Technical Communication, ISBN:
9781135595500 RESEARCH METHODS
AND TECHNICAL WRITING
Research - ANSWERS--- Is the careful consideration of study regarding a particular
concern or research problem using scientific methods.
- It involves inductive and deductive methods.
Earl Robert Babbie - ANSWERS--According to the American sociologist ___, "research
is a systematic inquiry to describe, explain, predict, and control the observed
phenomenon.
1. Identify the main trends and issues, opportunities, and problems you observe. Write a
sentence describing each one.
2. Keep track of the frequency with which each of the main findings appears.
3. Make a list of your findings from the most common to the least common.
4. Evaluate a list of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats identified in a
SWOT analysis.
5. Prepare conclusions and recommendations about your study.
6. Act on your strategies.
7. Look for gaps in the information, and consider doing additional inquiry if necessary
8. Plan to review the results and consider efficient methods to analyze and interpret
results. - ANSWERS--Steps in Researching and Preparing Academic Paper
1. Presentation of the problem statement, the topic, or the research inquiry.
2. Purpose and focus of your paper.
, 3. Summary or overview of the writer's position or arguments. - ANSWERS--
Introductions usually have three parts what are those?
Methodology - ANSWERS--You should include any materials you used or designed for
yourself, such as questionnaires or interview questions, to generate data or information
for your research paper. You want to include any methodologies that are specific to your
particular field of study, such as lab procedures for a lab experiment or data-gathering
instruments for field research.
Past Tense - ANSWERS--The methods section is usually written in the ___.
Results - ANSWERS--How you present the results of your research depends on what
kind of research you did, your subject matter, and your readers' expectations.
Discussion - ANSWERS--- Should generalize what you have learned from your
research.
- Should be organized so that it relates directly to your thesis.
- One way to generalize is to explain the consequences or meaning of your results and
then make your points that support and refer back to the statements you made in your
introduction.
- You want to avoid introducing new ideas here or discussing tangential issues not
directly related to the exploration and discovery of your thesis.
Plagiarism - ANSWERS--- Is a term that describes the unacknowledged use of
someone else's work.
- This includes material or ideas from any (published or unpublished) sources, whether
print, web-based (even if freely available) or audiovisual.
- Using the words or ideas of others without referencing your source would be construed
as plagiarism and is a very serious academic offence.
Present Tense - ANSWERS--The discussion section, along with the introduction, and
conclusions and recommendations section is usually written in the ___.
Conclusion - ANSWERS--- Ties your research to your thesis, binding together all the
main ideas in your thinking and writing.
- By presenting the logical outcome of your research and thinking, your ___ answers
your research inquiry for your reader.
- Should relate directly to the ideas presented in your introduction section and should
not present any new ideas.
Quantitative Information - ANSWERS--- Data that can be measured—can be presented
systematically and economically in tables, charts, and graphs.
- Includes quantities and comparisons of sets of data.