Academic Texts and Writing

• Academic texts are written by professionals in a specific field, are well-edited, often take years to publish, use formal language, and contain field-specific jargon.

Types of Academic Texts

• Articles: Found in scholarly journals, they present research and development results that impact the academic community or contribute to national development.
• Conference papers: Presented at scholastic conferences and potentially revised for publication in scholarly journals.
• Reviews: Evaluate works published in scholarly journals.
• Theses/Dissertations: Personal research conducted by degree candidates.

Academic Writing vs. Non-Academic Writing

• Academic Writing:
  • Follows a formal and impersonal style, targeting a scholarly audience with the purpose of informing with solid evidence.
  • Adheres to a standard structure, employs formal and impersonal language, and includes citations and references.
  • Examples include research papers, dissertations, and scholarly articles.
• Non-Academic Writing:
  • Is informal and often subjective, aimed at the general public to inform, entertain, or persuade.
  • Lacks a rigid structure, uses personal, emotional, or subjective language and often omits citations and references.
  • Examples include newspaper and magazine articles, memoirs, letters, digital media, and novels.

Reading Goals

• To understand an existing idea.
• To gather ideas for writing assignments.
• To gain more information.
• To identify gaps in existing studies.
• To connect new ideas to existing knowledge.

Structure of Academic Texts

• Academic texts typically have a clear structure that helps readers easily navigate and understand the content.
• Common structures include Introduction-Body-Conclusion or Introduction-Method-Results-Discussion (IMRaD).

Content and Style of Academic Texts

• State critical questions and issues.
• Provide facts and evidence from credible sources.
• Use precise, accurate language, avoiding excessive jargon.
• Avoid colloquial expressions.
• Maintain an objective viewpoint, avoiding personal opinions.
• Include references.
• Employ hedging (cautious language) in claims.

Evaluating Sources (CRAAP)

• Currency:
  • Examine the information's publication or revision date.
  • Determine if current or older sources are suitable for your topic, with fast-changing topics needing the most up-to-date information.
  • A 2015 AI article for education research may be outdated.
• Relevance:
  • Assess if the information directly relates to your topic and answers your research question.
  • Consider the intended audience and ensure the information is at an appropriate level.
  • An article about social media’s impact on adults is less relevant for research on adolescents.
• Authority:
  • Identify the author, publisher, and source, and assess their credentials and affiliations.
  • Confirm the author is qualified to write on the topic and if contact information is available.
  • A university-published study is more reliable than an anonymous blog post.
• Accuracy:
  • Verify the reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the content.
  • Check if the information is supported by evidence and has been reviewed or refereed.
  • An unbiased tone enhances trustworthiness, whereas a health article with peer-reviewed studies is more trustworthy.
• Purpose:
  • Determine whether the information aims to inform, teach, sell, entertain, or persuade.
  • Assess if the viewpoint is objective and impartial or if biases appear.
  • Neutral educational articles are favored over promotional commercial websites.

Citation Forms

• In-text citation: References used are cited within the work.
  • APA style is used in fields like psychology, education, business, and economics: (Garcia, 2024).
  • MLA style is used in literature, arts, and humanities: (Garcia 22) or (Garcia).
• Reference citation: Complete bibliographic reference, located toward the end of the paper.
  • APA style: Author (year). Title. Journal, Page.
  • MLA style: Author's Last name, First name, "Title of Source." Title of Container, Other contributors, version, page number, publisher, publication date, Location.

Basics of Summarizing

• Purpose: To simplify complex information and highlight key points for better understanding, while avoiding information overload.
• Features: Focus on the main idea, use your own words, avoid copying, be concise, avoid repetition, accurately reflect the original meaning.
• Strategies: Skimming, scanning for main points, identifying key ideas (topic sentences, headings, repeated themes), eliminating redundancies (examples, minor details), paraphrasing.

Summarizing vs. Paraphrasing vs. Direct Quoting

• Summarizing:
  • Uses main ideas in your own words, without matching the original word-for-word.
  • Shorter than the original text, provides a broad overview and must be attributed to the source.
• Paraphrasing:
  • Puts a passage into your words, while retaining its original meaning, ensuring attribution to the source, and does not directly match the start.
• Direct Quoting:
  • Uses the original source exactly, is a short part of the original passage, appearing inside quotation marks and attributed to the original source.

When to Use Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Direct Quoting

• Summarizing:
  • Use when a text has long sections or when you want to restate the text’s main idea in your own words while avoiding direct quotations.
• Paraphrasing:
  • Use on short texts (sentences or paragraphs) when you want to state the author’s ideas in your own words while avoiding direct quotation.
• Direct Quoting:
  • Use when the text conveys a powerful message or whose original impact lessens if it is paraphrased or summarized.
  • Use to begin a discussion with the author’s stand or to highlight the author’s expertise.

Paraphrasing Guidelines

• Understand the text's meaning.
• Highlight key words or main ideas.
• Recall key words or main ideas.
• Write your understanding of the text in your own words.
• Compare your paraphrase with the original.
• Ensure the same meaning as the original.
• Change sentence structure.
• Refrain from adding comments.
• Record original source details (author, date, title, publisher, place, URL).
• Format properly.

Direct Quoting Guidelines

• Copy the text exactly.
• Use quotation marks.
• Record original source details (author, date, title, publisher, URL, page number).
• Format properly.

Types of Research Instruments

• Survey: Measures attitudes, perceptions, and opinions using prepared questions in interview or questionnaire form.
  • Recall type: Asks for specific information (e.g., years of service, age, address), requiring respondents to remember the information.
  • Recognition type: Offers predefined options or cues, easing identification and selection of answers.
  • Open-ended type: Elicits brief explanations or impressions.
• Interview: Gathers qualitative data with open-ended questions.
  • Structured Interview: Uses a standardized format with predetermined questions asked in the same order.
  • Semi-structured Interview: Uses a flexible framework with open-ended discussions.
  • Stages: Pre-interview (identify and contact), warm-up (introduction), main interview (core questions), closing (thanks).
• Questionnaire: More quantifiable, with responses typically dichotomous or identification-based; may include open-ended questions.
  • Sections: Personal information (relevant details of respondent), basic questions (establish suitability and rapport), main questions (directly related to research questions), open-ended questions (require brief explanation)
• Observation: Describes behavior in naturalistic or laboratory settings.
  • Includes participant and non-participant, structured and unstructured, and covert and overt approaches.
  • Conducting an Observation
    • Develop an observation guide
    • Decide on the type of observation
    • Know your limitations as an observer
    • Use a recording device when appropriate.
    • Always bring paper and pen with you to record other details
    • Never attempt to influence the behavior of your subjects.
    • Always meet ethics when implementing an observation instrument.

Observation Types

• Participant and Non-Participant Observation:
  • Non-participant observes without interacting.
  • Participant actively interacts with subjects.
• Structured and Unstructured Observation:
  • Structured uses a behavior checklist.
  • Unstructured allows natural behavior emergence.
• Covert and Overt Observation:
  • Covert is when subjects are unaware.
  • Overt is when subjects are aware.

Experiment Steps

• Make observations.
• Develop a hypothesis.
• Design the experiment.
• Conduct the experiment.
• Replicate to ensure reliability.
• Analyze the results.
• Decide whether to accept or reject the hypothesis.