Survey paper involves the interpretation that a professional college paper writers researcher draws out after review and analysis of various published research work on a given topic. This means that the researcher should have a conclusion to draw or a point to make by collecting information from a wide range of previous research papers.
What is the Goal of a Survey Paper?
Survey papers aim at providing the reader with a comprehensive well-structured and organized view of the previous works. You do not necessarily have to include all the details, but you should make sure that your paper completely covers all the relevant sources and materials. Organize your analysis in a logical structure to enable the reader follow through smoothly.
Survey research papers are often used in psychology, sociology, business, marketing and public health. It requires a researcher to conduct a survey, which entails seeking for answers to particular questions to respondents. You need to gather specific information on social facts, knowledge, and opinions by interacting with the respondents in order to analyze their behavior in particular conditions.
Structure/ Format of Survey Paper
The structure
Survey papers adopt the same style as a typical research paper with;
• Title
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Body Paragraphs
• Conclusion
• References
How to Write a Survey Research paper
Collect previous papers- The first step in writing a survey paper is to collect as much previous research work as possible. Make sure that the work you are collecting is related to the topic or subject of study.
Summarize the papers- Read and review the collected papers in your words. Note their features and limitations in your wordings and sentences. Make sure to include an introduction, methodology and Discussion parts.
Analyze the Papers-Include your comment on the provided approach and solution in each of the papers.
Conclusion -Draw conclusion from your review and analysis. Include a discussion on the direction for future research direction and summarize
How to Find Research materials
To find previous research work for your survey paper, you need to search for manual and digital libraries. You may link up with the librarian to help you get journals/ articles related to the field of study. Alternatively, you can search various sites like google scholar for course-related journals and articles to survey. After you have searched for various articles, you need to choose the ones that are closely related or significant to the topic or subject of study.
How to Pick a Source for Survey
You may pick on book chapters, as they provide easier understandable content and exhaustive description that may offer you a head start in your writing. However, book chapters may not be up-to-date as previous research papers and articles. Pick a published research paper or article that are related to each other in one way or the other and are within your field of study, then write a survey paper based on them. Choose papers and articles from renowned authors, conferences or journals. Also, it is recommended that you go for the most recent publications.
Referencing Outward Sources
Always ensure that you provide the reference to the outward sources using in-text citation and list of reference. This includes references to the text, a list of figures and diagrams borrowed from the sources as long as you give appropriate credit or acknowledgement to the original authors. Rephrase the texts and draw your figures to indicate the structure or classification of the survey. You may also use tables to arrange or organize the comparisons between systems, applications and others. To cite a reference, you need to include full information about the paper, including page title, author’s name, year of publication, publication details, page numbers, etc. depending on the recommended paper format from your instructor.
