RESEARCH PAPER GUIDE

                                  

SCHOOL OF KINESIOLOGY

Kin 263

                                                  

CANADIAN SPORT HISTORY

Dr. Don Morrow

 

 

 

The purpose of the research paper assignments in KIN 263 is to provide students with the opportunity to research and write about an

issue pertinent to the history of sport in Canada. The term research paper will be written according to the Chicago Manual of Style for

Authors, Editors, and Copywriters, most recent edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Students may consult the manual in the

library if they require extensive details. The research paper should be 8 - 10 double-spaced, typewritten pages. Research papers must

be handed to the professors by the author on or before Tuesday, November 15th during class time. There will be no extensions provided,

 unless for compassionate reasons, to be determined by the professors. Students must keep one photocopy of the paper and hand one

 in. Work lost on the computer is not a valid excuse for late papers. Handwritten papers will not be accepted. Similar to papers that are

handed in late, penalties of 7% per day will be applied until a typed version is completed.

Students are given the opportunity to pose a research problem or question based on a topic of the student=s choice, in consultation with

the professors, to conduct research on that problem, to construct meaningful and clear arguments, to develop personal ideas on the subject

 based on the evidence of sources, draw meaningful conclusions through the process, and to express themselves clearly and concisely. Simple

 narratives on events and individuals are not appropriate. A clearly stated thesis must be present, followed by a clearly stated argument,

supported by evidence. You MUST obtain topic approval: the best way to do that is to provide us, in writing, with a tentative title, a

clear statement of purpose and some suggested sources.

 

 

Structure of the Paper

1. Introduction - students should attempt to interest the reader by raising a research question or posing an historical problem. The thesis

 statement should be clearly stated in the Introduction. The thesis statement is the main point of the paper. For example, the student may

 be interested in demonstrating that the sport of hockey in Canada, promoted as the national pastime, has created a masculine subculture

which celebrates rule-bound violence and links it with common notions of how men and boys should behave. The student would then have

 to research the question, finding evidence showing that this is an accurate assessment and, perhaps, by providing a case example. A thorough

 search of books and articles must be conducted to determine what arguments have previously been made about this issue and what evidence

is available. Then it will be possible to perform more specific research in such sources as newspapers or magazines. Students must find

evidence from primary sources and secondary sources. These arguments, preferably organized in a chronological fashion, will be expressed

and developed in the paper’s Body section. However, from the Introduction, the reader must recognize what sorts of general arguments are

being suggested by the paper to support a very specific thesis. The Introduction should be very general with no specific evidence cited. This

section is utilized in establishing a conceptual framework for the paper. It should be approximately one-half page to one page in length.

An example of a thesis statement: The sport of hockey in Canada, during the 1920s, helped to promote a kind of manhood which emphasized

violence and aggression as natural social traits.

 

2. The Body of the Paper

Specific evidence is presented in the Body of the paper, with the strongest evidence presented first. A series of arguments supported by

evidence should be proposed in a well-organized discussion. These arguments form the basis of the story in your paper. Sentences should

flow into one another and paragraphs should logically follow from the previous one. Any background information that will help the reader

 understand the context of the problem should be included. The Body should work to demonstrate that your thesis is accurate, based on the

 evidence cited from your sources. The Body should be approximately six to seven pages in length.

 

3. Conclusion

The Conclusion of the paper should provide closure to the problem that was raised in the Introduction. The main point of the paper should

 be reiterated in a general sense without providing any new material or evidence. The Conclusion should be approximately one half page in length.

Page numbers should appear at the top right of each page with the exception of page 1 which should appear, centred, at the bottom. A title

page should include the following information in order: title of the paper, author's name and student number, names of professors, course

and number, date.

 

Citations

Acknowledgement must be provided for any material that is directly quoted from a primary or secondary source. If the material is less than

four lines, then it should be cited in the text of the paper with quotation marks at the beginning and end and prefaced by a lead-in phrase. For

 example: Morrow argues, “Hockey played an important social role in Canadian culture.”  Note the lead-in phrase and the positioning of

punctuation. If the material is longer than four lines, it should be off-set and single-spaced without quotation marks. It must also be prefaced

by a lead-in phrase. Quotations do not speak for themselves. The text leading up to the quotation should cater to the quotation. The text after

 the quotation should comment on its significance. All citations must be referenced in an endnote at the end of the paper. Superscript numbers

 should come at the end of the quotation relating to the number of the reference in the endnotes. Numbering should be successive (from 1-25

for example, depending on the number of references to your sources).

The following is another sample of a lead-in phrase and a citation (note: off-set and single-spaced)... 

The Military Gazette, for example, often appealed to the patriotic sentiment of its readers, rather than cultural difference and distinction,

 while purposefully ignoring constant tensions between French and English, Catholics and Protestants, central regions and the maritimes:

Such meetings cannot do otherwise than engender a kindly feeling between the various sections of the Dominion

 as well as between individuals, and in this may keep up and strengthen the territorial and political links by

which we are united together by means of that far stronger and more lasting bond of union - common hopes

and aspirations, good fellowship, a firm and honest belief in the bright prospects of our young country, and

 a determination to uphold its honor and dignity when opportunity offers, a practical training which is

presented each year at the D.R.A.^[1]  

 

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Any material that is paraphrased, ie. someone else's idea put into your own words, or summaries of material from a number of sources, should

be referenced with a number and endnote. Credit for material must be given when it is due.

For example...

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The power-broking and patronage relationships established through infrastructural development projects, private ventures, and favourable

investment legislation secured the interests of capital, as central Canadian businessmen emerged as the dominant fundamental group by the late 1850s.^[2]

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Endnotes are utilized to: 1.acknowledge the work of others 2. to establish the historical validity of your evidence 3. to embellish or expand upon

 points that are relevant but not appropriate for the text. Examples from the above notes are listed below. Included are appropriate styles for

newspapers, books, articles from books, theses or dissertations. When you have listed a complete reference in your endnotes and it is referenced

again, it should be referenced in a shorter form. When you cite the same reference as the one immediately previous, then the short form Ibid may

be used. If the volume and page number are the same, Ibid alone should be used. If the page number(s) is different, then Ibid with the new numbers

should be used.

 

For example, you may cite or paraphrase Coakley successively in the endnotes:

 

6.         J. Coakley, Sport in Society: Issues and Controversies, (St. Louis: Mosby, 1994), p. 22.

7.         Ibid.     (this means that you are citing the same edition of Coakley and the same page)

8.         Ibid., pp. 34-46.           (this means the same edition but different page(s))

9.         M. Mott, Sports in Canada, (Toronto: Copp Clark Pitman, 1987), p. 35.

10.       Coakley, p. 133. (this means that you are citing the same edition as it has been referenced

            above in full form. You can't use Ibid because another source is noted previously.)

 

Underlining or italics may be used for source referencing.

***NO BIBLIOGRAPHY IS REQUIRED FOR THIS RESEARCH PAPER

 

Note: The professor and TAs do not read drafts or proofread papers.

 

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the presentation of someone's work as your own without any acknowledgement. It can be direct quotations without reference,

paraphrasing without reference, or borrowing ideas without acknowledgement. If any work is presented as your own or is paraphrased from

 other sources that are not noted, penalties could range from a grade of zero on the paper or failure of the course, to expulsion from the

university. There should be extensive referencing in this paper. The university has a system called “Turnitin” that is an extensive and

well proven system for detecting plagiarism. Please consult the university guidelines on plagiarism. Handing in papers from other years

 or purchased work is considered a very serious offence and will be reprimanded accordingly.

 

Research and Writing Suggestions

<                pick an interesting topic

<                do some background reading in the library - search CD ROM - Sport Discus

<                establish a research question and thesis

<                write a half page outline with a provisional title

<                ** consult with your assigned professor (see above)

<                do extensive literature search and source research, making extensive notes

<                write a skeleton outline in point form, arranging your argument very carefully

<                write the body of your paper

<                write the introduction and conclusion

<                finalize an interesting title – informal titles using clichés are fine

<                proof read extensively and check spelling

<                have others read the paper and make comments

<                rewrite and make copies

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Selected Hints

<                do not use contractions such as can't, wouldn't, isn't etc.

<                do not use clichés such as 'kicked butt' or slang

<                short forms may be used but only after the long version has been written - the shortform follows in brackets - for example, International

            Olympic Committee(IOC) - then the short form may be used for the rest of the paper

<                groups of years are written as 1800s or 1900s, not 1800's

<                write in the past tense unless you are citing the opinion of another author...for example, Mott writes, " ...".

<                do not write in the passive voice -  'they would play hockey' - write 'they played hockey'

<                do not splice two complete sentences together with a comma - use a period and separate them

<                THE most abused word in essays is the use of it’s and its; note that it’s is a contraction of it is whereas its is possessive – it’s a

            beautiful day vs its place was on the bookshelf

 

Topics: You must arrive at a topic in a personal way, so that the original idea is traceable to you, as the author. Consider family members

, teams or individuals from your hometown, or a history of something that you have been directly involved in.