CHAPTER

1
NOTE ON CURRICULUM VITAE AND COVERING LETTER

1.1. THE COVERING LETTER

When you apply for a vacancy by CV you must always enclose a covering letter. This letter is a
vital part of your application as it tells the employer about you and should encourage them to want
to read your CV. A good covering letter should include details of why you are a good candidate
for the job and give a summary of the content of your CV.

Write a professional looking covering letter to enhance your CV, not repeat it.

1.1.1. The basics

• Address personally. Find out the right person’s name, how to spell it, and then use it. Try
never to address a covering letter to a job title.
• Follow instructions. If an advertisement says write to a particular person, do it. If it says
quote a reference, quote it in the title of your letter. Some organizations may have
recruitment policies that disqualify anyone not following the instructions given. Use the
job title and the place and date you found the advertisement.

• If you really want to make a quality impression, use an A4 card-backed envelope. This
prevents your letter and CV from being folded or creased in the post, and it will arrive in
as perfect condition as it is sent.

• Avoid unavailability. Try not to state when you aren’t available for interview –unless you
will be away some time, for example, on holiday. Employers like to see you at their
convenience, not yours!

• Write well. Get help if necessary. Short words, short sentences, short paragraphs, good
English. Avoid jargon.
• Refer to the CV. After all, the idea is to get them to read it . . .

1.1.2. Getting noticed

• Make sure it contains enough to get your application noticed – the object is to get the CV
read and given full consideration
• Remember, there may be hundreds of applications arriving with yours, so how do you make
yours one of ones selected?
Show interest: Show you’re interested.
e.g. I was extremely interested to see your advertisement for the above position.
or I think this would be an exciting opportunity.
Put yourself forward: Don’t be shy. If you can, pick out some skills or experience they are
looking for that you have, and mention it here. Give them a reason to choose you over other
candidates.
e.g. I have three years’ experience in a similar role, and am now ready for the greater
responsibility offered by this post.
Give a reason for applying.
e.g. I have been interested in technology for some time, and would welcome an opportunity
to move into a
more progressive environment.
Flatter them – but carefully. There’s nothing wrong with a little flattery – so long as you don’t
overdo it. Mention things
you like about their company if relevant.
e.g. I have always been interested in your innovative marketing, and would like to join a
team working with such success in developing new ideas.
Don’t repeat the CV. Give new information. The covering letter is an opportunity to show ‘soft
skills’ that may not come across in your CV, such as interpersonal skills, teamwork, maturity, etc.

1.1.3. Targeting the company

Let them know you are aware of the company, what it does and how you can fit in.

• In order to get noticed, you need to know something about the company. You will need to
do some research into the company – from the Internet, recruitment agencies, etc.
• The name of the game is to say not just ‘I read your advert’ but that I know who you are,
what you do, and I’d like to be part of the team.

1.1.4. Disclosing your salary

• Never disclose salary unless asked for it.

• If asked for it, it goes in the covering letter, not the CV.
• Only state current salary, or last salary if not currently working.
• You don’t have to give it just because they ask for it!

1.2. THE CURRICULUM VITAE (CV)

1.2.1. The basics of presentation
The general guidelines for producing a good looking CV are simple:

• information that grabs attention good layout

• the right format
• interesting to look at
• active descriptions
• no mistakes.

It also needs to state quite clearly that you can do the job. So make sure you look at the job
requirements and make reference to all of them somewhere in your CV.

1.2.1.1.A good layout

If printed, use good paper in white or cream, Don’t make the CV look cramped – keep a reasonable
amount of white space and borders. Make it easy to read.
1.2.1.2.The right layout
There are 2 main CV formats: chronological (your career history in date order) or functional (by
skills or experience).
1.2.1.3.Interesting to look at
Emphasize with bullet points, italic, bold text and capitals. Avoid gimmicks like colored paper,
text, snazzy envelopes and photographs. Employers are interested in your work, not your
imagination or hairstyle.

1.2.1.4.Active descriptions
Avoid big words. Avoid management buzzwords. Keep descriptions simple and clear. Action
words are best – they make it clear what you have been doing:
Not – responsible for cost control measures
Use – made savings of . . . by implementing cost controls
Not – manager of team of 5
Use – recruited, motivated, trained and managed team of 5
Not – secretarial support for Chief Executive
Use – provided confidential, professional, secretarial support service for Chief Executive
1.2.1.5.No mistakes
Suffice it to say that errors on CVs cost people jobs.

1.2.2. The basic contents

Whichever format of CV you choose, you should start with one sheet of paper with basic
information about yourself.

1.2.2.1.Contact details
• Name.
• Address.
• Telephone numbers, plus mobile number if you have one.
• E-mail address. Never give a work e-mail address. This implies you use your employer’s
e-mail for personal purposes, and prospective employers may assume you will do the same
to them!
1.2.2.2.Qualifications
• School examinations. List them in full, with subjects if you have little or no experience.
If you have work experience, just list the number of passes, saving space to write more
relevant things.
• Professional qualifications. Give the full name as well as the letters – prospective
employers may not know what they mean!
• Degree or higher qualification. Give the university or college. You don’t have to give
grades, but if you have a good grade, why not?
• Other qualifications. Do not include ‘other’ qualifications, such as night classes, hobby-
type courses, etc. unless they are relevant – for example, if you have little or no work
experience, ‘learning French at evening class’ may indicate that you are willing and able
to be trained.
• Failures. Never mention any exams/courses failed.

1.2.2.3.Other skills or experience

• Include relevant information that won’t be highlighted in the main part of the CV, for
example:
football Club Treasurer shows accounting ability
School Governor shows responsibility, and awareness of educational issues
• Avoid hobbies and sporting interests unless they are relevant and say something about your
skills and abilities.
1.2.2.4.Hobbies and interests
Omit these unless they are really relevant.
1.2.2.5.References
• Never include these. Give them when asked for later. Some unscrupulous recruiters have
been known to use them as possible candidates!

1.2.3. Chronological format

This is arranging your CV in date order, starting with the present and working backwards in time.
Your CV shows each job you have done in turn. Arranging your CV this way tends to be preferred
by most employers, so they can see your work record at a glance.

Use chronological format when you have:

1. a sequence of relevant jobs, moving upwards
2. relevant experience in the type of work
3. continuous work history, or work history with only short gaps.
• List job title. Where this is ambiguous or doesn’t accurately reflect your actual role,
change it or explain in brackets. For example:
Not – Team Leader
Use – Leader/Manager of Administration Team Or – Team Leader (managing
Administration Team of 5 staff)
• List the employer.
• Give duties and achievements for each job in active language that describes what it was
you actually did. Describe achievements in terms people can easily understand, especially
if your industry uses a lot of jargon/technical terms, or your experience was military.
Imagine you are explaining to a small child. Then make the same information sound
interesting and impressive to an adult. Use words that make your job experience and
achievements fit the job you are applying for, if possible.
• List dates (to the nearest month) for each job. For example:
o January 1997 – March 1999
• Gaps. If you have gaps between your jobs, you can cover these by listing the year rather
than month. For example:
Not January 1995 – March 1996
June 1996 – October 1998
Use January 1995 – early 1996
Early 1996 – October 1998

1.2.4. Avoiding any Negatives

1.2.4.1.Lack of track record experience being first job or no relevant work experience

• Try to get some, even if it is temporary or unpaid.

• Focus on skills you have which you could use at work.
• Refer to summer jobs, evening or weekend work, and work placements/work experience
programmes you may have done.
• Refer to projects and subjects studied which show you know what is required.
• Present your youth as an advantage – it makes you keen to progress, willing to learn, and
used to training.

1.2.4.2.Lack of qualifications or education

Awaiting qualifications
• List the qualifications and state ‘pending results’ after them.
Midway through a course
• List the course and when you expect to finish it.
Qualifications from another country
• State not only the qualification, but what it is equivalent to in this country.

No qualifications
• Focus on experience. Don’t highlight what you are lacking. If you have work
experience to present, just omit a section of education – after all, you have experience
instead.
1.2.4.3.Technical problems and gaps

Periods of unemployment
• State the date you left your last job, and never leave a blank between then and now.
State from that date to present and say something about what you have been doing –
even if it was raising a family, travelling, etc.
• List training and other activities you have been occupying yourself with. Basically,
you need to reassure employers you haven’t been sitting around doing nothing.
• Never lie and try to hide the break unless it is very short – say, eight weeks or less.

Criminal records
• Some criminal offences have to be disclosed if you are asked for them. But don’t offer
them if not asked.

I was fired
• Don’t ever state this.
• If asked at interview, you can explain then.
• If it will appear on a reference, let the employer know after they have offered you the
job but before they get the reference.
CHAPTER
2

Writing Research Proposals

2.0. Introduction to Research proposal
The research proposal is a concise, clearly organized plan of attack for analyzing formal
research problems. The beginning point in developing a proposal is the “felt difficulty.” The first
step toward an objective study of your felt difficulty is the choice of a topic. Consider a topic which
has the potential to make a contribution to theory or practice in your chosen field. Worthwhile
topics can be discovered by browsing the indexes of information databases. This search, whether
done manually or by computer, can provide useful information for confirming or abandoning a
research topic. Once a topic has been determined, it must be translated, step by step, into a clear
statement of a solvable problem and a systematic procedure for collecting and analyzing data
(Proposal). The research proposal should not be too long; five – ten pages generally suffice.

Purpose of the research proposal

To establish that the candidate has:

▪ a viable and researchable problem

▪ an acceptable plan of action for undertaking the research
▪ done sufficient preparation to establish the rationale for the research
▪ a feasible chance of completing the research
The requirement for a doctoral thesis is that candidates must provide proof of original and creative
thinking and problem-solving, and make a real contribution to the solving of a particular problem
in the industry to which their research applies.

For a master’s thesis, candidates must prove that they understand a particular problem in the
industry in which they have done their research, are able to analyse and set it out logically, are able
to arrive at logical conclusions or a diagnosis, and are then able to make proposals for the
improvement/elimination of the problem.

2.1. Front Matter

This includes Title Page, Table of Contents, List of Tables and List of Illustrations

Title Page
The coversheet for the proposal contains basic information for the reader. You will list on this page your
school name, the proposal title, your major department, your name and the date the proposal is submitted.
Table of Contents
The Table of Contents lists the major headings and subheadings and their respective page numbers within
the proposal.
List of Tables
As you write your dissertation, you will want to augment your written explanations with visual
representations of the data. One form of presentation is the “table,” which displays the data tabular
form — rows and columns of figures — which enhances, clarifies, and reinforces the verbal narrative. The
List of Tables lists each table by name and page number.

You consider carefully the tables you will need to use to display your data and include a sample of each
planned table in your proposal. Doing this shows that you have given adequate consideration to the forms
your data will take.

List of Illustrations/Figures
An illustration is a graph, chart, or picture that enhances visually the meaning of what you write. The List
of Illustrations lists each illustration by caption and page number.

2.2. Introduction
The introduction includes Introductory Statement, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the Study,
Synthesis of Related Literature, Significance of the Study, Statement of the Hypothesis. The
purpose of the introduction is to demonstrate the thoroughness of your preparation for doing the study. It
further demonstrates how well you understand your specific field.
The Introductory Statement
The proposal begins with an introductory statement, usually several pages in length, which leads like a
funnel from a broad view of your topic to the specific Statement of the Problem. It provides readers of the
proposal your rationale, based on published sources, for doing the study.

Use objective language in writing the introductory statement. Document every statement. Do not include
the personal feelings, experiences, or opinions which inspired your proposal.
The Statement of the Problem
The Problem Statement, usually no more than a single sentence, is the most important part of the whole
proposal. It identifies the variables you plan to study as well as the type of study you intend to do. All other
parts of the proposal grow out of the Problem Statement.
The problem of this study [will be] to determine the differences in measured self-concept of
children in selected Addid Schools across three variables: school type (home school, Religious
school, and public school), grade (fourth, fifth, and sixth), and gender.
Purpose of the Study
The Purpose of the Study section expands the Problem statement and describes in more detail the intention
of the study. Use verbs like “to determine,” “to ascertain,” “to evaluate,” “to discover.”

“The purposes of this study [will be] to determine: the relationship between the dominant management style
and selected variables of level of education, years of service on church staffs, task preference, gender, and
age

Synthesis of Related Literature

The purpose of the literature search is to establish a solid foundation for your study as well as prepare you
to conduct the study. The Synthesis provides a backdrop for your study. It details what others are doing in
the field, what methods are being used, and what results have been obtained in recent years.
A synthesis is different from a summary. In a summary, articles relating to a subject are outlined and then
written up one after another. A synthesis, however focuses on key words and discoveries across many
articles and combines the various research articles' findings. The focus is on the research discovery-clusters,
not on individual articles.
Three researches found A (1,2,3). Two researchers found B (1,2), and
two researchers found C (2,3).
This approach helps you discover linkages among researchers and makes for much more interesting reading.
Significance of the Study
The Significance of the Study section explains why, on the basis of the research literature, your study is
worth doing. What makes your study important to your field? What tangible contribution will it make? The
personal interest of the student or his/her major professor is not sufficient rationale for approving
a proposal. The best rationale is a reference to one or more research studies stating the need for what you
propose to do.

This study [will be] significant in that: It provides empirical data for breaking the recurrent cycle perpetuating the
adult child syndrome.

The Hypothesis
The Statement of the Problem describes the heart of your study in one or two succinct sentences. The
Statement of the (research) Hypothesis describes the expected outcome of your study. Base the thrust of
your hypothesis on the synthesis of literature. Use the Problem Statement as the basis for the format of the
hypothesis.
“The problem of this study [is] to determine the difference in level of academic achievement across four
populations of Foreigners home schooled children in Texas: those whose parents possessed (1) teacher
certification, (2) a college degree, but no certification, (3) two or more years of college, or (4) a high school
diploma or less.”

[One of the hypotheses of this study is that there will] “be no significant difference in levels of academic
achievement in home schooled children across the four populations surveyed.

2.3. Method
This section incorporates Population, Sampling, Instrument, Limitations, Assumptions,
Definitions, Design, Collecting Data. The METHOD section contains a detailed blueprint of your
planned procedures. It specifically explains how you will collect the necessary data to analyze the variables
you’ve chosen in a clear step-by-step fashion.

Population
The Population section of the proposal specifies the largest group to which your study's results can be
applied. Any samples used in the study (see below) must be drawn from defined one or more populations.
The population for this study [will consist] of social work administrators in Texas who [are] members of the
National Association of Social Workers. According to the mailing list of May 21, 1992, there [are] five
hundred and seventy-eight administrators from the state of Texas.11
Sampling
The Sampling section describes how you will draw one or more samples from the population or populations
defined above. It also explains how many subjects you intend to study in these samples.
A twenty-five percent random sample [will be] obtained from the mailing list of the National Association of
Social Workers in the State of Texas. The sample [is] estimated to consist of 144 subjects.
Instrument
The Instrument section describes the tools you plan to use in measuring subjects. “Instruments” includes
tests, scales, questionnaires and interview guides, observation checklists, and the like). If you choose an
existing instrument appropriate for your study, then describe its development, use, reliability and validity.
If you cannot find a suitable instrument, you will need to develop your own. Provide a step by step
explanation of the procedure you will use to develop, evaluate, and validate the instrument.
Limitations
The Limitations section describes external restrictions that reduce your ability to generalize of your
findings. An external restriction is one that is beyond your control. Let's say you plan to randomly assign
students in a local high school to one of three experimental teaching groups. When you check with the
principal, he allows you to do the experiment, but only if you use the regular classes of students — he does
not want you disrupting classes through random assignment. Since random assignment is an important part
of experimental design, this is a limitation to your study and must be stated in this section.
Limitations differ from delimitations. Delimitations are restrictions you set on your study. The fact that you
decide to study single adults ages 20-50 is a delimitation of your study, not a limitation.
Assumptions
Every study is built on assumptions. The purpose of this section is to insure that the researcher has
considered his assumptions in doing the study. In doing a mailed questionnaire, the researcher must assume
that the subjects will complete the questionnaire honestly.

Provide a rationale for the assumptions you state. It is not enough to copy assumptions out of previous
dissertations. Explain the why of your assumptions.
Definitions
If you are using words in your study that are operationally defined -- that is, defined by how they are
measured -- or have an unusual or restricted meaning in your study, you must define them for the reader.
You do not need to define obvious or commonly used terms.
Design
The Design section describes the research type of your study. It is here you declare your research to be
correlational, or historical, or experimental. Describe key factors that make your study of the stated type. If
you are using an experimental design, explain which you are using and why.
Procedure for Collecting Data
The Procedure for Collecting Data section explains step by step how you plan to prepare instruments and
gather data. Anticipate problems you may encounter and make contingency plans as needed.

2.4. Analysis
The ANALYSIS section describes how you plan to process the numbers on the data sheets. This section
moves step by step through the application of selected statistical procedures, the testing of hypotheses, and
the reporting of the data in a systematic, coherent way.

Procedure for Analyzing Data

The Procedure for Analyzing Data explains step by step how you plan to statistically analyze your data.
What statistical procedure(s) will you use? Procedures must agree with the stated Problem and Hypothesis.

Testing the Hypotheses

The Testing the Hypothesis section describes how you will test the statistical result obtained in the previous
section to determine whether it is a “significant” finding or not. It is here you state the null form of your
hypothesis, state your significance level (α) and explain the hypothesis testing procedure appropriate for
the selected statistic.

Reporting the Data

The Reporting the Data section shows the charts, graphs, tables, or figures you plan to use to report the data
you’ve collected and the findings of your analysis.
By deciding how to handle your data during the proposal stage, you clarify in your own mind exactly what
you will need in order to finish your study. Putting off these decisions may cause you to overlook important
areas in your study.

2.5. Research Ethics

Plagiarism means using another’s work without giving credit. If you use others’ words, you must put them
in quotations marks and cite your sources. You must also give citations when using others’ ideas, even if
you have paraphrased those ideas in your own words.
Guideline for avoiding plagiarism
• Use your own words and ideas .
• Give credit for copied, adapted, or paraphrased material
• Avoid using others work with minor “Cosmetic “ changes
• Beware of common knowledge – no need of citing – but the fact must be really commonly known.
• When in doubt, cite

2.6. Reference Material

The Reference Material section contains supporting materials for the proposal. These materials include
appendices and bibliography.
Appendices
An appendix contains supporting materials which relate directly related to your study. Most proposals
require several appendices to include cover letters, a sample of the instrument, results of a pilot study, the
data summary sheets, complex tables, illustrations of statistical analysis, and so forth. Small parcels of this
information can be drawn from these appendices for explanation and illustration in the body of the
dissertation. Such a design permits you to provide complete information, through references to the
appendices, without bogging down the flow of thought in the dissertation itself.
In the proposal development stage, think ahead concerning what appendices you will need and include an
empty copy of each as an appendix to the proposal. This demonstrates to the Committee forethought and
critical thinking.

Bibliography, or Cited Sources

The bibliography lists all primary and secondary references footnoted in the body of your proposal. List
books first, then published articles and periodicals, then dissertations, then unpublished sources, interviews
and, finally, other. Format bibliographical references according to the current style manual.

2.7. GUIDELINES FOR RESEARCH PROPOSALS

1. Title

The title should be concise, as long titles are cumbersome to accommodate in information retrieval
systems. Select appropriate key words or phrases, and avoid rambling and meaningless statements
such as: An investigation into the possibility of conducting research in . . . Do not start a title with
a present participle, such as Investigating, or Analysing. The title should rather read: An analysis
of …

2. Clarification of basic terms and concepts

The same words may have different connotations to people, especially if they work in various
disciplines. List and clarify or define the main words and concepts that you will use in your
research. It may also be useful to provide a list of abbreviations and acronyms with their full names.
Commonly used abbreviations/acronyms (such as UN, WHO) need not be included.

3. Statement of research problem

This is the heart of the proposal. Normally a sentence, or at most a paragraph, is all that is required
to describe exactly what the problem is. Many candidates have difficulty in describing the problem:
instead they list the objectives, outcomes, needs or other less relevant aspects.

If the research problem is not adequately or precisely described, it is likely to be rejected.

Furthermore, “researchers often indulge in jargon, which seems to obscure rather than explain
what the research problem is”. The writers of proposal should ensure that the problem and their
objectives remain the focus of their thinking and writing.
4. Background to the research problem

Since the statement of the problem should be very brief, it is necessary to explain separately what
the background to the problem is. Clarify the area of concern, or what needs justify the research
(this could be a sub-heading). Any information that helps the evaluator to understand the problem
may be included. Indicate why you believe that it is, in fact, a researchable problem. This section
could be combined with the literature review, or form a sub-section of it.

5. Literature review

An adequate literature review is required in all research proposals. The purpose of the literature
review should:

▪ Provide evidence to the research committee that you are well acquainted with past and
current research in the field of study.
▪ Prove that the thesis/dissertation will not duplicate past or current research.
▪ Indicate how the intended research relates to similar and past research; in other words,
the literature review positions your research within the existing body of knowledge.

Some faculties also require candidates to indicate, from their review of the relevant literature, what
related aspects require further research.

The literature review “must provide a rationale for the choice of problem, or a theoretical
framework for the study”, and that too often, this is missing.

In the final thesis/thesis, a much more complete and extensive list of References (all sources cited)
or a Bibliography (more comprehensive) will have to be presented than in the initial review.

In the work of most beginners, too often the literature review does not correspond with the aims
of the research. Hence many candidates “took the review of literature as a perfunctory task and
therefore there was no contribution to or advancement of the intellectual debate”.

6. Hypotheses or research questions

If you state hypotheses, indicate whether they are statistical or non-statistical hypotheses. If
statistical, indicate at what level of statistical significance they will be accepted or rejected.
Depending on the nature of your discipline (Like Engineering), it may not be necessary to base
your research on hypotheses. You may list certain fundamental research questions or underlying
assumptions fundamental to your research.

7. Objectives of the research

Clarify the aims and objectives of the research. Where feasible, objectives should be divided into
main and subsidiary objectives, and should be numbered. Objectives should always be well
articulated, realistic and attainable. In writing the proposal, it is important to remain focused on
the objectives.

8. Research design and methodology

This is a cornerstone of the research proposal, and therefore a critically important section. Failure
to address it properly can lead to the research proposal’s rejection and even to the rejection of the
final thesis/dissertation by an external examiner.

While you may not be able to give final details of your methodology at the research proposal stage,
it is important to give a sound provisional indication so that the evaluator is satisfied that your
methodology is relevant and acceptable.

Clarify your method of investigation, e.g.:

▪ Questionnaires
▪ Personal interviews
▪ Focus groups
▪ Laboratory experiments
▪ Mathematical modelling
▪ Design techniques, etc.

Indicate your sampling methodology, e.g.:

▪ Size of sample
▪ Population
▪ Experimental and control groups
▪ Prevention of bias, etc.
Indicate statistical methods and substantiate why you intend using the proposed specific statistical
methods.

Indicate whether ethics approval is required, and apply for ethics clearance through the faculty
ethics committee.

9. Delineation of the research

Delineate the boundaries of your research, e.g.:

▪ A study of engineering firms with fewer than 500 employees.

It might be helpful to indicate what will not be covered by your research.

10. Significance of the research

Indicate the significance of the research. Why is it important? Whom, or what industry, will it
benefit? This is usually vital for funding.

11. Expected outcomes, results and contributions of the research

What are the expected outcomes and what do you wish to achieve, e.g.:

▪ A new theory
▪ A prototype
▪ A new model
▪ An artefact
▪ A new plant process
▪ A solution to a practical problem
▪ A specific aid to practitioners in a particular field
What contribution will this research make to the body of knowledge in the particular field
of study?

12. Planning and time parameters

Funding agencies find it especially useful if you give some provisional indication of what time
parameters you are setting for your research and what the expected completion dates for the
specific sections and tasks are.

13. Budget

For large projects it is useful to include a simple budget, stating cost of equipment, running and
travel costs, salaries of research assistants, etc.

14. References cited

This is a list of the literature referred to in your research proposal. Do not include titles not cited,
or that have no relevance to your research problem. You should have read the references you list
(or at least the relevant parts). Indicate how they relate to your research.

Distinguish clearly between a list of References cited and a Bibliography. The latter includes all
material consulted, including background reading not necessarily cited.
CHAPTER
3

Writing Research Reports and Papers

Outcomes of research writing, various methods and formats, acknowledgement of sources,
consistency between paragraph citation and reference lists /bibliography.

3.0. Introduction

In science, descriptions must be precise, recipes must be complete, data must be exact, logic must
be transparent, and conclusions must be cleanly stated.

Beyond a stereotyped format and transparent language, a scientific report/paper also needs clarity
of direction. Your entire report/paper should point inexorably toward its Conclusion.

Therefore, as you write, point the way for your reader, and remove tangents and digressions. Keep
a single theme at the fore. For example, if your Conclusion is about temperature, then temperature
should be ever-present in your report/paper. ‘Temperature’ should be in the Title. The Introduction
should tell how your predecessors wrote about temperature. The Materials and Methods section
should detail the instruments that you used and the operations that you performed involving
temperature. The Results section should include data about temperature, and the Discussion section
should connect your data to the existing scientific literature about temperature.

3.0.1. Use quantifiable adjectives

Because quantifiable adjectives are ideal descriptors in science, try to redefine all your adjectives
as numbers. ‘Tall’ should be defined numerically, for example, ‘greater than 2 m’ or ‘greater than
7 km.’ Likewise, ‘heavy’ should be ‘greater than 10 kg’ or ‘greater than 100 kg’ or, perhaps,
‘greater than 105 kg.’ If you use ‘brief,’ tell us whether it means less than a minute, less than a
second, or less than a millisecond.

3.0.2. Scientific Use of Tenses

When discussing research, the present tense indicates general knowledge and general principles,
while the past tense indicates results of experiments.

3.0.3. Each Paragraph Makes One Point

In a research paper, each paragraph should contain one main idea, and the space between
paragraphs should be like taking a mental breath. Picture the text as, Idea#1, breathe, Idea #2,
breathe, …

3.0.4. Inside a Scientific Paragraph

3.0.4.1. The Lead Sentence

A typical scientific paragraph begins by stating its point, so the lead sentence should tell us the
focus of the paragraph.

3.0.4.2. The Subsequent Sentences

The remaining 2–3 sentences in each paragraph expand on the focal point that was identified in
the lead sentence. Inside the paragraph, the sentences may:
• Give examples of the focal point.
• Give more details about the focal point.
• Remind readers that the focal point is a member of a more general class of similar things.
• Highlight an implication of the focal point.

3.0.5 Internal Flow

A scientist should be able to read your paragraphs without pausing. To give your writing this flow,
each sentence of a paragraph should set the stage for the following sentence. Each internal sentence
should be an extension of its predecessor. This can be done by making the subject or object from
sentence number one the subject or object of sentence number two. By sharing its predecessor’s
subject or object, the second sentence continues the discussion and connects new ideas to those
that have been established previously.

3.0.6. Connect Succeeding Paragraphs

In the same fashion, you can smooth the travel between paragraphs by making the lead sentence
of each paragraph refer to the previous paragraph. The flow between paragraphs is most natural if
the subject of the lead sentence is a subject or an object in the last sentence of the preceding
paragraph.

3.1. WRITING SCIENTIFIC TEXT

3.1.1. BEGIN TO WRITE WHILE YOU EXPERIMENT

Paper writing is an effective way to do the intellectual part of your research. As you write, you
will organize your data, you will formulate explanations, and you will uncover connections
between your results and the results of other scientists. Writing is a way to build the logical
structure of and the scientific context for your experiments.

3.1.2. START BROADLY, WORK ON THE DETAILS LATER

Start your work by blocking out thick chunks of ideas and arranging these chunks in a simple linear
order.

As you take this global-to-local approach, work on one layer at a time, and do the actual work by
breaking your writing into separate tasks. During one work session, collect piles of raw material—
lists of ideas, notes, and facts. In another session, add logical connections by attaching elements
of the lists together into statements. At a later session, introduce an additional level of logical
organization by assembling the statements into rough paragraphs. Only the final sessions should
be devoted to finding the precise wording that will make your paper crisp and readable.

When you begin writing, you will not have a clear vision of your paper, but this should not scare
you. Without knowing the final shape of the text, you can dive fearlessly into the writing, because,
by using a global-to-local strategy, the logical structure of your paper will emerge on its own.

3.1.3. A MAGNIFIED VIEW OF THE WRITING PROCESS

Undoubtedly, you already take many of these steps unthinkingly as you write. However, things
that are done unthinkingly can be more easily improved when they are made visible, so take a
moment to look at this type of scientific writing in its most elementary steps.

3.1.3.1. Use the Skeletal Outlines

Begin writing your paper one section at a time. Each section of a scientific paper has a stereotyped
internal structure, a skeletal outline, and these skeletons are described latter. When writing the text
of a section, start with an empty outline of its skeleton.

The skeleton of the Introduction section of a scientific paper is:

A. Background
1. Currently Accepted General Statements
1. Available Supporting Data/Specific History
B. Gap
C. Your Plan of Attack

An Introduction begins by restating a general and well-accepted idea. From this known
information, the section then leads readers to the particular unknown area, the scientific gap, that
the paper plans to explore. The Introduction is a specialized historical essay, so the Currently
Accepted General Statements subsection, which begins the Introduction, typically looks into the
past.

3.1.3.2. Pile in Ideas

Now, take your outline and fill the empty spaces under each heading. List all the related ideas that
come to mind. Don’t worry about completeness or logic, and don’t bother to write sentences.

Continue brainstorming and jotting down notes for the entire outline of the section that you are
writing. Write all the ideas and facts that come into your mind, and don’t stop until each heading
is followed by at least three words or phrases.

3.1.3.3. Collect Information from Outside Resources

Next, go to your references—your books, articles, and notes. If you are working on a part of your
manuscript that is built largely from outside information, such as the Introduction or the
Discussion, you will use books, articles, and databases.
If you are working on a section built largely from your experiments, such as the Materials and
Methods or the Results, you will be using your research records.

*. Search each reference for relevant information, and add these facts (with a note about their
sources) under the appropriate headings of your outline.

3.1.3.4. Form Rough Sentences

Now complete the ideas. Take the words or phrases in your lists and replace them with full
sentences, adding any information that is necessary to make a precise and informative statement.
To write a complete and understandable sentence often requires some careful thinking, and you
may need to consult your references again to fill your sentences with accurate details.
Continue writing full sentences for the entire outline of the section on which you are working.

3.1.3.5. Arrange the Sentences into Themes

You now have a list of complete statements. Your next task is to organize the statements into
paragraphs.
In your finished paper, each paragraph will make a single point. The first step toward building
focused paragraphs is to collect statements that concern a common subject or theme. Therefore,
group related sentences and give each group a Temporary Theme Label, a TTL.

3.1.3.6. Make Your Themed Lists into Rough Paragraphs

Now, take each themed group, and turn it into a rough paragraph. The typical scientific paragraph
starts with a summary sentence, and the succeeding sentences expand the summary, step-by-step,
so begin building paragraphs by writing the summary sentences.

3.1.3.7. Take a Break and Clear Your Mind

Time is a great balancer. As the days pass, the temporary emotional highlights in your work will
fade, and the importance of various ideas will regain a more realistic proportion. Therefore, take
many breaks—go away, turn your mind elsewhere, and let time tone down the vivid colors.

3.1.3.8. Put Together One Paragraph for Each Topic

After a rest, pick up your draft again, with the goal of working through the entire outline of the
section under construction, topic by topic.

Each topic now contains a set of rough paragraphs. Pick a topic and consolidate its paragraphs:
• First, decide which paragraph most directly addresses the main issue, and put this
paragraph under the topic’s title.
• Second, among your goals are directness and brevity, therefore if any of the remaining
paragraphs deal with issues peripheral to the main point of the paper, toss them out.
• Third, try to merge the remaining paragraphs into the first paragraph. If that is too awkward,
try to consolidate all the sentences into no more than two paragraphs, even if, at this stage,
those paragraphs are long, cumbersome, or difficult to read.

At the moment, your paragraphs will be wordy, long, and awkward, but they will be fine for this
stage in the writing process. Don’t worry about the language, just plow ahead, forming these rough
foundation paragraphs for the entire outline of the section.
3.1.3.9. Shape a Working Draft
3.1.3.9.1. List Simple Sentences

To clean and tighten the large, rough paragraphs, you must build them afresh: it is time to go back
to lists.

Take each paragraph and list its sentences in order. If a sentence is complex, break it into two or
three consecutive simple sentences.

3.1.3.9.2. Remove Nonessentials

A well-written scientific paper is crisp and to-the-point. This is a good time to look critically at
your text and to remove extraneous sentences.

Check each sentence against the point of the paragraph. Toss out any sentence that:
• Is tangential, with details unnecessary for a clear presentation.
• Has the same basic content as other sentences.
• Contains only non-scientific color or details of human interest.

5.1.3.9.3. Arrange Your Ideas in a Natural Sequence

Now, take each pared-down list and reorder the remaining sentences so that every sentence follows
logically from the preceding sentence. If one of the sentences introduces a new idea, consider it to
be the beginning of a new list and separate it from its predecessor by an empty line.

5.1.3.9.4. Reassemble Paragraphs

You will now have one or more lists of sentences, each representing a single idea. Look at each
list, and decide whether its main idea is necessary for this particular subsection of the skeletal
outline. If the idea is out of place, then find the part of the outline where it belongs, and move it
there.

Finally, take each list, and string its sentences together again to form a paragraph. As you do this,
you may find that there are some lists containing only a single sentence. Find homes for these
orphans in one of the fuller paragraphs.

5.1.3.10. Smooth Transitions

At long last, you have a draft of a section of your paper. Your draft will be a set of paragraphs
organized in the form of the section’s stereotyped skeleton. Your last task is to make the draft
clean, readable, and logically consistent.
Start from the beginning of the section, read the sentences to yourself, and listen with your inner
ear. Fix awkward words or phrases. Smooth the transitions between sentences, fill in missing links
between ideas, and remove repetitive words and phrases.

5.1.3.11. Polishing
5.1.3.11.1. Rework the Entire Draft

It is a new morning, and here you are, at your desk once more. Pick up the draft of your manuscript,
and work through the whole thing, one paragraph at a time.

For each paragraph, ask:

• Does it describe a single idea?
• Is it self-contained?
• Does it start with a summary statement?
• Do the following sentences explain, expand, and develop the initial summary statement?
• Are there extraneous comments?

5.1.3.11.2. Fix Specific Types of Problems

A good technique for late-stage polishing is to work on your manuscript with blinders and a
magnifying glass. Don’t read for overall meaning. Don’t pay attention to the global features.
Instead, concentrate on sentences and words, and pick a single task each time you sit down at your
desk. Every time you pick up your manuscript, imagine that someone else has given it to you to
correct the details only, and look at the writing with an editor’s eye.

5.1.3.11.2.1. Cut, Trim, and Simplify

In one of your work sessions, look only at the length of the paragraphs. A common problem is
putting too many ideas into one, long paragraph. Break up big paragraphs into two or three smaller
ones, each of which is short and focused on a single point.

5.1.3.11.2.2. Add Active Verbs

Use a work session to invigorate your verbs. The meaning of a sentence is clearer when its verb is
specific and active. For instance, the sentence:
• “Insulin secretion is controlled by the amount of glucose to which beta cells are exposed.”
is muddy. The verb phrase ‘is controlled’ is intransitive, and this makes us wait until the end of
the sentence to discover the actor, i.e., who is doing the controlling.
In addition, ‘control’ is a minimally informative verb, and we will learn more if we are told the
kind or the mechanism of the control. An active verb tied to a specific mechanism will give a more
informative sentence, such as:
• “High concentrations of glucose stimulate beta cells to secrete insulin.”
Whenever you find a generic intransitive verb, such as,
• “Nerve cells were studied in our lab.”
try to rewrite the sentence with a more specific active verb and with details about the action. For
instance, you might rewrite this sentence as,
• “Using a camera lucida, we drew the shapes of nerve cells from the intestinal walls of fixed
murine tissues.”
or
• “Using time lapse photography, we recorded the changing shapes of nerve cells in tissue
culture.”
or
• “We measured the sizes of mitochondria in the squid giant axon.”

5.1.3.11.2.3. Use Precise Adjectives

When you use an adjective, it should be specific and informative, and one of your polishing
sessions should be devoted to sharpening your adjectives. First, try to find numbers to replace any
adjectives that have a range of specific appearances.

For instance, “Subject A was fat” should be, “Subject A was 5′ 6” tall and weighed 150 kg” or
“Subject A had a body mass index (BMI) of 30.0 kg/m2.”

5.1.3.11.2.4. Make Sentences Flow

Devote a session to the flow of your sentences. Read each paragraph quickly to see how smoothly
the sentences move. Flow problems show up as places that snag your attention and distract from
the content. If you find yourself stopping or rereading a passage, then you have stumbled over a
problem.

3.2. WRITING DURING RESEARCH

Writing drafts of your scientific paper while you are experimenting helps to keep your day-to-day
research orderly. Writing can keep your efforts and your ideas connected and clear, because:
• When you put your ideas into sentences, you have to face their logic (or lack of logic).
• When you sort your data into tables, you can see the holes that remain in your results.
• When you commit your recipes to the page, you are forced to record all the details.
• When you look at a skimpy or lopsided reference list writ large in black and white, you are
embarrassed into doing more background research.
In addition, the skeleton of a developing scientific paper is an effective blueprint. It is a guide for
pulling together a coherent story from the disparate activities that go into real world research. You
will make more progress and operate more efficiently if you write while you work.

5.2.1. KEEP A COMPUTERIZED NOTEBOOK

Your research notebooks should be computerized, and they should include at least two specific
databases: a diary and a reference record.

5.2.1.1. The Diary—Record Your Work Notes

A natural way to organize your work notes is by date. Whenever you do something in relation to
your research project, take a moment to record your ideas and observations in a computerized
diary.

Two types of diary entries require some extra forethought: notes about your experimental
techniques and records of your results.
5.2.1.1.1. Experimental Techniques, the Materials and Methods
5.2.1.1.2. Results
Consider the raw data in your diary to be permanent records. You will refer to these as you write
this paper, future papers, and future grants, and you may find it necessary to show these records to
people who question your conclusions.

Get in the habit of adding commentaries about your data, including times, dates, amounts, errors,
and impressions.

5.2.1.2. References—Archive Your Sources

Your second type of computerized notebook should be devoted to references. Every time you get
information from a colleague, read a relevant article, find an interesting comment on the Internet,
attend a useful seminar, or find a pertinent paragraph in a book, make a note in your reference
record. Computerized reference records make these notes easy to organize, to search, and to
reorganize.

5.2.2. BEGIN A DRAFT EARLY

Your research notebooks should be ongoing projects that start on Day 1. In addition to the
notebooks, early in your research you should begin to put together a rough draft of your paper,
well before your experiments are completed. Therefore, when you need a break from bench work,
take an afternoon, go to your desk, and lay out the outlines of your paper.

Wrestling with your manuscript engages you in exploratory data analysis. You will learn from
your data, and you will revise your ideas. Good research is cyclic and iterative, not linear and final.
The process of writing may set things in a different light, and when this happens, don’t hesitate to
rework your work.

3.3. COMPOSING THE SECTIONS OF A RESEARCH PAPER

To deliver content with the least distractions, scientific papers have a stereotyped form and style.
The standard format of a research paper has six sections:
• Title and Abstract, which encapsulate the paper
• Introduction, which describes where the paper’s research question fits into current science
• Materials and Methods, which translates the research question into a detailed recipe of
operations
• Results, which is an orderly compilation of the data observed after following the research
recipe
• Discussion, which consolidates the data and connects it to the data of other researchers
• Conclusion, which gives the one or two scientific points to which the entire paper leads

It is more efficient to work on the draft of your paper from the middle out, from the known to the
discovered, i.e.

1. Materials and Methods

2. Results
3. Discussion
4. Conclusion
5. Introduction
6. Title and Abstract

• Your Materials and Methods can be described before you have generated your Results.
• Your Results must be collected and organized before you can analyze them in your
Discussion.
• Your Discussion recaps your Results and points you to a Conclusion.
• You must know your Conclusion before you can write an Introduction that sets the
Conclusion in its natural place in science.
• The Introduction shows that your Conclusion was previously unknown or unproven.
• The Title and Abstract, which summarize your paper, must first have a completed paper to
summarize.

5.3.1. MATERIALS AND METHODS

5.3.1.1.1. A Method → Results Report

Begin writing your paper with the Materials and Methods section. Your Materials and Methods
give definition and meaning to your data. Scientific data are not absolute. They are contextual:
they make sense only in the context of the procedures used to generate them. Therefore, you need
to present your data in the company of detailed descriptions of your tools and complete instructions
for your experimental procedures.

Results are only scientific when accompanied by the recipes used to generate them, and the
Materials and Methods section is considered so fundamental a part of any research paper that it is
the one section reviewers will rarely ask you to trim.

The task of the Materials and Methods section is to “Identify the methods, apparatus …, and
procedures in sufficient detail to allow other workers to reproduce the result.”

Scientific papers contain other sections, such as an Introduction and a Discussion, but the
irreducible core of a research paper is its central pair of sections, the Materials and Methods and
the Results.
5.3.1.1.2. Repeatable Recipes and Reproducible Results

You know that every scientific paper needs a trustworthy set of operational recipes that come with
your tacit pledge, “To the best of my knowledge, if you follow my recipes, then you will get my
results.”

To make good on this promise, you must offer operational details with sufficient clarity that other
researchers will be able to reproduce your experiments.

The critical principle is:

• Every observation recorded in the Results section of your paper must be the product of
repeatable procedures—practicable recipes—that are completely detailed in the Materials
and Methods section.

5.3.1.2. Writing Your Materials and Methods Section

5.3.1.2.1. Your Daily Lab Notebook Is a First Draft

As you compile your experimental records, you are writing the first draft of your Materials and
Methods section. Be sure to record your materials and methods while you are in the midst of your
experiments, when all the technical details are still fresh in your mind. List all the substances and
supplies, the tools, instruments, appliances, contrivances, techniques, procedures, and solutions.
Write full recipes, and draw diagrams.

Record every single item and operation you use, and include full details.

5.3.1.2.2. Be Exhaustive

Remember—your goal is completeness.

For the Materials, your records should:
• Specify the apparatuses, including the manufacturers’ names and addresses.
• Identify all chemicals and supplies used, and for drugs, include the generic names, doses,
and routes of administration.
• Describe the salient characteristics of all experimental subjects and tell exactly how the
subjects were found or chosen, including the eligibility requirements, the criteria for
exclusion, and the nature of the source population from which they were drawn.
• Define everything in practical, operational terms—for example:
▪ “age was ascertained by asking the person” or “age was ascertained by checking
the person’s driver’s license”
▪ “temperature was measured under the tongue using a flexible-tip standard digital
hospital thermometer (LifeSource – A&D Medical)” or “temperature was measured
in the ear using a BV Medical Instant Ear thermometer”

For the Methods, your records should:

• Explain the overall design of your research program
• Fully describe all the operations and procedures in sufficient detail to allow other workers
to repeat them and to reproduce your results
• Cite references for all previously documented methods, including any statistical methods
• Give complete recipes for any new or modified techniques
• Explain the procedures used to analyze your data
5.3.1.2.4. Include Detailed Instructions

5.3.1.2.5. Write a Statistical Methods/Experimental Plan Subsection

If your experiments produce numerical data, you will undoubtedly describe the data statistically.
The Materials and Methods should explain the statistical methods you have used. In your
Statistical Methods subsection, give the definitions of statistical terms, abbreviations, and symbols
that you use and include citations of your exact sources, i.e., statistical books, technical papers, or
computer software. Your goal is to give sufficient detail for a knowledgeable reader to repeat your
statistical analyses and to reproduce your results.

5.3.1.2.6. Organize the Materials and Methods as an Instruction Manual

The Materials and Methods is the instruction manual for everything you have done in your
research project. Give your instruction manual an overall organization that is easy to understand.

Often, the Materials and Methods recipes are presented chronologically, in the order that they are
done during the experiment.

5.3.1.4. Commit to a Few Key Variables

Your Materials and Methods section should be comprehensive. It is an instruction manual for all
the things you have done to produce operationally-defined data. The other parts of your paper,
however, will focus on only two or three aspects of that data. A scientific paper can explore in
depth only a few of the many bits of information and intriguing byways that you have seen during
your project. Make this clear to yourself early in your writing. After drafting a comprehensive
Materials and Methods, explicitly limit your manuscript by defining the focal experimental
variables of your scientific report.

Before going any farther, list those few experimental variables that you will be studying. Label
them your “key variables.” To keep you on track, write the key variables at the head of the drafts
of the Results, Discussion, Title, and Abstract sections of your paper.

A key variable is an experimental variable, and it denotes the type of data on which you will focus
when analyzing your experiments. Your Results section should present all the data values of that
type produced during your research.
5.3.2. APPENDIX

An Appendix is a self-contained addition to the Materials and Methods, although the Appendix is
put separately at the end of the paper. In a scientific paper, an Appendix is not a commentary or an
adjunct to the Results or the Discussion—it is a detailed explanation that is too long for the
Materials and Methods section.
An Appendix might contain, for example, a long recipe for a chemical preparation. It might explain
a mathematical formula, detail a computer program, or diagram the wiring or construction of an
apparatus, such as this:

The Appendix has a title and is a stand-alone entity. This means that if an Appendix includes
bibliographic citations, then those citations are listed at the end of the Appendix, not in the
References section of the main paper.

5.3.3. RESULTS

When on the run, scientists read the Title and the Abstract for a quick taste of a research paper.
With more time, they also skim the Introduction, glance at the figures, and read the Conclusion.
To study the article, they will look at the figures in the Results and read the Introduction and the
Discussion.

The strongest part of a scientific research paper is at its center, in the recipe → results report. It
is here that scientists tell their readers, “This is what you, too, will find if you follow my recipes”—
their recipes are given in the Materials and Methods section, and their findings are described in
the Results section.

5.3.3.1. Carving Out Your Results from Your Observations

5.3.3.1.1. Record Everything While You Experiment
5.3.3.1.2. Limit Your Final Report to the Key Variables

The need to focus on a limited subset of your experimental observations is one of the critical
contributions that writing a paper makes to your research. As you begin to draft your Results
section, you should first select from your lab records only the data concerning your key
experimental variables. (The key variables, you will recall, are those particular experimental
observations that you chose to be the focus of your paper when you finished blocking out a draft
of the Materials and Methods section.)

However, once you decide on a key experimental variable, you are obligated to report the complete
data set generated by the recipe for that variable. When you choose a key variable, you are actually
choosing the recipe that produces that experimental variable. For a scientific research paper, you
first select a recipe, and you then report its complete, unedited output.

5.3.3.2. Exploratory Data Analysis

At this point, therefore, you should gather the complete output of your research recipe(s). Before
you write any text for your Results section, you need to organize this data, and in this case,
‘organize’ means ‘find a natural arrangement that will help your reader to see some of the structure
inherent in the set of data.’

5.3.3.2.1. Try Out a Variety of Visual Arrangements

People understand orderly things best. We need patterns and symmetry, regularity and taxis,
harmony and lucidus ordo, i.e., bright clean order. Start without the preconceived idea that your
data will have a certain particular order. Instead, work empirically, arranging and rearranging your
data and looking for any inherent patterns.

In the Results section, your goal is to present your data with organization but without interpretation.

Let your data lead you. Begin your search by taking your research records and spreading the full
range of data on your desk.

Now do some exploratory data analysis. Shuffle the data into all possible combinations, looking
for inherent patterns.
• Look at each key variable alone.
• Set variable against variable.
• Put the data in chronological order.
• Order the data by size, weight, gender, shape, color, or height.
• Try a variety of tables.
• If there is sufficient data, try histograms and other graphs.

5.3.3.2.1.1. Tables
When you are exploring, make as many tables as you can.

5.3.3.2.1.2. Graphs
If your tables are small, for example four or five entries, then the table by itself will probably be a
fine presentation of your data. On the other hand, if your tables are large, then you can help your
reader to see both the scope of your results and the inherent patterns by graphing the data. With
big data sets, experiment with graphs.

5.3.3.2.1.3. Pictures, Diagrams, and Charts

Graphs are a good way to show visual patterns in numerical data. Because humans are so adept at
understanding visual patterns, you should try to find a visual form for your data even when the
data are not numbers. If your data are a set of photographs, for example, lay them out in a variety
of arrangements, looking for patterns in the different presentations.

5.3.3.2.2. Pick a Simple Inclusive Arrangement for Presenting Your Data

5.3.3.2.3. Write a Description of the Pattern in Your Data
You have chosen an organization for your data, and ideally, this organization can be represented
by a picture, i.e., a visual representation. With the picture in hand, your next task is to describe it
in words. Begin by studying the picture with a naive eye. Put aside any thoughts of the meaning
of the data, just absorb the pattern(s). Then write a detailed description.

5.3.3.3. Writing the Results

Your Results section should have three parts, and each part will often be long enough to have its
own heading.
• General Observations. The Results begins with a panoramic view of the research setting.
• Specific Observations. The Results then zooms in to focus on the data about your key
variables, and it presents this data in the arrangement that you created during your
exploratory analysis.
• Case Studies. The Results ends with one or two examples, showing the specific details of
individual observations.

5.3.3.3.1. Subsection One—General Observations

When you write the Results, don’t rush to the heart of your data. Ease your reader into the details
by first giving a brief overview of your experiments in a General Observations subsection.
The General Observations subsection orients your reader. Here are some of the things you might
describe:
• Features characterizing the population of experimental subjects.
• What would have happened if you had made no experimental manipulations or intrusions.
• The experimental setting.
• A zoom-in view, beginning with a wide-angle shot.
5.3.3.3.2. Subsection Two—Specific Observations

The middle subsection of your Results presents the heart of your research. Here you should report
the complete data for your key variables. The Specific Observations subsection should also include
the visual presentation—i.e., the table, chart, diagram, or graph—that you have already made
to summarize your data. As a draft for the text summary of your data figure, use the descriptive
paragraph you had written earlier and set aside.

5.3.3.3.2.1. Narrative Descriptions and Pictures

Begin the Specific Observations subsection with those key variables that cannot be easily
quantified. Describe, for instance, the structural, textural, shape, or color details of your
observations, and tell how these variables changed during the experiments. Look for patterns in
the changes, and point them out to your reader. This is the part of the text that usually refers the
reader to photographs, illustrations, and diagrams.

5.3.3.3.2.2. Numerical Data

Next, present the numerical data about those key variables that you have quantified. The Results
section should contain your experimental observations without much filtering or adjusting.
Therefore, when your end-results are normalized (or otherwise adjusted) values, be sure to include
at least some of the raw data values.

5.3.3.3.3. Subsection Three—Case Studies

Finally, present the full, unretouched details of one or two specific examples from your data set.
Your reader will understand your experiments better after seeing raw observations with all the
complexities of the real world.
How do you choose these raw examples? There are two equally acceptable categories: best cases
and representative cases.

5.3.3.3.3.1. Best Cases

Best cases show an extreme. They are the biggest, littlest, roundest, slowest, or fastest. Best cases
fall at one end of the spectrum of your actual results—they show what can happen, not necessarily
what usually happens.

5.3.3.3.3.2. Representative Cases

Alternatively, you can show representative cases. Representative cases are modal cases, the most
common examples in your data set.

5.3.4. DISCUSSION

The archives of science are enormous, and without some effort, your data will be lost among the
millions of other scientific observations already in storage. A well-written Discussion section will
help to ensure that your results will be both visible and accessible in these archives. To accomplish
this, your Discussion should do two things:
• First, it should present a clear, concise summary of your data.
• Second, it should link your observations to those of other scientists in one or both of these
ways:
o Include an annotated list comparing specific aspects of your data to data that
is already in the scientific archives.
o Use your data and related data from the scientific archives to generate a
proposal, a generality, a theory, or a model..

5.3.4.1. Recap/Summary Your Results

Begin your Discussion with a recap, a short summary of what you learned about the key variables
of your data.

5.3.4.2. Archive Your Results

After cleanly summarizing your results, help to archive them by showing the connections between
your research and research reported by other scientists.

Begin by making two tables of related scientific papers. One table should compare your results to
results of papers reporting experiments that used recipes similar to yours.

The other table should compare your recipe to the recipes used in papers that reported results
similar to yours.
This table lists research reports that attempted to study the same things as you studied but that used
different experimental techniques from yours.

Now, translate your table(s) into a clean narrative text for your Discussion.

5.3.4.3. Try to Make a Proposal

Your Discussion should always recap your data and it should help to archive the data (i.e., it should
show notable connections between your recipe → results report and other existing scientific
papers.)

Beyond this, your Discussion can sometimes offer a proposal, that is, a conjecture, prediction,
generalization, hypothesis, model, or theory.

5.3.5. CONCLUSION

Each research paper should present only one or two main ideas, and these ideas should be stated
in the Conclusion. The Introduction of the paper should show the current need for these ideas, the
Discussion should tie these ideas to other existing scientific papers, and the Conclusion should
summarize the ideas in one succinct paragraph. Some journals use a format that includes a section
labeled “Conclusion” or “Summary.” For other journals, the Conclusion is the untitled last
paragraph of the Discussion.

When you first face the Conclusion section of your paper, you should already have a draft of the
Discussion. The Discussion moves from your specific observations to more general statements
relating your data to the work of others. To write a Conclusion, take the recap from the beginning
of your Discussion and the general statements from the remainder of your Discussion, and forge a
single uncluttered paragraph.

5.3.7. INTRODUCTION

In its Materials and Methods and Results sections, a research paper describes a set of recipes and
the data that those recipes produced. In its Discussion section, the paper attempts to fit this data
into the overall database of science. The task of the Introduction is to give the reader a preview of
the Discussion, pointing out in advance the particular hole in the scientific landscape that the
paper’s data will try to fill.

The Introduction section begins by orienting the reader. It describes a part of the scientific puzzle
that is complete, a region with well-recognized landmarks and clearly defined contours. The
Introduction then leads the reader down a short, direct path toward an empty space—a gap in the
puzzle—and announces, “Our data should fit here.”

5.3.7.1. Define the Gap

Your research paper will report a set of recipe → results observations and it will then organize the
observations in a form that can be summarized in one or two sentences. These summary sentences
will be your Conclusion.

The Introduction section of your paper should set the stage for your Conclusion. Specifically, the
Introduction should describe the gap in our current scientific knowledge that can be filled by your
Conclusion.

By the time you begin to write your Introduction, you should already know your Conclusion, and
therefore the specific gap that your paper will fill can be described simply by rephrasing the
summary statements from your Conclusion as questions.

By the time you begin to write your Introduction, you should already know your Conclusion, and
therefore the specific gap that your paper will fill can be described simply by rephrasing the
summary statements from your Conclusion as questions.

If the Conclusion of your study is “256 angels can dance on the head of a pin,” then the gap in our
current knowledge would be the answer to, “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?”
Your Introduction should raise this question and then point out that it cannot be answered by
currently available scientific data.

5.3.7.2. Begin with the Known

To make the argument that there is currently a hole in our scientific knowledge, begin your
Introduction at a firm place in the scientific archives, that is, start with a scientific statement that
is widely accepted. Then lead your reader step-by-step from the known to the unknown, the gap
that your Conclusion will fill.

When choosing where to start, think about the audience of the journals for which you are writing.
Pick a starting point that most of its readers should already know or accept.

5.3.7.3. Take a Direct Path to the Unknown

From this spot of firm ground, take your reader into the specific area of your research problem by
following a short chain of previously reported observations. Lead the reader straight to the place
where your Conclusion should be, and pose the question that your Conclusion answers. Explain
that the answer is currently unknown, and show your reader the edges of this hole in our knowledge
by citing the closest information available in the scientific literature.

In your Introduction, provide sufficient references so that readers can go to the scientific literature
and see for themselves the particular observations that currently surround the hole you propose to
fill.
5.3.7.4. Summarize Your Plan-of-Attack

After leading your reader to a gap in our knowledge, end your Introduction by stating briefly how
you plan to fill the gap. Your plan-of-attack comprises the recipes detailed in your Materials and
Methods. Therefore, the last few sentences of your Introduction should summarize the main
recipes that have given you the data on which your Conclusion is based.

Your plan-of-attack should be a variant of the statement, “Here we report the observations that can
be seen after doing X,” where ‘X’ is a summary of the key recipes in your Materials and Methods.

5.3.8. ABSTRACT

The Abstract presents the essence of your Materials and Methods, your Results, and your
Conclusion. The blueprint for an Abstract is, “We did. We saw. We concluded,” and your Abstract
should include the background of or the reason for your study, the methods you used, a list of your
main findings, and your conclusions.

An Abstract should be a single lean paragraph. It should be written in complete sentences. If it

includes any technical abbreviations, then it should also include their definitions. Abstracts have
no figures or tables, and Abstracts rarely cite references.

5.3.8.1. The Simple Abstract

Scientific journals use two different forms for their Abstracts. Traditional journals use a simple
Abstract—an undifferentiated paragraph of less than 200 words.
5.3.8.2. The Abstract with Subsections
Other journals use Abstracts that are miniatures of the actual paper. These Abstracts are usually
longer (200–350 words) and are written in subsections that parallel the outline of the article.
Typically, the subsections are:
• BACKGROUND (CONTEXT, OBJECTIVE) = 1–2 sentences
• METHODS (METHODOLOGY) = 2–3 sentences
• RESULTS = <10 sentences
• CONCLUSION = 1 sentence

These subsections are brief summaries of the paper’s

• Introduction
• Materials and Methods
• Results
• Discussion and Conclusion

5.3.9. KEY WORDS AND THE LIST OF NONSTANDARD ABBREVIATIONS

5.3.9.1. Key Words
Some journals ask that you follow your Abstract with a list of 3–10 key words or phrases. These
terms will be used to index your article under standard headings in large databases. Therefore,
besides choosing key words that characterize the specific focus of your paper, include some terms
that categorize your paper more generally. List your key words alphabetically on a separate line
after the Abstract.

5.3.9.2. Alphabetical List of Nonstandard Abbreviations

Abbreviations make your writing compact. Standard abbreviations, such as ‘m’ for ‘meter’ and ‘g’
for ‘gram’, are part of the common language of science, and you can use them freely.

Any nonstandard abbreviations that you use as shorthand must be defined in the main text of your
paper. The convention is to put the abbreviation in parentheses when it first appears in the text of
your paper, such as, “Of the patients with congestive heart failure (CHF), 10% had …” Thereafter,
you can use the abbreviation alone, such as, “Fourteen of the patients with CHF had lower
extremity edema.”

In addition to putting definitions in the main text, you can help your reader by including an
alphabetical list of the nonstandard abbreviations used in your paper; for example:

5.3.10. TITLE

Each scientific paper needs a Title and an Abstract. Together, the two form a small scientific report
of their own, and the combination is used as a stand-in for the complete article in condensed
databases. By itself, the Title is the ultimate summary of your paper, so fill it with clear and useful
information.

When composing a Title, build it with words that characterize your entire paper, because Titles are
often used for indexing articles. Begin by listing 8–12 terms that capture the essence of your
recipes, results, and conclusions, and include the key variables that are the focus of your
experiment. Next, arrange the words of your list into a complete phrase. Finally, rework the draft
of your title so that it meets these basic requirements:
• It should recapitulate your Conclusion.
• It should be succinct. Limit your title to two or fewer lines of text.
• It should include a verb, which should be in the present tense. Find an active verb, and aim
for the grammatical structure Subject–Active verb–Object,
• It should not be thickly worded. Use no more than three modifiers for any one noun. For
example, write, “Large Red Guatemalan Tarantulas Have 8 Stripes” not “Large Red 8-
striped Guatemalan Tarantulas are the Most Common Variety”.

5.3.12. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

When your paper is finished, add one last historical note, the Acknowledgements. This is a
paragraph that usually comes after the Conclusion and before the References. The
Acknowledgements is an addendum to the Materials and Methods. In simple complete sentences,
it lists those people and institutions who gave you advice, information, assistance, and materials.
It should also list all the sources of your financial support.

5.3.13.2. Don’t Cite Incomplete Sources

Don’t cite abstracts, because these often contain preliminary information and early speculation
based on incomplete data. Also, check that papers “in press” have already been accepted and are
scheduled for publication. Avoid citing “personal communications.” However, if you feel that this
form of information is essential to your report, list the full name and address of the source and the
date you received the information and provide the journal with written
permission from the source.
CHAPTER
4
Definition and Concept of Research
Any honest attempt to study a problem systematically or to add to man’s knowledge of a problem
may be regarded as research.

the application of the scientific method and a systematic process of collecting and logically
analyzing information (data)

4.1. The scientific method is a step-by-step procedure for solving problems on the basis of
empirical observations. Here are the major elements:
1. Begin with a “felt difficulty.” What is your interest? What questions do you want answered?
How might a theory be applied in a specific situation? What conflicting theories have you
found? The felt difficulty is the beginning point for any study (but it has no place in the
proposal).
2. Write a formal “Problem Statement.” The Problem establishes the focus of the study by
stating the necessary variables in the study and what you plan to do with them
3. Gather literature information. What is known? Before you plan to do a study of your own,
you must learn all you can about what is already known. This is done through a literature search
and results in a synthesis of recent findings on the topic.
4. State hypothesis. On the basis of the literature search, write a hypothesis statement that
reflects your best tentative solution to the Problem
5. Select a target group (population). Who will provide your data? How will you find subjects
for your study? Are they accessible to you?
6. Draw one or more samples, as needed. How many samples will you need? What kind of
sampling will you use?
7. Collect data. What procedure will you use to actually collect data from the subjects? Develop
a step-by-step plan to obtain all the data you need to answer your questions
8. Analyze data. What statistics will you use to analyze the data? Develop a step-by-step plan to
analyze the data and interpret the results
9. Test the null, or statistical, hypothesis. On the basis of the statistical results, what decision do
you make concerning your hypothesis?
10. Interpret the results. What does the statistical decision mean in terms of your study? Translate
the findings from “statistics” to English.

4.2. Characteristics of Research

1. Objectivity Look for objective reality — the world as it is — uncolored by personal
opinion or feelings. Attempts to eliminate personal bias in data collection and analysis.
Honest researchers take a neutral position in their studies. They are willing to accept
empirical results contrary to their own opinions or values.
2. Precision Reliable scientific knowing requires precise measurement. Researchers carry out
experiments under controlled, narrow conditions. They carefully design instruments to be
as accurate as possible. They evaluate tests for reliability and validity. Accurate
measurement is a vital ingredient in the research process.
3. Verification Science analyzes world processes which are systematic and recurring.
Researchers report their findings in a way that allows others to replicate their studies — to
check the facts in the real world.
4. Empiricism The root of “empiricism” refers to the “employment of empirical methods, as
in science,” or “derived from observation or experiment; verifiable or provable by means
of observation or experiment.” Science uses the term to underscore the fact that it bases its
knowledge on observations of specific events, not on abstract philosophizing or
theologizing. Empirical data is gathered by observation. Basic observations can be done
with the naked eye and an objective checklist. But observations are also made with
instruments such as an interview or questionnaire, a test, an attitude scale, or a controlled
experiment.
5. Goal: Theories The goal of scientific research is theory construction, the development of
theories which explain the phenomena under study, not the mere cataloging of empirical
data. The inductive process of scientific knowing begins with the specifics (collected data)
and leads to the general (theories).

4.3.Research Concepts
• Time in Research
cross-sectional vs. longitudinal

The defining feature of a cross-sectional study is that it can compare different population
groups at a single point in time.
In a longitudinal study, researchers conduct several observations of the same subjects over
a period of time, sometimes lasting many years.
• Variables
Variable…any observation that can take on different values
Attribute…a specific value on a variable

Types of Variables
Independent variable (IV)…what you (or nature) manipulates in some way
Dependent variable (DV)…what you presume to be influenced by the IV

• types of relationships

patterns of relationships…
▪ no relationship
▪ positive relationship
▪ negative relationship
▪ curvilinear relationship

• hypotheses

hypothesis…a specific statement of prediction

types of hypotheses
▪ alternative vs. null
▪ one-tailed vs. two-tailed

• types of data
quantitative vs. qualitative

• deduction and induction

Inductive Reasoning Inductive reasoning moves thinking from specific elements to general
principles.
Deductive Reasoning Deductive reasoning moves thinking from stated general principles to
specific elements.

4.4. Research Problems and Hypothesis

Research problems, questions, definitions, techniques for research problem statement
formulation, qualitative statement, analytical statements, traditional null hypothesis and
alternative hypothesis; and whether its appropriateness in Engineering areas.

Getting On Target
The Problem of the Study
The Hypothesis of the Study
From Raw to Refined
The need to “get on target” with your proposal is the most important point in starting proposal/research.
The “Problem” and “Hypothesis” statements focus every other element of the proposal. They form the
proposal’s heart. Confusion here will generate confusion throughout the proposal.

The Problem Statement

The problem statement defines the essence of your study and identifies the variables you will study.
Characteristics of a Problem
The following characteristics are important to keep in mind as you develop the formal statement of the
problem of your study.
Limit scope of your study
Beginner researchers tend to include too many variables or too much material in their studies. The problem
statement helps limit your study by focusing your attention on the particular variables you want to
investigate.
Current theory and/or latest research
The problem statement should reflect the most recent discoveries in your field of interest. You will refine
your problem as you conduct the literature review. A clear understanding of your specific problem will help
you gather pertinent data from your field and discover if you are proposing a redundant study.

Meaningfulness
Is your problem statement meaningful? Is it important to your field? The problem may focus on something
you personally want to know, but this is not enough to establish the need for the study. The inexperienced
tend to focus on the obvious, surface issues related to field. The problem statement should have a theoretical
basis beyond the pragmatic concern of “what works?” Research seeks to know the “whys” as well as the
“hows” of the way the world works.

Clearly written
The problem statement is usually a single sentence which isolates the variables of the study and indicates
how these variables will be studied. The statement is brief and concise. It is objectively written so that
another can read the statement and understand the focus of the study.

Examples of Problem Statements

Let’s focus on several practical formats that Problems can take. We can study the relationship between
variables or the differences between groups.

Association Between Two Variables

A study can focus on the relationship between two variables. The general format of this type of Problem
Statement is this:
The problem of this study is to determine the relationship between (Variable 1) and (Variable 2) in (a specific group).
E.g. The problem of this study [is] to determine the relationship between the leadership style of academic
administrators in selected colleges and universities and their educational philosophy profile.

Since “style” and “philosophy” are nominal variables, this problem statement infers the use of the chi-
square Test of Independence -- relationship between two nominal variables.

Association of several variables

A study may focus on how a selected group of variables may predict another. The general format is this:
The problem of this study is to determine the relationship between (variable 1) and a specified set of predictor
variables.

The problem of this study [is] to determine the relationship between job satisfaction and a specific set of predictor
variables. These variables [are] Social Classification, Gender, Age, Marital Status, Education, Tenure, and presence
in the workplace of a Performance Evaluation.
Problem statements of this type refer to multiple regression analysis.

Difference Between Two Groups

A study may focus on how two groups differ on a variable. The general format of this type of Problem
Statement is this:
The problem of this study is to determine the difference in (variable) between (group 1) and (group 2).

The problem of this study [is] to determine the difference in learning outcomes between classes taught with active
student participation and classes taught with no active participation in grade 10 students of Arba Minch Secondary
School.
This study will measure the variable “learning outcomes” -- defined later as “the achievement score of the
student on the multiple-choice post test measuring the lesson objectives at three cognitive levels:
knowledge, comprehension, and application” – in two groups of grade 10 students.
The statistic inferred by this statement is the t-Test for Independent Samples.

Differences Between More Than Two Groups

A study may focus on how more than two groups differ on a variable. The general format of this type of
Problem Statement is this:

The problem of this study is to determine the difference in (variable) across (more than two groups).
E.g1. It [is] also the problem of this study to determine the difference in marital adjustment of Southern Africans
women. . . who were not employed outside the home, employed part-time, and employed on a fulltime basis.

Do the mean scores of these three groups differ significantly? The Problem Statement infers the use of one-
way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).

E.g2. The problem of this study [is] to determine the interaction between life cycle stage and employment
status of Southern African women in Johannesburg, on a measure of marital adjustment.
This problem statement infers the use of two-way ANOVA, because it identifies two independent variables,
employment and life cycle, and one dependent variable, marital adjustment.

The Problem statement delineates the question of the study. It is the climax of the Introductory Statement
and opens the door to the Synthesis of Related Literature. In doing your literature search, you will learn a
great deal from others who have studied the variables you are interested in studying. At the end of the
Related Literature section you will be ready to write a confidence statement of your expected findings. This
statement of expectation is called a hypothesis.
The Hypothesis Statement
A hypothesis states the anticipated answer to the problem you’ve stated. The two major types of
hypotheses are the research, or alternative, hypothesis, and the null, or statistical, hypothesis. The research
hypothesis can either be directional or non-directional.

The Research Hypothesis

The research hypothesis flows directly out of the problem statement and declares in clear, objective,
measurable terms what you expect the result of your study to be. The research hypothesis is located in the
proposal under the section title “The Statement of the Hypothesis.”

Examples of hypotheses, with their corresponding problem statements

Association Between Two Variables
Problem statement
The problem of this study [is] to determine the relationship between the leadership style of academic administrators
in selected private colleges and universities and their educational philosophy profile.
Corresponding hypothesis
[It is the hypothesis of this study that there will be] a significant relationship between the leadership style of the
academic administer and his/her educational philosophy profile.

Association of several variables

Problem statement
The problem of this study [is] to determine the relationship between percieved current nuclear family
health and a set of predictor variables: perceived autonomy and percieved intimacy in the family of
origin of randomly selected married graduate students...8

Corresponding hypothesis
It [is] the hypothesis of this study that autonomy and intimacy as percieved in the couple's family of
origin are significant positive predictors of current nuclear family health.

The Directional Hypothesis

When you state your research hypothesis in a directional form, you show more confidence in the anticipated
result of your study. This confidence grows out of your literature review and expertise in the field. You
should state your research hypotheses in a directional format if possible.
Example
It [is] the hypothesis of this study that autonomy and intimacy as percieved in the couple's family of origin are
significant positive predictors of current nuclear family health.

It is the hypothesis of this study that the test scores of students who have knowledge of course objectives will be
significantly greater than the test scores of students who have no knowledge of objectives.

The Non-directional Hypothesis

A non-directional hypothesis states that a “difference” or “relationship” exists between variables, but does
not specify what kind of difference or relationship it is.
Example
It [is] the hypothesis of this study that autonomy and intimacy as percieved in the couple's family of origin are
significant predictors of current nuclear family health.

It is the hypothesis of this study that the test scores of students who have knowledge of course objectives will be
significantly different from the test scores of students who have no knowledge of objectives.

The first hypothesizes prediction, but does not specify direction positive or negative. The second
hypothesizes difference, but does not specify greater than or smaller than. These non-directional statements
are weaker than the directional statements actually stated by the researchers. Use a non-directional research
hypothesis in your proposal only if you cannot develop a reasonable basis for stating a direction for your
anticipated results.
The Null Hypothesis
Research design emphasizes the research hypothesis. Statistical analysis, on the other hand, emphasizes the
null hypothesis since statistical procedures can only test null hypotheses. The null hypothesis is stated to
reflect “no difference” between groups or “no relationship” between variables. If the null hypothesis of “no
difference” is shown statistically to be unlikely, we can “reject the null hypothesis” and “accept the
alternative (research) hypothesis.”

Restate the hypotheses listed above in their null form

It [is] the hypothesis of this study that autonomy and intimacy as percieved in the couple's family of origin are not
significant predictors of current nuclear family health.

It is the hypothesis of this study that the test scores of students who have knowledge of course objectives will not be
significantly different from the test scores of students who have no knowledge of objectives.

Notice that the “null” form of the hypothesis declares no relationship among variables, and no difference
between groups.

4.3. Research Ethics and Integrity

For individuals, research integrity is an aspect of moral character and experience. It involves above
all a commitment to intellectual honesty and personal responsibility for one’s actions and to a
range of practices that characterize responsible research conduct.

The best ethical practices produce the best research.

• These practices include:
– Adherence to the mutual responsibilities of mentors and trainees;
– Proficiency and fairness in peer review;
– Accuracy and fairness in representing contributions to research proposals and
reports;
– Collegiality in interactions, communications and sharing of resources;
– Honesty and fairness in proposing, performing, and reporting research;
– Disclosure of conflicts of interest;
– Protection of human subjects in the conduct of research;
– Humane care of animals in the conduct of research;

Objective of Study
◼ Research objective are the results sought by the researcher at the end of the research process,
closely related to the statement of the problem
◼ A well-worded objective will be SMART, i.e Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, & Time-
bound.
◼ General objective
 are broad goals to be achieved
 General objectives can broken into small logically connected parts to form specific
objectives
◼ Specific Objective
 Specific objectives are short term & narrow in focus
CHAPTER
5

TYPES OF RESEARCH
Descriptive vs. Analytical:
Descriptive research
Describes a particular phenomenon, focusing upon the issue of what is happening, or how much of it has
happened, rather than why it is happening. The major purpose of descriptive research is description of the
state of affairs as it exists at present. The main characteristic of this method is that the researcher has no
control over the variables; he can only report what has happened or what is happening.
In analytical research, on the other hand, the researcher has to use facts or information already available,
and analyze these to make a critical evaluation of the material.

Applied vs. Fundamental:

Research can either be applied (or action) research or fundamental (to basic or pure) research. Applied
research aims at finding a solution for an immediate problem facing a society or an industrial/business
organisation, whereas fundamental research is mainly concerned with generalizations and with the
formulation of a theory.

Quantitative vs. Qualitative:

Quantitative research is based on the measurement of quantity or amount. It is applicable to phenomena
that can be expressed in terms of quantity.
Qualitative research, on the other hand, is concerned with qualitative phenomenon, i.e., phenomena relating
to or involving quality or kind.

Conceptual vs. Empirical:

Conceptual research is that related to some abstract idea(s) or theory. It is generally used by philosophers
and thinkers to develop new concepts or to reinterpret existing ones. On the other hand, empirical research
relies on experience or observation alone, often without due regard for system and theory. It is data-based
research, coming up with conclusions which are capable of being verified by observation or experiment.

PURE AND APPLIED RESEARCH

Pure research takes place to explore a particular concept, or issue, without regard for a specific problem,
and may be carried out to simply gain a better understanding of the overall concepts.
Applied research is undertaken to solve a specific problem or provide a solution to a practical question.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY RESEARCH

Primary research
Refers to research that has involved the collection of original data specific to that particular research project,
for example through using research methods such as questionnaires or interviews.

Secondary research
Refers to research where no such original data is collected, but the research project uses existing (or
secondary) sources of data, for example census or archive data.

THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

Theoretical research generally uses the findings from existing works to develop new ideas through
analysing existing theory and explanations. These new ideas are not tested through collecting evidence in
the form of primary data.
Empirical research supports the development of new ideas through the collection of data (empirical =
observation or measurement rather than theoretical reasoning).

Experimental Research
Experimental research analyzes the question “what if?” Experimental studies use carefully controlled
procedures to manipulate one (independent) variable, such as Teaching Approach, and measure its effect
on other (dependent) variables, such as Student Attitude and Achievement. Manipulation is the
distinguishing element in experimental research. Experimental researchers don’t simply observe what is.
They manipulate variables and set conditions in order to design the framework for their observations.

Exploratory research
Takes place where there is little or no prior knowledge of a phenomenon. This type of research attempts to
gain some familiarity with the appropriate concepts and looks for patterns or ideas without any
preconceived ideas or explanation.

Predictive research
Forecasts future phenomena, based on the interpretations suggested by explanatory research.
CHAPTER
6

RESEARCH PROCESS
6.1. Selecting a topic
Your discussions and inquiries will help you to select a topic which is likely to be of interest, which
you have a good chance of completing, which will be worth the effort and which may even have
some practical application later on.
Consider the following BEFORE you start to choose a topic
INTEREST If possible; choose a topic that interests you. You'll have to spend a lot of time and
energy on it, and there's more chance you'll do a good job if it's something you want to know more
about. Also, tie it in with other courses or assignments if possible.

SCOPE Your topic must be manageable. Avoid choosing a topic that is too broad or too narrow.
If it is too broad, you will be overwhelmed by too much information. If it is too narrow, too
specialized, too new, too limited in appeal, you may not find enough material. Narrow the subject
by focusing on a narrower time span, a smaller place, a specific group of people, a specific event,
or specific individual.

TIME Choose a project that can be finished in the time you have. If it is a busy semester, choose
a topic you know something about and that is common enough to be found easily. It is better to do
a smaller project well than to do a sloppy job on a more elaborate project.

CLARITY Be clear about what topic you are researching. It is true that a topic needs to be adjusted
as the information is gathered, but you should always know what topic you are searching. Not
having a clear idea of what you're looking for is dangerous because you are likely to get off track
and waste time you can't afford

6.2. Getting Started – Formulating research question

• You may be given a topic to research, but in most cases you will be asked to select a topic
from a list or to decide on a topic yourself.
• Try to bring the list down to a possible two – one likely to be of main interest and the
second to fall back on if your preliminary investigations throw up problems.
• Start with your first choice and begin to write down your ideas on a sheet of A4 paper.
Write ‘title’ in the middle of the paper and link to it all the questions, doubts, theories and
ideas you can think of. Brainstorm it. Insert arrows, if necessary, to link one idea or query
with another. Write quickly and write as you think. If you decide to wait until your thoughts
are in better order, you may (and probably will) have forgotten what you thought of first.
It doesn’t matter how illegible and disorganized your chart is as long as you can read your
own writing. This first shot is for you, not other people.
• The purpose of this exercise is to help you to clarify your thoughts and to try to decide
what you actually mean by each statement and each question. It will give you ideas about
refining the topic so that you will not be attempting to do research into everything there is
to know about ‘title’ , but into one precise aspect of the topic.
• It will give you clues as to whether this topic is likely to be too complex for you to complete
in your timescale, or whether it might prove to be impossible because you would need
access to confidential information which in all probability would be refused.
• Your first shot will be a mess but that doesn’t matter. Your second attempt will be far more
focused and you will be on the way to making a fairly firm decision about which aspect of
your topic you wish to investigate. Incidentally, don’t throw away your first or your second
attempt/s until after your research is complete, examined and/or your work is published.
You may need to refer to first shots and early drafts at some stage so start a ‘reject’ or a
‘dump’ file.
• Start with the purpose of the study. It might be difficult at this stage to provide the exact
wording but it’s rather important to know why you want to carry out this research.
• Has any research been done already on this topic?
• researchable questions which will take you a major step forward in the planning of your
project.
6.3. Hypotheses, objectives and researchable questions
• hypothesis, defined : tentative proposition which is subject to verification through
subsequent investigation.
• So, hypotheses make statements about relations between variables and provide a guide to
the researcher as to how the original hunch might be tested.
• For small projects unless your supervisor advises otherwise, a precise statement of
objectives and a list of researchable questions are generally quite sufficient.
6.4. Working title and the project outline
After producing the working title, you can produce the project outline containing the following
points
▪ clear the purpose of the study.
▪ decided on the focus of the study
▪ identify your sample.
▪ Identify key questions
▪ Begun to consider what information you might need in order to be in a position to answer
your questions.
6.5. Summary of research process
1. Draw up a shortlist of topics.
• Talk to colleagues, fellow students – anyone who will listen. Consult library
catalogues, but briefly.
2. Decide on a shortlist of two
• Select your first choice and keep the second in mind in case your first choice proves
to be too difficult or too uninteresting.
3. Make a list of first- and second-thoughts questions or produce a chart of ideas, thoughts,
possible problems anything you can think of.
• The purpose is to help you to clarify your thoughts about which aspects of the topic
are of particular interest or importance.
4. Select the precise focus of your study.
• You can’t do everything, so you need to be clear about which aspect of the general
topic you wish to investigate.
5. Make sure you are clear about the purpose of the study.

• Give some thought to your sample. You need to consult your supervisor about
which individuals or groups might be included.
6. Go back to your charts and lists of questions, delete any items which do not relate to your
selected topic, add others which do, eliminate overlap and produce a revised list of key
questions.
• You are aiming to produce researchable questions. Watch your language! Are
you absolutely clear about the meaning of the words you use. Words can mean
different things to different people.
7. Draw up an initial project outline. Check that you are clear about the purpose and focus of
your study, have identified key questions, know what information you will require and
have thought about how you might obtain it.
• Do you have enough time to carry out the research you have outlined – and to
submit on time?
8. Consult your supervisor at the stage of selecting a topic and after drawing up a project
outline.
• You don’t want to get too far down the research road before you check that all
is well. Make sure you discuss a suitable sample and ask about who to approach
for permissions.
9. From the start of your research, get into the habit of writing everything down.
• And don’t throw away your drafts until your investigation has been submitted,
assessed and/or published. You never know when you might need to refer to
them.
Review of literature
1. Despite the size of the research, evidence of reading will always be required in any
research.
2. Researchers collect many facts but then must select, organize and classify findings into a
coherent pattern.
• The aim is to produce a critical review, not a list of everything you have read.
3. Your framework will not only provide a map of how the research will be conducted and
analyzed but it will also give you ideas about a structure for your review.
• It will help you to draw together and summarize facts and findings.
4. Literature reviews should be succinct and should give a picture of the state of knowledge
and of major questions in your topic area.
• If you have been able to classify your reading into groups, categories or under
headings, writing your review will be relatively straightforward.
5. Ensure that all references are complete. Note the page numbers of any quotations and
paraphrases of good ideas. You cannot use them without acknowledging the source. If you
do, you may become involved in a plagiarism challenge.
• It should be possible for any readers to locate your sources.
Designing and administering experiments
• Make sure you have approval to proceed before you move too far on with your preparation.
Never assume it will be ‘all right’.
• Decide what you need to know and list all items about which information is required. Ask
yourself why you need this information.
• Begin to identify the variables to be experimented. Write them on separate cards or pieces
of paper, to help ordering later on..
• Decide on experiment type.
• When you are satisfied that all experiments are well described and of the right type, sort
them into order.
• Write out all procedures to be followed during the experiment
• Decide on your sample.
• Try to select a sample which is as close to your final population as possible.
• Always pilot your experiment, no matter how pushed for time you are.
• Try out your methods of analysis.
• Even with five or six completed pilot experiments, you will be able to see whether any
problems are likely to arise when you analyze the main returns.
• Make any adjustments to the experiment in the light of pilot trials’ results and your
preliminary analysis.
• Prepare an experiment schedule or guide and draft a summary sheet.

Interpreting the evidence and reporting the findings

• All data must be recorded as soon as they are available.
• Look for similarities, groupings, clusters, categories and items of particular significance.
• Experiment with different ways of presenting findings. Tables, bar charts, histograms?
Other diagrams or graphs?
• All data require interpretation.
• It is not enough only to describe.
• Don’t claim more for your research than your evidence will support.