Step one

Select a topic for research and consider different ways to examine your topic

The first step of a research paper is deciding on a topic. For this section, a sample topic is prayer and healing.

Most topics can be examined from different perspectives, such has political, ethical, medical, historical or environmental. For example, an ethical perspective on this topic might focus on whether medical treatment can be denied by parents for their children based on religious beliefs. A political or financial perspective on this topic might lead to the question: If prayer is proven to aid healing, should government dollars support religious institutions to lower health care costs?

Main point: Select a topic and then consider possible ways to look at the topic.