Week 1: Writing reports Flashcards
What are the elements of a report?
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Method
Results
Discussion
References
Appendices (not always included)
Why do we structure reports this way?
- This is they way academic journal articles are structured
- Allows reader to quickly find info of interest, without reading whole article
- Provides important details to allow replicability
How to read a research paper quickly?
- Always start with abstract - quick overview of key points
-> contains intro, method, results + discussion - Look at figures, they will show results
- If reading for background info -> read intro
- If reading to design your own study -> read method
- If reading to generate ideas for future research or to improve on study -> read discussion
What is referencing?
References are a list of all sources cited in your writing
->When you write about a research paper, you need to cite and reference it
- Need a reference for everything you cite in essay/report
- Only reference things you have cited
-> citations + references need to be formatted correctly
What is a citation?
Including someone’s thinking, writing or research
- Citations always include author’s surname + date of publication in main body of essay
e.g. (Stacey, 2015)
For APA referencing:
If 3 or more authors, shorten to ‘et al’
e.g. “Stacey et al (2008)
For harvard referencing:
If 3 or more authors, provide all authors
If 4 or more authors, shorten to ‘et al’
Authors inside brackets, use ‘&’ e.g. (Williams & brown, 2010)
Authors outside brackets, use ‘and’ e.g. Williams and Brown (2010)
Three or more authors (using full stops and commas)
e.g. (White et al., 2020) or White et al. (2020)
What is the structure of a reference?
Journal article (APA):
Author surname, Initials. (Year). Title of article. Title of journal, volume(issue)
Format:
- Double spacing
- Hanging
- Italics for title of journal and volume
Reference list:
- Put in alphabetical order of first author’s surname
Why is it important to reference and cite?
- To acknowledge the author or creator for their work
- To avoid plagiarism
- To enable others to locate sources you’ve cited in your work
- To give credibility to your work
What is the purpose of an introduction?
To introduce and justify your research question
-> should explain the rationale for your study
Should include:
- Why is the topic important?
- What work has already been done in this area?
- How could we build upon this knowledge?
- What is your study’s aim and how does this build upon the literature
-> Make it clear how your study builds on previous research
What is the funnel shape for an introduction?
- Start of general -> brief para about why topic is important
- Move on to literature relevant to research question
- Put most relevant literature later on
- Discuss your study: aim’s + hypotheses
What are common mistakes when writing an intro
- Factual statements not supported by references to published literature
- Too much general info at beginning of intro
- Not enough previous research outlining the findings of similar studies
- Poor link between research question + preceding section of intro
Should write in 3rd person + avoid colloquial language
