writing essays and reports_presenting data_web

7/27/2019 Writing Essays and Reports_presenting Data_WEB

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WRITING AN ESSAY


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Short literature review

around 2500 words (+10%)

Logical progression and structure

Flowing

Key phrases between paragraphs when necessary

Should summarise the actual state of knowledge on thesubject

Use a scientific writing style- structure

- style

Main characteristics


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Essay Structure - 1

Use appropriate headings

Use paragraphs:- they should make a point or establish an idea; the next

idea demands a new paragraph- make them obvious (a blank line in between looksgood)


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Essay structure - 2

Introduction / background moves from general to specific, and maybe from

known to unknown

general statements help to set the scene

provide some history / description of the topic /background

more specific statements about what has beenstudied, and summarise the different componentswhich will be developed in the essay

Remember - first impressions count!


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Essay Structure - 3

Main body of essay Expand and discuss the different components outlined inintroduction

Conclusion

A conclusion must fulfill the promise of the introduction

It can:- summarise- state implications- give recommendations for future work

It should not:- introduce new points- be too long

- be too repetitive


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Essay Style

Be simple and concise

Read widely and learn from papers that are clearly written

The third person, passive voice rule is the norme.g.

The experiment was designed to test the hypothesis thatorWe tested the hypothesis that


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References

Show that you know the literature

Choosing the right references is critical. Select the sourcescarefully (no Readers Digest-style ones)

Cite them at the right place to support your statements

All references need to be presented in the same way in theessay.

There are 2 major styles: Vancouver and Harvard.

USE HARVARD STYLE !- In the text: (Masson et al. 2011a), (Peace and Thies 2001) .

- In the reference list:Richard JK, Henri JB & George F. Influence of protein contenton biscuits density. Int J of Dog Biscuit1998; 53: 15-22


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How to get references?

From books, websites or articles published in

scientific journals

Books- Check in the library catalogue for books written on the subject- Check the year of publication

Articles- Some will be referenced in the books- Others will need to be identified by key words using scientific

databases (Medline, Embase, pubmed etc.)- Try to identify recent review articles

Web sites- Use your own judgment!


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How to choose my keywords?

Key words are usually indicated in the title:e.g.

- Role of genetic and nutritional factors in thedevelopment of diabetes.

- Influence of dietary lipids on inflammatorydiseases.

Searching references in a database involves workingwith carefully chosen key words by association (AND,

OR, NOT)


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Scientific journals related to nutrition

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Annual Review of NutritionBritish Journal of NutritionEuropean Journal of Clinical NutritionJournal of the American Dietetic AssociationJournal of Clinical Nutrition and metabolic care

Journal of Human Nutrition and DieteticsJournal of NutritionJournal of Nutritional BiochemistryNutritionNutrition Bulletin

Nutrition in Clinical CareNutrition Research ReviewsNutrition ReviewsNutrition Metabolism & Cardiovascular DiseasesProceedings of the Nutrition SocietyPublic Health Nutrition


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Scientific journals related to nutrition

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Annual Review of NutritionBritish Journal of NutritionEuropean Journal of Clinical NutritionJournal of the American Dietetic AssociationJournal of Clinical Nutrition and metabolic care

Journal of Human Nutrition and DieteticsJournal of NutritionJournal of Nutritional BiochemistryNutritionNutrition Bulletin

Nutrition in Clinical CareNutrition Research ReviewsNutrition ReviewsNutrition Metabolism & Cardiovascular DiseasesProceedings of the Nutrition SocietyPublic Health Nutrition


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Other journals related to nutrition

Almost all the others:

generalist journals

ScienceNaturePNASetc

other journals

J of Clin. Inves.FASEB JournalJ Biol. Chem.LancetImmunology Letter New England J of MedProgress in Lipid Research

LipidsAm J of PhysiolAge and agingCardiovascular Research

AppetiteCurrent opinion inCirculationDiabetesDiabetes, Obesity & MetabInt J ObesityProg Lipid Res


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WRITING A PRACTICAL REPORT


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Structure of practical report

Headings

Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

(Conclusion)

References


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Introduction

Small paragraph containing background information

Concise description of the principle of the method used ifrelevant: may be chemical equations, type of analysis,etc...

Aims and objectives- these should follow logically from the introduction

- use the same order of themes as you will present inthe results in order to make it easy for the reader tofollow


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Methods

DO NOT copy every step listed in manual summarise in your own words

Could use diagram to summarise the methodology.

List assumptions


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Results

Look carefully at your data

Check your calculations

Write down the results as requested, with all the details

(equations + individual values)

Use tables & graphs to assist you in presenting the data

Read carefully what is requested


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Comment on your results:

- are they high, low, expected, surprising?

Comment on the method used:- is it precise enough?- what are the limitations/advantages of the

method?- would other methods be more adequate?

If there were problems:

discuss how they could be solved

How do your results compare with others?

What can you conclude?

Discussion


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References

Include a reference list at the end of the report

Show evidence of relevant reading, particularly inthe introduction and discussion


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Essays & Practicals

3 key stages

1. Plan

2. Execute

3. Polish

Try not to do two or more of these at the same time

Allow plenty of time!


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And finally

Take time to read over the finished product before submitting

Check your spelling and proof read with care - it is not enoughto use a computer spell-check.

Be your own critic:- Can you read the text aloud without stumbling?- Is every word necessary? Could I be more concise?

Text should be as short as possible and as long as necessary- Avoid big words if simple ones will do

Give your Student ID on the title page of your report / essayNOT your name


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Some useful sources of help

Northedge, A (1990). The good study guide.

Open University Press, UK.

For writing skills

http://abdn.ac.uk/writing

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/academicwriting/


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PRESENTING DATA


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Introduction

A clear presentation of the data is essential for a clear understanding of

their meaning

The type of presentation chosen depends on

the type of data

whether one variable is being presented, or several variables are

being compared etcTypes of data

Qualitative (or categorical)

- Dichotomous (binary) e.g. male/female or success/failure

- Nominal (unordered) e.g. blood group (A, B, AB, O)

- Ordinal (ordered) e.g. degree of pain (severe, moderate, mild)

Quantitative (or numeric)

- Discrete (integer values) e.g. number of visits to a GP

- Continuous (takes any value in a range) e.g. vitamin C intake


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Types of presentation

1. Tables

2. Figures (graphs)

- Bar or column chart

- Pie chart

- Line, curve or scatter (dot) plot

- Histogram

Some common features of tables and graphs

They should be able to stand alone, without any accompanying description

Informative title e.g.Table 1: Vitamin C intake (mg/d), by age and sex

Always be referred to in the text e.g.Table 1 shows

Give the units presented, e.gmmol/L, % total energy, kg/m2

For categorical or some discrete numerical data

For continuous data


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Tables - example

Table 4.8 Blood lipid concentrations(mean + SD)

All (n=239) Men (n=91) Women (n=148)

Cholesterol (mmol/L) 4.81 1.02 4.93 1.04 4.73 1.00

LDL cholesterol (mmol/L) 2.76 0.86 3.01 0.87** 2.61 0.83

HDL cholesterol (mmol/L) 1.59 0.39 1.36 0.31*** 1.73 0.38

TG (mmol/L) 1.02 0.65 1.24 0.82*** 0.88 0.46

Apo A1 (g/L)1 1.41 0.24 1.32 0.19*** 1.47 0.25

Apo B (g/L)2 1.04 0.32 1.12 0.33** 0.98 0.31

1n=225 for all, and n=134 for women;

2n=224 for all, and n=133 for women

**p


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Bar or column chart - example

Used for categorical or discrete data

Bars are separated by small gaps

Axes are labelled and units given

Key supplied to explain different coloured bars

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

< 20 20-24.9 25-29.9 30-34.9 35-39.9 >40

BMI (kg/m2)

Percentage(%)

Men

Women

Figure 4.14 BMI category of subjects.


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Pie chart - example

Used for categorical or some discrete numerical data

The area of each section of the pie is proportional to the frequency in that

category


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Line graph - example

0

100

200300

400

500

600

700

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

Deathra

te/100,0

00 men - Scotland

men - UK

women - Scotland

women - UK

Figure 1.1 Age-standardised CHD death rates for men and women aged 35-74 years.


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Scatter plot - example

Used if both variables arecontinuous or ordinal

Each observation isrepresented by one dot


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Dietary fat and breast cancer mortality

J Intern Med 2001;249:395-411


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Histogram - example

Similar to a bar chart, but with no gaps between bars

Used if the data are continuous

10

19

27

1311

8

43

1

0

10

20

30

4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000ffq energy (kJ/d)


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Is this a good table?Table 4.5 subjects

A B

Age 34.59.4 31.49.12

BMI 25.423.86 24.054.91

Systolic BP 136.0815.48 121.0412.47

Diastolic BP 83.959.55 77.568.33

PAL 1.740.35 1.510.22


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International System of UnitsSI Units

Systme International d'Units (International System of Units) with theinternational abbreviation SI is a single international language of scienceand technology first introduced in 1960.

Basic SI units

Physical quantity Basic SI unit name Unit symbolLength metre mMass kilogram kgTime second s

Electric current ampere AThermodynamic temperature kelvin KAmount of substance mole molLuminous intensity candela cd


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Non-SI units accepted for use with SI

Physical quantity Unit name Unit symbolTime minute min

Time hour h

Time day d

Angle degree o

Volume litre l, L


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Prefixes for SI units

Prefix Symbol FactorTera T 1 000 000 000 000 1012 (e+12)Giga G 1 000 000 000 109 (e+9)Mega M 1 000 000 106 (e+6)Kilo k 1 000 103 (e+3)Hecto h 100 102 (e+2)Deca da 10 101 (e+1)

------------------------------1-----------------------------------------------Deci d 0.1 10-1 (e-1)Centi c 0.01 10-2 (e-2)Milli m 0.001 10-3 (e-3)Micro 0.000 001 10-6 (e-6)

Nano n 0.000 000 001 10-9

(e-9)Pico p 0.000 000 000 001 10-12 (e-12)

E.g50 mL = 0.050 L = 50 x 10-3 L or 5 x 10-2 L20 L = 0.00002 L = 20 x 10-6 L or 2 x 10-5 L

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