The focus of this research paper is about gambling problems in a culture or certain population. It is as important as an exam and is worth 50 points. The way you write this paper needs to be professional, and APA style is recommended but not required. Points will be taken off for errors and too casual of a presentation.
Choose a topic relating to problem gambling that you are interested in. Name the heading of your paper to coincide with your main point. (For example, “Family Problems Relating to Gambling,” or “Women and Gambling,” or “A Comparison of Sports Bettors and Casino Gamblers.”)
While choosing your topic, consider all kinds of gambling, all kinds of culture, environment, sociology or geography, and all kinds of impact from the individual to the national levels.
Open with a statement of why you chose your specific area of research in the first paragraph of your paper, along with what you hoped to discover and what you did discover as you looked up your reference material.
As early as week 1 but no later than week 7, email me your idea for the paper via the WebCampus , and get it approved before you begin. Your idea needs to include one journal reference so I can see you know how to find a journal. This message can be as short as two sentences; I don’t need an outline.
Start your research by finding reputable, scientific, peer-reviewed journals, such as the Journal of Gambling Behavioror any other journal with the word “Gambling”, “Behavior,” “Addiction” or a similar focus in the title. (Click here for the the UNR library system’s journal search page (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.).)
You must have at least one, preferably two journal articles cited in your bibliography to get full points on this research paper.
You may choose other kinds of articles; however, beware of their sources and be sure to note if the source is simply writing an editorial opinion. Editorial opinion is not research.
The style of this paper is “APA Style,” or using the style recommended by the American Psychological Association. I recommend you watch a tutorial such as this one linked on the UNR library site (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.). If you have never used APA style research paper writing before, please go to the above link, download and watch the tutorial, so that you will gain the knowledge you need to achieve success for this and other papers you’ll be writing in the field of human services.
Total pages for the content of this paper should be between four and six, double-spaced, no larger than 12-point font. The final page should be the bibliography, and with the title page, abstract, etc. it may add up to eight or ten pages. You must have at least four full pages of content.
The paper should have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Beware of the temptation of writing as if you are talking to a friend: that is not a professional style.
In addition to your own proofreading, it is advisable to get another person to look over your work. Another set of eyes, a person who knows how to spell and punctuate, or a person who edits papers regularly is invaluable in the writing process. Part of your grade will be based on proper spelling, punctuation, grammar, and writing style.
In grading this paper, I’m looking for the following and weight the score accordingly:
Quality Percent
Clarity, scientific quality, and pertinence to problem gambling 70
Error-free and professional quality 30
Submit the paper as an attachment, as you do with all papers in this course, directly into the assignment in WebCampus.
The papers written for this course must be your own original writing, and must not have been used in any other courses.
