37 Assignment Guidelines: Exploratory Essay
The Exploratory Essay
What is an Exploratory Essay?
An exploratory essay is designed to investigate a topic through critical inquiry and present the research findings to an audience. This type of essay allows the writer to examine existing research, evaluate key trends, and provide relevant insights. Exploratory essays can take various forms depending on the context. For example:
- In the social sciences, it can resemble a literature review, assessing prior research to inform new interpretations or identify gaps for further study.
- In business, exploratory essays may take the form of market analyses or environmental scans, identifying and analyzing key factors that inform strategic decisions.
Unlike a research paper, an exploratory essay does not to argue a thesis. The goal is to explore, analyze, and present findings in an organized way.
This purpose of this exploratory essay in CRIT 602 is for you to compile and synthesize the research you’ve done into trends in your field and demonstrate how this research can help guide your decisions regarding your academic career.
This is not an analytical paper. You are presenting information and drawing conclusions based on your research, but you are not tasked with providing a thesis statement. You should have a clear purpose stated, but your aim is to show your audience the information you’ve collected this term and explore the contexts and trends in the field that you’ve discovered. After presenting that information, you’ll want to discuss assumptions and implications you see and how this newfound information would affect your audience’s academic and career goals.
Purdue University has an excellent site that describes how to approach writing an exploratory essay. As you plan your paper, please use the Assignment Guidelines below in conjunction with the Purdue OWL sources on Organizing an Exploratory Essay, as well as other resources found on that website. Remember: this is NOT a research paper- you are to EXPLORE the research you have compiled throughout this term and present it an organized and synthesized way.
Although there are many ways to write an essay like this, a sample of a strong Exploratory Essay can be found here. Any assignment submitted later than three days after the due date will receive a zero for the assignment.
- ALL essays should be formatted using APA style and in-text citations (or citation format used in your major or industry).
- You should include a Works Cited page or Bibliography
- Even though this is an exploratory, partially reflective, essay, it should use formal language and adhere to common grammatical and stylistic guidelines.
Exploratory Essay Guidelines
For CRIT 602, your exploratory essay will address the following guiding question:
How will current trends, concerns, and research in my academic discipline inform the decisions I make about my academic and professional development or personal interests?
Your essay should provide credible information to help your audience, who are at a similar stage of academic and professional development, understand key trends in your field. Your readers expect you to present and evaluate this information, demonstrating your ability to synthesize and analyze the research you’ve gathered over the term.
Purpose & Content
The primary goal of this essay is to present your research findings and conclusions. Specifically, your audience wants to know:
- How are the different contexts you researched related?
- Are there trends, contradictions, or controversies?
- What employment trends or professional developments have emerged?
- Are there assumptions in your field that should be reconsidered?
- How will you apply your research findings to your own academic and professional development?
Your essay should explore these areas, and while no thesis statement is required, you must have a clear purpose. The goal is to synthesize the research findings, examine trends, and discuss their implications for your future academic and professional decisions.
Structure of the Exploratory Essay
Introduction:
- Provide context about your field and introduce your purpose.
- Define your audience: individuals at a similar stage of academic and professional development.
- No thesis or argument is needed; instead, focus on your purpose for exploring this topic.
Body:
- Analysis of Research Findings:
- Discuss the research contexts you’ve explored throughout the term.
- Connect your findings across different sources and contexts.
- Present the information cohesively rather than as a list of findings.
- Contextual Influence and Assumptions:
- Reflect on your assumptions about the field before and after conducting your research.
- Explain how external factors (beyond higher education) shape the field.
- Identify trends, patterns, contradictions, or controversies within your research.
- Evaluate the influence of employment and professional trends on the field.
Conclusion:
- Summarize key conclusions from your research.
- Discuss the most relevant external contexts and trends for someone at your academic stage.
- Address how your research findings will influence your own academic and professional decisions.
- Reflect on how these insights may apply to your readers’ goals and aspirations.
References:
- Ensure all sources are properly cited using the citation style appropriate to your major (APA, MLA, or Chicago).
- Include a Works Cited page or Bibliography.
Formatting the Exploratory Essay
Paper Length, Format & Citation of Sources
The body of your paper should be a minimum of 7-10 pages.
Your paper must align with the style guide used by your major: American Psychological Association (APA), Modern Language Association (MLA), or Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS). Use the following sample papers to ensure that you’re following the style conventions appropriately:
For questions about citation format for the most common sources of information, you can begin with the CPS Library & Information Commons:
For questions about citation format for sources that don’t exactly fit the customary models, consult the style manual or go to the applicable site below, and type your question in the search box. Chances are that someone else has already asked the question and received an answer:
Integrating Research Findings into the Exploratory Essay
The following link to the Excelsior Online Writing Lab (OWL) will take you to resources for paragraphing, summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting. The resources are intended for writing traditional research papers; however, they apply to our Exploratory Essay as well:
