Final answer:
Select a focused topic for a 4-6 page research paper, such as narrowing climate change to a specific aspect, choose a relevant human concern theme, and use brainstorming methods to develop your topic. Then, compare scholarly and non-scholarly literature and provide strong reasoning and evidence in your paper, concluding with a summary that reiterates your thesis.
Step-by-step explanation:
When considering the best topic for a research paper that is four to six pages in length, focus and depth are key. For instance, if the broad subject is climate change, you could narrow it down to examine the impact of climate change on a specific ecosystem or industry.
This allows for a thorough exploration of the topic within the page constraint. Another good approach is to select a theme that intersects with major human concerns such as economics, education, or health, and then explore it through a compilation of relevant stories or case studies.
These stories could highlight the theme from different angles, creating a rich and insightful research paper.
When brainstorming for the paper, methods such as mind mapping, listing, or free writing can help in the development of the topic. These techniques may help identify which issues you are most passionate about or which one you have more to say on, within the context of the assignment parameters.
Once the topic is determined, the research phase begins, where both scholarly and non-scholarly literature are compared and contrasted, and the scientific evidence is assessed for its support of your thesis. Based on that, the thesis may either be reaffirmed or amended accordingly.
The argumentative portion of the paper then presents strong reasoning and evidence, carefully documenting and referencing supporting points. Finally, a summary and conclusion will tie everything together, reiterating the thesis and the main findings of the paper.