A research paper can be argumentative (topic should be debatable or controversial) or analytical (informative research with critical interpretation or sources). 

Benefits from the Extended Essay process:

• Learn tremendous knowledge about your topic
• Learn how to conduct academic research
• How to write a formal academic paper
• Develop your creative and critical thinking skills

How to strengthen your research:

• Your primary and secondary sources give validation to your research. The more sources you have, the broader your understanding of your topic 
• Remember the type of source you use determines the quality of your information
• scholarly source or peer reviewed source 

Remember to Scaffold your research by breaking it down into steps. This helps you to stay on track and makes the tasks less intimidating.

An Annotated Bibliography is a great tool for research.  It helps you to organize your research.  Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the source for your research.

• What is the author’s purpose (thesis)?  Look at the introduction and conclusion
• Who is the author audience? Look at how the information is organized, what are the main sections, what is emphasized, why.
• Look at the opening sentence in the paragraphs to get an idea of the main point of the paragraph.
• Is this information useful for your paper?