学术论文写作讲座

Purpose of each section of a research proposal Criteria for assessing research proposals the logic of your argument a well-focused research question, set of research objectives, or hypothesis the width and depth of your reading the feasibility of your project a critical approach to literature justification of the project through the literature understanding of current issues on your topic matching of the methodology and methods to the research questions.
Research proposal and Literature Review
Biblioteka Baidu
Topics to be covered
1. Writing a research proposal 2. Writing the background chapters
Writing a research proposal
Refining a research question
read broadly and widely to find a subject about which you are passionate. narrow your focus to a single question: be disciplined and not overambitious. Be prepared to change or modify your question if necessary. Be able to answer the question ‘Why am I doing this project?’ Read up-to-date materials. Discuss your ideas with your supervisor and lots of other people. Attend specialized conferences in your area. Work through the implications of your research question. Condense your research into two sentences. Ask yourself: what will we know at the end that we did not already know?
Summary
So for this topic we covered the following topics: Choice and focus of a research topic; Development of a research proposal; The structure and purpose of research proposals; Details to include in a research proposal; Differences between a master’s and a doctoral thesis etc.
A dissertation should demonstrate: An original investigation or the testing of ideas; competence in independent work or experimentation; An understanding of appropriate techniques as well as their limitations; An expert knowledge of the published literature on the topic under investigation; Evidence of the ability to make critical use of published work and source materials; An appreciation of the relationship between the research topic and the wider field of knowledge; The ability to present the work at an appropriate level of literary quality. A doctoral thesis demonstrates: All of the above, plus A distinct contribution to knowledge
Writing the background chapters
Introduction: It includes writing the literature review and chapters which describe the theoretical framework to a study. Particular writing skills covered include summarizing and critiquing previous research, adopting a stance and using reporting and evaluative verbs. Attention is given to the issue of plagiarism and how you can avoid it.
Research proposal: ‘the research
proposal is often the key element to the successful thesis and, as such, the most important step in the whole process’ (Madisen, 1992)
Details to include in a research proposal
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a clearly focused statement of the overall purpose of the proposed research; a clearly focused research question/hypothesis; precise definitions of the key terms in the research questions/s or hypothesis; an awareness of key research that has already been carried out in the particular area; an appropriate choice of research approach for the particular question or problem a section highlighting any anticipated problems and limitations in the proposed study; a statement illustrating why the study is significant ; a proposed timetable for the research; a list of references related to the proposal; appendices containing any material that will be used or adapted for the study.
Writing the literature review
The review should describe and synthesize the major studies related to the topic of the research. It should also demonstrate the relationship between your project and what else has been done in the particular area.
Four areas to be focused on in a research thesis (by Phillisp and Pugh 2005) background to the study : a state-of-theart review of the field of study, including current developments, controversies and breakthroughs, previous research and relevant background theory; focus of the study: what is being researched and why; data used in the study: justification for the choice of data; contribution of the study: importance of the project for the field of study.
A checklist for developing a research proposal
a summary of Nunan (1992) and Bell’s (1999) work 1. Draw up a shortlists of topics. 2. Select a topic for investigation 3. Then, formulate a general question. 4. Next, focus the question. 5. Decide on the aims and objectives of the study or formulate a hypothesis. 6. Think about the data that need to be collected to answer the question 7. Draw up an initial research plan 8. Read enough to be able to decide whether the project is on the right lines 9. Finally write up a detailed proposal, including definitions of key terms used in the proposal.
Differences between Master’s and doctoral theses:
Generally speaking a doctoral thesis has greater breadth, depth and intention than a master’s thesis. A summary of the distinction, see below what a master’s dissertation demonstrates and what a doctoral thesis demonstrates.