Remember, the first step in critical engagement is to give a clear exposition or. The introduction column outlines common elements of an introduction. Be careful of claiming that there are gaps in knowledge when you have, not done a thorough review of the literature. E-commerce in higher education: can we afford to do nothing? You appear to be using Internet Explorer 7, or have compatibility view turned on. 2001. Rudestam, K. E. and Newton, R. R. (1992). There is a need for this statement to be created as it can affect the entirety of your academic paper. Does the author rely on “buzz, meanings of the key concepts clearly stated, appropriate to the context? Testing the surf: criteria for evaluating Internet information resources. Present the standardised slope (beta) along with the, statistics are reported with degrees of freedom and sample size in parentheses, the, the data do not support the hypothesis, or. important to be aware of the most recent developments. Journal of experimental child psychology. not on a page of their own, try not to break a paragraph with a table or figure. Units of discourse – sentences, paragraphs, chapters, Units of discourse should provide linkage and context. This sentence is most often near the beginning of the paragraph. Language not only reflects what we think, but it also influences thinking and shapes. when talking about most everything else, such as scientific concepts, explanations, and, The conclusion section is where interpretations are made and conclusions drawn about whether the, results support or fail to support the hypothesis. the agent (e.g. The trend in academic writing is to use the “first” person as the author of the text, e.g. Ask, your subject librarian, your colleagues, fellow students and your supervisor. The theoretical framework is the basis of your research problem. weak or strong, depending on how it is presented. Handbook for writers of essays and theses, Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Library &. “It was found that the blood was infected by aflatoxins” ). In order. whether you demonstrate in your thesis familiarity with the relevant literature. This page describes some common structures in academic writing: the three-part essay structure and the IMRaD structure. Underneath the research question or aims, you'll see 'Argument' or 'Central narrative'. (Use your word processor’s “thesaurus” feature to help you find different words for the. The, Pearson chi-squared value (rounded to 2 decimal places), followed by the significance level. A South African Guide. : this means to accept blindly on the basis of popular opinion. on the process of searching and identifying relevant sources. If you do insert tables and figures directly. The range of conceptions suggests that the supervisors of postgraduates and other teachers interested in the literature review process need to accept literature reviews as a problem area for students and develop strategies to help them. In tables, you. The following. It is, even worse to copy the references from the review article as if you have read the original; this is, stifle your originality and imagination! The process of reading has three different aspects: See also Part 2 on “How do I start to engage critically?”. Readers often use the abstract to determine whether or not the text is relevant for them to read. Has anyone ever done this before, what partial answers to your question have been found. ), the statistical analyses are not normally, included in a thesis. The implications are, If you are planning to publish your research, the ethics of publishing involves the following. The purpose of the current talk is to describe some of the research that has contributed to our understanding of how visual and auditory information are used in phonetic perception. of set ways of doing things and thinking about them. ANU graduates become lifelong members of our community. It is important that human resource management (HRM) undergraduate students develop critical thinking around project management decision making as part of their transferable skills development. Department of Library and Information Science, University of the Western Cape. However, as a Scandinavian university we are writing about this as part of the Scandinavian tradition and…, Read here for more tips on how to write the method section, Provide a thesis statement or research question, Explain why your topic is interesting, necessary or important. (Is there counter evidence that might contradict these supports? Often signalled, us-them thinking or either-or thinking: this makes us believe that there are only two (usually. understand what it is you’re rejecting, accepting, modifying, adapting, disagreeing or agreeing with. Rather, reflection on one’s own and other’s ideas in order to get a clearer understanding of an issue, the main things to remember when engaged in critical reasoning is that you must first have a clear. The Academic Writing Process: Read the assigned text(s) Understand the ... appropriately qualified thesis! What counts as acceptable, academic writing in your subject is rooted in the kinds of practices and conventions that have, developed in your discipline area over time. How does the author, are offered of the main concepts? This requires the central theme and a stringent argumentation structure. editing assesses the overall structure of the thesis. Bauer, P.J. In some cases the Discussion and Conclusion, section are written as one chapter. You need to revise the first. statement, you may assume that the work is a first edition. Of course, http://www.google.com is one of the best known and extensive search engines. External examiners, usually pay particular attention to citations and references. Bruce, C. S. (1996). This is where you emphasise that your research aims/objectives have been achieved. Whereas in your text you use only the reference indicator (makes for more fluent reading), in your, bibliography at the end of your thesis or assignment you must give full details of all the quoted, sources in your text. Nothing detracts more from a piece of writing than errors! This is regarded as one of the most serious, You are required to adhere to the public nature of scientific practice. which attempts to convince the reader of something. Co-operation with the University of Botswana. This will help you develop a clear exposition of the text, in other words, to help you describe. The supporting sentences of the paragraph should then be the, But what is evidence? They summarise categorical data, each bar representing a. different category, e.g. The interaction with the. What questions would you ask this author if you could? If the results do not support your hypothesis, then explain why not; consider. there was a, report the between-groups degrees of freedom, then the within-groups degrees of freedom, (separated by a comma). You also emphasise the most significant results, note the limitations and make suggestions for further research. how a literature review progresses, first from a simple task to more advanced stages of the process. Sometimes data can be presented in a more meaningful way by a well-designed figure / graph than, by a verbal description. See writing abstracts for honours theses for what to include in your abstract or see some example abstracts.. Introduction. When you find it extremely difficult, to express a concept in writing, it is usually a signal that you haven’t effectively understood the, particular concept or idea. Of course, planning to replicate, studies (a legitimate form of research), or aiming to research an issue to which there is no. Align values by decimal points or by right hand digit, if no decimal point. This structure includes the main point of the essay in the introduction. are they reputable? So, no matter, what the structure of your chapter outline, somewhere in the thesis you will have to give your. 2000), http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/wtools.html (Writing Tools, Harvard Univ.). Academic Writing ! Where and how do I search for information? murder); define x in terms of that (e.g. It involves a more comprehensive scan of, the literature on the topic, where you are able to establish the current knowledge base and, research methodologies which have been employed to study the topic. You could begin your inview of the literature by finding an introductory text or key articles which, introduce the main concepts and theoretical language in your area. You can also make an appointment at Academic Skills to discuss your argument map. Describe how your results compare with the results of related scientific experiments. Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. A fundamental outcome of your research is its actual communication, hence you want to, reader something (Gopen & Swan, 1990). Briefly describe all statistical analyses used. ), deals with some topic and its author always has an, To determine the topic go back your notes on the paragraphs, and try and. In doing a, careful search of the literature, it helps you not to ‘reinvent the wheel’, in other words it, helps you to avoid merely duplicating research of others. What questions are raised by the literature which your research addresses? There are. specific rights that should be taken note of. author’s main position with regards to the topic? A table should contain at least three columns, Emphasise only one significant fact per table, Represent results as simply and concisely as possible – avoid crowded tables. : it can be threatening to let go of preconceived and cherished notions, there is nothing wrong with using expressive and emotive language, but this, cannot be a substitute for argument. Different disciplines or departments may prefer that students use a certain structure, so make sure to check with your instructor if you are not sure what is expected of you. metaphors - using an image to illustrate a point, Are the interpretations of the main concepts offered clear? When the subject of the sentence, performs the action expressed by the verb, the voice is said to be "active". We need to look closely at the assumptions, that underlie these labels and the rationale that drives them. Are the ideas, results and analyses described fully enough? Poll, R. 1998. Histograms, like bar graphs, are good at. you a broad overview? Whether you're writing a traditional thesis, thesis by compilation or an exegesis, your work needs to have an argument (some disciplines use key message, narrative, story or exposition). Alphabetical order, enables a reader to locate details of all the sources cited quickly and efficiently. does the structure logically support the argument? make sure that things aren’t left out by keeping up with all relevant studies in the field. When you look at them, consider: Use contact details to request an alternative file format. If you write it early in the process it can serve as a guide to your own writing, but be aware that you most likely will have to go back to it and edit it as the writing progresses. all treatment differences referred to in the results are statistically significant at, When reporting Statistics in the text, always present the. How do I store and manage the information? Divide paragraphs between ideas. No raucous advertising, no ugly billboards, no McDonald’s. popularity may seriously affect veracity. You need to become skilled at selecting the right texts for your purposes. They are primarily to help the researcher understand the data. Are there specific dynamics in an educational context which will impact on these ideas? order prescribed by the citation style, the following elements: paper in an edited collection, also the title of the whole publication), is increasingly used in literary studies as well (Visser, 1992:78). What does, your lecturer or supervisor expect you to do? Use gender-neutral constructions like “speaker”, “police officer”. Note that the referencing convention followed here differs from the examples given in the book. Ignorance or carelessness is no excuse for plagiarism. The following notes are guidelines to help you find some structure to, More often than not, our initial response to the instruction “Critically discuss …” is to think that we, must find fault, or highlight the weakness in the argument, or reject certain claims. They seek out Budweiser instead of their local tipple, ditch nameless, shirts for Gap, prefer Marlboros to home-grown smokes. Do this by, adding an “a”, “b” etc directly after the year. This is compounded when the context becomes complex, which increases. To start with, there are some general writing rules in order to make your thesis. If the URL is very long, it may be written on two lines, but try to break a line only where. Very important! Select suitable structure in terms of. The primary reports used in the literature, may be verbal, but in the vast majority of cases are written documents. It is often difficult to determine the thesis, not all, determine a common concern of the paragraphs. essential that you protect the rights, interest and sensitivities of those whom you are researching. The emphasis is on whether, At this point you often realize the gaps in your own understanding. The argument is your answer to your research question/s, and the structure of your thesis should support the argument. The date of the, publication is important: for empirical studies you should concentrate on the latest publications and, work backwards from these as they become out-dated. It is the act of advancing and clarifying arguments, reasons and, You should use reasoning to formulate your hypothesis, Rocks fed to Rocky-whales results in a low concentration of iron in their blood and a, Lush pasture fed to Rocky-whales result in milk with a stable iron content and a, Seaweed increases the iron concentration in the blood, The Discussion then becomes a collection of. Especially at post-graduate level, you are encouraged to develop your “own voice”, acceptable to merely paste together one quotation or paraphrase after the other in order to let, cited sources talk to one another as it were. Download full-text PDF Read ... Part 1 of the Guide is a general orientation to help you plan and structure your writing. In. sources are not yet archived very well and web addresses may change. aware of these not only in the author’s writing, but also in your own responses to the author. Gopen, G..D. & Swan, J.A. That people are, pawns in the hands of giant companies with huge advertising budgets and global reach? In today's world you need to be computer literate, so. They display lots, show the relationship between two variables and aids in the interpretation of. 3. Are the limits of the topic too narrow, too broad? Very few theses have a, definitive answer to a problem, so don’t think because the problem has been written about, already, that the final answer has also been furnished. Address these other articles in the Discussion. Use tic marks between numerical intervals on the axes to reduce crowding. of the publication (and, if it is part of a larger work, e.g. This includes making sure each chapter flows logically from the previous chapter, headings and subheadings are used properly and consistently, and transitions are included between major topics. The purpose of a mind map (also referred to as outlining) is to identify the main discussion, areas and the supporting detail of those discussions. If it doesn't, do you need to clarify the argument? information under the headings that you develop. The body comprises the core of every academic work. Many references in your text to authors, that have been quoted by other authors significantly detract from your work. Developing a good hypothesis is usually one of the most difficult parts of, writing a thesis. How to Succeed in Your Master’s and Doctoral Studies. But this is still, not enough for a full understanding of the tree. “Integrative reviews” help. Since the whole purpose, of a text is to compel the reader to accept a particular position, the main idea (or thesis statement) is, really around which everything centres. others (if that is appropriate to your report). Then you test the hypothesis under various conditions. Critical engagement 'is a rational reflection on one's own and others' ideas in order to get a clearer understanding of an issue'. Once, you have developed a map or rough structure of your draft framework, you will keep slotting. The Discussion section is not the place to introduce any new findings. Then you organize data about these specifics into categories (saying "What do these have. Linking your sections, enables the reader to follow the logical flow of the argument easily, and to focus her attention onto one. Reflect on your overall thesis structure. Aird, A. issues are raised by the literature in question? This should be designed to give readers a rough first impression of the work at hand. You will also be able to, -study reviews” help to increase your confidence in the area, and helps you to, The literature review helps to contextualise the research project, The literature review can improve your methodology. This is compounded as the sentence gets more, complex. First of all, identify the most important journals in your field of research. 2000. Use this distinction in both your text reference, indicator as well as in the reference list at the end. Often you will include a brief comment on the significance of key results, with the expectation that more generalised comments about results will be made in the Discussion section. latest. In order. Avoid a flowery style, obscure words, buzz words and long complex sentences. Within your, thesis structure, your argument will proceed from the development of the problem statement and, hypothesis to an analysis of the evidence and the conclusions drawn, based on the evidence. Consider the following sentence: "Keats & Maneveldt (1997) showed that the criteria used to separate genera of the, This is weak evidence, because Keats & Maneveldt (1997) may have gotten it wrong, or may have, A much stronger form of evidence would have presented the exact evidence, albeit in summary. But, you must be careful of what you find on the Internet as anyone can write anything there – so, unless, you know that the site is an academically acknowledged one, you can’t be sure of the credibility of. As a student, you can also make use of all the libraries on the CALICO system – UCT, Stellenbosch, UWC and, both technicons. To show that you have borrowed, words or ideas from elsewhere, you have to indicate this in your text, to the reader. The literature review may assist you to identify opposing views. These are assignments waiting at the end of their undergraduate or graduate studies, proving to be considerably more extensive than typical assignments. keep reading throughout your thesis production so that your ideas are current.

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