Belledi, Fabián
Durán, Diana
July 16, 2010
Abstract
This proposal will project the prospective implementation of drama in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL).The authors will carry out a research study to determine the importance of interactive activities to enhance communicative competence. The study will be conducted in two private institutions with young adult students throughout a school year.
Keywords: TEFL, Drama, Classroom, Games, Video, Learning, Teaching
Introduction
The field of education has witnessed a great paradigm shift towards constructivism and social interactionist views in the teaching and learning process. Behaviorism, together with its own principles and assumptions, was the ruling system from the early 1900’s until the late 1950’s when a completely different approach brought about by psychology emerged and eclipsed the behaviorists learning and teaching approach. The cognitive revolution contributed to a series of highly important moves and changes not only in psychology but also in the field of education.
The learner became the focus of attention and a teacher-centred education shifted to a learner-oriented instruction. Bearing this principle in mind together with Bruner’s and Ausubel’s theories, it may be stated that teaching must be meaningful for the student and should satisfy his/her needs. Authentic learning should make information meaningful to the student. In today’s globalized world, English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers possess a great number of tools at hand to make their students’ learning process more natural and appealing.
Many students desire to learn how to use English in social settings. One benefit of Drama classes is that it uses real (or hypothesized) situations in which students are asked to dramatize or act out. Students can ‘play’ with the language and, with the practice of dramatizing social situations, they learn pragmatic skills, thus becoming more confident in their abilities to carry out a conversation with native speakers (Chauhan, 2004).
The aim of this research work is to shed light on how the implementation of drama in teaching ESL can become an attractive alternative in teaching a foreign language. Drama techniques employed in the communicative method lead the student to unconsciously acquire and learn the language within natural and spontaneous situations created inside the classroom environment.
Literature Review
The Communicative Approach has brought about significant changes in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL). The learner is considered as an active participant during the language teaching/learning process. Teachers who support this approach are expected to provide students with a wide range of activities to promote self-learning, group work in life-like situations.
According to Richards (1995, cited in Sam, 1990), the term ‘approach’ could be defined as the theory about how languages are learnt. He also considered the psycholinguistic and cognitive processes during the learning process as well as the conditions that allow for effective learning. Thus, the Communicative Approach (CA) refers to the beliefs and theories which emphasize the acquisition of communicative competence. It should be noted then that ‘Communicative Competence’ does not only involve the knowledge of grammatical rules but also sound awareness of when, where and how to use the language in a speech community in an effective fashion. ‘Communicative activities’ refers to the techniques which teachers employ within the classroom in order to foster their students’ motivation and involve them in authentic situations.
Morrow (1981, cited in Sam, Ibid.) stated that communicative activities should conform to some principles: Students should know what they are doing and its purpose. In communication, it is essential to work in the context as a unit. Communication cannot be split into its various components. The teacher should guide the student in the process of communication. The student will acquire more proficiency only by practicing communicative activities. Students are expected to make mistakes at different stages; however, the teacher should be flexible enough and become critical after having analyzed the kind of mistake and its origin. Hence, Drama can be considered a communicative activity since it fosters communication among learners and provides different opportunities to use the target language in ‘make believe’ situations.
Vernon (n.d.) supports the view that this conversational use of language also promotes fluency. He states that “(…) while learning a play, students are encouraged to listen to, potentially read and then repeat their lines over a period of time. By repeating the words and phrases they become familiar with them and are able to say them with increasing fluency (…)” (p.2). We believe that by encouraging self expression, drama motivates students to use language confidently and creatively.
Holden (1981, cited in Sam, Ibid.) believes that Drama asks classroom participants to imagine themselves within a certain situation and pretend to be another person in an imaginary situation. Holden, thus, states that Drama refers to a world of ‘let’s pretend’. Some other authors have referred to Drama as a significant tool in TESL. Maley and Duff (1978, cited in Sam, Ibid.) assert that this communicative activity releases imagination and energy. Fernandez and Coil (1986, as cited in Sam, Ibid., p. 3) states that “Drama encourages students to exercise their sensitivity and imagination and thus makes leaning more realistic and meaningful.” Dougill (1978, cited in Sam, Ibid.) claims that Drama encourages students to develop their social, intellectual and linguistic skills.
Even though it is true that a foreign language cannot be taught separated from its culture, teachers should be extremely careful when they decide to include drama activities in their practice. They should consider what type of cultural information should be incorporated. There exist some topics which are common to almost any learner, namely holidays, schooling, etc. However, teachers should be very cautious and decide whether to include ‘thorny’ topics such as religious holidays. Much of the culture an English learner is exposed to generally comes from television series, movies or the internet. This culture that the students learn can be used in Drama activities as well, since they will probably provide a great number of topics for dramatizing.
Many times students do not gain enough confidence to use the foreign language in real situations. Their performance is only limited to writing and producing grammatically correct exercises in isolated contexts in the monotony of a conventional class. Chauhan (Ibid.) asserts that traditional classes hardly ever provide students with the opportunity to use the language in a purposeful manner. Real communication involves much more than accuracy. Communication comprises ideas, emotions, feelings, body language, to mention but a few.
Drama is an attractive tool to introduce in language teaching since it gives the student a context to produce and develop skills. Chauhan (Ibid) states that Drama techniques force students to use their language meaningfully and thus, their linguistic as well as interactional abilities may be enhanced. Richards (2005) emphasizes the use of dialogues to reach this aim. He states that “(…) talk as interaction is perhaps the most difficult skill to reach since interactional talk is very complex and it takes place under the control of unspoken rules(…)” (p.6). We believe that in order to really acquire a language one must be able to recount personal incidents and experiences, make a small talk, and react to what others say.
According to Chauhan (Ibid), telephone conversations give students the possibility of saying what they like and reacting in accordance with unexpected situations which may arise. Students will probably feel involved in the conversation and they will do their utmost to sustain a meaningful telephone conversation. This technique helps students improve their speaking and listening skills.
Chauhan (Ibid) suggests that soliloquies can be used to interpret literary texts and understand fictitious characters. He also states that in this particular activity the student gets into the skin of the character and feels free to think and say what the character might feel at that particular moment.
The proliferation of newer technologies such as video playback devices have allowed teachers to introduce these media as tools in the classroom. Williams and Lutes (n.d.) state that:
A major advantage is that video materials can focus on information that cannot be readily presented in a traditional classroom because of constraints such as size, location, costs, etc. In the English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom, this can be something as simple as access to Native speakers’(NS) language in a natural context (p.4).
Discussion
Hypotheses
1. Do students need to practice a foreign language in real-life contexts?
2. Will this strategy ensure a more proficient Second Language (L2) acquisition?
3. Will the students be provided with the necessary tools for future work and study?
Delimitations
This research will be carried out in two courses for young adults in two different private English institutes. The students share similar knowledge background as regards command of the target language. Both courses are intermediate, which means that students have been exposed to the L2 for at least 3 years.
Limitations
Though the main aim of this research is to show that students will enhance their communicative strategies after the inclusion of drama and interactive activities within the classroom environment, some trouble may arise, thus hindering the implementation of the experimental research. One of the major drawbacks is time limitation. In both courses, students attend lessons for 1 ½ hour twice a week and, as communicative activities need some time to be developed, the 1 ½ period may not be enough to round up the activity in one day. If this time constraint has a late arrival surplus, the activity is even more difficult to be carried out.
There are other two potential setbacks that may limit the outcome of the research: Student’s previous learning strategies and the relationship with the teacher. Students need to feel confident and safe in order to expose themselves to peer interaction. The teacher’s attitude towards them and towards errors may enhance or limit their productions. Moreover, they may feel threatened by innovations in methodology, especially those students who come from a serious, rigid, encyclopedic background.
Procedure
Participants
This experimental research will be carried out in two groups of young adults with an age range of 21-24 years old. Both groups belong to two different private English institutes, one in Recoleta and the other in Caballito. The students mentioned above attend English lessons twice a week on a basis of 1 ½ hour each day.
Data collection and analysis
Teachers will record student’s performance with a voice recorder at the beginning of the course (in March), before the winter holidays (in July) and at the end of the course (in November) in the same cassette. At the end of the course, the teacher will listen to the three recordings and will assess the student’s performance in a special sheet (Appendix A), but will not inform the student of its result. The student will be asked to listen to the three recordings as well and will have to provide a self-assessment report. Then, student and teacher will meet and will discuss similarities and differences on their personal assessments. After this discussion, the student will receive the teacher’s assessment report.
Materials
Games such as charades are suitable enough to gauge the students’ interest in this kind of activity. The class can be divided into teams and one member of each time can mime names of films or books, for example. The actor can indicate the number of words in the title and can use common gestures to give his/her team hints (Chauhan, Ibid).
The core of the matter in this experimental research will pivot around interactive activities. Telephone conversations may provide good opportunity to react to the unexpected, as well as role play of different situations provided by the teacher taken from everyday life, i.e.: mother and daughter going together to the hairdresser’s, a student meeting his/her teacher at the supermarket, two fathers at the school gate waiting for the school bus to come from the sports field where their sons had rugby practice, etc.
Resourceful teachers may take advantage of video materials to make instruction more appealing to students. Some teachers may uphold that watching a video may be considered a passive activity. However, we hold the belief that teachers can transform it into an active learning strategy by proposing some after-watching activities. Students may watch a muted version of the video, and after the silent viewing, they may be asked to imagine a script and act it out as a rounding-off activity.
Conclusion
All in all, we believe that there exists a great number of advantages which deserve being exploited when it comes to the implementation of drama in the classroom. Drama provides practical experience in communicating, it gives students the opportunity to learn in groups facing the unexpected, to see the world from the other's perspective and it promotes active learning, thus enriching and reinforcing their traditional schooling experiences. In other words, when it comes to teaching English as a second language, drama and learning may result in a winning combination. Therefore, we believe interactive activities in the form of dramatizations may prove one of the major tools in the ESL classroom to promote communicative competence in Second Language (L2) acquisition.
References
Chauhan, V. (2004). Drama techniques for teaching English. The Internet TESL Journal,
10(10), 1-5. Retrieved June 19, 2010, from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Chauhan-Drama.html
Richards, J. (2005). Developing classroom speaking activities; from theory to practice. Retrieved June 8, 2010, from http://www.professorjackrichards.com/pdfs/developing-classroom-speaking-activities.pdf
Sam, W. (1990). Drama in teaching English as a second language – A communicative approach. The English Teacher, 9, 1-10. Retrieved June 19, 2010, from http://www.melta.org.my/ET/1990/main8.html
Vernon, S. (n.d.) The unmistakable benefits of using drama with children learning English. ESL Resources. Retrieved June 10, 2010, from http://www.teachingenglishgames.com/Articles/eslplays.htm
Williams, R., & Lutes, P. (n.d.). Using video in the ESL classroom. Retrieved June 19, 2010, from http://www.takamatsu-u.ac.jp/library/06_gakunaisyupan/kiyo/no48/001-013_williams.pdf
Appendix A
Assessment sheet
Student’s name: …………………………………………………….
Course: ……………………………………………………………...
Year: ………………………………………………………………..
FLUENCY ACCURACY CREATIVITY MISTAKES
MARCH:
JULY:
NOVEMBER:
Additional comments :
Teacher’s signature:
_______________________
Friday 16 July 2010
Sunday 11 July 2010
A pragmatic approach to research papers (RPs) analysis
Walonick (2005) states that all RPs are roughly formatted in the same manner. “Most research studies begin with a written proposal” (Walonick, Ibid, para. 4). He also claims that RPs usually encompass approximately five chapters with well- established sections, which will progressively enable the reader to follow the research conducted.
The aim of this paper is to compare and contrast two RPs and point out the main features found in both of them. It is worth mentioning that the papers chosen for such analysis belong to different disciplines. As a result, the authors of the RPs analysed in this paper have conformed to a dissimilar standard set of conventions for formatting their work. The RP’s authors have adhered to two referencing conventions, namely the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Medical Association (AMA).
Aydin and Karakuzu (n.d.) seem to have produced their RP following a well-defined, structured format. Journal papers are subdivided into sections, to which a great number of authors seem to conform. This issue is probably a key factor when it comes to presenting a professional RP in most disciplines. Aydin and Karakuzu (Ibid.) have composed their research paper in six separate sections, which are generally expected to be found by readers.
The abstract, whose main function is to summarise the major aspects of the entire paper, is brief and concise. The American Psychological Association (APA) (2009) states that a well- prepared abstract should be accurate, nonevaluative, coherent and easily readable. Aydin and Karakuzu (Ibid.) appear to have managed to respect this requisite. In five sentences, they have included the purpose of their investigation, the experimental design, the major findings without revealing concrete data and a one-sentence summary of their interpretations and conclusions.
The introduction section can be thought of as an inverted triangle with information narrowing down. Pintos and Crimi (2010) point out that introductions should comprise three main moves. The first move will create a research space referring to previous literature. The next move will create a niche in which the writer will refer to a gap in his/her research territory and the final move will contain the purpose of the study. Aydin and Karakuzu (Ibid.) seem to have employed this principle and to have succeeded in concisely explaining the reason of their study.
The Methods section should clearly explain how the study was carried out. Even though this section generally tends to be rather lengthy, Aydin and Karakuzu (Ibid.) have produced a relatively brief section. They have designed three main paragraphs in which they have referred to the participants, materials and the procedure adopted. This conciseness may either show the authors’ power of synthesis or the omission of irrelevant data.
The results section should objectively present the key results in a logical sequence. Aydin and Karakuzu (Ibid.) have developed a presentation of the data and interpreted the data obtained. They have included tables to better exemplify the results in figures. The table has been formatted following the APA conventions even though the authors have not double-spaced the information. This characteristic may be the result of a special request made by the publishing journal or institution.
The Conclusions and Discussion section is the longest segment within the RP. The authors seem to have shown great interest in analysing the final data and results. For this reason, they have written three considerably lengthy paragraphs with an in-depth analysis, which lets the reader grasp a full understanding of the study.
Balanced against Aydin and Karakuzu’s (Ibid.) RP, Baker et al. (2010) have produced a structured abstract with bolded subheadings. This feature seems to be a predominant feature in medical RPs. Each bolded heading identifies the main section the writers have included in their paper. Nonetheless, each subheading contains one sentence except for the Results subheading, which contains seven sentences. This notable difference is probably because the Results section tends to be lengthy and contains a great deal of data.
The introduction section in Baker et al’s (Ibid.) RP comprises three clear paragraphs which mark the three typical moves in introduction sections. It is a general-specific text, which makes it resemble an inverted triangle. Most probably, academic writers tend to use this format to attract the reader’s attention. Besides, all the headings found in this RP are left aligned, which seems to be a requisite in AMA style.
The Methods section is the lengthiest section in Baker et al.’s (Ibid.) paper. The authors might have decided to provide the reader with a great amount of relevant information. Not only have they supplied data in written paragraphs but they have also used tables to serve the purpose of supplying clear and detailed information. This feature seems to show that the authors have specially considered their audience. Tables may sometimes become difficult to comprehend.
The Discussion section is relatively shorter if compared to the Methods section. The authors do not use much hedging and they seem to be certain about the laboratory results obtained. The scarce use of tentative language or hedging is probably due to the fact that the study and its pertinent results have been empirically and scientifically proved. Nonetheless, considering experimentation is an endless process, Baker et al. (Ibid) have suggested other scientists should carry out further research.
Baker et al. (Ibid) interpret the results in the light of what was already known in the Discussion section. They have written a relatively compact paragraph which does not fail to offer the reader an answer to the hypotheses or questions posed at the beginning of the RP. Despite the fact that the Discussion paragraph is brief, the authors seem to have been able to show their ability to collect data, draw conclusions and summarise the final results of their investigation.
The numerous advances in technology have given rise to a global information spread all over the world. As a result, a large number of scholars have found a golden opportunity to publish their work on the internet. Even though audiences may significantly differ, all academic writers seem to consider the background knowledge of the audience during their writing process. Some audiences are highly proficient whereas others are more generalist. No matter what field professional writers decide to write about. They all seem to conform to well-established conventions and to provide their RPs with evidence in order to academically support their work.
References
American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American psychological association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Aydin, S., Karakuzu, M. & Elkilic, G. (n.d.). Teacher effect on the level of test anxiety among young EFL learners. Retrieved July 6, 2010, from http://w3.balikesir.edu.tr/~saydin/index_dosyalar/200901.pdf
Baker, M. G., Thornley, C. N., Mills, C. Roberts, S., Perera, S., Peters, J. Kelso, A., Barr & I. Wilson, N. (2010). Transmission of pandemic A/H1N1 2009 influenza on passenger aircraft: Retrospective cohort study. BMJ 2010; 340 (c2424), 1-7. doi: 10.1136/bmj.c2424
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 2 - The research article: Introduction, literature review and method sections. Universidad CAECE. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=4691
Walonick, D. (2005). Elements of a research proposal and report. StatPac. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www.statpac.com/research-papers/research-proposal.htm
The aim of this paper is to compare and contrast two RPs and point out the main features found in both of them. It is worth mentioning that the papers chosen for such analysis belong to different disciplines. As a result, the authors of the RPs analysed in this paper have conformed to a dissimilar standard set of conventions for formatting their work. The RP’s authors have adhered to two referencing conventions, namely the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Medical Association (AMA).
Aydin and Karakuzu (n.d.) seem to have produced their RP following a well-defined, structured format. Journal papers are subdivided into sections, to which a great number of authors seem to conform. This issue is probably a key factor when it comes to presenting a professional RP in most disciplines. Aydin and Karakuzu (Ibid.) have composed their research paper in six separate sections, which are generally expected to be found by readers.
The abstract, whose main function is to summarise the major aspects of the entire paper, is brief and concise. The American Psychological Association (APA) (2009) states that a well- prepared abstract should be accurate, nonevaluative, coherent and easily readable. Aydin and Karakuzu (Ibid.) appear to have managed to respect this requisite. In five sentences, they have included the purpose of their investigation, the experimental design, the major findings without revealing concrete data and a one-sentence summary of their interpretations and conclusions.
The introduction section can be thought of as an inverted triangle with information narrowing down. Pintos and Crimi (2010) point out that introductions should comprise three main moves. The first move will create a research space referring to previous literature. The next move will create a niche in which the writer will refer to a gap in his/her research territory and the final move will contain the purpose of the study. Aydin and Karakuzu (Ibid.) seem to have employed this principle and to have succeeded in concisely explaining the reason of their study.
The Methods section should clearly explain how the study was carried out. Even though this section generally tends to be rather lengthy, Aydin and Karakuzu (Ibid.) have produced a relatively brief section. They have designed three main paragraphs in which they have referred to the participants, materials and the procedure adopted. This conciseness may either show the authors’ power of synthesis or the omission of irrelevant data.
The results section should objectively present the key results in a logical sequence. Aydin and Karakuzu (Ibid.) have developed a presentation of the data and interpreted the data obtained. They have included tables to better exemplify the results in figures. The table has been formatted following the APA conventions even though the authors have not double-spaced the information. This characteristic may be the result of a special request made by the publishing journal or institution.
The Conclusions and Discussion section is the longest segment within the RP. The authors seem to have shown great interest in analysing the final data and results. For this reason, they have written three considerably lengthy paragraphs with an in-depth analysis, which lets the reader grasp a full understanding of the study.
Balanced against Aydin and Karakuzu’s (Ibid.) RP, Baker et al. (2010) have produced a structured abstract with bolded subheadings. This feature seems to be a predominant feature in medical RPs. Each bolded heading identifies the main section the writers have included in their paper. Nonetheless, each subheading contains one sentence except for the Results subheading, which contains seven sentences. This notable difference is probably because the Results section tends to be lengthy and contains a great deal of data.
The introduction section in Baker et al’s (Ibid.) RP comprises three clear paragraphs which mark the three typical moves in introduction sections. It is a general-specific text, which makes it resemble an inverted triangle. Most probably, academic writers tend to use this format to attract the reader’s attention. Besides, all the headings found in this RP are left aligned, which seems to be a requisite in AMA style.
The Methods section is the lengthiest section in Baker et al.’s (Ibid.) paper. The authors might have decided to provide the reader with a great amount of relevant information. Not only have they supplied data in written paragraphs but they have also used tables to serve the purpose of supplying clear and detailed information. This feature seems to show that the authors have specially considered their audience. Tables may sometimes become difficult to comprehend.
The Discussion section is relatively shorter if compared to the Methods section. The authors do not use much hedging and they seem to be certain about the laboratory results obtained. The scarce use of tentative language or hedging is probably due to the fact that the study and its pertinent results have been empirically and scientifically proved. Nonetheless, considering experimentation is an endless process, Baker et al. (Ibid) have suggested other scientists should carry out further research.
Baker et al. (Ibid) interpret the results in the light of what was already known in the Discussion section. They have written a relatively compact paragraph which does not fail to offer the reader an answer to the hypotheses or questions posed at the beginning of the RP. Despite the fact that the Discussion paragraph is brief, the authors seem to have been able to show their ability to collect data, draw conclusions and summarise the final results of their investigation.
The numerous advances in technology have given rise to a global information spread all over the world. As a result, a large number of scholars have found a golden opportunity to publish their work on the internet. Even though audiences may significantly differ, all academic writers seem to consider the background knowledge of the audience during their writing process. Some audiences are highly proficient whereas others are more generalist. No matter what field professional writers decide to write about. They all seem to conform to well-established conventions and to provide their RPs with evidence in order to academically support their work.
References
American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American psychological association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Aydin, S., Karakuzu, M. & Elkilic, G. (n.d.). Teacher effect on the level of test anxiety among young EFL learners. Retrieved July 6, 2010, from http://w3.balikesir.edu.tr/~saydin/index_dosyalar/200901.pdf
Baker, M. G., Thornley, C. N., Mills, C. Roberts, S., Perera, S., Peters, J. Kelso, A., Barr & I. Wilson, N. (2010). Transmission of pandemic A/H1N1 2009 influenza on passenger aircraft: Retrospective cohort study. BMJ 2010; 340 (c2424), 1-7. doi: 10.1136/bmj.c2424
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 2 - The research article: Introduction, literature review and method sections. Universidad CAECE. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=4691
Walonick, D. (2005). Elements of a research proposal and report. StatPac. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www.statpac.com/research-papers/research-proposal.htm
Research article writing: An insight into part of its nature
Research article writing: An insight into part of its nature
Research articles (RAs) should usually contain a standard format and clearly stated sections in order to make the paper more easily readable. Besides, they should normally encompass a title, name of the authors and affiliation, an abstract, an introduction, a methods section, a results and discussions section, a conclusions section, figures, tables and graphs if necessary, and a reference list. Some optional sections may also be included such as acknowledgments and appendices (Pintos & Crimi, 2010).
The aim of this paper is to analyse the conclusion and references of a medical RA (Wijeysundera, 2010) and thus, compare its different sections and writing conventions with RAs embracing social sciences which keep to the American Psychological Association (APA) system. Considering that many disciplines adhere to different referencing styles, the two RAs analysed in this paper will only reflect typical characteristics of APA and the American Medical Association (AMA) and Vancouver style.
One of the last and most valuable sections within an RA is the conclusion section. The function of this section is to summarise the implications shedding light to the subject of investigation as well as providing a personal interpretation. The discussion section should connect the introduction and hypotheses posed in the introduction section (Pintos & Crimi, 2010).
The conclusions section of this research article in the field of medicine meets the requirements mentioned above and it is very brief and concise. However, conciseness does not hinder understanding and accomplishes its mission. The researchers have included four additional paragraphs to refer to funding, interests, ethical approval and data sharing. As regards style and grammar, the researchers have made use of the active voice and the simple present tense to conclude the RA.
APA (2010) states that in order to avoid plagiarism and give credit to the RA, every word and ideas of other authors are to be cited using parenthetical in-text citations. Besides, a reference list including all the entries is to be appended on a separate sheet at the end of the paper.
In the article analysed, in-text citations are cited “…using a superscript arabic numeral…” (Shaffer Library, n.d. p.1). Following the Vancouver style (References/bibliography Vancouver style, (n.d.)), the reference list should appear at the end of the paper. Thus, the reference list was not presented on a separate sheet as in APA style, and it was not alphabetically arranged. The sources were organised in the same order they were mentioned in the RA but they were not double spaced. For digitalised sources, both digital object identifiers (DOI) and links have been utilised. Nevertheless, the word Retrieved and date of retrieval were not provided. This feature seems to reflect APA’s (2010) emphasis on the use of a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to reference online articles or journals.
Regardless of the paper, the author of any RA should present his/her work in a clearly well-structured fashion. The science or field of the RA will define the documentation system to which the author of the paper will conform. Serious RAs should be divided into sections and each section should encompass relevant information in a non-complex and reader-friendly fashion.
After the two comparative analyses, it can be concluded that most RAs should conform to well-defined conventions pertaining to the discipline for which the authors write. Some minor changes within the internal structure of the RA may be altered according to the author’s criterion (University of Washington, 2004). Nonetheless, these changes should be carefully planned and, by no means should they impair understanding. As mentioned above, the aim of a RA is to inform a target audience of new findings. Thus, it should be essential to concentrate on impact, clarity, conciseness and effectiveness (Pintos & Crimi, Ibid.).
References
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 3 - The research article: Results, discussions, and conclusions. Universidad CAECE. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=4692
References/bibliography Vancouver style. (n.d.). Retrieved May 20, 2010, from http://www.library.uq.edu.au/training/citation/vancouv.pdf
Shaffer Library (n.d.). AMA citation style: A concise guide. The University of Findlay. Retrieved May 20, 2010, from http://www.findlay.edu/NR/rdonlyres/DB5BCD1B-07AA-4BC6-A62B-3C962CBAA3CD/0/AMAStyleGuide.pdf
University of Washington (2004). Summarizing a research article. Retrieved May 19, 2010, from http://depts.washington.edu/psywc/handouts/pdf/summarizing.pdf
Wijeysundera, D.N., Beattie, W. S., Elliot, R.F., Austin, P. C., Hux, J.E., & Laupacis, A. (2010).
Non-invasive cardiac stress testing before elective major non-cardiac surgery: Population based cohort study. BMJ, 340 (b5526), 1-9. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b5526
Research articles (RAs) should usually contain a standard format and clearly stated sections in order to make the paper more easily readable. Besides, they should normally encompass a title, name of the authors and affiliation, an abstract, an introduction, a methods section, a results and discussions section, a conclusions section, figures, tables and graphs if necessary, and a reference list. Some optional sections may also be included such as acknowledgments and appendices (Pintos & Crimi, 2010).
The aim of this paper is to analyse the conclusion and references of a medical RA (Wijeysundera, 2010) and thus, compare its different sections and writing conventions with RAs embracing social sciences which keep to the American Psychological Association (APA) system. Considering that many disciplines adhere to different referencing styles, the two RAs analysed in this paper will only reflect typical characteristics of APA and the American Medical Association (AMA) and Vancouver style.
One of the last and most valuable sections within an RA is the conclusion section. The function of this section is to summarise the implications shedding light to the subject of investigation as well as providing a personal interpretation. The discussion section should connect the introduction and hypotheses posed in the introduction section (Pintos & Crimi, 2010).
The conclusions section of this research article in the field of medicine meets the requirements mentioned above and it is very brief and concise. However, conciseness does not hinder understanding and accomplishes its mission. The researchers have included four additional paragraphs to refer to funding, interests, ethical approval and data sharing. As regards style and grammar, the researchers have made use of the active voice and the simple present tense to conclude the RA.
APA (2010) states that in order to avoid plagiarism and give credit to the RA, every word and ideas of other authors are to be cited using parenthetical in-text citations. Besides, a reference list including all the entries is to be appended on a separate sheet at the end of the paper.
In the article analysed, in-text citations are cited “…using a superscript arabic numeral…” (Shaffer Library, n.d. p.1). Following the Vancouver style (References/bibliography Vancouver style, (n.d.)), the reference list should appear at the end of the paper. Thus, the reference list was not presented on a separate sheet as in APA style, and it was not alphabetically arranged. The sources were organised in the same order they were mentioned in the RA but they were not double spaced. For digitalised sources, both digital object identifiers (DOI) and links have been utilised. Nevertheless, the word Retrieved and date of retrieval were not provided. This feature seems to reflect APA’s (2010) emphasis on the use of a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to reference online articles or journals.
Regardless of the paper, the author of any RA should present his/her work in a clearly well-structured fashion. The science or field of the RA will define the documentation system to which the author of the paper will conform. Serious RAs should be divided into sections and each section should encompass relevant information in a non-complex and reader-friendly fashion.
After the two comparative analyses, it can be concluded that most RAs should conform to well-defined conventions pertaining to the discipline for which the authors write. Some minor changes within the internal structure of the RA may be altered according to the author’s criterion (University of Washington, 2004). Nonetheless, these changes should be carefully planned and, by no means should they impair understanding. As mentioned above, the aim of a RA is to inform a target audience of new findings. Thus, it should be essential to concentrate on impact, clarity, conciseness and effectiveness (Pintos & Crimi, Ibid.).
References
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 3 - The research article: Results, discussions, and conclusions. Universidad CAECE. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=4692
References/bibliography Vancouver style. (n.d.). Retrieved May 20, 2010, from http://www.library.uq.edu.au/training/citation/vancouv.pdf
Shaffer Library (n.d.). AMA citation style: A concise guide. The University of Findlay. Retrieved May 20, 2010, from http://www.findlay.edu/NR/rdonlyres/DB5BCD1B-07AA-4BC6-A62B-3C962CBAA3CD/0/AMAStyleGuide.pdf
University of Washington (2004). Summarizing a research article. Retrieved May 19, 2010, from http://depts.washington.edu/psywc/handouts/pdf/summarizing.pdf
Wijeysundera, D.N., Beattie, W. S., Elliot, R.F., Austin, P. C., Hux, J.E., & Laupacis, A. (2010).
Non-invasive cardiac stress testing before elective major non-cardiac surgery: Population based cohort study. BMJ, 340 (b5526), 1-9. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b5526
Research article writing: An insight into part of its nature
Research articles (RAs) should usually contain a standard format and clearly stated sections in order to make the paper more easily readable. Besides, they should normally contain a title, name of the authors and affiliation, an abstract, an introduction, a methods section, a results and discussions section, a conclusions section, figures, tables and graphs if necessary, and a reference list. Some optional sections may also be included such as acknowledgments and appendices (Pintos & Crimi, 2010).
The aim of this paper is to analyse the conclusion and references of a medical RA (Wijeysundera, 2010) and thus, compare its different sections and writing conventions with RAs embracing social sciences which keep to the American Psychological Association (APA) system.
One of the last and most valuable sections within a RA is the conclusion section. The function of this section is to summarise the implications shedding light to the subject of investigation as well as providing a personal interpretation. The discussion section should connect to the introduction and hypotheses posed in the introduction section (Pintos & Crimi, 2010).
The conclusions section of this medical research article meets the requirements mentioned above and it is very brief and concise. However, conciseness does not hinder understanding and accomplishes its mission. The researchers have included four additional paragraphs to refer to funding, interests, ethical approval and data sharing. As regards style and grammar, the researchers have made use of the active voice and the simple present tense to conclude the RA.
APA (2010) states that in order to avoid plagiarism and give credit to the RA, every word and ideas of other authors are to be cited using parenthetical in-text citations. Besides, a reference list including all the entries is to be appended on a separate sheet at the end of the paper.
In the article analysed, in-text citations are cited “…using a superscript arabic numeral…” (Shaffer Library, n.d. p.1).Following the Vancouver style (References/bibliography Vancouver style, (n.d.)), the reference list should appear at the end of the paper. Thus, the reference list was not presented on a separate sheet as in APA style, and was not alphabetically arranged. The sources were organised in the same order they were mentioned in the RA but were not double spaced. For digitalised sources, both digital object identifiers (DOI) and links have been utilised. Nevertheless, the word Retrieved and date of retrieval were not provided.
Regardless of the paper, the author of any RA should be present his/her work in a clearly well-structured fashion. The science or field of the RA will define the documentation system to which the author of the paper will conform. Serious RAs should be divided into sections and each section should encompass relevant information in a non-complex and reader-friendly fashion.
Some minor changes within the internal structure of the RA may be altered according to the author’s criterion (University of Washington, 2004). Nonetheless, these changes should be carefully planned and, by no means should they impair understanding. As mentioned above, the aim of a RA is to inform a target audience of new findings. Thus, it should be essential to concentrate on impact, clarity, conciseness and effectiveness (Pintos & Crimi, Ibid.).
References
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 3 - The research article: Results, discussions, and conclusions. Universidad CAECE. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=4692
References/bibliography Vancouver style. (n.d.). Retrieved May 20, 2010, from http://www.library.uq.edu.au/training/citation/vancouv.pdf
Shaffer Library (n.d.). AMA citation style: A concise guide. The University of Findlay. Retrieved May 20, 2010, from http://www.findlay.edu/NR/rdonlyres/DB5BCD1B-07AA-4BC6-A62B-3C962CBAA3CD/0/AMAStyleGuide.pdf
University of Washington (2004). Summarizing a research article. Retrieved May 19, 2010, from http://depts.washington.edu/psywc/handouts/pdf/summarizing.pdf
Wijeysundera, D.N., Beattie, W. S., Elliot, R.F., Austin, P. C., Hux, J.E., & Laupacis, A. (2010).
Non-invasive cardiac stress testing before elective major non-cardiac surgery: Population based cohort study. BMJ, 340 (b5526), 1-9. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b5526
The aim of this paper is to analyse the conclusion and references of a medical RA (Wijeysundera, 2010) and thus, compare its different sections and writing conventions with RAs embracing social sciences which keep to the American Psychological Association (APA) system.
One of the last and most valuable sections within a RA is the conclusion section. The function of this section is to summarise the implications shedding light to the subject of investigation as well as providing a personal interpretation. The discussion section should connect to the introduction and hypotheses posed in the introduction section (Pintos & Crimi, 2010).
The conclusions section of this medical research article meets the requirements mentioned above and it is very brief and concise. However, conciseness does not hinder understanding and accomplishes its mission. The researchers have included four additional paragraphs to refer to funding, interests, ethical approval and data sharing. As regards style and grammar, the researchers have made use of the active voice and the simple present tense to conclude the RA.
APA (2010) states that in order to avoid plagiarism and give credit to the RA, every word and ideas of other authors are to be cited using parenthetical in-text citations. Besides, a reference list including all the entries is to be appended on a separate sheet at the end of the paper.
In the article analysed, in-text citations are cited “…using a superscript arabic numeral…” (Shaffer Library, n.d. p.1).Following the Vancouver style (References/bibliography Vancouver style, (n.d.)), the reference list should appear at the end of the paper. Thus, the reference list was not presented on a separate sheet as in APA style, and was not alphabetically arranged. The sources were organised in the same order they were mentioned in the RA but were not double spaced. For digitalised sources, both digital object identifiers (DOI) and links have been utilised. Nevertheless, the word Retrieved and date of retrieval were not provided.
Regardless of the paper, the author of any RA should be present his/her work in a clearly well-structured fashion. The science or field of the RA will define the documentation system to which the author of the paper will conform. Serious RAs should be divided into sections and each section should encompass relevant information in a non-complex and reader-friendly fashion.
Some minor changes within the internal structure of the RA may be altered according to the author’s criterion (University of Washington, 2004). Nonetheless, these changes should be carefully planned and, by no means should they impair understanding. As mentioned above, the aim of a RA is to inform a target audience of new findings. Thus, it should be essential to concentrate on impact, clarity, conciseness and effectiveness (Pintos & Crimi, Ibid.).
References
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 3 - The research article: Results, discussions, and conclusions. Universidad CAECE. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=4692
References/bibliography Vancouver style. (n.d.). Retrieved May 20, 2010, from http://www.library.uq.edu.au/training/citation/vancouv.pdf
Shaffer Library (n.d.). AMA citation style: A concise guide. The University of Findlay. Retrieved May 20, 2010, from http://www.findlay.edu/NR/rdonlyres/DB5BCD1B-07AA-4BC6-A62B-3C962CBAA3CD/0/AMAStyleGuide.pdf
University of Washington (2004). Summarizing a research article. Retrieved May 19, 2010, from http://depts.washington.edu/psywc/handouts/pdf/summarizing.pdf
Wijeysundera, D.N., Beattie, W. S., Elliot, R.F., Austin, P. C., Hux, J.E., & Laupacis, A. (2010).
Non-invasive cardiac stress testing before elective major non-cardiac surgery: Population based cohort study. BMJ, 340 (b5526), 1-9. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b5526
Monday 5 July 2010
Abstracts: A bird’s eye view
Abstract writing may become one of the most challenging sections within the structure of a research paper (RP). Hubbuch (1996, as cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010, p 11) defines abstracts as “brief summaries of the major points made by an author in a book or article”. An abstract will enable professionals or readers to delve into a highly condensed section of a RP and have a clear panorama of the main topics discussed. Thus, the reader will have the possibility of evaluating the significance of the RP and of deciding whether it serves a purpose.
Swales and Feak (1994, cited in Pintos & Crimi, Ibid) state that there exist at least two different types of abstracts, namely those included at the beginning of RPs and conference abstracts. The former outlines a research which has already been completed whereas the latter’s aim is to inform conference organisers about the researcher’s work either completed or still being developed.
Swales (1990, cited in Pintos & Crimi, Ibid) and Swales and Feak (Ibid, cited in Pintos & Crimi, Ibid.) state there are two broad abstract categories: informative abstracts and indicative abstracts. They mainly differ from each other in format, the data weight which the abstract contains and the approach the writer gives to his/her paper. An informative abstract, as its name suggests, provides information on research which has already been carried out while an indicative abstract relates to the researcher’s future intentions, mainly produced for conferences.
Apart from this broad categorisation of abstracts, it should be noted that researchers may decide to write abstracts following a structured or an unstructured format. This decision will make abstracts look different in terms of presentation. Structured abstracts contain bolded headings and each of them refers to a different section of the RP whereas unstructured abstracts consist of one long, unbroken, solid block of writing not longer than 150 words in length (Pintos & Crimi, 2010).
This paper will analyse the internal structure of four RPs in the field of medicine in order to find differences and similarities, linguistic features, the use of tenses and any other discernible and relevant items inherent to this analysis. In order to perform this close scrutiny in a comprehensive fashion, the abstracts and its corresponding internal subsections will be analysed separately.
Beckett et al. (2008) have produced a 355 word abstract. Even though it may look a rather lengthy abstract, it seems to follow the requirements stated by most academic writers: conciseness and clarity. After analysing these four medical RPs, which seem to adhere to the Vancouver referencing style, predominantly used in the medical field, they are structured in format and do not comprise a single block paragraph as in unstructured abstracts.
Considering that abstracts in medical RPs tend to be lengthier than abstracts found in the field of education, researchers may have considered the idea of conforming to traditional or well-established conventions in their discipline. This internal subdivision within medical abstracts containing bolded headings is probably time-saving when it comes to finding some particular or relevant information connected with the research. Readers are likely to find the data in which they are interested and grasp main ideas at a glance.
Beckett et al. (2008) have subdivided their abstract into 4 different sections. Each of them summarise the entire paper in a few words. Within the first section labelled “Background”, the authors have explained in merely two sentences the core of the problem and possible health risks. In the second section headed “Methods”, the authors have referred to the planned way in which they have carried out the research. The Results section is the longest one as it objectively depicts the key results, without interpretation, in an orderly and logical sequence. This paragraph may contain more wording since the aim is to briefly highlight the answers to the questions or hypotheses proposed before the investigation. The Conclusions section is very concise and provides the reader with a clear and concrete answer to the problem.
Swales and Feak (Ibid., cited in Pintos & Crimi, Ibid.) stated that abstracts should include full sentences, the use of past tense, impersonal use of passive voice, absence of negative sentences and the avoidance of jargon. These features can be found in the RP except for the use of jargon. The use of specific words or terminology is probably an inevitable consequence in this type of medical RPs. Not many people are well-acquainted with medical terms and common readers may sometimes find at a loss while trying to grasp the main ideas.
With reference to tenses, Swales and Feak (Ibid.) suggested that each section should generally be written using certain tenses. Conclusions are often written in present tenses since they report the results obtained and the present state of the art. Opening sentences, like the ones found in background sections, tend to be written in present or present perfect tense. These opening sentences appear to show the reader what the real problem is or the initial hypotheses suggested by the researcher.
Martinez, Assimes, Mines, Dell’Aniello and Suissa (2009) have produced a 281 word abstract. The internal structure of this abstract has different headings and more subsections if it is compared to the previous RP. The authors are likely to have felt the necessity of including some extra information pertinent to their research work. This necessity may be the result of attracting and tempting the audience to read their work or plainly a simple mechanism of providing the reader with as much information as possible. It should be noted that even though the authors have included more information and subsections, they appear to have succeeded in producing a relatively short abstract.
Martinez, Assimes, Mines, Dell’Aniello and Suissa (2009) have divided their abstract into six sections. Their first section was labelled “Objective” and it consists of only one sentence which depicts the purpose of the study. They have also included sections such as Design, which draws a parallel with the Methods section described above, a Setting section which briefly explains where the study was carried out and a Results and Conclusions sections. In addition to these four sections, the authors have devoted a special section in their abstract to referring to the participants who took part in the study. It is very probable that they have decided to include the population sample to better explain the methods and strategy used during their research.
Jørgensen, Zahl, Gøtzsche (2009), however, have written a more extensive abstract. This may be the result of including several subsections within the abstract and of writing in a more extensive fashion. The authors have included seven sections, and in some of them they do not seem to have been able to synthesise and compress the information provided. It is highly probable that they have decided to give as much information in the abstract as possible without complying with general conventions.
As regards lexis and grammar the authors do not seem to have complied with the use of tenses. Unlike the other abstracts, the authors have decided to write all the subsections using the past simple tense. This may respond to a personal decision and not to a special request of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), since the three articles which have been analysed in this paper have been retrieved from the same electronic journal. As stated above, the use of jargon accompanied by acronyms and percentages are present in the abstract, which may make the reading less comprehensible to those members who do not belong to the medical community.
Wijeysundera et al. (2009) have developed a more detailed abstract with eight different sections in less than 260 words. In order to include more sections than the previously analysed RPs, the authors must probably have resorted to an outstanding power of synthesis. The subsections included in this RP have been labelled in bold like the rest of the RPs and left-aligned. No other significant format changes have been noticed in the analysis of the four medical RPs. Consequently, it may be assumed that this format is the one applied by those researchers who write and publish their work respecting the Vancouver conventions and the American Medical Association (AMA) style.
Taking into account all the items discussed in the analysis presented in this paper, we might conclude by outlining some important features to be considered when it comes to writing an abstract. Abstracts should be written following a strict chronological order of the study in a truly condensed manner. In addition, writers should consider the audience but they should not forget that any individual who does not belong to that specific community might be interested in reading their RP. Hence, RP writers should summarise the entire research work in a comprehensive fashion, making this crucial, strategic section of a RP understandable enough to a wide audience.
A huge number of research writers may wish to have their work published in paper edition or electronic journals. When e-readers search the internet, they enter key words related to the subject and web search engines show the title of the RP and part of the abstract containing those key words. Thus, many abstracts contain key words about what is essential and inherent to the paper so readers can retrieve the information needed. It would also be advisable to contact the institution which will receive and publish the RP in order to enquire about the internal conventions and follow the requirements of that particular institution.
References
Beckett, N., Peters, R., Fletcher, A., Staessen, J., Liu, L., Dumitrascu, D., Stoyanovsky, V., Antikainen; R., Nikitin, Y., Anderson, C., Belhani, A., Forette, F., Rajkumar, C., Thijs, L., Banya, W. & Bulpitt, C. (2008, May 1). Treatment of hypertension in patients 80 years older of age or older. The New England Journal of Medicine, 358(18), 1887-1898. Retrieved May 16, 2010, from http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/358/18/1887
Jørgensen, K., Zahl, P., Gøtzsche, P. (2009). Breast cancer mortality in organised mammography screening in Denmark: Comparative study. BMJ 2010; 340 (c124), 1-6. doi:10.1136/bmj.c1241
Martinez, C., Assimes, T., Mines, D., Dell’Aniello, S., Suissa, S. (2009). Use of venlafaxine compared with other antidepressants and the risk of sudden cardiac death or near death: A nested case-control study. BMJ 2010; 340 (c249), 1-9. doi:10.1136/bmj.c249
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 4 - Research articles: Abstracts. Universidad CAECE. Retrieved May 25, 2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=4693
Wijeysundera, D.N., Beattie, W. S., Elliot, R.F., Austin, P. C., Hux, J.E., & Laupacis, A. (2009).
Non-invasive cardiac stress testing before elective major non-cardiac surgery: Population based cohort study. BMJ, 340 (b5526), 1-9. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b55
Swales and Feak (1994, cited in Pintos & Crimi, Ibid) state that there exist at least two different types of abstracts, namely those included at the beginning of RPs and conference abstracts. The former outlines a research which has already been completed whereas the latter’s aim is to inform conference organisers about the researcher’s work either completed or still being developed.
Swales (1990, cited in Pintos & Crimi, Ibid) and Swales and Feak (Ibid, cited in Pintos & Crimi, Ibid.) state there are two broad abstract categories: informative abstracts and indicative abstracts. They mainly differ from each other in format, the data weight which the abstract contains and the approach the writer gives to his/her paper. An informative abstract, as its name suggests, provides information on research which has already been carried out while an indicative abstract relates to the researcher’s future intentions, mainly produced for conferences.
Apart from this broad categorisation of abstracts, it should be noted that researchers may decide to write abstracts following a structured or an unstructured format. This decision will make abstracts look different in terms of presentation. Structured abstracts contain bolded headings and each of them refers to a different section of the RP whereas unstructured abstracts consist of one long, unbroken, solid block of writing not longer than 150 words in length (Pintos & Crimi, 2010).
This paper will analyse the internal structure of four RPs in the field of medicine in order to find differences and similarities, linguistic features, the use of tenses and any other discernible and relevant items inherent to this analysis. In order to perform this close scrutiny in a comprehensive fashion, the abstracts and its corresponding internal subsections will be analysed separately.
Beckett et al. (2008) have produced a 355 word abstract. Even though it may look a rather lengthy abstract, it seems to follow the requirements stated by most academic writers: conciseness and clarity. After analysing these four medical RPs, which seem to adhere to the Vancouver referencing style, predominantly used in the medical field, they are structured in format and do not comprise a single block paragraph as in unstructured abstracts.
Considering that abstracts in medical RPs tend to be lengthier than abstracts found in the field of education, researchers may have considered the idea of conforming to traditional or well-established conventions in their discipline. This internal subdivision within medical abstracts containing bolded headings is probably time-saving when it comes to finding some particular or relevant information connected with the research. Readers are likely to find the data in which they are interested and grasp main ideas at a glance.
Beckett et al. (2008) have subdivided their abstract into 4 different sections. Each of them summarise the entire paper in a few words. Within the first section labelled “Background”, the authors have explained in merely two sentences the core of the problem and possible health risks. In the second section headed “Methods”, the authors have referred to the planned way in which they have carried out the research. The Results section is the longest one as it objectively depicts the key results, without interpretation, in an orderly and logical sequence. This paragraph may contain more wording since the aim is to briefly highlight the answers to the questions or hypotheses proposed before the investigation. The Conclusions section is very concise and provides the reader with a clear and concrete answer to the problem.
Swales and Feak (Ibid., cited in Pintos & Crimi, Ibid.) stated that abstracts should include full sentences, the use of past tense, impersonal use of passive voice, absence of negative sentences and the avoidance of jargon. These features can be found in the RP except for the use of jargon. The use of specific words or terminology is probably an inevitable consequence in this type of medical RPs. Not many people are well-acquainted with medical terms and common readers may sometimes find at a loss while trying to grasp the main ideas.
With reference to tenses, Swales and Feak (Ibid.) suggested that each section should generally be written using certain tenses. Conclusions are often written in present tenses since they report the results obtained and the present state of the art. Opening sentences, like the ones found in background sections, tend to be written in present or present perfect tense. These opening sentences appear to show the reader what the real problem is or the initial hypotheses suggested by the researcher.
Martinez, Assimes, Mines, Dell’Aniello and Suissa (2009) have produced a 281 word abstract. The internal structure of this abstract has different headings and more subsections if it is compared to the previous RP. The authors are likely to have felt the necessity of including some extra information pertinent to their research work. This necessity may be the result of attracting and tempting the audience to read their work or plainly a simple mechanism of providing the reader with as much information as possible. It should be noted that even though the authors have included more information and subsections, they appear to have succeeded in producing a relatively short abstract.
Martinez, Assimes, Mines, Dell’Aniello and Suissa (2009) have divided their abstract into six sections. Their first section was labelled “Objective” and it consists of only one sentence which depicts the purpose of the study. They have also included sections such as Design, which draws a parallel with the Methods section described above, a Setting section which briefly explains where the study was carried out and a Results and Conclusions sections. In addition to these four sections, the authors have devoted a special section in their abstract to referring to the participants who took part in the study. It is very probable that they have decided to include the population sample to better explain the methods and strategy used during their research.
Jørgensen, Zahl, Gøtzsche (2009), however, have written a more extensive abstract. This may be the result of including several subsections within the abstract and of writing in a more extensive fashion. The authors have included seven sections, and in some of them they do not seem to have been able to synthesise and compress the information provided. It is highly probable that they have decided to give as much information in the abstract as possible without complying with general conventions.
As regards lexis and grammar the authors do not seem to have complied with the use of tenses. Unlike the other abstracts, the authors have decided to write all the subsections using the past simple tense. This may respond to a personal decision and not to a special request of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), since the three articles which have been analysed in this paper have been retrieved from the same electronic journal. As stated above, the use of jargon accompanied by acronyms and percentages are present in the abstract, which may make the reading less comprehensible to those members who do not belong to the medical community.
Wijeysundera et al. (2009) have developed a more detailed abstract with eight different sections in less than 260 words. In order to include more sections than the previously analysed RPs, the authors must probably have resorted to an outstanding power of synthesis. The subsections included in this RP have been labelled in bold like the rest of the RPs and left-aligned. No other significant format changes have been noticed in the analysis of the four medical RPs. Consequently, it may be assumed that this format is the one applied by those researchers who write and publish their work respecting the Vancouver conventions and the American Medical Association (AMA) style.
Taking into account all the items discussed in the analysis presented in this paper, we might conclude by outlining some important features to be considered when it comes to writing an abstract. Abstracts should be written following a strict chronological order of the study in a truly condensed manner. In addition, writers should consider the audience but they should not forget that any individual who does not belong to that specific community might be interested in reading their RP. Hence, RP writers should summarise the entire research work in a comprehensive fashion, making this crucial, strategic section of a RP understandable enough to a wide audience.
A huge number of research writers may wish to have their work published in paper edition or electronic journals. When e-readers search the internet, they enter key words related to the subject and web search engines show the title of the RP and part of the abstract containing those key words. Thus, many abstracts contain key words about what is essential and inherent to the paper so readers can retrieve the information needed. It would also be advisable to contact the institution which will receive and publish the RP in order to enquire about the internal conventions and follow the requirements of that particular institution.
References
Beckett, N., Peters, R., Fletcher, A., Staessen, J., Liu, L., Dumitrascu, D., Stoyanovsky, V., Antikainen; R., Nikitin, Y., Anderson, C., Belhani, A., Forette, F., Rajkumar, C., Thijs, L., Banya, W. & Bulpitt, C. (2008, May 1). Treatment of hypertension in patients 80 years older of age or older. The New England Journal of Medicine, 358(18), 1887-1898. Retrieved May 16, 2010, from http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/358/18/1887
Jørgensen, K., Zahl, P., Gøtzsche, P. (2009). Breast cancer mortality in organised mammography screening in Denmark: Comparative study. BMJ 2010; 340 (c124), 1-6. doi:10.1136/bmj.c1241
Martinez, C., Assimes, T., Mines, D., Dell’Aniello, S., Suissa, S. (2009). Use of venlafaxine compared with other antidepressants and the risk of sudden cardiac death or near death: A nested case-control study. BMJ 2010; 340 (c249), 1-9. doi:10.1136/bmj.c249
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 4 - Research articles: Abstracts. Universidad CAECE. Retrieved May 25, 2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=4693
Wijeysundera, D.N., Beattie, W. S., Elliot, R.F., Austin, P. C., Hux, J.E., & Laupacis, A. (2009).
Non-invasive cardiac stress testing before elective major non-cardiac surgery: Population based cohort study. BMJ, 340 (b5526), 1-9. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b55
Friday 18 June 2010
Research papers: The core of the matter
McCoy-Massey (2009) states that most journals and scientific papers follow a standard format. Research papers (RPs) are divided into clear-cut sections and sub-sections which will enable the reader to concentrate on the main topics discussed. The aim of these constituent, intrinsic sections characteristic of RPs is to make the reading more interesting, understandable and even manageable (Pintos & Crimi, 2010).
The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast three internal sections within both a medical research paper (Ybarra et al., 2004) and a research paper in the field of education (Beebe, Vonderwell, & Boboc, 2010). This analysis will be based on three crucial sections commonly identifiable in most academic papers: the results, the discussion, the conclusions and the recommendations sections.
According to Swales (1998, cited in Pintos & Crimi, Ibid.), the results section should be objectively presented in an orderly and logical sequence and it may refer the reader to summarised data in a text-format style, tables and/or figures. Thus, the purpose of this section is to present and illustrate the findings. This section should let the reader grasp the objective report of the results and, save all the information for the discussion section.
Beebe, Vonderwell, and Boboc (Ibid) have treated the results section in a cause-effect format style in order to present the situation in a carefully sequenced fashion. This resource has enabled the authors to delve into an in-depth analysis of major themes, which were regarded as significantly important. The development of these crucial issues which, according to the authors, may hinder online assessment were duly and detailed described. Each item has been separately discussed and every sub-section has been labelled and left-aligned for better comprehension.
In addition, the authors have resorted to the use of block quotations extracted from the interviews carried out during their research. Accordingly, the authors’ assumptions seem to have been fully supported by the comments made by the interviewees. Considering that all the block quotations used in the results section comprise more than 40 words, it should be noted that the authors have followed the American Psychological Association (APA) conventions. That is to say, quotation marks have been removed and the quotation has been “…display[ed] in a freestanding block of text” (APA, 2010, p. 171).
Swales and Feak (1994, cited in Pintos and Crimi, Ibid) assert that it is of extreme importance to utilise some linguistic tools to express cautiousness when being critical. Hedging could be described as cautious or vague language to make decisions about a stance (“Features of”, n.d.).
Beebe, Vonderwell, and Boboc (Ibid.) have made use of hedging to lessen the strength of their statements. The authors have resorted to different linguistic tools such as modals to indicate probability, the use of some verbs like seem and tend and some sentence openings like it is possible.
Pintos and Crimi (Ibid.) state that the outcomes related to the hypotheses are discussed within the results section and the tenses used are past tenses for the results and present tenses for discussions. The authors have also adhered to this convention. The present tense has been utilised to introduce the subject of discussion whereas the simple past tense was used to show the study findings.
APA (2010) states that the discussion section is written to provide the reader with inferences and interpretation of the results and to explain a new understanding of the problem. Beebe, Vonderwell, and Boboc (Ibid) have devoted a relatively lengthy paragraph for such purpose. As suggested by APA (Ibid), the authors have opened the section with a strong and clear statement. As well as this, they have used in-text citations in their academic paper to support their theses. The final paragraph depicts a thorough evaluation of the results on the part of the authors and they refer as well to their literature review presented at the beginning of their RP in order to conclude the section.
The recommendation section in Beebe, Vonderwell, and Boboc’s RP, (Ibid) introduces the need for further investigation. The authors assert that future research should be carried out in order to shed light to the case they have studied. It should be noted that they make use of hedging to make their suggestions and they have also included block quotations extracted from the interviews carried out during the research work probably to support their standpoint.
Despite the fact Ybarra, Leaf, and Diener-West (2004) have done their research in a different discipline and they have used different convention rules for in-text citations and referencing, their RP has a relatively similar format with minor changes compared to the paper in the field of education analysed above. These similarities may be due to the fact that the format of research papers in most disciplines should comply with global conventions and rules.
Ybarra, Leaf, and Diener-West (Ibid.) have chosen to discuss the results section into labelled sub-divided sections or sub-categories, most probably to show the results more clearly. The first subsection is descriptive and mainly reports the final results expressed in numbers as well as in percentages. These results include the whole population sample studied without stopping to focus on separate male and female groups. However, in order to develop a more thorough analysis, the authors seem to have decided to present their evaluation in two subsequent sections including reports from both the male and female population sample.
Data tables have been produced to visually indicate resultant values in each sub-section. “All tables are meant to show something specific; for example, tables that communicate quantitative data are effective only when the data are arranged so that their meaning is obvious at a glance” (Wainer, 1997, as cited by APA, Ibid., p. 128). APA (Ibid.) states that authors have to conform to well-established conventions when they decide to include tables or figures in their RPs. One of these conventions states that all tables should be produced on a separate page.
However, Ybarra, Leaf, and Diener-West (Ibid.) have not used a separate page to include their tables, most probably due to printing constraints. As stated by APA (Ibid), the tables contain clear individual, explanatory titles in order to infer the basic content of the table. All elements in the table have been double spaced and each column has a highly descriptive heading which clearly shows the statistics represented in numeral and percentage form.
Nevertheless, the titles have not been placed in heading caps and italics. This issue may be the result of differences in APA and Vancouver referencing styles. It is worth noting that the education RP does not present tables to show data analysis. This decision made by the writers may be due to the fact that they may not have felt the need to summarise the results in such a way.
With regard to grammar, the medical RP present past tenses in both active and passive voice to show the final results and evaluation of the findings. Likewise, personal statements have been avoided and the authors have resorted to the use the personal pronoun we. A vast number of linking words have been used to preserve the cohesion and the smooth sequence in paragraph transitions.
In both RPs, the authors have opened the discussion section with a clear and strong statement. In the medical RP, this section has also been divided into sub-sections which deal with each topic separately. In addition, the authors have decided to include extra sections within which they suggest further research on the issue.
As for the conclusions sections in the medical RP, it has been briefly divided into two paragraphs without failing to show the importance of their research work and the necessity of further investigation on the topic. Thus, the first paragraph states the purpose of the study examined as well as its importance whereas the second paragraph shows the writers’ opinion and suggestions for further research on the issue.
Academic writers should follow a specific format and respect a sequence of well-defined sections to make their paper more easily readable. In addition, they should remember that there exist academic conventions to adhere to, which will make their RP look reliable and professional. Even though a great number of standardised conventions should be followed when it comes to writing a RP, authors may decide to make some minor internal changes. Nonetheless, RP’s writers should bear in mind what each section should include and what purpose it should serve.
References
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Beebe, R., Vonderwell, S., & Boboc, M. (2010). Emerging patterns in transferring assessment practices from f2f to online environments. Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 8(1), 1-12. Retrieved June 6, 2010, from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/47/67/d0.pdf
Features of academic writing. (n.d.). Retrieved June 6, 2010, from http://www.uefap.com/writing/feature/hedge.htm
McCoy-Massey, D. (2009). Increasing knowledge - How to read a research paper. Retrieved June 1, 2010, from http://www.lbda.org/feature/2192/increasing-knowledge-and--how-to-read-a-research-paper.htm
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 3 - The research article: Results, discussions, and conclusions. Universidad CAECE. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=4692
Ybarra, M. L., Leaf, P. J., & Diener-West, M. (2004, February 6). Sex differences in youth-reported depressive symptomatology and unwanted internet sexual solicitation. Journal of Medical Internet Research. Retrieved April 2, 2010, from http://www.jmir.org/2004/1/e5/HTML
The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast three internal sections within both a medical research paper (Ybarra et al., 2004) and a research paper in the field of education (Beebe, Vonderwell, & Boboc, 2010). This analysis will be based on three crucial sections commonly identifiable in most academic papers: the results, the discussion, the conclusions and the recommendations sections.
According to Swales (1998, cited in Pintos & Crimi, Ibid.), the results section should be objectively presented in an orderly and logical sequence and it may refer the reader to summarised data in a text-format style, tables and/or figures. Thus, the purpose of this section is to present and illustrate the findings. This section should let the reader grasp the objective report of the results and, save all the information for the discussion section.
Beebe, Vonderwell, and Boboc (Ibid) have treated the results section in a cause-effect format style in order to present the situation in a carefully sequenced fashion. This resource has enabled the authors to delve into an in-depth analysis of major themes, which were regarded as significantly important. The development of these crucial issues which, according to the authors, may hinder online assessment were duly and detailed described. Each item has been separately discussed and every sub-section has been labelled and left-aligned for better comprehension.
In addition, the authors have resorted to the use of block quotations extracted from the interviews carried out during their research. Accordingly, the authors’ assumptions seem to have been fully supported by the comments made by the interviewees. Considering that all the block quotations used in the results section comprise more than 40 words, it should be noted that the authors have followed the American Psychological Association (APA) conventions. That is to say, quotation marks have been removed and the quotation has been “…display[ed] in a freestanding block of text” (APA, 2010, p. 171).
Swales and Feak (1994, cited in Pintos and Crimi, Ibid) assert that it is of extreme importance to utilise some linguistic tools to express cautiousness when being critical. Hedging could be described as cautious or vague language to make decisions about a stance (“Features of”, n.d.).
Beebe, Vonderwell, and Boboc (Ibid.) have made use of hedging to lessen the strength of their statements. The authors have resorted to different linguistic tools such as modals to indicate probability, the use of some verbs like seem and tend and some sentence openings like it is possible.
Pintos and Crimi (Ibid.) state that the outcomes related to the hypotheses are discussed within the results section and the tenses used are past tenses for the results and present tenses for discussions. The authors have also adhered to this convention. The present tense has been utilised to introduce the subject of discussion whereas the simple past tense was used to show the study findings.
APA (2010) states that the discussion section is written to provide the reader with inferences and interpretation of the results and to explain a new understanding of the problem. Beebe, Vonderwell, and Boboc (Ibid) have devoted a relatively lengthy paragraph for such purpose. As suggested by APA (Ibid), the authors have opened the section with a strong and clear statement. As well as this, they have used in-text citations in their academic paper to support their theses. The final paragraph depicts a thorough evaluation of the results on the part of the authors and they refer as well to their literature review presented at the beginning of their RP in order to conclude the section.
The recommendation section in Beebe, Vonderwell, and Boboc’s RP, (Ibid) introduces the need for further investigation. The authors assert that future research should be carried out in order to shed light to the case they have studied. It should be noted that they make use of hedging to make their suggestions and they have also included block quotations extracted from the interviews carried out during the research work probably to support their standpoint.
Despite the fact Ybarra, Leaf, and Diener-West (2004) have done their research in a different discipline and they have used different convention rules for in-text citations and referencing, their RP has a relatively similar format with minor changes compared to the paper in the field of education analysed above. These similarities may be due to the fact that the format of research papers in most disciplines should comply with global conventions and rules.
Ybarra, Leaf, and Diener-West (Ibid.) have chosen to discuss the results section into labelled sub-divided sections or sub-categories, most probably to show the results more clearly. The first subsection is descriptive and mainly reports the final results expressed in numbers as well as in percentages. These results include the whole population sample studied without stopping to focus on separate male and female groups. However, in order to develop a more thorough analysis, the authors seem to have decided to present their evaluation in two subsequent sections including reports from both the male and female population sample.
Data tables have been produced to visually indicate resultant values in each sub-section. “All tables are meant to show something specific; for example, tables that communicate quantitative data are effective only when the data are arranged so that their meaning is obvious at a glance” (Wainer, 1997, as cited by APA, Ibid., p. 128). APA (Ibid.) states that authors have to conform to well-established conventions when they decide to include tables or figures in their RPs. One of these conventions states that all tables should be produced on a separate page.
However, Ybarra, Leaf, and Diener-West (Ibid.) have not used a separate page to include their tables, most probably due to printing constraints. As stated by APA (Ibid), the tables contain clear individual, explanatory titles in order to infer the basic content of the table. All elements in the table have been double spaced and each column has a highly descriptive heading which clearly shows the statistics represented in numeral and percentage form.
Nevertheless, the titles have not been placed in heading caps and italics. This issue may be the result of differences in APA and Vancouver referencing styles. It is worth noting that the education RP does not present tables to show data analysis. This decision made by the writers may be due to the fact that they may not have felt the need to summarise the results in such a way.
With regard to grammar, the medical RP present past tenses in both active and passive voice to show the final results and evaluation of the findings. Likewise, personal statements have been avoided and the authors have resorted to the use the personal pronoun we. A vast number of linking words have been used to preserve the cohesion and the smooth sequence in paragraph transitions.
In both RPs, the authors have opened the discussion section with a clear and strong statement. In the medical RP, this section has also been divided into sub-sections which deal with each topic separately. In addition, the authors have decided to include extra sections within which they suggest further research on the issue.
As for the conclusions sections in the medical RP, it has been briefly divided into two paragraphs without failing to show the importance of their research work and the necessity of further investigation on the topic. Thus, the first paragraph states the purpose of the study examined as well as its importance whereas the second paragraph shows the writers’ opinion and suggestions for further research on the issue.
Academic writers should follow a specific format and respect a sequence of well-defined sections to make their paper more easily readable. In addition, they should remember that there exist academic conventions to adhere to, which will make their RP look reliable and professional. Even though a great number of standardised conventions should be followed when it comes to writing a RP, authors may decide to make some minor internal changes. Nonetheless, RP’s writers should bear in mind what each section should include and what purpose it should serve.
References
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Beebe, R., Vonderwell, S., & Boboc, M. (2010). Emerging patterns in transferring assessment practices from f2f to online environments. Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 8(1), 1-12. Retrieved June 6, 2010, from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/47/67/d0.pdf
Features of academic writing. (n.d.). Retrieved June 6, 2010, from http://www.uefap.com/writing/feature/hedge.htm
McCoy-Massey, D. (2009). Increasing knowledge - How to read a research paper. Retrieved June 1, 2010, from http://www.lbda.org/feature/2192/increasing-knowledge-and--how-to-read-a-research-paper.htm
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 3 - The research article: Results, discussions, and conclusions. Universidad CAECE. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=4692
Ybarra, M. L., Leaf, P. J., & Diener-West, M. (2004, February 6). Sex differences in youth-reported depressive symptomatology and unwanted internet sexual solicitation. Journal of Medical Internet Research. Retrieved April 2, 2010, from http://www.jmir.org/2004/1/e5/HTML
Monday 17 May 2010
Research papers: A contrastive analysis of the internal structure
A research paper (RP) is a type of academic writing with a theoretical and methodological line of thought utilized by a great number of competent writers and researchers in various disciplines. The main purpose of a research article (RA) is to address an audience in order to inform a community of readers about some definite investigation work carried out by a researcher or a team of researchers. "A research paper is exactly . . . a paper written to reflect a search that will present information to support a point of view on a particular topic” (Berge & Saffioti, n.d., as cited in Basic college research, n.d.).
Berge & Saffioti (Ibid.) state that effective research papers require elements and sections inherent to the type of writing. Those sections are to be clear and well defined. The RA process follows certain steps such as selecting a clear topic and problematizing it. Literature review is one of the major factors before the RA is commenced. This crucial stage will offer the writer a precise viewing angle of how much has been investigated in the specific field. The next objective to accomplish is to formulate a plausible hypothesis, from which the investigation will start. The hypothesis or hypotheses proposed might be presented as questions, although clear, well-defined statements are preferred.
Likewise, another crucial step is the fact of working in an organized fashion when information is being collected. Furthermore, the lengthy and arduous initial preparation of the design of a RA should contemplate its type and format: Will it be experimental, non-experimental, qualitative, quantitative, cross-sectional or longitudinal? Finally, collecting and interpreting data and drafting are the in-between stages before the final outcome.
The aim of this paper is to make an in-depth analysis of the introduction and methods sections from both a RA in medicine and in education, respectively. The analysis will basically focus on the simplicity or complexity of both paper sections, the lexis used by the researchers, grammatical features, length, the use and techniques to define terms, identification of the use of examples, if any, clarification of terms and the use of connectors.
In order to carry out this analysis, two RAs have been chosen in the field of education and the other in the field of medicine.
The introduction is only a part of a research article which unveils the basic facts to start revealing the problem as well as stating reasons for choosing the topic. It might be defined as a short, uncomplicated preview of what the author will devote him/herself to writing. This section should be brief and clear so as not to distract the reader’s attention. However, it should be informative and persuasive enough so as to catch the reader’s interest by shaping the main ideas which will later be discussed in detail within the body section.
In both RAs mentioned above, the simple present tense is used to introduce the problem. Both researchers expose the core of their investigation in the introduction section and provide a brief explanation for their study. Regarding the education RA, the introduction is fairly short and simple to follow compared to the medical RA. Both RAs are void of term definitions. The terms and wording utilised in the medical RA are much more specific and uncommon to ordinary people, typically referred to as jargon. Both RAs respect different writing conventions and documentation system. Whereas RAs on psychology and social science adhere to the American Psychological Association (APA) style, biomedical and medical RAs follow the Vancouver documentation system.
As regards the education RA no in-text citations have been used. However, in the medical RA the authors have made use of in-text citations to refer to previous studies conducted by other researchers such as O’Connell and Berson et al. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2009) states that “[r]eferences in APA publications are cited in text with an author-date citation system . . .” (p.174). In the case of Ybarra, Leaf, & Diener-West’s (2004) RA, these conventions have not been fully respected. The authors cited O’Connell’s qualitative analysis and the year within parentheses complying with the American Psychological Association (APA) conventions. However, they failed to provide the year when Berson et al.’s survey was conducted. In both O’Connell’s and Berson et al’s studies, the method utilized as well as data collection and final results have been mentioned.
While Ybarra, Leaf, & Diener-West’s (Ibid.) included their literature review and in-text citations within the introduction section, Loucky (Ibid.) decided to include in-text citations in a different, separate section labelled Literature Review.
The use of linking words or connectors is extremely important to make the piece of writing cohesive and to indicate the relationship between ideas and paragraphs. Ybarra, Leaf, & Diener-West’s (Ibid.) used several connectors in their introduction section. In contrast, even though Loucky ‘s (Ibid.) RA is easy to follow, he did not make use of connectors in his introduction.
As for the layout format, Ybarra, Leaf, & Diener-West’s (Ibid.) used 1.5 line spacing whereas Loucky ‘s (Ibid.) used 2.0 line spacing. As well as this APA convention, Ybarra, Leaf, & Diener-West’s (Ibid.) have used two returns between main paragraphs.
The methods section of an APA format is the most important section as it provides the information by which the study’s validity is judged. Therefore, it should include a detailed explanation for the research design, special mention of participants, materials, equipment, variables as well as any other relevant information. For clarity, when a large amount of information is presented, the methods section may be divided into sub-sections properly and clearly labelled.
Both RAs analysed in this paper present a methods section subdivided into sub-sections. Considering the fact that the medical RA is much lengthy, it comprises a wider number of sections compared to the education RA.
From the point of view grammar, it should be noted that the medical RA methods sections was written in past tenses, ranging from past simple to past perfect tenses. However, in the education RA present tenses were preferred. The use of lexical terms is another distinctive characteristic which differentiates one RA from the other. In the medical RA the terminology used is more formal and demanding for common readers. Conversely, the terms used in the educational RA are much simpler and easier to understand.
To conclude, regardless of the research the author of the RA will present, it seems to be unquestionable that there exists a well-established convention to which to conform. The RA writer will have to adhere to including the sections already analysed as well as others not mentioned in this paper. Relevant information must be included in the appropriate sections following APA conventions. In regard to the use of terminology, the writer may use simpler, more accessible terms or a more complex terminology, such as the jargon used by different communities. Nonetheless, this decision should not impair clarity and understanding. Organization, clarity, well-defined aims, the rationale for the study and the quality of writing will be decisive when it comes to writing a RA.
References
American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American psychological association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Berge, P., & Saffioti, C. (n.d.). Basic college research. Retrieved April 14, 2010, from http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/writingresearch/index.cfm
Loucky, J . P. (2007). Improving online reading and vocabulary development Kasele Bulletin, 35, 181-188. Retrieved April 14, 2010, from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/3f/75/5e.pdf
Ybarra, M. L., Leaf, P. J., & Diener-West, M. (2004, February 6). Sex differences in youth-reported depressive symptomatology and unwanted internet sexual solicitation. Journal of Medical Internet Research. Retrieved April 2, 2010, from http://www.jmir.org/2004/1/e5/HTML
Berge & Saffioti (Ibid.) state that effective research papers require elements and sections inherent to the type of writing. Those sections are to be clear and well defined. The RA process follows certain steps such as selecting a clear topic and problematizing it. Literature review is one of the major factors before the RA is commenced. This crucial stage will offer the writer a precise viewing angle of how much has been investigated in the specific field. The next objective to accomplish is to formulate a plausible hypothesis, from which the investigation will start. The hypothesis or hypotheses proposed might be presented as questions, although clear, well-defined statements are preferred.
Likewise, another crucial step is the fact of working in an organized fashion when information is being collected. Furthermore, the lengthy and arduous initial preparation of the design of a RA should contemplate its type and format: Will it be experimental, non-experimental, qualitative, quantitative, cross-sectional or longitudinal? Finally, collecting and interpreting data and drafting are the in-between stages before the final outcome.
The aim of this paper is to make an in-depth analysis of the introduction and methods sections from both a RA in medicine and in education, respectively. The analysis will basically focus on the simplicity or complexity of both paper sections, the lexis used by the researchers, grammatical features, length, the use and techniques to define terms, identification of the use of examples, if any, clarification of terms and the use of connectors.
In order to carry out this analysis, two RAs have been chosen in the field of education and the other in the field of medicine.
The introduction is only a part of a research article which unveils the basic facts to start revealing the problem as well as stating reasons for choosing the topic. It might be defined as a short, uncomplicated preview of what the author will devote him/herself to writing. This section should be brief and clear so as not to distract the reader’s attention. However, it should be informative and persuasive enough so as to catch the reader’s interest by shaping the main ideas which will later be discussed in detail within the body section.
In both RAs mentioned above, the simple present tense is used to introduce the problem. Both researchers expose the core of their investigation in the introduction section and provide a brief explanation for their study. Regarding the education RA, the introduction is fairly short and simple to follow compared to the medical RA. Both RAs are void of term definitions. The terms and wording utilised in the medical RA are much more specific and uncommon to ordinary people, typically referred to as jargon. Both RAs respect different writing conventions and documentation system. Whereas RAs on psychology and social science adhere to the American Psychological Association (APA) style, biomedical and medical RAs follow the Vancouver documentation system.
As regards the education RA no in-text citations have been used. However, in the medical RA the authors have made use of in-text citations to refer to previous studies conducted by other researchers such as O’Connell and Berson et al. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2009) states that “[r]eferences in APA publications are cited in text with an author-date citation system . . .” (p.174). In the case of Ybarra, Leaf, & Diener-West’s (2004) RA, these conventions have not been fully respected. The authors cited O’Connell’s qualitative analysis and the year within parentheses complying with the American Psychological Association (APA) conventions. However, they failed to provide the year when Berson et al.’s survey was conducted. In both O’Connell’s and Berson et al’s studies, the method utilized as well as data collection and final results have been mentioned.
While Ybarra, Leaf, & Diener-West’s (Ibid.) included their literature review and in-text citations within the introduction section, Loucky (Ibid.) decided to include in-text citations in a different, separate section labelled Literature Review.
The use of linking words or connectors is extremely important to make the piece of writing cohesive and to indicate the relationship between ideas and paragraphs. Ybarra, Leaf, & Diener-West’s (Ibid.) used several connectors in their introduction section. In contrast, even though Loucky ‘s (Ibid.) RA is easy to follow, he did not make use of connectors in his introduction.
As for the layout format, Ybarra, Leaf, & Diener-West’s (Ibid.) used 1.5 line spacing whereas Loucky ‘s (Ibid.) used 2.0 line spacing. As well as this APA convention, Ybarra, Leaf, & Diener-West’s (Ibid.) have used two returns between main paragraphs.
The methods section of an APA format is the most important section as it provides the information by which the study’s validity is judged. Therefore, it should include a detailed explanation for the research design, special mention of participants, materials, equipment, variables as well as any other relevant information. For clarity, when a large amount of information is presented, the methods section may be divided into sub-sections properly and clearly labelled.
Both RAs analysed in this paper present a methods section subdivided into sub-sections. Considering the fact that the medical RA is much lengthy, it comprises a wider number of sections compared to the education RA.
From the point of view grammar, it should be noted that the medical RA methods sections was written in past tenses, ranging from past simple to past perfect tenses. However, in the education RA present tenses were preferred. The use of lexical terms is another distinctive characteristic which differentiates one RA from the other. In the medical RA the terminology used is more formal and demanding for common readers. Conversely, the terms used in the educational RA are much simpler and easier to understand.
To conclude, regardless of the research the author of the RA will present, it seems to be unquestionable that there exists a well-established convention to which to conform. The RA writer will have to adhere to including the sections already analysed as well as others not mentioned in this paper. Relevant information must be included in the appropriate sections following APA conventions. In regard to the use of terminology, the writer may use simpler, more accessible terms or a more complex terminology, such as the jargon used by different communities. Nonetheless, this decision should not impair clarity and understanding. Organization, clarity, well-defined aims, the rationale for the study and the quality of writing will be decisive when it comes to writing a RA.
References
American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American psychological association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Berge, P., & Saffioti, C. (n.d.). Basic college research. Retrieved April 14, 2010, from http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/writingresearch/index.cfm
Loucky, J . P. (2007). Improving online reading and vocabulary development Kasele Bulletin, 35, 181-188. Retrieved April 14, 2010, from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/3f/75/5e.pdf
Ybarra, M. L., Leaf, P. J., & Diener-West, M. (2004, February 6). Sex differences in youth-reported depressive symptomatology and unwanted internet sexual solicitation. Journal of Medical Internet Research. Retrieved April 2, 2010, from http://www.jmir.org/2004/1/e5/HTML
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