Because it essential for you to concentrate on and master the few principles involved in reporting on the results of research, it's also essential that the work not obscure the principles. Therefore, please follow these instructions, which I've designed to help you focus clearly.
 
 

SCOPE OF THE REPORT Compact: 3-6 page range (main body--computer-printed, double-spaced).

Minimum number of different sources of information: three. Maximum: not many more than that. In an analytical report, it's rare that one can discuss adequately more than one or two or three important pieces of information per page. We're interested in mastering the principles here--not just a lot of hard work

Remember that your research question should be local, personal, and controversial--all three. You should be the world's leading expert on the issue by the time you begin writing your report.
 
 

CONTENTS OF THE REPORT

Type your QUESTION at the top of the first page. You wouldn't do this for other courses, but doing so here should make very clear what question you set out to answer. Remember that the question must contain the word "I."

Put the title of your report about one-third of the way down the first page and then get right into the report. You don't need to include a separate title page, a table of contents, or the like. (You might want to include those things for other courses, but they'd be a distraction here.)

Your thesis must answer the question. Identify the thesis by bolding it. When you print your report out on paper, further identify the thesis by drawing a line completely around it. (You wouldn't draw a line around it for other courses.) NOTE: You may not be able to answer your question in the time available. In that case, your thesis should be something like, "I can't answer the question yet because. . . and this is what I have found out so far and what I think about it so far." That's a progress report, and it's quite normal outside of college classes. If you do that, you will still be fulfilling the assignment.

The rest of the report must support that thesis with appropriate evidence. (If you can't answer the question satisfactorily, then be candid about that and in the report show why you can't answer it.)

Because this is to be a formal documented paper, you'll need to annotate it whenever you refer to a source of information other than yourself. That is, be sure to say according to So-and-so, or So-and-so said for every single idea or fact or opinion that you didn't think up yourself.

A list called "Works Cited" follows the main body of the report on a separate page. This is a list of the works that you refer to in your text. The term "Works Cited" is more specific than "Bibliography" and is therefore preferable. (The list of works cited does not count as one of the pages mentioned above, in "Scope.")

You may use either the MLA or the APA system. (I'd use the one most like that used in your major field of study.)

Don't worry about an introduction or a conclusion; we'll practice them in other writings. (But go ahead and include them if you feel like it.) NOTE: A true conclusion is different from a summary. And an introduction is not merely a catchy beginning. (See my essay "Arguments & Papers" for more on this subject.)
 
 

ATTRIBUTION AND DOCUMENTATION

Once again: This is to be a formal, documented report. Therefore, all references to other persons' ideas or words (including paraphrases, indirect quotations, and direct quotations) must be attributed to their sources, using parenthetical notation and a list of works cited. Check my essay called "Attribution & Documentation" for the form.

REMEMBER: use parenthetical ("in-text") notation; do not use footnotes or endnotes.
 

Does this sound like a lot of work?  It shouldn't turn out to be hard at all--if you began with a practical question.  No harder than any other piece of writing.  After all, you're merely beginning with a question such as What should I do about X? and then answering it and saying why and you arrived at your answer--giving your reasons and the info that led you to them. I'm going to do Y because. . . .