The research essay is a scientific form of writing, one which is typically done for social science courses or as a follow up assignment to a lab or experiment you conducted. Research based writing is less creative, has more a formal structure, and requires you to back up everything you claim with evidence. Evidence can come in the form of data, statistics, or quotes from an expert in the field, etc…

Research essays require you to spend time, as the name would suggest, researching the topic. Your goal is to learn as much about your topic as possible so that you can support each claim you make and refute any opposition.

When you are working on a piece like this, you want to first brainstorm some topics that are of personal interest to you. The more interested you are in the topic, the easier the research will be and the more passionate your arguments. If you are already familiar to some degree with a topic that is even better because it will reduce the amount of time you spend on background research. If possible, you can always tie in two or more ideas about which seem to you challenging and exciting. For example, you can relate your topic of Apache Native Americans to cultural changes in the US, so long as you present evidence to support your claims….