the art of research paper writing - ntu art... · • we write a research paper to share our...
TRANSCRIPT
TheArtofResearchPaperWriting
LukeLuLanguageandCommunicationCentre
SchoolofHumanities
WiththankstoDr.SujataKathpalia
Overview
• Why/What’sAcademicWriting?
• Structureofresearchpapers
• Featuresofacademicwriting
• Citationandreferenceconventions
WhyAcademicWriting?• Wewritearesearchpapertoshareourfindingswithothers.
• Whenwepublishapaper,weenteranongoingconversationwithothers.
• Theseconversationsstretchbackyearsandhappenglobally.
• Asbeginners,youarethenewestarrivalinjoiningsuchconversations.
Theneedforacademiccommunication
Also…Learninghowtowriteaboutresearchinadisciplinedwayisareflectionofyourunderstandingoftheories,formulationofhypotheses,performanceofexperiments/collectionofdata,andanalysisofdata.
Inanyformofcommunication…
Wechangethewaywewrite/speakaccordingto:• Audience• Purpose
• Genre/context
What’sAcademicWriting?
• AudienceGeneral?Specialist?
• PurposeInformative?Persuasive?
• GenreResearchPaper?Newsreport?
Comparisonoftexts
Whichtextbelongstothegenreofacademicwriting?
Text1Intheirtheoreticalanalysisoftheplanningfallacy(asco-relationaltofrequentlateness),KahnemanandTversky(1979)suggestedthatpeoplecanusesingularanddistributionalinformationwhenpredictingtaskcompletion.Inmostcases,peopleshouldderivetheirpredictionsfrombothcase-basedanddistributionalinformation.However,theexistenceoftheplanningfallacyimpliesthatpeopletypicallyadoptaninternalperspectivewhenpredictingtheirowncompletiontimes;theyseeminglyfailtoconsidersuchrelevantdistributionalinformationastheirpreviousexperienceswithsimilartasks.
Text2Sowhatisitthatcausessomepeopletoconstantlymisstrains,makeittotheweddingjustafterthebride'sshownupandregularlypissofftheirfriends?Andwhyisitsohardforustofix?Oneofthemostobviousandcommonreasonsthatpeoplearefrequentlylateisthattheysimplyfailtoaccuratelyjudgehowlongataskwilltake-somethingknownastheplanningfallacy.
Text3OMGI’ml84my830tut.OMGOMGOMGOMGIoversleptAGAIN!!!!Sianz…
Text4OMGI’mlateformy830tut!!!Ioversleptagain… sian…
Structureofaresearchpaper
• Titleandabstract• Introduction• Literaturereview• Methodsandmaterials• Resultsanddiscussion• Conclusion• References
Titleofpaper• IsE-learningEffective?Incomparisontowhat?• IsE-learningaseffectiveasconventionalclassroom
pedagogy?Inwhichcontext?• IsE-learningaseffectiveasconventionalclassroom
pedagogyforGeneralPaper?AcomparativestudyoftwoJuniorCollegesinSingapore.
Introduction:Swale’sCARS(CreateaResearchSpace)Model
MOVE1:Establishingtheterritory(backgroundinformation)MOVE2:Establishingtheniche(showagapinpastresearch)MOVE3:Occupyingtheniche(stateobjectiveandscope)
Establishingterritory(background)• Generaltospecific
Traditionally,GeneralPaperinJuniorCollegeshavebeentaughtinconventionalclassroomsettingsinvolvingteacherinstructionandfacilitation.Withtheincreasedprevalenceofcomputersandinternetaccessinthehome,theremightalsoexisttheneedforE-learningmaterialsandtoolstosupplementorevenreplacetraditionalpedagogyinJuniorColleges(Toidietal2012).
Establishingniche(researchgap)
Inpreviousresearch,muchattentionhasbeendevotedtotheeffectofE-learningforsubjectssuchasMathematicsandChemistry.LessstudiedishowE-learningmightalsobeeffective(ornot)forGeneralPaper,asubjectthathastraditionallyreliedonclassroominstructionalactivities.
Occupyingniche(objective)
• ThisstudythereforeaimstodemonstratetheeffectivenessofE-learningforGeneralPaperthroughacomparativecasestudyoftwoJuniorCollegesinSingapore.
LiteratureReview
• What?Tothoroughlyexaminepublishedworkonthetopic.Thisisinordertodemonstratethatyouhaveanunderstandingofthefieldandhowyourownresearchfitsintothecurrentconversation.• Where?Option1(partofintroduction)Option2(aseparatesectionafterintroduction)
Methodandmaterials
• Todescribethematerialsinthestudy.
• Todescribethestepsyoufollowedinconductingthestudy.
Tofacilitaterepeatabilityandfalsifiability
ElementsofMethodsection
• Descriptionofmaterialsandparticipants
• Descriptionofproceduralsteps
• Methodofanalysis
LanguagefeaturesinMethodsection
Typically…• PasttenseToshowtheexperiment/datacollectionhasbeencompleted.• PassivevoiceToshowthattheresearchactivityismoreimportantthantheresearchers.• OrganisationSignalmarkers(egFirstly;thesolutionwasthenadded…)usedtoshowsequenceofsteps.
ResultsandDiscussion
• Whatdidyoufind?Presentthedata• Whatdoyourfindingsmean?Commentonandinterpretthedata
ElementsintheDiscussionsection
1. Pointthereadertothedata(referringtotable,figure)
Donotmakethereaderhuntforthedata2. Presentthefindings(spottrendsorregularities
inthedata)Donotsimplyrepeatorreportallthedatainwords.3. Commentonfindings(interpretthedatafor
readers,relatingittoyourresearchquestion)
AttestwasusedtocomparetheLabQuizAverageofthevarioussections.TheresultsofE-learning(SeeTable1)werecomparedwithtraditionalclassroominstruction.(pointreadertodata)Therewasnostatisticaldifferenceintermsoftestscoresforthetwogroupsofstudents.(presentfindings)
Thettestthereforeshowsthatthereisnoevidencetosuggestanysignificantdifferencebetweenthequizaveragesforthetwogroups.Inthiscase,E-learningwasnomore(orless)effectivethantraditionalclassroominstruction.(commentonfindings)
ConclusionElements:1. Mainpurpose/hypothesisofstudy
2. Reviewofkeyfindings
3. Somecommentsonfindings
4. Limitationsofstudy
5. Implicationsorapplicationsofstudy
6. Recommendationsforfutureresearch
Elements1,2,3Insummary,IinvestigatedtheeffectivenessofE-learninginGeneralPapercomparedtotraditionalclassroomteaching.ThemaingoalwastodetermineifE-learningmightbeasuitablecomplementorreplacementforclassroominstruction.Theresearchwasconductedwith50studentsacrosstwoJuniorColleges.AnalysisofthedatasuggestsnoevidencethatE-learningwasmoreorlesseffectivecomparedtotraditionalclassroominstruction
Elements4,5,6Itmustbeadmittedthatthegeneralisabilityofthisstudyislimited.Thechosensamplesizeforresearchparticipantsisrathersmall(thoughstillusefulasapilotstudy).Theimplicationsofthesefindingsarenonethelessimportant,asschoolscontinuetostrugglewithconstraintsoncurriculumtimeandE-learningbeingsuchanenticingpossibilitytoshifttimeforlearningtostudents’homes.Futureresearchmaythereforeconsiderenlargingthepoolofresearchparticipants,aswellasinvolvingschoolsteachingtheIntegratedProgramme.
Abstract
Anaccuratesummaryofthecontentsofthepaper
• Itisamini-report.• Itisself-contained.• Itisconcise(250words).• Itshouldbethelastthingyouwrite.• Itappearsatthebeginningofthepaper.
ElementsofAbstract1. Whatwasdone?(researchbackground)
2. Whywasitdone?(researchobjectives)
3. Howwasitdone?(researchmethod)
4. Whatwasfound?(keyresults)
5. Whatisthesignificanceofresearch?(implications)
Mid-termtest
Top3scoreswinprizes
FeaturesofAcademiclanguage• Complex
• Formal
• Objective
• Explicit
• Concise
1a.LexicalcomplexityThroughAffixesandwordcombinations(especiallytechnicalvocabulary)
• Antidisestablishmentarianism=28letters,5affixes(anti-dis-establish-ment-arian-ism)
• Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis=45letters,6words(pneumono+ultra+microscopic+silico+volcano+koniosis)
“afatallungdiseasecausedbyinhalingveryfinesilicadust”
1b.GrammaticalcomplexityVerb-based Nominalized(madeanoun)
Ireadthedatacarefully. Theanalysisofthedatarevealed…
Ifoundthattherewerealotoferrorsandtheseoccurredfrequently.
Arecurrenceofsystematicandrandomerrors.
2.Formality
• ThedorsalsideandheadoftheEmperorPenguinisblackandsharplydelineatedfromthewhitebelly,pale-yellowbreast,andbright-yellowearpatches.
OR• TheEmperorPenguinhasbeenhotinthenewsandeventheboxoffice.Ifyou’renotsurewhatthislordlypenguinlookslike,ithasablackhead,bright-yellowspotsaroundtheears,andabigol’whitebelly.
3.ObjectivityWhattoavoid Example
Biasedstatements Ourstudyaimstoinvestigatetheignoranceofundergraduatesontheharmfuleffectsofcaffeine.
First-personpronouns Inmyopinion,thisisaveryinterestingstudy.
Emotionally-loadedwords Thefindingsofthisstudyareawesome.
4.ExplicitnessWITHOUTsignalmarkers WITHsignalmarkers
Theenergyneedsofarestingseaotterare3timesthoseofterrestrialanimalsofcomparablesize.Theseaottermusteatabout25%ofitsbodyweightdaily.Seaottersfeedcontinually,atnightaswellasday.
Theenergyneedsofarestingseaotterare3timesthoseofterrestrialanimalsofcomparablesize.Tosupportsuchahighmetabolicrate,theseaottermusteatabout25%ofitsbodyweightdaily.Therefore,seaottersfeedcontinually,atnightaswellasday.
5.Beconcise
• Solutionofsodiumhypochloriteindihydrogenmonoxideeffectuatedsuperlativeandefficaciousbroad-spectrumbactericidalactivity.
OR• Bleachinwaterkillsgerms
Citationsandreferenceconventions
• In-textcitations
• Referencelist
In-textcitations• Information-prominentcitations(toindicatestateofknowledge;presentorpresentperfecttense)
“Chalkboardsarenolongeracceptedbyteachersasanaidforclassroominstruction(Diputs2006)”• Author-prominentcitations(torefertosinglestudy;presentorpasttense)
“Diputs(2006)foundevidencethatteachersnolongerwidelyacceptedchalkboardsasanaidclassroominstruction.”
• AmericanPsychologicalAssociation(APA)Lu,L.(2018).WriteLikeaBoss.Singapore:RubbishBooks.
• ModernLanguagesAssociation(MLA)Lu,Luke.WriteLikeaBoss.Singapore:RubbishBooks.2018.Print.• AmericanChemicalSociety(ACS)Lu,Luke.WriteLikeaBoss;RubbishBooks:Singapore.2018.• AmericanInstituteofPhysics(AIP)L.Lu.WriteLikeaBoss(RubbishBooks,Singapore,2018)
That’sall!
Thankyouforbeingattentive.