background to do board effectivity. On other manus, as the Higgs Review observed, ‘Currently, few executive managers or talented persons merely below board degree sit as non-executive managers in other companies. Of more than 5,000 executive managers in UK listed companies, presently 282 hold a non-executive manager station in a UK listed company. There are many benefits of making so. The company that employs the person on a full-time footing will profit from the single gaining a broader position and developing accomplishments and attributes relevant to any future function as a manager. Conversely, the board of the company having the single benefits from executive experience elsewhere. This encourages the sharing and airing of best pattern. ‘ ( Higgs, 2003 ) In the Tyson Report ( 2003 ) , it is said that main executives of big companies appointed qualified directors to actively nurture non-executive managers ‘ endowment from their â€Å" marzipan † direction ranks to function on their divisional, regional or subordinate boards. The study besides states that head executives besides are willing to promote such persons to accept non-executive managers ‘ places on the boards of non-competitor companies. However, as the duties and liabilities required on non-executive managers addition, the commitment clip of non-executive managers ‘ places augments. Therefore, the main executives are hence likely to go more loath to let their most promising directors to presume them ( Tyson, 2003 ) . In the yesteryear, the directors ‘ endowment has non been traditional beginning of non-executive manager campaigners, whilst the companies on a regular basis claim that people are their valuable plus. It is besides agreed by Higgs ( 2003 ) that the issues dealt with in such countries are of import 1s for the board and that direction roles in such countries encourage accomplishments and property that is extremely relevant to the council chamber. It is reported that merely 20 of the FTSE 250 presently have the human resource map on the board. Afterwards, when the Higgs Review was published, Geoff Armstrong, Director General of the Chartered Institute for Personnel & A ; Development ( CIPD ) said: ‘There is a huge pool of endowment within the human resource profession. Such persons would convey a new dimension to the non-executive function and guarantee that an organisation ‘s cardinal driver of value – viz. its people – is taken earnestly at board degree . They would convey a fresh and much-needed position to the decision-making procedure. ‘ The CIPD believes that human resources professionals could besides convey critical expertness to the wage commission. The Armstrong Institutes observed that ‘Pay and wages is their stock-in-trade – it would do a batch of sense. Equally, choice, initiation, preparation and public presentation direction are countries of expertness which could be applied with value to both executive and non-executive managers ‘ . The Tyson study ( 2003 ) discovered that ‘lawyers and advisers working in consultative functions to concern are another beginning of non-executive manager ‘s endowments as are those who have retired from accounting houses and are no longer restricted from keeping non-executive managers places ‘ . It should be encouraged by professional service houses to allow their senior people accept non-executive assignments. The probe indicates that presently merely 14 per centum of FTSE 100 non-executive managers have accountancy makings and less than three per centum have jurisprudence makings. Furthermore, since adult females are better represented in professional se rvices than in top direction places in the corporate sector, an addition in non-executive managers ‘ assignments from such houses is likely to intend an addition in adult females functioning in non-executive managers places. In a word, the accomplishments and experience of non-executive managers is a valuable plus on companies, which could non merely go more effectiveness through preparation and initiation but besides take a professional consultative function in another companies.DrumheadThe thesis is what makes board effectual. After the dirts at Enron Corp. , Tyco International Ltd, Adelphia Communications Corp. , and WorldCom Inc. before this decennary ( Solomon, 2007 ) , there is a turning involvement in the corporate administration systems of developing and transitional economic systems. The Combined Code ( 2008 ) emphasized that ‘all managers should have initiation on fall ining the board and should regularly update and review their accomplishments and cognition â €˜ which represent one of most important parts of the board effectivity. However, many surveies focus on non-executive managers ‘ independency and pay strategies but non on the initiation programme and accomplishments and making update. Although much of the literature ignores the being of manager initiation programme there is grounds to propose corporate should take more attending on it. In the Higgs study about reappraisal of the function and effectivity of non-executive managers ( 2003 ) , there is an initiation checklist which provides a counsel of initiation. As a standard, the research will look into the initiation programme presenting in the corporate administration of the one-year study. Therefore, the thesis will bridge the spread in the literature by following the Combined Code and other study to analyze whether each company have an eligible initiation programme harmonizing to the standards and been disclosed suitably in the one-year study.

Early Literacy Essay

â€Å"Effective Early Years classrooms immerse students in books, visual images, and the spoken word. A literacy-rich environment is important for all students. † (Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth, 2008). Creating literacy-rich environment requires sufficient teaching skills and understanding of literacy processes at early childhood. There are several essential elements which literacy-rich environments should include. 1. Objects in literacy-rich environments are usually labeled in English and other languages which children speak in their family environments. Labeled objects represent a kind of reading / comprehending literacy interface for children, who just start to develop their reading and communicating skills (NCREL, 1999). 2. Literacy-rich environment should include books in all interest areas (RIF, 2008). â€Å"A literacy-rich environment provides students with a wide variety of texts that include oral, print, and other media communication† (Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth, 2008). As long as young children are involved into reading and interacting with books, they will successfully develop their basic literacy skills. 3. Attractive posters are always present in literacy-rich environments (Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth, 2008). Attractive posters contact young children at their eye level, and produce an engaging literacy effect on the student’s conscience. 4. Student-published books create literacy-rich atmosphere in the classroom. â€Å"Teachers need to supplement narrative and expository texts with appropriate types of literacy materials with which students are familiar in their personal lives† (NCREL, 1999). There is nothing better and nothing more familiar and personal, than the books which children themselves create and publish. 5. It is not enough to have books in all interest areas. Children should have an opportunity to snuggle with a book during or between the lessons (RIF, 2008). Library specialists should ensure that children possess sufficient reading space in classroom. Librarians should be actively involved into the process of selecting the appropriate reading material for young students. 6. Reading aloud is another element of the literacy-rich environment (RIF, 2008). Reading aloud to children helps develop a wide range of knowledge about different topics and create a large vocabulary. 7. Literacy-rich environments make reading interactive (RIF, 2008). It is critical that children are involved into the reading process, and are requested to form their thoughts into complete sentences. Reading, comprehension, and communication are the three integral elements of the literacy development among young students. 8. â€Å"Different areas of classroom should be devoted to materials and equipment to encourage writing, viewing, and representing through art and drama, listening to music and to story-tapes† (Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth, 2008). As a result, literacy-rich environments are not limited to reading development strategies. Literacy involves the development of other related skills including writing and observation. This is why audio and visual equipment should be present in the literacy-rich classroom. 9. Technological advancement has also reached schools. Literacy-rich environments in contemporary schools cannot be effective without implementation of the latest computer software. Young children should have an opportunity to learn computer word processing skills (RIF, 2008). 10. Children should be encouraged to read and write. In literacy-rich classrooms, children are constantly involved into various literacy games. For example, children can be asked to sign the drawings or paintings they make in class (RIF, 2008). This approach will create favorable comprehensive environment even for the children who possess weak literacy background. Conclusion To create literacy-rich environment in classroom means to take into account numerous small details, which will promote literacy among young students, and will make learning easy and comprehensible for them. It is critical that teachers closely watch the process of literacy development among children. Literacy-rich environments and experiences â€Å"have a profound effect on children’s literacy development by providing opportunities and encouragement for children to become successful readers† (NCREL, 1999). References Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth. (2008). Creating a literacy-rich environment. Manitoba Education, Citizenship, and Youth. Retrieved April 9, 2008 from http://www. edu. gov. mb. ca/k12/cur/ela/docs/literacy-rich1. html NCREL. (1999). Critical issue: addressing the literacy needs of emergent and early readers. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Retrieved April 9, 2008 from http://www. ncrel. org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/reading/li100. htm RIF. (2008). Fostering early literacy. Reading Is Fundamental. Retrieved April 9, 2008 from http://www. rif. org/educators/advicetips/tip. mspx? View=22

How To Write A Research Paper Essay

This guide covers research papers, and provides advice on forming a title for your research paper, how to plan your paper before you start, and filtering material for your research paper. What is a research paper? The terms ‘research paper’ and ‘term paper’ are frequently used interchangeably. However, the terms do not mean the same thing. ‘Term paper’ was used in the past exclusively to refer to the project (indeed research based) that was due at the end of a term, semester or quarter whereas ‘research paper’ had a more specific meaning, i.e. a paper written as a summary of research. Hence ‘research papers’ may be written at any level (before, during and after attending university), they may be published works in a professional journal and they may represent the results of practical research, which would not ordinarily be conducted for a term paper. This is the context in which we will discuss the term ‘research paper’ herein. A research paper is an academic written assignment that is the product of a research project. This may span days, months, weeks or even years. Typically, research papers will involve the examination of a particular issue, and discuss: * The background or history of that issue * Any outstanding questions relating to the issue (the research paper will commonly focus on one particular question and seek to establish evidence to answer this) * The current data and statistics relating to the issue * The problems relating to the issue as revealed by the data * The problems relating to the issue as revealed by practical primary research (i.e. carrying out interviews, tests etc) or secondary research (i.e. looking at other people’s research) * Proposed solutions to the problems, and the strengths and weaknesses of these * Conclusions drawn from the data, research and evidence, as examined * Recommendations in relation to these conclusions. We will look at each of these elements in turn, in order to understand how a student or professional can write a good research paper. Forming a title for your research paper Unlike most types of assignment, the research paper title is usually decided upon AFTER you have completed the paper. This is so that the title accurately reflects the contents of the paper. However, your research paper will need a working title. This helps you to focus and helps others to understand what you are doing – for example, your lecturer/instructor or, if working at a higher level, those funding your project. You should therefore return to this section when you have completed your paper. You then need to pick a concise, accurate title for your research paper that will make readers want to look at your content, help others find your paper in databases, and explain exactly what is covered by the paper with a high degree of accuracy. A research paper will commonly have a title of 15-20 words in length. Every word must be necessary for the title – and so for example, ‘Project on†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ ‘Paper on†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ ‘Research on†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ should be removed as these types of phrases are not necessary. Example concise research paper titles: * Unemployment by Constituency * Transport in New York Research Paper Subtitle Unlike a research paper or essay, it is very common to give your research paper a subtitle. This explains your title more fully, puts it in context and qualifies the extent, or scope, of the research. Example subtitles (relating to the above example titles): * 2007-2008 trends using constituency maps * Transport governance and provision since X was elected in 1999 Researching/gathering information for your research paper As your research paper needs to show a good depth of reading, good research skills are paramount! But before you start, a key thing to bear in mind is that you MUST reference all material that you use in your paper. So the first thing to do is find out what referencing style is required (either by your university or, if you are writing a research paper for a journal, by that journal) and start to record the location of your sources using that referencing style. If you do this as you perform the research, you’ll save yourself hours of time later on. Here are some research tips to get you started: RESEARCH STEP 1 * Form a list of keywords from your research paper’s working title * Use a thesaurus to find words that mean the same thing as your list of keywords RESEARCH STEP 2 Most students will begin researching using the Internet and indeed, this is a great way to get ideas for your research paper. So start with Google, type in your keywords and bookmark the most relevant information sites that appear in relation to the issue. Then identify all current matters that relate to your issue from those sites. Note: Internet websites provide a fast source of up-to-date information but unfortunately they are not a reliable source. Use a search of the web as a starting point but unless the website is hosted and edited by a ‘reliable’ organization (such as the Government), don’t rely on its contents as a source for your research paper. Find another means of verifying the information. RESEARCH STEP 3 Now you’ve identified a list of issues and current debates for your research paper, you need to find some quality source material. The first stage is to find the most recent books written about the issue you’re researching. Whilst books are not as up-to-date as journals and articles, they will contain valid points-of-view that need to be considered. So where do you find books for your research paper? * Google Books – this is a good place to start as it has several thousand books that have been scanned in, together with details and snippet views of those which haven’t been scanned in. * Amazon.com – Amazon is a good source because you can see which books are being released, and their release date, as well as using ‘search inside’ to look through the contents of many books (this latter service only works if you have placed an order before) * Questia – Questia has thousands of books scanned in although you have to pay a small subscription fee. Your university may also provide you with access to a library and you can then search through their databases to find the most relevant and recent books for your research paper. The best way to scan whether a book is relevant to what you’re writing about is to look through the index. You’ll quickly see if there’s anything useful in the book for your research paper. RESEARCH STEP 4 Now you have the latest books for your research paper, you need to start looking for journals. These really should be your main type of source material. Open University Web Resources is an excellent list of such journal databases, although you’ll need an ATHENS password to use some of them. Our favorite journal databases for consistently excellent and up-to-date content are: * ScienceDirect – 2,000 peer-reviewed journals, books, handbooks etc * EBSCO- thousands of journals, millions of articles * Emerald- thousands of journals in management and library and information services, engineering, applied science and technology * Ingenta – 4,500+ journals in all fields and a further 20,000 abstracts The latter source, Ingenta, gives you FREE access to the bibliography which is useful for your research paper even if you don’t have an athens login. Locate articles relating to your subject and check out the bibliography for further reading which you might be able to locate online without passwords. You can sometimes obtain a free trial of these databases giving you temporary access. Also, the four websites also have a good number of journals that you do not need a subscription to view. These are often indicated by a special icon. For example (from Ingenta): RESEARCH STEP 5 There is one final type of source material you need to consider, and that is the news. If you’re lucky enough to have an athens password, your first stop will be Lexis Professional (formerly known as LexisNexis Executive) which contains the full text of newspapers and other news sources worldwide; as well as company data, annual reports and business directory information from Disclosure, Extel, ICC, and Worldscope. If you don’t have an athens password, any good news site will suffice – US News, CNN etc. Of course, if you are researching an issue which affects another country, you should be looking at that country’s main news website. What you are looking for is any current developments that may affect the research for your paper. This may be statistics released by the Government, consultation papers, proposed changes in legislation, current developments or debates etc. Don’t forget, newspapers are NOT a reliable source of information. You are using them to find information for your research paper but you should substantiate this information once you have found it. If it is reported that the Government has released some statistics, go and find those on the Government website. If a consultation paper has been released, go and find the paper and read it. Filtering the material for your research paper The five step research process reveals a lot of information for your research paper and you’ll need to filter it down, or you’ll have too much to analyses. This does, however, beg the question – how many sources should you use? The answer to this depends on the level of your research paper. If it is an assignment for your degree, you should look at using roughly 9 quality sources per 2,500 words. If it is for some post-graduate course, you can easily double that. A professional research paper (for publication) might use 30-40 sources per 2,500 words. The emphasis in all cases, however, should be on quality and not on quantity. A good selection of research material from a variety of quality sources (i.e. not just books, not just journals, not just the internet and not just the news) is far better than a huge selection of research material from poor quality, unreliable sources of a similar type. To help filter the information you have found for your research paper, you are going to need to evaluate its quality. This involves a consideration of whether: * The source is a quality source -it’s reliable, dependable and highly likely to be accurate. * The source is unbiased – watch newspapers which may have political views. Ask yourself if the writer has presented a balance argument, or has deliberately played down one side of the argument to prove his own personal views. * The source is relevant to your research – does it specifically tie in with your working title? * You haven’t already got enough material to prove what this source proves – if you aim to back up each of your arguments in your research paper with 2-3 pieces of evidence (for a very high quality paper) or at least 2 for a student paper, then you can filter out any material that is excessive of this. Creating an outline for your research paper A basic outline will look something like this: * Working title (as discussed previously) * Purpose – this is a short statement to say what the paper is for. It helps people who are looking for research papers themselves to assess the relevancy of your research paper to their studies. Example purpose statement: This paper shows the number of people claiming benefits recorded as resident in each constituency in the United States in July 2008, together with comparisons with the levels in July 2007 and July 1997. This paper also presents residence-based unemployment rates for all constituencies in the United States. * Methodology – this is a statement of how you will carry out your research. You have already done some ‘secondary research’ but you may also wish to carry out ‘primary research’ for your paper. Primary research (sometimes called ’empirical research’) is research you carry out yourself and data that is produced as a result of this, which has never been published before. Primary research may be carried out through face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, postal surveys, website surveys or focus/discussion groups. Be careful before carrying out research over the phone or through the post though – some states allow people to restrict how they are contacted. Secondary research is the study of data that exists already such as books, journals, statistics, other research papers, websites, news reports, magazine articles etc. You have already carried out secondary research through the five step research process. So which research method is best for your research paper? Instinctively you may think that the primary data will provide the most interesting results. However, if your time and budget are both limited, do not be tempted to embark on a study. You will do far better analyzing existing studies than producing a low-quality study that is limited in its value due to the amount of time and finance you can devote to it. * Scope of research – all research is going to be limited to certain factors. A paper on ‘crime’ cannot investigate all types of crime, committed by all sexes, all ages, globally. So how are you going to limit your paper? What areas of the issue will you look at and which will you discard? Your statement of scope will be about 150-300 words long and explain exactly what you are going to cover in your research, and what you are going to leave out (usually with brief reasons). If you are carrying out primary research, you may want to set out the limitations of this here too. * Introduction – this is where you set the scene for your reader. You explain what you are researching and why. You identify the issues you will be looking into and you say what you are going to prove. It is therefore a good idea to write this last, along with your final title! * Background/history – this section of your research paper isn’t essential but might be appropriate. You might want to explain the development of the issue and how particular matters have arisen. Don’t bother unless it is necessary, to put the matter in context. * Body – this section of your research paper will be broken up into sub-sections, each dealing with a particular sub-matter. Aim to present balanced evidence in each section on the points you wish to raise, and try not to reach any conclusions at this stage. The ‘body’ is the body of your research, not the analysis. * Findings/Discussion – here’s where you analyze the research you have conducted and say how your findings are relevant to the issue. It’s a very important section, without which you will have merely stated other people’s findings and opinions without contributing anything yourself. * Conclusion – this section of your research paper returns to the introduction and stated aims, and spells out very clearly how you achieved them, referring to the points you have proved and the evidence you have used to prove it. It should not be repetitive but instead, it should summarize the results of your research. You should also ensure no new material is introduced at this stage – if you have new material for your research paper, put it in the body and findings sections. * Recommendations – this section of your research paper is very much optional and will depend on whether such a section would be appropriate for the subject you are studying. Law research papers almost always will include recommendations. What sort of recommendations should you make? These might include: * How policies/the law/practice should be changed, based on your findings * What further research must be carried out before making any sensible recommendations. Your recommendations must actually relate to what you have established in your research paper. You cannot randomly introduce things at this stage that you think might be useful. They must be logical recommendations, based on your research and analysis, and they should follow on from the conclusion. Now you have written out an outline for your research paper, you will literally be able to ‘fill in the blanks’ and your paper should evolve and progress naturally, following the headings you have chosen. Keep referring back to your working title as you write, as well as to your methodology and scope. This should limit you to material that is most relevant and ensure you don’t include excessive, unnecessary points. Finishing your research paper Now you’ve written up your research paper, you’ll need to do a little editing and proofreading to ensure the finished product achieves the grade you’re looking for. This includes: * Weeding out any unnecessary material. Evaluate what you have written and whether it is needed, keeping the methodology, scope and working title in mind * Proofreading your research paper. Read it out loud, have someone else read it for you, run a spell check, run a grammar check – go over the paper several times and make sure you haven’t made any errors. There are often extra marks for students in respect of presentation. * Checking your referencing. Every source should be properly referenced. Quotations should be in â€Å"quotation marks†. Your work should contain a full list of references and a bibliography. References are sources you actually cite in your work whereas the bibliography includes sources which you may have read, and may have influenced your writing, but you haven’t specifically cited.

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