QUARTER 4 MODULE 1: TECHNICAL TERMS USED IN RESEARCH WRITING

Basic Parts of a Research Paper

Research studies begin with a question in mind. A paper that describes a particular study clearly states the question, methodology,
findings, and other relevant information. Read below for descriptions and examples of research paper sections.
The main sections of a typical APA research paper include:
1. Cover Page
2. Abstract
3. Introduction
4. Background
5. Methodology
6. Results
7. Conclusion
8. Appendices

A more straightforward version of a research paper is the IMRAD format (Introduction, Methodology, Results, and Discussion).
However, all of the following sections are typically present in a formal research paper.

Title or Cover Page - Just like any other paper you write, your research paper needs a cover page with your study’s title. It also needs
your and any co-writers’ names and institutional affiliations Here is an example of a basic APA cover page.

The Effects of Food Insecurity on School

Performance
Kayla Yang and Nicole Brighton University
of California, Davis
An abstract is a detailed summary of your study. It should include a broad overview of the paper, your research question, the
significance of your study, methods of research, and findings. Don’t list cited works in the abstract.
Here is an example of an abstract for a paper on food insecurity.

Example:

Poverty affects more than 41 million Americans every day – most of whom are children. Food insecurity and under nutrition
have a confirmed correlation to slower cognitive development for children under three years of age. Hungry children cannot form
skills as quickly as their peers due to both deprivation of vital nutrients and poor concentration. But, there has been little focus on
how these effects scale up in terms of school performance past kindergarten.

Public schools have several programs in place to mitigate the problem of food insecurity, including free breakfast and
reduced lunch. We surveyed 100 students at Arbor Elementary School over the course of one school year to see how effective these
programs were in improving their academic performance and general contentment in school. The results of these surveys reveal
how long children are academically affected by systemic food insecurity, even when their stomachs are currently full.

The introduction section tells the reader what problem your study is attempting to solve. You can address the study’s significance
and originality here as well. Clearly state the research question in the form of a thesis statement.

Example:
Poverty and poor school performance are two problems that keep Americans from reaching their full potential. Alongside
poverty is food insecurity, which affects millions of households – and children – every day. But could focus on one problem help to
solve the other? We wanted to find out whether programs designed to reduce food insecurity for targeted children would improve
their school performance, and therefore, give them a more successful start in life.

Background - What inspired you to take on this study? What has previous research stated or revealed about this topic? The
background section is the place to add historical data or define previous theories that provide context for your study. It’s also a
helpful place to consider your audience and what information they will need to understand the rest of your paper. Read on for an
example of a paragraph from the background section of a research paper.

Example:

Food insecurity is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a lack of regular access to food due to one’s financial
status. According to the Department’s report “Household Food Security in the United States in 2016,” 12.3 percent of American
households, or approximately 41 million people, experienced food insecurity at some point in 2016 (USDA 2017). The Right to Food
was included in the United Nations’ 1948 Declaration of Human Rights, while the Food and Agriculture Organization measures food
insecurity on a scale from mild (uncertainty about obtaining food) to severe (no access to food for an entire day). (FAO 2019).

Methodology - Knowing whether you used qualitative or quantitative method is an important part of understanding your study. You
can list all the ways you collected data, including surveys, experiments, or field research. This section is also known as “Materials and
Methods” in scientific studies.

Example:
 This research utilized qualitative methods to gather data about students who may experience food insecurity. These
methods included surveys with various questions that assessed whether students felt hungry, insecure about their next meal, and/or
distracted from classwork due to hunger (Appendix A). The surveys were distributed to 100 students in fourth and fifth grade (10-11
years old) at Arbor Elementary School, 50 of whom were recipients of Title 1 funding via free and reduced lunch. The remaining 50
were a control group of students who were not identified as socioeconomically disadvantaged. The students completed these
surveys at the beginning of the school year, then once every two months until the end of the school year, for a total of five survey
periods.

Results - What does your study find? State your findings and supply the data in this section. Use an objective perspective here; save
the evaluation for your conclusion section.

Example:

The survey results indicated a strong correlation between school performance and food insecurity (Appendix D). Students
who answered affirmatively in the surveys were consistently among the lower performing members of their class. Contrasted with
their peers who were not identified as socioeconomically disadvantaged, these students identified anxiety about their next meal as
one of the top three concerns in their minds. Their participation in programs like free breakfast and reduced lunch helped to assuage
daily hunger and general happiness, but their concern over food insecurity remained.

Conclusion - Explain why your findings are significant in the conclusion section. This section allows you to evaluate results and reflect
on your process. Does the study require additional research?

Example:

The problem with systemic food insecurity goes beyond distracting hunger for young students. Even after they’ve had a
nutritious breakfast and lunch at school, concern over dinner was distracting from their school performance. The final survey period,
taken just before the beginning of summer break, indicated how much food insecurity can dictate a child’s anticipation of a long
period without school – and therefore, regular meals.

Having a lower school performance later in life could place these children as future parents in food-insecure households,
thus perpetuating the cycle. Solving the cyclical problem of poverty and school performance requires participation from all
stakeholders, including schools, city governments, and state and federal legislation that works to move following generations out of
the cycle.

Appendices - If you have information that is too dense for the paper itself, include it in an appendix. Appendices are helpful when
you want to include supplementary material that is relevant but not integral to the paper itself.

Appendix A
Arbor Elementary School Survey Questions - September 2019
1. Did you have breakfast at home or at school this morning?
2. Did you buy lunch or bring lunch from home this afternoon?
3. Do you feel hungry now?
4. What time of day is it hardest for you to concentrate?
5. Do you know what your next meal will be?
6. Do you ever worry about food?
7. Do you ever feel like there isn’t enough food to eat at your house?
8. Are you hungrier on weekends than on school days?
9. Is it harder to focus on schoolwork when you’re hungry?
10. Are there issues that are more important to you than food?
https://bit.ly/3bfYSUs

Research Designs and Research Instruments

Research Design is the framework of research methods and techniques chosen by a researcher. The design allows researchers to
hone in on research methods that are suitable for the subject matter and set up their studies up for success.

The design of a research topic explains the type of research (experimental, survey, correlational, semi-experimental, review) and
also its sub-type (experimental design, research problem, and descriptive case-study).

There are three main types of research design: Data collection, measurement, and analysis.

The type of research problem an organization is facing will determine the research design and not vice-versa. The design phase of a
study determines which tools to use and how they are used.

An impactful research design usually creates a minimum bias in data and increases trust in the accuracy of collected data. A design
that produces the least margin of error in experimental research is generally considered the desired outcome. The essential
elements of the research design are:
1. Accurate purpose statement
2. Techniques to be implemented for collecting and analyzing research
3. The method applied for analyzing collected details
4. Type of research methodology
5. Probable objections for research
6. Settings for the research study
7. Timeline
8. Measurement of analysis

Proper research design sets your study up for success. Successful research studies provide insights that are accurate and
unbiased. You’ll need to create a survey that meets all of the main characteristics of a design. There are four key characteristics of
research design:

Neutrality: When you set up your study, you may have to make assumptions about the data you expect to collect. The results
projected in the research design should be free from bias and neutral. Understand opinions about the final evaluated scores and
conclusions from multiple individuals and consider those who agree with the derived results.
Reliability: With regularly conducted research, the researcher involved expects similar results every time. Your design should
indicate how to form research questions to ensure the standard of results. You’ll only be able to reach the expected results if your
design is reliable.
Validity: There are multiple measuring tools available. However, the only correct measuring tools are those which help a researcher
in gauging results according to the objective of the research. The questionnaire developed from this design will then be valid.
Generalization: The outcome of your design should apply to a population and not just a restricted sample. A generalized design
implies that your survey can be conducted on any part of a population with similar accuracy. The above factors affect the way
respondents answer the research questions and so all the above characteristics should be balanced in a good design.

A researcher must have a clear understanding of the various types of research design to select which model to implement
for a study. Like research itself, the design of your study can be broadly classified into quantitative and qualitative.

Qualitative research design determines relationships between collected data and observations based on mathematical
calculations. Theories related to a naturally existing phenomenon can be proved or disproved using statistical methods. Researchers
rely on qualitative research design methods that conclude “why” a particular theory exists along with “what” respondents have to
say about it.

Quantitative research design is for cases where statistical conclusions to collect actionable insights are essential. Numbers provide a
better perspective to make critical business decisions. Quantitative research design methods are necessary for the growth of any
organization. Insights drawn from hard numerical data and analysis prove to be highly effective when making decisions related to
the future of the business.

You can further break down the types of research design into five categories:

1. Descriptive research design: In a descriptive design, a researcher is solely interested in describing the situation or case under their
research study. It is a theory-based design method which is created by gathering, analyzing, and presenting collected data. This
allows a researcher to provide insights into the why and how of research. Descriptive design helps others better understand the
need forthe research. If the problem statement is not clear, you can conduct exploratory research.

2. Experimental research design: Experimental research design establishes a relationship between the cause and effect of a
situation. It is a causal design where one observes the impact caused by the independent variable on the dependent variable. For
example, one monitors the influence of an independent variable such as a price on a dependent variable such as customer
satisfaction or brand loyalty. It is a highly practical research design method as it contributes to solving a problem at hand. The
independent variables are manipulated to monitor the change it has on the dependent variable. It is often used in social sciences to
observe human behavior by analyzing two groups. Researchers can have participants change their actions and study how the people
around them react to gain a better understanding of social psychology.

3. Correlational research design: Correlational research is a non-experimental research design technique that helps researchers
establish a relationship between two closely connected variables. This type of research requires two different groups. There is no
assumption while evaluating a relationship between two different variables, and statistical analysis techniques calculate the
relationship between them.

A correlation coefficient determines the correlation between two variables, whose value ranges between -1 and
+1. If the correlation coefficient is towards +1, it indicates a positive relationship between the variables and -1 means a negative
relationship between the two variables.

4. Diagnostic research design: In diagnostic design, the researcher is looking to evaluate the underlying cause of a specific topic or
phenomenon. This method helps one learn more about the factors that create troublesome situations. This design has three parts of
the research:
· Inception of the issue
· Diagnosis of the issue
· Solution for the issue

5. Explanatory research design: Explanatory design uses a researcher’s ideas and thoughts on a subject to further explore their
theories. The research explains unexplored aspects of a subject and details about what, how, and why of research questions.

Data-collecting instruments
Data collection is an important step in the research process. The instrument you choose to collect the data will depend on the type
of data you plan on collecting (qualitative or quantitative) and how you plan to collect it.
A number of common data-collecting instruments are used in construction research:
Questionnaires.
Interviews
Observations
Archival documents and government sources
Laboratory experiments Quasi experiment
Scales (measuring and weighing tapes)

Let’s look at three of the most used data-collecting instruments in more detail.

Questionnaires
The questionnaire is a tool designed for the collection of quantitative data, and is widely used in construction research as it
is a good research instrument for collecting standardized data and making generalizations.
Questionnaires can provide quick responses but adequate care must be taken when developing questionnaires, to ensure you don’t
influence the response you receive.

The design of your questionnaire should reflect your research aims and objectives.

Interviews require specialized skills from the interviewer, who will need to negotiate a good partnership with the respondent to
ensure a highly detailed and valid set of qualitative data is collected and transcribed effectively. Jones (1985: 46) explains the reason
behind conducting an interview:
In order to understand other persons’ constructions of reality, we would do well to ask them and to ask them in such a way that they
can tell us in their terms and in a depth which addresses the rich context that is the substance of their meanings.

There are different types of interview:

Individual, face-to-face verbal interchange
Face-to-face group interviews (focus groups)

Telephone surveys Interviews can be:

 Conducted as a one-time occurrence

 Conducted as multiple, longer sessions
 Structured, semi-structured, unstructured
 Observation

Observation is a systematic data- collecting technique that involves watching individuals in their natural environment or in a
naturally occurring situation. The processes under observation are normal and not contrived. They can range from individual cases,
through to groups and whole communities. They provide highly detailed information about natural processes. The data collection is
laborious and time-consuming and may have to be repeated to ensure reliability. However, observation schedules based on a set of
expectations can make data collection easier.

The level of observer participation can vary from wholly participant to non-participant. The non-participant observer has limited
interaction with the people being observed.

Observers can collect data through field notes, video or audio recording, which can be analyzed using qualitative analytical tools. If
you code your observations to exact numerical data, it can be analyzed using a quantitative approach.

One of the main benefits of using a wholly or partial participant observation is that the level of immersion and prolonged
involvement with participants can lead to a good rapport, thereby encouraging participants to speak up freely. This helps with the
rich details of the collected data.