Nutrition and Dietetics are broad fields of study that involve principles of human nutrition, health promotion, and education, physical sciences, basic biochemistry, human anatomy, and physiology, to name a few. Writing a research paper on nutrition is challenging for students because of the broad topics that fall under the area of study. Crafting an essay takes time and requires intense research, in-depth understanding of the subject, data analysis, and proficient writing skills. This nutrition research paper writing guide will help you boost your research paper writing skills and get high grades in your nutrition research paper assignment. Each step is essential to take.
How to Choose a Topic for Your Nutrition Research Paper
It is harder to deal with the assigned topics than to choose one yourself because you have no idea of where to begin, how to begin, and what your instructor expects from you. However, it is likely that your tutor will provide requirements that will help you along the way. With or without a set of instructions, students select topics from their area of interest. Although this may not be the best method to choose a topic, it is pretty viable. However, the other approaches may be used as well. The following tips will help you get through the topic selection process.
Brainstorm. Brainstorming will require you to identify the key events, ideas, facts or controversies that may be needed to write up a research paper in nutrition studies. Although you may come up with numerous ideas, the freedom of choice comes at a price. Thus, you need to narrow the ideas down to come up with a specific nutrition issue.
Eliminate. Once you are done with brainstorming, you need to eliminate ideas and themes that do not sound like good topics to write about. You may need to conduct research to check the availability of information regarding nutrition studies and set an angle that can be explored further.
Consider the audience. Your research paper is written for a specific audience. Figure out what your target audience is since it’s essential when it comes to analyzing and selecting a hot topic. You should respond to the questions like ‘Who am I writing for? Is it just my tutor, or will other people be interested in my research as well? Will I be interested in publishing my research paper if given a chance?’ Once you know the answers to the questions, you can come up with an essay topic within your area of study.
At any stage of work, ensure to seek help from peers or your professor, or re-consider a research paper topic.
Asking for help. At this point, you know roughly what you want to write about. Probably, you have other suggestions listed on the margins of your paper. It is important to ask other people what they think about your choice, whether it will make a good read or not.
Reuse topics. When conducting research, you may come across numerous research papers within the nutrition and dietary field of study. You can easily select the topic based on the existing research papers. However, re-using such topics may require you to analyze and write a paper from a different angle.
Below are some examples of nutrition and dietary research paper topics:
- The Interrelation Between Blood Lipids and Human Atherosclerosis;
- The Way Diet Can Be Used to Mitigate the Effects of Hypertension;
- The Benefits of Consuming Whole Foods;
- The Usefulness of Using Hydro-Alcoholic Extract of Lagenaria Siceraria Fruits to Reduce Blood Cholesterol;
- The Benefits of Whole Foods for Human Health.
Pre-Writing Tips for the Research Paper
Freewriting. This strategy gives you the freedom to write when drafting a paper. For ten minutes or so, you should note down anything and everything that pops up in your head regarding the topic. Don’t pay attention to grammar, spelling, or correctness of any kind. If the ideas appear one after another, just write them down and go with the flow. You may begin freewriting with or without a specific topic for your research paper. With a topic, you will have a guide.
Clustering. Meet one of the ideal mapping, mind mapping, and tree mapping options. Start by writing a major idea and circling it at the center of the piece of paper. Subsequently, draw lines to other circles containing sub-ideas or issues relating to the main nutrition concept. As you work off the core, you may try to group ideas or cluster them so that a pattern begins to emerge.
Organized notes. Putting notes in order is perhaps the most important first step on your way to writing the rough draft. The process ensures that the notes you took while freewriting, clustering, and researching are well-organized. For the best results, you should organize the notes as you conduct your research. However, even if you have done so, review all notes after completing the research process to organize them again. Before you work on the draft, ensure to put your notes in categories according to each supporting idea.
Outline. A detailed paper outline should be constructed before you start writing. The outline should touch on:
- The thesis statement;
- Each paragraph’s main idea, and the major points that will be used to support it;
- The sources you will use in each paragraph;
- How each paragraph will transition to the next;
- The introduction, the body, and the conclusion for the entire paper.
Coming Up with an Appropriate Title for Your Research Paper
A good research paper may lack a strong readership base because of a floppy title. The title of your research paper should be appropriate for the chosen topic and should present the paper’s objective. Formulating a good title involves ensuring that it accomplishes four goals:
- A good title predicts the content of the research paper;
- An appropriate title should be interesting to the reader;
- The title should reflect the tone of the writing;
- The title should contain keywords that will make it easier to detect the article during a keyword search.
Here are additional tips you can use to ensure your title adds to the effectiveness of your nutrition research paper:
- Ensure your research title describes the topic, the method, the sample, and the results of your study. You can use the following formula:
[Result]: A [method] study of [topic] among [sample].
Example: Meditation makes nutritionists perform better: A qualitative study of mindfulness meditation among Australian nutrition and dietitian students. - Avoid unnecessary words and jargon. Your title should be understandable even to people who are not experts in this field of study.
- Ensure your title is between 5 and 15 words in length.
- Verify that your title meets the standards and requirements of your academic outlet. For example, universities require students to provide titles that take a specific form. This limits your creativity. Ensure you adhere to the University requirements.
How to Develop the Body Paragraphs that Look Genuinely: Expert Advice from Our Writers
A paragraph is a section that consists of related sentences that support one main idea. Usually, paragraphs consist of three parts, namely the topic sentence, the body sentences, and the transition sentence to the next paragraph. Your paragraphs should indicate where the subdivisions of a research paper begin and end. Thus, this will help the reader to see the organization of the research and to grasp its main points.
You need to understand that the paragraphs in the body section are the building blocks of the paper. You are unlikely to attain a good grade without well-written paragraphs that flow logically from one idea to the next. The paragraphs should inform and support the central research issue you are investigating.
The beginning section of the paragraph (the topic sentence) should explain the controlling idea of the paragraph. The last part of the paragraph should tell the reader the way it relates to the broader argument and should provide a transition to the next idea. In some cases, seasoned writers may decide that the topic sentence for a particular paragraph should not go at the beginning of it. It’s OK because the topic sentence can go at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a paragraph. What is more important is that it is the place where you inform the readers about the main idea of the paragraph and the way it relates back to the broader thesis of the research paper.
Your paragraph should not be more than a page long. The longer paragraphs are likely to contain more than one controlling idea. In this case, consider erasing sentences that relate to the second idea, as they may not inform and help to support the central research issue. Alternatively, split the paragraph into two or more paragraphs, each including only one controlling idea.
Given the information above, your body paragraphs should be:
- Unified. All of the sentences in a single paragraph should be related to a controlling idea usually mentioned in the topic sentence of the paragraph.
- Clearly related to the research problem.
- Coherent. The sentences should be arranged logically and follow a definite plan for development.
- Well-developed. Each idea debated in the paragraph should be adequately explained and supported using evidence, facts, and details that work together to explain the paragraph’s controlling idea.
You can organize a paragraph in your research paper in the following forms:
- A narrative that tells a story chronologically, from start to finish;
- A description that provides specific details concerning the way the topic appears;
- A process that documents and explains step-by-step how nutrition concepts work;
- A classification that separates the various parts of your nutrition topic into groups;
- An illustration that provides examples and explains the way the examples prove your point.
The General Structure of Your Research Paper
Most paragraphs have the three-part structure similar to the one of an academic research paper, with the intro, the body that includes facts and analysis, and the conclusion. Your paper should have this structure whether you are narrating, describing, comparing, contrasting, or analyzing information. Each part of the paragraph plays a significant role in communicating the meaning you intend to convey to the reader.
- Introduction. The introduction is the first section of a paragraph that includes the topic sentence and the other sentences that give background information or provide a transition. It should provide the research problem, the background information, the research objectives, and the thesis statement.
- Body. The body section goes right after the introduction. Use it to discuss the core idea with the help of facts, arguments, analysis, examples, and other relevant information. If your research paper is based on scientific inquiry, your body should have subsections that review the existing literature, the methods used to gather information or conduct the study, the findings of the research, and the discussion of the research outcomes.
- Conclusion. It is the final section of your research paper. It summarizes the connections between the information discussed in the body of the paragraph and the paragraph’s controlling idea. For long paragraphs, you may include a bridge sentence that introduces the next paragraph or the paper segment. In some instances, the bridge sentence can be given in the form of a question. However, use this rhetorical device carefully because ending paragraphs with a question may be pretty cumbersome.
Post-Writing Tips to Put the Dot
Make sure to proofread your research paper to eliminate grammatical errors and sentence structure problems. Re-read the paper to ensure the content flows logically and coherently. Finally, evaluate the referencing issues. You have to make certain you’ve got appropriate in-text citations, and the works cited page.