Ethics Research Paper: Detailed Guide on How to Craft It with Ease

An ethics research paper is an academic piece of writing that focuses on various topics in the ethics field of study. The research paper may be based on deontology, social issues, morality, and theories that explain human social behaviors, such as egoism and utilitarianism. Developing a research paper follows an original investigation of particular ethics topics, analysis of gathered material, and interpretation of the research findings to form inferences. Your professor may ask you to write a research paper on any field of the ethics areas of study. Other requirements may focus on the purpose of the paper such as exploring people’s views regarding certain moral issues such as abortion.

Questions you should ask yourself before beginning the research paper writing process include:

 

• What ethics research topics do I choose and how do I begin the ethics research paper?
• What gaps exist in current research regarding the chosen topic and where do I find adequate and relevant information?
• How do I formulate the research paper title, thesis statement, hypothesis, and research questions?
• What form of research is appropriate for my paper and why?
• Do I need current and scholarly sources for my research or do I need to base the paper on any kind of information concerning ethical topics?

 

 

This ethics research paper writing guide provides a step-by-step outline that will help you write a high-quality ethics research paper. Writing a research paper is a tedious process that may consume considerable time during your study period. Therefore, you should consider it a significant part of your education process. If necessary, ensure to approach professional writers at some  service for get help in research paper writing. They help both ESL and American students write quality ethics essays and research papers. The ethics research paper writing tips presented below help you learn how to craft an A-grade ethics research paper easily. The first and important element in the writing process entails deciding on what to research and write about. Therefore, coming up with an ethics research topic is an important first step in the writing process.

Picking a Suitable Topic for Your Ethics Research Paper

A topic in your research paper forms the main organizing principle that guides the analysis of your ethics research paper. A topic offers an occasion for writing and a sense of focus that governs what one intends to convey through the paper. Thus, the topic you select for your paper should present the core subject matter of your area of study. The ruling principle in topic selection concerns passion. In other words, select topics that interest and challenge you because the topics that drain your interest and those that do not offer adequate challenges contribute to loss of enthusiasm and diminish the efforts you may put towards researching and putting the research paper together. Choosing a research topic is not an easy task even when you have readily available ideas. Your professors use three ways to ask you to write about a research problem in ethics:

• The lecturer may provide a general topic from which you are expected to study a particular aspect and explore in writing;
• The professor may provide you with a list of possible topics on ethics;
• The professor may provide you with the freedom to choose a topic for your research paper.

If you are given a topic:

• Identify concepts and terms that make up a topic statement and the paper content;
• Review available literature to help you refine your approach and focus on the topic;
• Search for the sources you can use to expound on your main arguments and look for the sources of criticism, new ideas, and historical perspectives from the literature;
• Outline your paper based on the gathered information;

If the lecturer provides a list of possible topics:

• Search and review the available literature on each of the topics to identify those with adequate resource materials;
• Choose the topics with readily available information;
• Identify the scope of the subject matter to ensure it is neither too narrow nor too broad; in this case, check topics that are manageable based on the research paper length and intended scope;
• Select a topic that interests you and fits the objectives of the research paper.

If the lecturer requires you to identify an issue for analysis:

• Brainstorm for ideas by exploring any ideas and strong opinions you have on ethical issues such as abortion, contraceptives, and assisted suicide, among other possible ideas. The ideas can be developed from daily occurrence, media coverage or from conversing with peers about ethical and moral issues. Try to remember recent topics or information acquired recently that piqued your interest in ethics topics.
• Conduct research by scanning through ethics journals, articles, and books to gain an overview of an appropriate research topic based on already written paper, gaps in the literature, or subtopics in ethics. Reading information on various topics that constitute the ethics field of study allows you to see how ideas relate and the scope of topics.
• Focus on a probable research topic to ensure it is manageable. In this case, once you have settled on a topic, use limiters and expanders to ensure it is not too broad or too narrow. You can use limiters such as eras. For instance, you can select to focus your research topic on Socrates ethics. However, you cannot settle on a topic such as ‘The Contribution of Socrates to Ethics,’ because the noted topic is too broad. In this case, you can use limiters, such as an era or an element during Socrates’ development of moral philosophy. For example, you can limit the topic to, ‘An Analysis of Socrates Idea of Ethics in Euthyphro.’
• Define the chosen topic as a research question by formulating questions about the topic. A research question also helps to limit and broaden the research topic and its scope.

Possible topics for your ethics research paper include:

• The Intractable Difficulties for the Doctrine of Double Effect: The Problem of Closeness and Focus on Concern;
• Explore Utilitarian and Deontological Ethical Perspectives on Organ Transplant;
• Abortion and Ethics: The Philosophy of Aristotle and David Hume;
• Ethical Issues in Stem Cell Research and Human Cloning;
• Gay Adoption: an Ethical Examination.

Formulating an Appropriate Thesis Statement for Your Ethics Research Paper

A thesis statement is an important element of your research paper because it presents the paper’s arguments and your position on the claims. The thesis statement should provoke an analysis, describe ideas, and provide direction for your research paper. Therefore, your ethics research paper should have a strong thesis statement that articulates the unifying theme of your paper. When creating a thesis statement, ensure:

• It presents the research paper main argument;
• It provides your position on the argument;
• It makes a connection between the major argument of your paper and evidence provided in the research paper paragraphs;
• It provides room for the intended audience to refute the articulated claims. Importantly, your thesis statement should present a point of view that readers and other writers can agree or disagree with. It should also provide reasons for choosing specific claims over the others.

An Appropriate Structure for Your Ethics Research Paper as Advised by Our Writers

An ethics research paper has three main sections just as any other type of paper. However, a scientific research paper comprises six major parts, namely the title, the abstract, the introduction, the body, the conclusion, and the reference section. The variation results from the topic selected, the intended type of research, and the length of the research paper. The body section of a scientific investigation that involves exploring people’s views on certain ethical practices may have various sub-sections, such as methods, results, and discussion.

• Title of the research paper. In addition to the topic of your research paper, you should have a title that defines your research. This title often appears on its own and is the first aspect that a reader sees. The presentation of the title on the research paper may vary depending on the chosen writing style because different writing conventions have varied requirements concerning how the title page of your research paper should appear. However, common elements include the name of the author, the title of the research paper, and the publication date.
• Abstract. Your professor may ask you not to include an abstract. However, it is appropriate for research papers on ethics to present a brief section that describes the research, states its significant and major arguments, and summarizes the general conclusions. The abstract is written last despite appearing at the beginning of the research paper.
• Introduction. The introduction part of your ethics research paper should comprise about 10% of your research paper. Depending on the topic and length of the paper, the length of the introduction may vary. This implies that it may go beyond the noted 10%. The introduction should articulate the aim of the ethics research paper, background information concerning the discussion topic, the significance of the research paper, the intended audience, the purpose statement, the outline of the paper, and the thesis statement.
• Body. The body of your research paper forms the main part of the study. All the major arguments should be discussed here, either in prose or using subtopics. The research paper body should present your claims on a particular ethics research topic, provide relevant evidence that supports your arguments, counter-arguments and supporting data, and relevant existing literature. Each major argument should be presented in a stand-alone paragraph with a topic sentence. You should then provide the supporting evidence by giving facts, statistics, or information from the existing literature on the chosen ethics topic of discussion. Often, listing one fact as supporting evidence is not sufficient. Thus, you need to list more than one fact. The body section can appear as indicated below.
  Paragraph 1: Main idea 1 with a topic sentence
  Supporting evidence 1 with facts, statistics, existing literature
  Supporting evidence 2 with facts, statistics, existing literature
  Paragraph 2: Main idea 2 with a topic sentence
  Supporting evidence 1 with facts, statistics, existing literature
  Supporting evidence 2 with facts, statistics, existing literature

As indicated earlier, some ethics research papers requiring people’s opinions are more elaborated and are based on the scientific method of inquiry. If your selected ethics research paper is based on a purely scientific method of inquiry, the body section of your paper should have more than thematic paragraphs. In this case, you need to divide the paragraph into sections that explain how you will gather information (opinions) from individuals, how you will analyze the gathered data, and your discussion of the analysis and findings.

• Methodology. The methodology section highlights the methods you use to gather information. In this section, you need to discuss the subjects of your study, how you recruited them, and the instruments and materials you used to gather data.
• Results/Findings. In this section, you should highlight the main features of the collected information by providing a complete description of the study participants’ opinions. The presentation can be done in tables and figures where possible. For instance, you can tabulate the mean and standard deviation of people who believe that abortion is ethically appropriate and those who have a contrary opinion.
• Discussion. Findings from your analysis should be presented in this section along with your interpretation of the results. In this section, you need to compare your findings with theoretical frameworks and findings from the existing literature. The discussion section should also highlight your response to the research questions.
• Conclusion. The conclusion of your ethics research paper should summarize your research paper and restate your thesis statement. A good conclusion should restate and not simply repeat your thesis statement, present a summary of synthesized research findings, and provide recommendations and implications of your ethics research.
• Reference Section. The reference section highlights the literature cited. Use appropriate formats as dictated by your professor or by your chosen writing convention.

Post Writing Tips to Add the Finishing Touches

Once you are done with your ethics research paper, take a break, preferably one day before engaging in the research paper review. The break provides you with a new outlook once you go through your paper. If one day is too much, take at least one hour break. You should review paragraph issues, sentence-level issues, and content coherence.