1 / 21

The master thesis as a research article: Structure and style

The master thesis as a research article: Structure and style. Research (and writing) as communication. Two dialogues: Researchers talk to phenomena, and they talk back In a language the scientist can understand Researchers then turn around to speak to their peers

wdewitt
Download Presentation

The master thesis as a research article: Structure and style

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. The master thesis as a research article: Structure and style December 2008

  2. Research (and writing) as communication • Two dialogues: • Researchers talk to phenomena, • and they talk back • In a language the scientist can understand • Researchers then turn around to speak to their peers • About the dialogue with phenomena • In a language their peers understand • Double obligation: Be fair to the sources, but equally fair to the listeners. Write for a fellow student – who knows a lot, except your theme Have the second dialogue in mind already during the first dialogue December 2008

  3. Title • Short, 10-12 words (not full sentence) • Informative – not too general • Simple – do not try to cover everything • Understandable – avoid abbreviations and technicalities • Curiosity provoking – invite the right readers • Consider composite title: Use of colon or question mark • Authors • Who should be included • What is their order • What are their affiliations December 2008

  4. Foreword Acknowledgements (Author note): • Who has funded the investigation • Who has provided the instruments, data files etc • The supervisor’s role • Who helped and should be thanked December 2008

  5. Abstract • Keep it brief (150 – 250 words) • Informative but not crowded • Self explanatory • Avoid references • Avoid redundant and noninformative statements • Short statements about: • What is the background • What we wanted to find out • What we did • What we found • What does it mean? December 2008

  6. The structure of a research article • Hour-glass shaped: Starts wide, ends wide • Quasihistorical narrative structure • Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion First level headings, centered • Second level headings Italics, separate line, start left • Third level headings. Italics, continue on same line • Only one kind of paragraph December 2008

  7. APA Language and Style • Subdued – focus on content rather than on language; do not attempt to be brilliant and funny • Impersonal – ”the rhetoric of objectivity”, passive form • Careful – take reservations, stick to data • But do not carry it too far! • Collective – cumulative enterprise, not aggressive • Many citations • Few quotes • Many subtitles / divisions • Few footnotes December 2008

  8. Language specifics • Use your own words • Paraphrase, don’t quote • Don’t write what you don’t understand • Avoid bad (literal) translations from English • When in doubt, use both English and Norwegian terms (first time both). • Don’t use Uppercase Letters in Headings in Norwegian • Don’t start sentence with numerals (”20 students participated”  ”Twenty students”, or ”Participants were 20 students” • Write in full sentences • But make them short • Make meaningful paragraphs (take a break) December 2008

  9. Some Recurrent Errors That are Likely to Drive your Professor Crazy • Half sentences without a verb phrase: ”This because …” • Vague references: ”This means …” • A semicolon - ; - is not a small colon • Participants are not subjects • Avoid sexist language (use ”they”) • One stimulus / more stimuli • A study = en studie (en undersøkelse) • Strawberry jam is not Jordbær syltetøy • ”Evidence suggests” is not ”bevis foreslår” • Rating is not rangering • Temporal order is not temporal orden December 2008

  10. References in text • Smith, Jones, and Jones (2002) showed that Master students are smart. • Master students are smart (Smith, Jones & Jones, 2002). • Next time: Smith et al. (2002). • One reference to Smith et al. in the same paragraph is enough • Master students are smart (Smith & Jones, 2002, ref. in Passer & Smith, 2006). • Alphabetical, not chronological order in parentheses • References to platitudes are unnecessary December 2008

  11. More about references • Page references only with quotations • Quotations usually in original language (or add: ”My translation”) • Give reference whenever you use somebody else’s ideas, or internet sources • It’s OK that your ideas are not original • But to pretend that they are original, when they are not, is cheating • And could have serious consequences December 2008

  12. Introduction Build a platform for your investigation • What is the theme, and where does it belong • How is it treated in the research literature • What we know • What we don’t know • Possible controversies and debates • Citations (references) • What we want to have a closer look at • How we want to study it • Don’t force yourself to produce hypotheses • Suggest results (?) December 2008

  13. Methods • No introduction necessary • Provides the recipe (enough details for replicating the study) • But not more details than necessary (dependent on purpose) • Some reasons can be given • The reader should be able to follow the procedures • Participants (not subjects!) • Design • Material / apparatus / tests / questionnaires • Procedure • Statistical methods only if they need special attention December 2008

  14. Results • Remind the reader about what you were looking for • Findings are presented in order of importance • And/or in chronological order • Descriptive results before statistical inferences • Give short comments so the results make sense • Consider the relation between results given in text, in tables, or in figures December 2008

  15. Results in text • When the results are few • easy to describe • need comments December 2008

  16. Results in tables • When there are many numbers • When they need to be compared • When they are referred to several times • When they deserve a nice frame • Always give comment in text • Yet make them as self-explanatory as possible December 2008

  17. Table layouts • Title: Informative and simple (above table) • Only horizontal lines • Use a minimum of abbreviations • Organize in rows and columns • Try different organizations • Rows • Questions • Not so easy to compare • Number of rows unlimited • Columns • Answering categories • Easy to compare • Limited number of columns December 2008

  18. Figures • Title below figure • Readable • Focus on comparisons • Place data in foreground • Be puritanical (not 3D, never use pie-charts) • Graphical excellence is that which gives to the viewer the greatest number of ideas in the shortest time with the least ink in the smallest space (Tufte) • Maximize data ink / total ink • By removing non-data ink and redundant data ink December 2008

  19. Discussion • Repeat main findings (in words, not in numbers) • Interpretations • Collect loose ends • Check against introduction • Alternative interpretations • But be careful about introducing completely new points of view • Limitations • Perspectives (new studies, applications) December 2008

  20. Reference list • All citations in text are on the reference list • All items on the reference list are cited in text • Only refer to sources you have seen • If you have not seen the original source, refer to the source that cited it • Organize alphabetically • Use APA guidelines December 2008

  21. Appendices • Place questionnaires etc. in appendix • Tests published elsewhere can be omitted • Give reference to appendix in text (methods section) • Do not translate • Not all versions need to be attached December 2008

More Related