Here are some resources for you if you have questions:
Organizing the Research Paper: The Outline
Adjusting the direction and mapping it out
• The outline combines the "bones" of your thesis or question with the "flesh" from your research and insights to construct a unified essay body.
• An outline is the organizational plan for your paper. You know your starting point: your introduction and thesis/research question. You know your destination: some sort of summative and thoughtful conclusion. But how are you going to get from one to the other? What's your vehicle? See, an outline doesn't just help you articulate what you plan to say, but also how you're going to move from supporting paragraph to supporting paragraph, how you're going to get where you want to go.
• The beginning is the introduction containing your thesis statement; the end is the conclusion; and the middle or body of the essay contains the argument, supported by evidence or example and designed to prove your thesis.
• The research paper should progress towards the conclusion. At this stage, all you are preparing is the outline, which will take you from one end of the essay to the other, like a road map. It should be constructed to keep you from losing your sense of direction as you research and write the paper. A good outline will ensure that everything you write in the research paper supports your thesis, preventing you from wandering off into the tempting byways of irrelevance.
• Construct your outline by listing all the important points you want to cover in your essay. You should provide one main point for each paragraph. Start with the introduction, under which you will write out your thesis statement and work through logically, point by point, until you reach the conclusion. Categorize your points according to their importance, keeping in mind the method of organization you intend to use.
• Group related ideas together under general headings and arrange them so they follow a logical progression of thought. Some essays read as if each point had been written on an index card, then the pile thrown down a flight of stairs to determine the order. Make clear why one point follows another: each point in your outline should connect with the next; each main category should be linked to your thesis; and each sub-category should be linked to the main category. Focus your outline by discarding anything not useful or pertinent to your thesis.
• One of the most helpful things about a full outline is that it will quickly make clear to you where the gaps lie. If you don't yet have enough support in one area, you will know that you have more reading or thinking to do. Remember that sometimes your reading will unearth new facts or idea--and you will modify your essay to reflect them.
The importance of outlines:
• If you can't articulate your paper even in point form, you won't be able to do it effectively in prose and it will take you much longer to write an inferior draft
• If you do find structural problems or gaps as you outline, it's easier to fix them now than to try and totally revamp a 3rd draft. Face it, it's always easier (translation: less intellectually painful) to scrap a note than a paragraph or whole essay
• Any teacher will tell you that you will lose more points for lack of substance than for lack of writing style; outlines are all about the crux and direction of substance
• Should things click into place, an outline gives you confidence. It helps you to realize that, yes, you really do know what you're talking about!
• Stream-of-consciousness writing can be published and fascinating as creative writing, but not as a research paper.
• Outlines make drafting less stressful not only by describing the relationship of your ideas to each other and to the thesis or question, but because you now have small manageable chunks to tackle.
How to write your outline
• Carefully read the notes you took from the last step. Try to find classifications for your findings that relate to your thesis or research question. Look for common trends. They're going to be separated from each other but gather them together. It doesn't really matter how you classify. For a 5,000 word paper, you may find two huge headings. Great, now see what could fall under each. And don't forget to look back at the original assignment for clues about sub-groups your professor might be looking for.
• You can classify using a variety of techniques. If you like putting notes on index cards, then paper-clip ones that go together and shuffle them around to achieve the best order of ideas. You can also do this on paper: use different-coloured symbols or highlighters or cut your sheets into strips (if you wrote on only one side of the page). On the computer, use some of the techniques suggested by our OWL handout on Writing With Computers.
• With several piles of related concepts before you, think of other ways of grouping that might make equal sense.
• Once you're happy with what you've got, you may find that some sections are strong and fleshed-out whereas others are weaker. Do some more research where needed or see if two "weak" sections just couldn't fit under one stronger heading. Perhaps as hard as you try, your points fit together but not with the overarching argument you're making. In that case, don't be afraid to re-evaluate your thesis; it may just need a qualification. Your evidence may be great but if it supports a different thesis, your readers won't see how great it is because they'll be expecting something else.
Summary:
An outline is:
* A logical, general description
* A schematic summary
* An organizational pattern
* A visual and conceptual design of your writing
An outline reflects logical thinking and clear classification.
Purpose
• Aids in the process of writing
• Helps you organize your ideas
• Presents your material in a logical form
• Shows the relationships among ideas in your writing
• Constructs an ordered overview of your writing
• Defines boundaries and groups
Process
Before you begin:
• Determine the purpose of your paper.
• Determine the audience you are writing for.
• Develop the thesis of your paper.
Then:
• Brainstorm: List all the ideas that you want to include in your paper.
• Organize: Group related ideas together.
• Order: Arrange material in subsections from general to specific or from abstract to concrete.
• Label: Create main and sub headings.
Theory
An outline has a balanced structure based on the following principles:
• Parallelism
• Coordination
• Subordination
• Division
Parallelism
Whenever possible, in writing an outline, coordinate heads should be expressed in parallel form. That is, nouns should be made parallel with nouns, verb forms with verb forms, adjectives with adjectives, and so on (Example: Nouns: computers, programs, users; Verbs: to compute, to program, to use; Adjectives: home computers, new programs, experienced users). Although parallel structure is desired, logical and clear writing should not be sacrificed simply to maintain parallelism. (For example, there are times when nouns and gerunds at the same level of an outline are acceptable.) Reasonableness and flexibility of form is preferred to rigidity.
Coordination
In outlining, those items which are of equal significance have comparable numeral or letter designations: an A is equal to a B, a 1 to a 2, an a to a b, etc. Coordinates should be seen as having the same value. Coordination is a principle that enables a writer to maintain a coherent and consistent document.
Correct coordination
A. Word processing programs
B. Database programs
C. Spreadsheet programs
Faulty coordination
A. Word processing programs
B. Microsoft Word
C. Page Maker
Explanation: Word is a type of word processing program and should be treated as a subdivision. Page Maker is a type of desktop publishing program. One way to correct coordination would be:
A. Types of programs
1. Word processing
2. Desktop publishing
B. Evaluation of programs
1. Word processing
a. Word
b. Word Perfect
2. Desktop Publishing
a. Page Maker
b. Quark Express
Subordination
In order to indicate levels of significance, an outline uses major and minor headings. Thus in ordering ideas, you should organize it from general to specific or from abstract to concrete- the more general or abstract the term, the higher the level or rank in the outline. This principle allows your material to be ordered in terms of logic and requires a clear articulation of the relationship between component parts used in the outline. Subdivisions of each higher division should always have the same relationship to the whole.
Correct subordination
A. Word processing programs
1. Microsoft Word
2. Word Perfect
B. Desktop publishing programs
1. PageMaker
2. Quark Express
Faulty subordination
A. Word processing programs
1. Word
2. Useful
3. Obsolete
Explanation: There is an A without a B. Also 1, 2, and 3 are not equal; Word is a type of word processing program, and useful and obsolete are qualities. One way to correct this faulty subordination is:
A. Word
1. Positive features
2. Negative features
B. Word Perfect
1. Positive features
2. Negative features
Division
To divide you always need at least two parts; therefore, there can never be an A without a B, a 1 without a 2, an a without a b, etc. Usually there is more than one way to divide parts; however, when dividing use only one basis of division at each rank, and make the basis of division as sharp as possible.
Correct division
A. Personal computers: hardware
1. Types
2. Cost
3. Maintenance
B. Personal computers: software
Faulty division
A. Computers
1. Mainframe
2. Micro
a. Floppy disk
b. Hard disk
B. Computer uses
1. Institutional
2. Personal
Form
• The most important rule for outlining form is to be consistent!
• An outline can use topic or sentence structure.
• A topic outline uses words or phrases for all entries and uses no punctuation after entries.
• Advantages: presents a brief overview of work and is generally easier and faster to write than a sentence outline.
• A sentence outline uses complete sentences for all entries and uses correct punctuation.
• Advantages: presents a more detailed overview of work including possible topic sentences and is easier and faster for writing the final paper.
Source:
“Research Papers: Outline.” The Owl at Purdue. 2004. Internet Public Library. 11 February 2005.
