Английский язык для магистрантов научная деятельность. English for master students academic activity. Учебное пособие

More frequently used techniques for generating and refining research ideas are:

Rational thinking

Examining your own strengths and interests

Looking at past project titles

Discussion

Searching the literature

Creative thinking

Keeping a notebook of ideas

Exploring personal preferences using past projects

Relevance trees

Brainstorming

Examining your own strengths and interests

It is important that you choose a topic in which you are likely to do well and, if possible, have already some academic knowledge. There is the need to think about your future. If you plan to work in financial management it would be sensible to choose a research project in the financial management field.

Looking at past project titles

Many graduates consider looking at past projects a useful way of generating research ideas. For undergraduate and taught masters degrees these are often called dissertations. For research degrees they are termed theses. A common way of doing this is to scan a list of past project titles for anything that captures your imagination. Titles that look interesting or which grab your attention should be noted down, as should any thoughts you have about the title in relation to your own research idea.

Discussion

Colleagues, friends and university professors are all good sources of possible project ideas. In addition, ideas can be obtained by talking to practitioners and professional groups.

Searching the literature

Types of literature that are of particular use for generating research ideas include:

articles in academic and professional journals;

reports;

books.

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Of particular use are academic review articles. They contain both a considered review of the state of knowledge in that topic area and pointers towards areas where further research needs to be undertaken. In addition you can browse recent publications, in particular journals, for possible research ideas. Reports may also be of use. The most recently published are usually up to date and, again, often contain recommendations that may form basis of your research idea.

Books by contrast are less up to date than other written sources. They do, however, often contain a good overview of research that has been undertaken, which may suggest ideas to you.

Keeping a notebook of ideas

One of the more creative techniques that we all use is to keep a notebook of ideas.

All this involves is simply noting down any interesting research ideas as you think of them and, of equal importance, what sparked off your thought.

Exploring personal preferences using past projects

Another way of generating possible project ideas is to explore your personal preferences using past project reports from your university. To do this you should:

1)select six projects that you like;

2)for each of these six projects note down your first thoughts in response to three questions:

a) What appeals to you about the project? b) What is good about the project?

c) Why is the project good?

3)select three projects that you do not like;

4)for each of these three projects note down your first thoughts in response to three questions:

a) What do you dislike about the project? b) What is bad about the project?

c) Why is the project bad?

You now have a list of what you consider to be excellent and what you consider to be poor in projects. By examining this list you will begin to understand those project characteristics that are important to you and with which you feel comfortable. These can be used as the parameters against which to evaluate possible research ideas.

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Relevance trees

Relevance trees may also prove useful in generating research topics. You should start with a broad concept from which you generate further (usually more specific) topics. Each of these topics forms a separate branch from which you can generate further more detailed sub-branches. As you proceed down the sub-branches more ideas are generated and recorded.

Brainstorming

The technique of brainstorming can be used to generate and refine research ideas. To brainstorm you should:

a.define your problem – that is, the sorts of ideas you are interested in – as precisely as possible;

b.ask for suggestions relating to the problem;

c.record all suggestions;

d.review all the suggestions and explore what is meant by each;

e.analyze the list of suggestions and decide which appeal to you most as research ideas and why.

One of the key criteria of your research success will be whether you have a set of clear conclusions drawn from the data you have collected. The extent to which you can do that will be determined largely by the clarity with which you have posed your initial research questions.

Defining research questions

Defining research questions, rather like generating research ideas, is not a straightforward matter. Beware of research questions which are too easy or too difficult. A question that prompts a descriptive answer, for example “What is the proportion of graduates entering the civil service who attended the old-established UK universities?” is far easier to answer than: “Why are graduates from old-established UK universities more likely to enter the civil service than graduates from other university?”

It is often a useful starting point in the writing of research questions to begin with one general focus research question that flows from your research idea. This may lead to several more detailed questions or the definition of research objectives.

AFTER READING TASKS

Answer the following questions.

1. Why is it important to spend time choosing and clarifying your research topic?

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2.What are the attributes of a good research topic?

3.What topics should be avoided?

4.What techniques can be used for generating and refining research ideas?

5.What techniques involve rational thinking?

6.What is the usual name for research projects undertaken for Master and Doctor of Philosophy degrees?

7.What techniques involve creative thinking?

8.What are the advantages of brainstorming?

9.Why is it important to define clearly research questions and objectives?

Find Russian equivalents of the English words and word combinations used in the text.

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Match the words which are very close in their meaning.

Match the words having the opposite meaning

SPEAKING

Prepare a speech about the techniques for generating research ideas. Say which of them you consider to be the most effective ones.

HOME ASSIGNMENT

Read the information below.

Writing a research proposal is a crucial part of the research process. If you are applying for research funding, or if your proposal is going before an

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academic research committee, then you will know that you will need to put a great deal of time into the preparation of your proposal. However, even if the official need for a proposal is not so vital it is still a process that will repay very careful attention.

Writing a research proposal helps you to organize your ideas, and can be thought of as a contract between you and the reader.

The content of the research proposal should tell the reader what you want to do, why you want to do it, what you are trying to achieve, and how you to plan to achieve it. Therefore the structure of the research proposal includes: title, background, research question(s) and objectives, method, timescale, resources and references.

From research ideas to a research proposal

If you have not been given a research idea, consider the techniques available for generating and refining research ideas. Choose a selection of those with which you feel most comfortable, making sure to include both rational and creative thinking techniques. Use these to try to generate a research idea or ideas. Once you have got some research ideas, or if you have been unable to find an idea, talk to your scientific advisor.

Evaluate your research ideas against the checklist of attributes of a good research project.

Refine your research ideas using a selection of the techniques available for generating and refining research ideas. Re-evaluate your research ideas against the checklist of attributes of a good research project. Remember that it is better to revise (and in some situations to discard) ideas that do not appear to be feasible at this stage. Integrate your ideas using the process of working up and narrowing down to form one research idea.

Use your research idea to write a general focus research question. Where possible this should be a ‘why?’ or a ‘how?’ rather than a ‘what?’ question.

Use the general focus research question to write more detailed research questions and your research objectives.

Write your research proposal making sure it includes a clear title and sections on:

•the background to your research;

•your research questions and objectives;

•the method you intend to use;

•the timescale for your research;

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•the resources you require;

•references to any literature to which you have referred.

You may find a scheme example of a written research proposal below.

A WRITTEN RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Title

Background

Research objectives

•to …

•to …

•to …

•to …

Method

1.Conduct a review of the literature on … in order to develop research hypotheses.

2.Carry out primary research in …

3.A questionnaire will be developed with questions based on …

4.Data analysis will use …

Timescale

January – March 2022: review of literature. April 2022: draft literature review.

May 2022: review research methods literature and agree research strategy.

June 2022: agree formal access to …

July-August 2022: compile, pilot and revise questionnaire. September 2022: …

October-November 2022: … November 2022-February 2023: …

March-May 2023: final writing of project report.

Resources

I have access to computer hardware and software. Access to …

My employer has agreed to pay all incidental costs as part of my course expenses.

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References

Pokeach, M. (1999) Understanding Human Values: Individual and Society, New York, The Free Press.

Study the following example:

Good afternoon, my name is … , I am a student of the NSTU, the first year of the Master's Degree, in the direction of design and technological support in mechanical engineering. The title of the research topic is “Combined Processing of Aluminum, Microarc Oxidation”. My research is aimed at studying the combined surface treatment of aluminum in order to obtain the best qualities, namely, strength, wear resistance, hardness of the upper layer of the material.

The direction is very promising, because after obtaining real results on aluminum, it will be possible to introduce these processes for the treatment of engine cylinders, to create them almost entirely from aluminum in order to make it as light as possible. Once we get the best results with aluminum, we can move on to titanium processing. Titanium processing, in turn, will open the way for better quality implants in medicine and people who have lost limbs will be able to replace them with titanium implants without an expiration date.

To achieve these goals, treatment by micro-arc oxidation was chosen. The study takes 2 years, by the time the master's degree is obtained, one of the aspects of aluminum processing must be fully considered. To continue the study, it will be necessary to recruit a group of people to speed up the process. And at this stage it is necessary to find an investor, because Further research can be costly. The group's work on all properties of aluminum, all environments should be completed within 2-3 years, after which you can proceed to the next stage.

The final stage of research is the transition from aluminum to titanium. The material itself is expensive, so the cash flow of investments will need to be increased, as well as recruit additional people.

Based on the results of the entire study, it will be possible to introduce titanium alloys into the field of biotechnology. According to preliminary calculations, the relevance of new alloys will pay off within 5-7 years. But already now, at the stage of master's work, there is not enough equipment. I ask you to allocate 1,500,000 rubles to start implementing the necessary experiments.

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WRITING

Write your own research proposal according to the plan.

SPEAKING

Speak about your research proposal. Share your ideas with your groupmates.

Lesson 2. Describing graphs

1. INTRODUCTION

2. VOCABULARY: VERBS OF MOVEMENT (глаголыизменения)

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1.For sentences 1-10 use the verbs from active vocabulary to substitude the underlined parts of the sentences.

1.The price of laptops dropped followed by a period of stability.

..........................................................................................................................

2.Numbers reached a high in the year 2022.

..........................................................................................................................

3.The amount of money spent fell slightly and then quickly recovered.

..........................................................................................................................

4.Visitor numbers to the website plunged in the first quarter of the year.

..........................................................................................................................

5.Book purchases increased slowly but surely over the year.

..........................................................................................................................

6.The number of students applying to the university stabilized over the decade.

..........................................................................................................................

7.Attendance at the conference decreased steadily last year.

..........................................................................................................................

8.The grow rate was erratic during the previous year.

..........................................................................................................................

9.Member numbers reached their lowest point in March.

..........................................................................................................................

10.Car sales rocketed over the period.

..........................................................................................................................

To exclude tautology while describing graphs, you can use nouns instead of verbs.

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