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Study Section 15: An Example of a Research Paper

15.1 Connect

It won’t be long before your professor will ask you to turn in a research paper on a topic. Hopefully,
you now know what to do when that day comes. A really good way to learn is to observe what others
have done. So, today we want you to preview a research paper written by one of the professors at
Ambassador International University. You will see as you look at his biography that he has used a
considerable number of resources in preparation to writing this paper. If he found information in his
research that pertained to the topic, he would present it, always making sure he footnoted the source of the
information. He did that for two reasons. He wanted his readers to be able to read more on the topic by obtaining
the source document. But more importantly, he wanted to acknowledge that the information was derived from
other sources. He wanted to be honest in that he presented to the reader the source of information; it was
“borrowed” from another author. That is the purpose of a footnote and is very important in research papers. So,
let’s look at our professor’s paper and see what we can learn from it…

15.2 Objectives

1. The student should read the paper presented, observing the author’s methods of footnoting and
creating a bibliography.

15.3 An Example of a Research Paper

Written by Justin Siame, M.A.B.E.

The following research paper was written to introduce a
study on the book of Thessalonians for a course taught at
AIU. It required some extensive research and
documentation. Pictured to the right are Justin Siame with his bride,
Namakau. This paper is presented as an example to you of what is entailed in writing a research paper on an
assigned topic. Note his extensive use of footnotes!

Historical Backdrop of Thessalonica

The book of Thessalonians was written to a church located in Thessalonica, on the northeastern seaboard

side of Greece. Today it is called Thessaloniki. It is located at the intersection of two major Roman roads, one
leading from Italy eastward call the Ignatia Way, and the other from the Danube to the Aegean. Thessalonica’s

location and use as a port made it a prominent city. In 168 BC it became the capital of the second district of
Macedonia and later it was made the capital and major port of the whole Roman province of Macedonia (146 BC).

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