Example Outline

I. Introduction

A. Current Problem: Educational attainment rates are decreasing in the United States while healthcare costs are increasing.
B. Population/Area of Focus: Unskilled or low-skilled adult workersC. Key Terms:  healthy, well-educated
 
Thesis Statement: Because of their income deficit (cite sources) and general susceptibility to depression (cite sources), students who drop out of high school before graduation maintain a higher risk for physical and mental health problems later in life.

II. Background

A. Historical Employment Overview: Unskilled laborers in the past were frequently unionized and adequately compensated for their work (cite sources: I strongly suggest incorporating each specific source into you outline).
B. Historical Healthcare Overview: Unskilled laborers in the past were often provided adequate healthcare and benefits (cite sources: I strongly suggest incorporating each specific source into you outline).
C. Current Link between Education and Employment Type: Increasingly, uneducated workers work in unskilled or low-skilled jobs (cite sources).
D. Gaps in the Research: Little information exists exploring the health implications of the current conditions in low-skilled jobs.

III. Major Point 1:  Conditions of employment affect workers’ physical health.  

A. Minor Point 1: Unskilled work environments are correlated highly with worker injury (cite sources: I strongly suggest incorporating each specific source into you outline).
B. Minor Point 2: Unskilled work environments rarely provide healthcare or adequate injury recovery time (cite sources).

IV. Major Point 2: Conditions of employment affect workers’ mental health

A. Minor Point 1: Employment in a low-skilled position is highly correlated with dangerous levels of stress (cite sources: I strongly suggest incorporating each specific source into you outline).
B. Minor Point 2: Stress is highly correlated with mental health issues (cite sources).

V. Major Point 3: Physical health and mental health correlate directly with one another. 

A. Minor Point 1: Mental health problems and physical health problems are highly correlated (cite sources: I strongly suggest incorporating each specific source into you outline).
B. Minor Point 2: Stress manifests itself in physical form (cite sources)

VI. Major Point 4: People with more financial worries have more stress and worse physical health.

A. Minor Point 1: Many high-school dropouts face financial problems ((cite sources: I strongly suggest incorporating each specific source into you outline).
B. Minor Point 2: Financial problems are often correlated with unhealthy lifestyle choices such unhealthy food choices, overconsumption/abuse of alcohol, chain smoking, abusive relationships, etc. (cite sources).

VII. Conclusion

A. Restatement of Thesis:  Students who drop out of high school are at a higher risk for both mental and physical health problems throughout their lives.
B. Next Steps:  Society needs educational advocates; educators need to be aware of this situation and strive for student retention in order to promote healthy lifestyles and warn students of the risks associated with dropping out of school.

I would also strongly suggest that you begin to think about how others would counter your argument. In other words, how might I argue that you are wrong? What major points would I make to change your mind? Next week, we will look at how to include a counterargument and refutation paragraph into your research paper, but you do not need to add that to your outline here unless you already have a good idea of the counterargument. Usually, the counterargument and refutation paragraphs come right before the conclusion.