Research writing as part of advanced writing



Research is a tool to develop final claim or conclusion. Research approaches are bifurcated two categories—primary and secondary—with graduate-level writing often requiring the combining of both types. Primary research is the information collected from different original resources. It consists of several phases such as first-hand observation and investigation, such as field work, laboratory experiments, study of original historical documents, artwork, literary texts, film, interviews and statistics.

Secondary research is conclusion taken from the previous studies by other researchers. First of all we learn all the research works related to the theme. Then we can decide what aspect has not been investigated yet and what aspects have been studied in order not to repeat the others’.

Ernest Rutherford states that ‘A good scientific theory should be explicit to a barmaid’. Here are some writing hints, which is found obvious, but assessors frequently complain that they are not observed:

− Since the meaning can get confusing, sentences should not be very long. It should consist of twenty words, but not more. For each sentence only one idea should be kept.

− Paragraphs should be used effectively; the end of each paragraph should have coherence with a new paragraph by making some introduction or hinting to the next one. Reader should understand that he is going to come across a new area of discussion.

− Spelling and grammar plays significant role in writing research. Research papers and dissertations must be word processed, but backups also should be kept. They have the feature of attractiveness and professional manner. How to present the work sends out strong signals about how much it is valued.

Below main processes of research writing such as finding and researching a topic, drafting the paper, and revising the paper are given.

Finding aresearch topic.

Finding a topic for a research paper can be a lot of fun. Often, depending on the assignment and your teacher’s instructions, you can research anything that interests you. So start thinking of a question you’ve been wanting to learn about: How do marine life’s creatures live? What is LASIK surgery? What branches of Internet are widening?

After finding the topic we are interested in we should check whether it is appropriate to our assignment or not. Initially we should identify the following questions.

− Is the topic broad or narrow enough to fit into the length specified for the assignment?

− Does the topic fit the purpose of the writing assignment?

− Is the topic appropriate for your audience?

− Is the topic appropriate for a research paper?

Example: Let’s take an example of the theme of writing a research paper on neologisms. That’s a very broad topic—much too broad for a research paper. Maybe we have to narrow the topic. For example, we could write about any of the following aspects of neologisms:

− origin of neologisms — how they form;

− forms of neologisms — what types are there;

− exploring new words;

− semantics of neologisms;

− usage of neologisms in science.

Prior to approaching the research we should consult with our teacher what we have collected to investigate. According to his/her suggestions we can begin the work. Everybody uses the Internet as a main base to obtain information for any type of work. In a few seconds we can copy and complete our task with the help of these data. But the main thing we should keep in our mind is all information is not legitimate. It appears when we hand in our document. If somebody tells its fault with data we have found, in this case we have to come back to the process again. That’s why the websites that end only in.gov (government websites), edu (university websites, but some of these are also put up by students, so read them carefully), and sometimes.org (organizations, such as the American Cancer Society).

Make alist of the sources.

The list of sources demand particular attention as it is considered a proof for our research work’s reliability. So as to gather the sources we will need the following information to list:

− author’s or editor’s complete name;

− title of the book, magazine, encyclopedia, and so on;

− copyright date;

− title of the article if the source is a magazine, encyclopedia, or newspaper;

− data and page numbers of the article if the source is a magazine or newspaper;

− publisher’s name if the source is a book.

Another important factor that we need to pay attention to is the issues of academic style, which includes language usage, document format.

Language Usage and Document Style.

Language usage — is the way of writing research paper learned by reading original materials in journals or books in our field or feedback by our supervisors. Explanations for document format, including citing formats, can be found in the standardized style manual used in the field. We need to determine which style guide is used by the academic discipline that we are studying. We should not think that our teacher is responsible for our work’s format accuracy. For example, MLA (Modern Language Association) style is used in English, and sometimes linguistics and history. APA (American Psychological Association) style is used by most social sciences and psychology.

Outlining the information.

Before writing the work we should look through all the information we have. The next step is to sort out them coming out of their branch. In order to give first explanation on our work we will write a tentative thesis statement based on the information we have collected. The step we come is to outline our paper. Although we do not give exact plan for our work, we need an outline various pieces of the research.

Introduction, body of the paper, conclusion.

The introduction includes brief explanation what the research is about. The reader should understand what is being highlighted in the work at by reading its introduction. It is also the place to define any key terms, and to delimit the scope of the enquiry. The implications of the work should also be given appropriately in order that we will give our argument in order. Some people argue that the introduction is no place to state the conclusion. Others say that this can be extremely powerful and make the reader sit up and take notice. Although there are some arguments we should not give the ideas that should be written at the end.

One of the most important things to remember is that all statements must be supported by evidence or authority. This is an absolute rule in legal writing. Finally, we should check that the content of the main sections of the paper. If it does not, one or the other (or possibly both) need to be revised.

The conclusion draws together the threads of the argument. It does not repeat those arguments. Nor does it repeat the introduction. The conclusion should focus on the question we have set out to address and show how we have answered the question. There should not be any new arguments in the conclusion. «The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary can speak». (Hans Hoffman).

Allow time for revision.

The entire research paper should not be written in one evening. We will have plenty of time for analyzing, judging and for revision. Presentation counts we should make sure to submit our paper in a neat, typed version. Usually, research papers are typed double-spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides. If the teacher specifies a certain font or type size, be sure to follow those instructions. Typically, a research paper will contain the following parts.

− Cover sheet – includes the title of the paper, the name, the date, and any other information teacher might request.

− Outline or Table of Contents – your final outline for your paper.

− Body of the paper – this is the actual paper.

− Works Cited or Bibliography – a list of the sources we used or consulted in the course of the research.

References:

1. Francine D. Galko Better writing right now, 2001, Learning Express, LLC.
2. Writing Guide 2: Writing a Research Paper, Robin C A White, 2009.
3. Dorothy E Zemach, Daniel Broudy, Chris Volvona. Writing research papers, 2011.
4. Adrian Wallwork. English for Writing Research Papers. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2011.