Advanced Academic Writing Guide PDF

Advanced Academic Writing Review Of the Literature topic definition: define the topic and its scope purpose: the goal of your research road map\ organization: outlining the review. Mentioning the sources Here are s...

Advanced Academic Writing Review Of the Literature topic definition: define the topic and its scope purpose: the goal of your research road map\ organization: outlining the review. Mentioning the sources Here are some ways to organize your review: 1. Thematic: when you class them by common concepts and themes. 2. Chronological: when you class them by the date of publishment. 3. Theoretical: when you class them by the theoretical perspective used 4. Methodological: when you class them by the method used in collecting data. Things that you should do when reviewing the literature: 1. You should compare the similarities and contrast the differences. 2. You should critically evaluate and state the weaknesses and strengths of each research. 3. You should identify trends patterns and inconsistencies 4. You should point out when there is a gap in knowledge that requires further research Criteria for a good review of literature: ✓ Being comprehensive, cover a wide range of relevant literature. ✓ Being critical ✓ Be analytical ✓ Be organized ✓ Be objective ✓ Be up to date ✓ Be focused The following two are in the Introduction chapter, not in Review of Literature rationale: what push you to do the research significance: what are you adding with your research Methodology Chapter Research Design There are 4 types of research design Descriptive: goal: describe behavior or a phenomena methods: surveys… focus: describing frequencies and trends causation: no causation only describes what happens Experimental: goal: establish a cause-and-effect relation between two entities methods: manipulating one or more independent variables and measuring their effect on the dependent variable. focus: determine if change in independent variable cause change in dependent variable Correlation: Goal: examine If relationship exists between two variables Methods: measuring variables and using statistical techniques Focus: determining if variables are associated and how strongly. Causation: find a relationship between two objects. Not necessarily a cause-and-effect relationship. Exploratory Goal: Investigate a new concept “Exploring the Unknown” Methods: can use a variety of methods; flexible and adaptable Focus: Initial insights, generating ideas and forming hypotheses Causation: not the focus, it’s more about discovery and understanding landscape of new topics Descriptive Experimental Correlation Exploratory Goal Description Cause and Effect Relationship Explore Causation No Yes No Usually no Manipulation of No Yes No Maybe Variables Focus What is What happens if How is X related What’s going on to Y Dependent and Independent Variables Variables are the things tested or implemented in a research, there exists two types: Dependent and Independent. For example a research about “How do roleplay activities help improve the speaking skill of 9th grade students” Roleplay activities is the independent variable in this case, and Speaking Skill of students is the dependent variable. Dependent Variables are usually a result of some force, they can be both measured and observed Independent Variables are the force itself, they are the cause we implement to see its effects on the dependent variables Research Approach Quantitative: Focus on numerical data and statistical analysis. It aims to measure variables, “How much/many” Example: “How many hours do students use social media on school days” Qualitative: Focus on understanding meaning, or interpretation of experience or behaviors. It collects non numerical data, the focus is on “Why / How” Example: “How does social media help students in their studies” Mixed Methods: Combine both for a more comprehensive understanding by integrating the strengths of both approaches “How many + Why” Example: “How many hours do students use social media on school days, and how does it help in their school life” Data Collection Methods Observation: Recording without interacting, these recording are made while the participants are engaged in routine behaviour (Example: Sit in class and observe students and teacher in their sessions) Interview: Interaction involves researcher and participants in a one-on-one setting. There are two types of interviews Structured: Questions are pre-selected and can’t be changed Semi-structured: Questions may change in the middle of the interview to response and adapt to the participant’s answer Questionnaires: Structured questions to gather information from a large sample, the questions can be close ended (yes or no / scale based), open ended (letting the participant explain in sentences). They ensure consistent data collection, particularly demographic information for quantitative data and opinion/behavior for qualitative data Focus Groups: Dynamic setting for exploring qualitative data. Researcher or a moderator does an interview but with 4-5 people at the same time. It’s usually more useful for qualitative data. However, there is a possibility that some of your participants’ answer is influenced by the answer of another participant (Here’s a picture of a focus group) Experiments: Establish cause and effect relationship between the variables. A controlled environment to test hypotheses and draw conclusions In-Text Citations Those are citations that are inserted in the middle of the text of the research paper to document the source where you’re quoting stuff from APA Format is (Author, date) for example: “People are born with a language acquisition device in their brain (Chomsky, 1982) Whenever you quote or reference another person’s work, you need to create a citation, otherwise it’s plagiarism which could disqualify your research and send you to jail Types of Citations Parenthetical: Author name and date in parenthesis “People are born with a language acquisition device in their brain (Chomsky 1982)” Narrative: The Citation is part of the text “Chomsky (1982) claims that people are born with a language acquisition device” If you are Direct quoting and copying the exact same words, use Inverted Commas and you need to mention the page where you took that from (Chomsky, 1982, p.150). in the case of narrative citation, it’s “Chomsky (1982)………. (p.150) If you are paraphrasing, reword the passage, express the ideas in your words and you just say the name and date of publication How to quote book/research that is written by multiple people Parenthitical Narrative 1 Author (Case, 2011, p.182) Case (2011)…… (p.182) 2 Authors (Sapir & Whorf, 1920, p.200) Sapir and Whorf (1920)……. (p.120) 3+ Authors (Sapir et al., 1920, p.120) Sapir et al. (1920)……….. (p.120) When you are direct quoting someone’s work, if the quote is less than 40 words, then it’s considered short quotation and it should be included in the text In the case of a quotation that is more than 40 words, It is a long quotation and it should be structured like this : Notice how the quote is indented in the middle and stands alone from the text, the block should be indented 0.5 inches from left margin. If the quote has multiple paragraphs, then indent the first line of each paragraph an additional 0.5 inches For direct quotations that don’t have a page number (Websites or e-books) we use one of these Heading or sector name Paragraph Number Both Pay attention to the punctuation used in citations, if you do a comma instead of a full stop, then your citation is wrong References Purpose: Include sources directly cited withing your paper Provide evidence for claims and allow reader to locate the resources Context Each entry in a reference list corresponds to an in-text citation Scope More Focused and limited to sources supporting your arguments Bibliography A more broad list where you include all the consulted resources even if YOU DID NOT QUOTE THEM. The cited resources are those that provided background information, influenced your thinking, or were relevant to your research. Guidelines for References and Citations Write them in Times New Roman, Size 12 Double Spaced Arranged Alphabetically by Author’s last name Each one is a new line Each item got a hanging indent (First line is normal, second is indented) Shouldn’t be numbered If there’s no author, use title and sort by 1st significant word More than 1 item from same author, sort them chronologically If there’s no date abbreviation n.d may be used How to cite different type of sources Books: Author, (year). Title of book. Publisher o Author: last name + the initial of first name o Title: Italicized with sentence case (first word is capitalized) o Publisher: Name of Publishing Company  E-books: Include a DOI if it exists. if it’s an e-book from a library or database, then reference it as it were a print book Journal Articles: Author, (year). Title of article. Title of journal, Volume (Issue), page range. DOI o Journal title: Italic, all major words are capitalized o Article title: Normal, sentence case o Volume: Italicized o DOI: Digital Object Identifier, if no DOI, then use a URL (Link) Websites: Author, (year, month, day when you quoted). Title of page. Website name. URL o Author: if the author is an organizaition, use the organization name o Title: Italic Sampling Sampling is the process of choosing participants for your research, a small group representing a large group because it is impossible to include everyone. There are two major types of Sampling, each type has 4 subtypes Probability Sampling: Selecting people from population in a way that everyone has the same chance to be selected, it’s random picking to avoid bias. There are 4 types: Simple Random: Completely random picking, everyone got equal chance Systematic: Set a system or formula, for example take a list and only pick people who are numbered 10 – 20 – 30 – 40 -50…. Stratified: Divide people into subgroups (Strata) according to their age, gender, race…. Then pick some from each strata Cluster: Divide people into random groups, then you randomly pick groups (Randomly select a set of schools for your research, then randomly pick 4 schools to be your participants) Non-Probability Sampling: Selecting based on subjective judgement or convenience, this leads to some people having a 0% chance of being selected, therefore it’s impossible to make statistical references about populations. There are 4 types: Convenience: you pick the most easy accessible participants. Classmates, or people who are close to your surrounding. This can lead to biased results Purposive: Based on criteria or characteristics. For example picking only teachers, doctors or some expert in some field) Quota: you want to meet some quota for certain characteristics in order to reflect the proportions of that population (for example you are required to include 50% men and 50% women, or you have to include 25% people who have dark skin, 25% pale skin etc) Snowball: Your participants recruit other participants by word of mouth. This is useful when studying hard-to-reach population. For example you want to study a behavior in Moroccan  medical students who are studying in Ukraine, you talk to one student, and that student help you meet other students. Research Question Research Question is the core of your research, it needs to be clear, concise, focused and researchable. It should aim at resolving a problem pinpointed while reading the title. The research question should be mentioned in the introduction chapter, and re-mentioned in the methodology chapter. Some Guidelines: Clear and Focused: Easily, understood, addresses a well-defined issue. Avoid vague language Make it researchable: can be answered through empirical evidence, must have access to data Include independent and dependent variables, and preferably your sample too Specific: Narrow your focus to a particular aspect of your topic (Students with dyslexia in high schools) Use Appropriate language for your field Make it complex and avoid yes or no questions Don’t be too broad: Avoid encompassing many variables Don’t be too narrow: Avoid being so specific that you can’t generalize your finding Don’t ask leading questions: avoid questions that suggest a particular answer or reflect your bias (Isn’t it obvious that X is better than Y) Don’t ask questions based on Personal opinion: it should be objective based on evidence (Which teaching approach is the best?) Don’t ask already answered questions: Your research should add something new Don’t use complex jargon Don’t ask questions that can’t be tested Research Objective Research objective is a clear and concise statement that describes what your research aims to achieve. It outlines the specific goal that your research intends to achieve through the study. Here are some guidelines: Related to research question (How does the use of collaborative tools affect student writing? – To investigate the impact of collaborative tools on student writing) Specific: Target a particular phenomenon Measurable (if it’s quantitative): use qualifiable terms (increase, decrease….) Achievable: Objectives should be realistic withing resources and time frame Relevant: its needs to contribute to answering research question Time-bound: set deadlines for achieving objectives Use actions verbs: use verbs like “analyze, asses, compare” Literature review: A thorough review of the literature help you identify gaps in existing research Feasibility: Consider practical aspects of research such as access to participants, resources and time Research Hypothesis Not necessary to have it in your research, but it’ll better if you have it. It’s mostly absent in qualitative approach If you don’t include a hypothesis, you must state why you didn’t It should offer a solution to the problem and should be verified at the end Should be based on rationale and logic Should directly answer the research question Explore existing research or topics to form a hypothesis based on evidence Well defined research questions provide a foundation for your hypothesis It should be a testable prediction about relationship between the variables It needs to be specific: state the relationship between variables you want to achieve It needs to be measurable: variables should be quantifiable and able to be measured It needs to be falsifiable: this means that you can prove it true or false Null Hypothesis is the opposite of your hypothesis, its symbol is H0 H1: If students use Method A, then their score will increase H0: There will be no significant change in students score if they use method A Testing Generating Focus in confirmatory research Exploratory Research to discover new pattern and relationships Test pre-defined hypothesis to conclude whether they should be accepted or Form a new hypothesis refuted Identify research question Confirm or Refute an existing theory  Provide evidence for strong claim Generate new theory Make decisions based on statistical Provide foundations for future evidence Hypothesis testing Types of Variables Categorical Variables are variables that represent distinct groups or categories, rather than numerical values. They describe qualities or characteristics that can't be measured on a numerical scale. Nominal: Gender, level, nationality etc Ordinal: Natural order on ranking Numerical Variables are variables that represent measurable quantities and have numeric values. Discrete: Countable values and often whole rules (number of children) Continuous: Values within a range (Weight, Height, Temperature etc)