Materials and Methods
This section describes how the research was carried out. It covers everything relevant to the actual experimental procedure, and also how the data collected were analysed. Reading the methods section is helpful in understanding exactly what the authors did. An important criterion when assessing the methods section is to ask, 'does the author(s) give enough information to allow me to repeat the experiment?' If the answer to this is no, then the methods section is not detailed enough.
Results
The results section represents a summary and analysis of the data. Usually graphs and tables will be included here. The accompanying text contains verbal descriptions of the pieces of data the authors feel were most critical. Note that the results section should simply present the results of the work described, without discussing them.
Three types of information can be extracted from the results section: data from the experiments, ideas about how to improve the methods, and an understanding of how to represent similar data. Clearly, this is the section of the paper you refer to if you need to know exactly what the researchers found out, particularly if you need data to compare with your own findings, or to use to build your own hypothesis. The results section is also useful for understanding whether the methods of an experiment worked well.
Discussion
This is the most 'open' section of the paper. It is where the authors draw conclusions about the results. They may choose to put their results in the context of previous findings and offer theories or new hypotheses that explain the sum body of knowledge in the field. Or the authors may comment on new questions and avenues of exploration that their results give rise to. The purpose of discussion sections in papers is to allow the exchange of ideas between scientists. However, this section is often a good place to get ideas about what kind of research questions are still unanswered in the field and thus, what types of questions you might want your own research project to tackle.
References
Throughout the article, the authors will refer to information from other papers. These citations are all listed in the references section, sometimes referred to as the bibliography. Regardless of the type of source, there will always be enough information (authors, title, journal name, publication date, etc.) for you to find the source at a library or online. This makes the reference section incredibly useful for broadening your own literature search.
Give a Book a Good Critical Reading
By the time a paper is published, it has usually been through a process of quality control, called peer review. This involves a small number of people (the referees) not involved in the research project reading the paper and deciding if it is suitable for publication. The editors of the journal are usually also involved in the reviewing process. However, this does not mean it will be perfect. Many published papers contain factual and statistical errors, and statements which are really assertions disguised as objective fact. Given this, and the fact that scientific knowledge is often provisional and changing, the proper attitude when reading scientific papers is one of scepticism; it is the task of the reader to judge whether the authors' conclusions are justified.
Ex. 1. Answer the questions.
What is a standard format of a scientific article?
What information does an abstract contain? What is its purpose?
In your opinion, which of the sections in a research paper is the most informative?
What is a peer review?
Can you agree that the more questions researchers answer, the more new questions they receive?
Ex. 2. Which of the two types of scientific articles
gives an overview of the data in the field?
gives a review of the original data?
summarizes the data and conclusions from many studies?
is a better starting place for a summary of what has been happening in the field?
contains more background information?
contains the original data and conclusions about experiments?
LANGUAGE TRAINING
Ex. 1. Fill in the correct word from the list:
carry out, specific, follow, build, exchange, background, factual and statistical, review, well-rounded, original, reference, contain.
|
|
Ex. 2. Fill in the correct preposition, then choose any item and make up a sentence.
To be involved ….. smth; to be interested ….. smth; to be exposed …. smth; to be useful …. doing smth; to be helpful …. doing smth; to be extracted ….. smth; to comment …. smth; to refer …. smth; to be listed …. ; to be suitable ….; to be prone …. smth.
Ex. 3. Look up the word bias in an English-English dictionary. Translate the sentences below and learn some meanings of the word.
The statistics have a bias due to inaccuracy in data.
Abraham Lincoln freed America from slavery but he didn’t free it from racial biases.
Any form of discrimination based on gender can be identified as a gender bias.
Avoiding or at least eliminating personal bias in research is very important.
As Robert J. MacCoun states, in 1990-s the psychological research literature in America was criticized for being biased toward a Western individualist world view4.
Ex. 4. Study the examples of some book reviews5. Give the reasons why you think the books might be worth reading.
What aspects of book reviewing does each of examples cover? Make up appropriate questions. Complete the chart.
1,3,4 |
the intended audience |
e.g. Who is the intended audience?
|
|
the author's style, whether it is formal or informal |
|
|
the quality of the writing style by using some of the following standards: coherence, clarity, originality, forcefulness, conciseness, correct use of technical words, fluidity, fullness of development, etc. |
|
|
illustrations, charts, etc. used and how these are to be evaluated |
|
|
the thesis of the author or some general points which emerge from the book |
|
|
how useful the book might be to a specialist in the field, a student or a common reader
|
|
Ex. 5. How do you read scientific books? What factors are important to you to enjoy reading? Read some students’ opinions6. Discuss yours with your partner.
SKILLS
Make a review of a research paper you would like to recommend to your fellow students. Use the questions7 below as a plan for your review.
Who was the paper written by?
What is the title of the paper?
What are the year and the place of its publication?
What is the target audience of the research?
What is the overall purpose of the research?
How does the research fit into the context of its field? Is it, for example, attempting to settle a controversy/ show the validity of a new technique/ open up a new field of inquiry?
Do the title, abstract, key words, introduction and conclusions accurately and consistently reflect the major point(s) of the paper?
Do you agree with the author's rationale for studying the question in this way?
Are the methods appropriate/ current/ described clearly enough so that the work could be repeated by someone else?
Were the measurements appropriate for the questions the researcher was approaching?
Are all tables and figures clearly labeled? well planned? too complex? necessary?
Point out any errors in technique, fact, calculation, interpretation, or style.
Do you agree with the conclusions drawn from the data?
Are these conclusions over-generalized or appropriately careful?
Give your comments on the list of references. Is it complete/ accurate? Does it include the latest materials on the topic of research?
What is the major contribution of the paper?
What are its major strengths and weaknesses?
What portions of the paper should be expanded? condensed? combined? deleted? Please, be specific!
Is the writing concise, easy to follow, interesting?
UNIT 2.
Writing Abstracts and Annotations
STARTING UP
Ex. 1. Look at these sayings. What do they mean? Which of the ideas do you agree with?
Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short.
Henry David Thoreau, American author (1817 – 1862)
Words are a lens to focus one’s mind.
Ayn Rand, Russian-American novelist (1905 – 1982)
I can’t write five words but that I change seven.
Dorothy Parker, American poet and writer (1893 – 1967)
Ex. 2. Read the information and answer the questions below.
Do you know how many new books were published May 10, 2013, the day this unit is being updated? 6,532. And how many new books have been published in 2013 by May 10? 859,249.
Look at the data on books published displayed on the Worldometers’ counter which is based on statistics published by UNESCO. This is the list of the top ten countries with the number of new titles per year as of the latest year available:
the United States (2010) 328,259 (new titles and editions) the United Kingdom (2005) 206,000 China (2010) 189,295 (328,387 total) the Russian Federation (2008) 123,336 Germany (2009) 93,124 Spain (2008) 86,300 India (2004) 82,537 (21,370 in Hindi and 18,752 in English) Japan (2009) 78,555 Iran (2010) 65,000 France (2010) 63,690 (67,278 total) 8
How can a reader sail this ocean of books?
How can a researcher stay on top of new research in his field?
What resources can help a person to browse a large amount of publications? Think about book reviews, reader’s digests, Google Scholar Alert option9 and others.