Craft of Research. Week 3: Research Questions and Writing Conventions

Transcription

1 Craft of Research Week 3: Research Questions and Writing Conventions

2 Outline Citing Sources Research Questions Academic Research Writing Conventions Reminders

3 Citing Sources

4 Citing Sources Citations What is the difference between citations and references? References Documentation of sources (authors/publication year) within the body of your text Seen in: Parentheses at the end/within sentences Written out within sentences Noted in superscript numbers List of comprehensive sources at the end of your document Also called Bibliography is some fields

5 Citing Sources Purpose Give credit to other authors and researchers Demonstrate your evaluation of critical related research Ideas, theories, or research directly influencing your work Directly imply you have personally read the cited work Benefits Stylistic consistency Guides you in: Abbreviations, quotations, footnotes, endnotes, and scientific notation

6 Citation/Publishing Style Provides rules and guidelines for how you write and format all documents Common publishing styles: APA (American Psychological Association) Social sciences, education, politics, engineering, and business MLA (Modern Language Association) Literature and humanities CMS (Chicago Manual of Style) Book publishing (fiction and non-fiction)

7 APA In-Text Citations This page will be invaluable to you APA 6 th edition See this for more detailed explanations Differences between in-text and parenthetical forms Differences between first and subsequent Differences when 6+ authors

8 What is the Purpose of References? Accompanying, precise work linked to your citations Allows readers to trace exactly where your information comes from Includes all of the following info: Author Publication year Article title Journal title Journal volume and number Page numbers Digital object identifier (doi) number

9 APA References Gonzalez-Torres, A., Garcia-Penalvo, F. J., & Theron, R. (2013). Human-computer interaction in evolutionary visual software analytics. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(2), doi: /j.chb Authors in published order by last name, initials (note punctuation and spacing) Publication year in parentheses, followed by a period Article title with only the first word capitalized, followed by a period Journal title in italics with each word capitalized, followed by a comma Journal volume and number with journal title italicized immediately followed by (no space) journal number (not italicized) in parentheses, followed by a comma Page numbers followed by a period doi number in all lowercase, followed by a colon, followed by (no space) a doi number.

10 Activity 1: Referencing Articles Groups of 2 Open these articles from CoR website Type out the reference for each in APA format 5 10 minutes

11 Activity 1: Answers Carter, E. J., Williams, D. L., Hodgins, J. K., & Lehman, J. F. (2014). Are children with autism more responsive to animated characters? A student of interactions with humans and human-controlled avatars. Journal of Autism Development and Disorders, 44(10), doi: /s Mihajlovic, V., Grundlehner, B., Vullers, R., & Penders, J. (2015). Wearable, wireless EEG solutions in daily life applications: What are missing? Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, 19(1), doi: /jbhi

12 Research Questions How do these differ from problem areas?

13 FINER F easible I nteresting N ovel E thical R elevant

14 FINER F easible Adequate number of subjects and technical expertise Affordable in time and money Manageable in scope

15 FINER F easible I nteresting Potential answers intrigue the investigator, peers, and community

16 FINER F easible I nteresting N ovel Confirms, refutes, or extends previous findings

17 FINER F easible I nteresting N ovel E thical Amenable to a study that IRB will approve

18 FINER F easible I nteresting N ovel E thical R elevant To scientific knowledge, policy, and future research

19 Research Question Milestone What to do Specific matter you are addressing with your problem Don t overpromise with a broad question Briefly define your terms i.e., What does improve mean? How to do it well Question must be specific! Question can be restructured as a hypothesis Be realistic about what you intend to do What is the indirect question in your problem area paragraph? Use this as a general guide

20 Activity 2: Research Question Milestone Research teams Use your problem area paragraph as a guide Draft up your specific research question (1-3 sentences) A. Specific question o i.e., Is X graphic interface transferable to an audio solution for the visually impaired? B. Define your terms o i.e., improve, impact, engage, efficient, etc. 10 minutes Feasible Interesting Novel Ethical Relevant

21 Writing Conventions What does this mean?

22 Research Writing Tutor (RWT) Web-based tool to analyze research writing Offers feedback tailored to specific fields of study Breaks down writing from macro to micro: Introduction; Methods; Results; Discussion Moves and steps Teaches best writing practices Aids in conceptual understanding of norms within your publishing field

23 Overview of RWT Website 1. Understanding Writing Goals Explains the aims of each section Describes the moves (goals) in each section Lists the steps for achieving each move (goal) Brief overview of the language to be used in each section 2. Explore Published Writing Section Structure by discipline using sections from published articles shows example text Move/Step Examples by discipline, section, move and step (micro approach) shows example text Research Articles provided that are used in the previous sections as examples is the example text 3. Analyze my Writing Upload your own writing to be annotated (moves/steps) and analyzed by the program according to discipline and section Sentence-level feedback Section-level feedback Section-level comparison to other research

24 Activity 3: Analyzing Writing Which section of your paper are you the least confident about writing? Groups of 2 Go to the RWT 1.engl.iastate.edu/wordpress/ Go to the Analyze my Writing function, then Start Draft Choose an article related to one of your research projects; insert the section from it that you are the least confident in writing Review the analyses and feedback Words vs. Word Goal Sentence-level feedback Which moves are the most/least common? Which steps are the most/least common? Section-level feedback How does the document moves (percentages) compare to the discipline moves (i.e., not enough, goal, or too much)? Which part of the feedback do you find the most helpful?

25 Upcoming Week 4 Introduction section Methods section RWT moves Week 5 Results section Discussion section RWT moves

26 Reminders Simple Fix Kayaking trip No weekend activity Snacks