2 Most Popular Types of Research Papers – Best Tips And Practices 2024

How many popular types of research papers do you know? There are two most popular types of research papers that are tackled by both students and researchers. These are the argumentative and analytical research papers. Most students can argue that they have the concepts of these two tasks at their fingertips. However, what students do not realize is that there is so much to both analytical and argumentative research papers that they are still yet to learn. However, this is dependent on their educational level. Thus, a high school student may have less knowledge about the two compared to a graduate student. Let us take a look at these two popular research papers in detail.

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Analytical Research Papers

An analytical research paper is a task that requires a researcher to conduct an in-depth analysis of a particular topic. In most cases, the question is given. However, in some cases, the writers may be asked to choose a topic to evaluate and explore. Almost every other student, either in college or high school, has encountered an analytical research paper. It is because of all types of research papers; analytical research papers are the most widely tested. Nonetheless, this is not to say that students attain perfect or the maximum scores in these tasks. Students tend to fail in analytical research papers due to one or all of these reasons:

1. Overlooking a Concept in the Question

When students rush the last minute to solve such a task, they tend to overlook a crucial aspect in the question of this task. For example, a student can ignore critical elements in items such as compare, contrast, less than, fewer, and the likes. So, if you have an analytical research paper, take your time and schedule your activities properly to give you room to write this homework. If you are working on a tight deadline, you can always hire professionals from online homework services like Acemyhomework.com to help you overcome this deadline.

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2. Working Without a Draft

Another reason students perform poorly in analytical research paper assignments is by going to the writing phase without first developing an outline. Therefore, they end up mixing their ideas, not using enough evidence, or not creating flow in their work. All these minor mistakes are what result in the reduced grades in such a task. They can be avoided when a student first sits down and develops their analytical research paper overview. It will help them know how to structure their assignment, how points will follow each other, and what evidence to use to justify their points.

3. Not Conducting In-depth Research

Research papers go by this term for a reason, and that is because they demand huge loads of research. Therefore, if you do not conduct a thorough study before writing your analytical research paper, then this task is worth nothing. A student or scholar tackling any research paper has to spend ample time doing research. In the analytical research paper, the researcher has to identify what is known, whether it has been solved before, and how it can be effectively solved. Only in-depth research will help you determine viable and practical solutions that can put an end to the problem.

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Argumentative Research Papers

An argumentative research paper refers to a task that provides a reader with a clear point of view that is also well supported by credible and accurate evidence. Usually, an argumentative research paper will look at both sides of the subject at hand. However, a writer should not end the writing without discussing their viewpoint or position. They have to stand with one position.

How to Write an Argumentative Research Paper

Your argumentative research paper can see scoop the maximum grades in this task if at all, you do several critical things. Usually, these are the factors that students tend to overlook, ultimately making them fail in such homework. Here are a few things that you need to do when writing an argumentative research paper:

1. Identify a Brilliant and Researchable Topic

Students tend to assume that the power of choosing their research paper topic is advantageous and automatically signifies that they will pass the task. However, this is not always the case, especially when students are asked to choose argumentative research paper topics. These themes have to portray two sides; after evaluation and critical analysis, a writer will eventually select one position. Thus, choose argumentative topics instead of topics that are interesting or simple to study. Here are a few argumentative research paper ideas that students can look into:

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  • Do people have to talk about feminism continually?
  • What should be the minimum wage in State X?
  • Should a gay couple be allowed to adopt a child?
  • Should children be allowed to choose the parent to live within the case of a divorce?

2. Research the Structure

Although it is like any other research paper, the structure may slightly change since these tasks tend to look at two sides of the topic. Therefore, in addition to having sections such as the abstract, background information, methodology, and discussion in the research paper, this task will also add the counter-arguments section. This is one of the parts that you will not find in other types of research papers, such as the cause and effect or survey research paper.

3. Research Thoroughly

Every research paper has a literature review segment where a writer has to include other authors’ knowledge about the theme in question. It is essential that a writer or researcher uses credible sources and also authors who add up to the existing knowledge. It is only possible if an individual uses current sources.

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Although students and researchers are familiar with these two main types of research papers, they lack in-depth details about the two. These include features such as how to write them and what to look out for when addressing such documents. This piece has shed light on these two concepts and will help improve your understanding of both analytical and argumentative research papers.