Edited on April, 2021

How to start a research paper on abortion

Abortion is one ethical issue that falls under the category of ethical issues that are very much problematic to resolve because it coincides with different cultural and religious implications. The discourse on abortion reaches many levels and branches and it is broad in nature. Writing a research paper on abortion requires recognition of different perspectives in order to build a multifaceted discourse that would be well understood by different kinds of readers.

Tips on how to start

In starting a research paper on abortion, first, determine what specific topic about abortion you would want to research. This may be based on your interest or from reading various literature on abortion. What of this information that you know and you have read about sparks your interest?

Interest is however not enough. A topic needs to be researchable. One cannot actually choose any topic on abortion without examining if it is a good one to research. When we say a researchable topic, this means that your research questions may be answered by your research. Or that it should be able to be answered within the timeframe of your research.

After you have chosen a topic, you may start coming up with an outline of your research.

Example of an outline

An example outline for your research paper may be the following:

• Introduction

A. Subject matter
B. Statement of the problem
C. History of the problem

• Body
• Section 1

A. Extent of the problem
B. Related literature (Examples, stories, facts)

• Section 2

A. Cause and Effect
B. Repercussions in contemporary times

• Section 3

A. Possible solutions

• Conclusion

A. Relate back to the intro
B. Restate thesis

Example of a good thesis statement for an abortion research paper

A thesis or hypothesis is the researcher’s perception of the result of the study. This is based on knowledge, observations, or other study results.

Examples may be:

• The reason why women resort to abortion is mostly that they are not prepared for the pregnancy.
• Most of the people resorting to abortion are teenagers.
• Most women who go on abortion do the act by themselves.
• The most common method used by women in abortion is by taking abortifacients.

Example of an introduction to an abortion research paper

Abortion is the termination of pregnancy before it is viable, usually before the pregnancy is before its 25th week. There are two types of abortion, spontaneous and induced. Spontaneous abortion is one that occurs naturally due to some complications during pregnancy or due to trauma occurring to the mother or the fetus. Induced abortion is one that was done intentionally. More and more teenagers opt to undergo induced abortion in the US. Trends in the number of abortions by females aged 13 to 18 show a significant increase from 2015 to 2016 ( this should be supported by statistical data from reliable source/s).

To be able to know why teenagers resort to this practice, the study has the following specific questions:

• Determine the circumstances that lead to the pregnancy.
• Determine the reasons why the respondents opted to terminate their pregnancy.
• Identify the methodology they used to terminate their pregnancy.

How to write body paragraphs for a research paper on abortion

The body of the paper covers the methodology and the results from the data gathering. Paragraphs on the methodology part may be subdivided into the methodology to be used; how to do data gathering using the methodology; the number of respondents needed in the study and a description of the respondents; and how long the data gathering will be done.

For the results and discussion, the paragraphs may contain a little introduction on the general findings and then each paragraph will contain the answer to each question asked in the interview or survey and the results of the survey or interview. This is followed by an interpretation of the data gathered.

Tips on body writing

• Determine the number of respondents that you need. Take only a few samples from the total number of possible respondents. A good number will help you get good data and also save you time.
• Research on good methodologies to be used that match the type of research you are using. Some questions are answered by surveys, some by interviews, and some by observations.
• Provide statistical data as well as observations on your presentation of data. If some of the respondents have stated something you know is good to include on the paper, then include it on the paper.
• Be truthful with what you will write on the results even if it is different from what you have expected. You shouldn’t also plagiarize and provide proper citations if you need to support your findings with other researches from other authors. This is one of the ethics of research writing.
• If you used many different methods and you have a lot of data, divide these per theme and then present it per theme to make your data presentation organized.

Example of the 1st body paragraph

For the first body paragraph on the presentation of data one may write the following:

There are various circumstances that lead to the pregnancy of the respondents, most answers were because of curiosity. However, some of the respondents got pregnant because of rape. In a nutshell, there is a number of other reasons among the most widespread.

Example of the 2nd body paragraph

There are various reasons that made the respondents opt to have their pregnancy terminated. Most of the answers are due to reasons that they are not yet ready for the pregnancy. Based on national statistics from research done by (mention author and year), most females aged 13-17 terminate their pregnancy also due to the same reason.

Example of the 3rd body paragraph

The methodologies used by the respondents to terminate their pregnancy were the use of abortifacients on their own, going to a licensed medical practitioner, going to an unlicensed abortionist, and doing it on their own with the help of a friend or partner. Most of them opted for the use of abortifacients. Most of them said that it is easy to buy such medicine online. Some respondents also sought medical help and a few respondents did the termination by themselves.

How to finish a research paper on abortion

To finish a research paper, write a concluding paragraph. This summarizes the findings, also still answering the research questions.

Tips on conclusion writing

In writing a conclusion, a writer may write one paragraph that summarizes all the findings. Make sure that the main answer to each research question should be stated in the conclusion. A student may write one or two sentence/s to provide an answer to each of the research questions.

Example of a conclusion

From data gathered in the research paper, the main reason that leads to pregnancy among teenage females in the US is curiosity. The main reason, on the other hand for terminating the pregnancy, is because they are not yet ready to face parental responsibilities. Thus, there should be a huge work done to inform teenage females about all the negative impacts of interrupting pregnancy so as to ensure that abortion was a well-thought-out decision.

Tips on research paper revision

Revising a research paper will be less taxing than starting one. The following should be taken note of.

• Take note of the revisions suggested by the editor or adviser and do those revisions first.
• Do revisions per section or per chapter so it will be easier.
• Read more on additional sources that might be helpful for revisions.
• Check your grammar as well when doing the revisions.
• Read the write-up thoroughly after the revision to check if the flow is still well even after adding up more information.
• It is also helpful to ask somebody to read your paper to check if it is understood by the reader and also to help proofread the paper.