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Research Sources: Examines, Evaluates, and Makes An Argument

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31 views3 pages

Research Sources: Examines, Evaluates, and Makes An Argument

Uploaded by

yapitesya
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What is an Academic Text?

Academic text is defined as critical, objective, specialized texts written by experts or professionals in a
given field using formal language. This means that academic texts are based on facts with a solid basis.

Academic writing, therefore, is generally quite formal, objective (impersonal), and technical. It is formal
by avoiding casual or conversational language, such as contractions or informal vocabulary. It is
impersonal and objective by avoiding direct reference to people or feelings, and instead emphasizing
objects, facts, and ideas. It is technical by using vocabulary specific to the discipline.

ACADEMIC WRITING

Academic writing is what scholars do to communicate with other scholars in their fields of study, their
disciplines.

It is the research report a biologist writes, the interpretive essay a literary scholar composes, the media
analysis a film scholar produces.

To be a good academic writer, you will need to learn the specific styles and structures for your discipline,
as well as for each individual writing task. Some examples of academic writing are as follow:

1. Literary Analysis: A literary analysis essay examines, evaluates, and makes an argument about a literary
work. As its name suggests, a literary analysis essay goes beyond mere summarization. It requires careful
close reading of one or multiple texts and often focuses on a specific characteristic, theme, or motif.

2. Research Paper: A research paper uses outside information to support a thesis or make an argument.
Research papers are written in all disciplines and may be evaluative, analytical, or critical in nature.
Common research sources include data, primary sources (e.g., historical records), and secondary sources
(e.g., peer reviewed scholarly articles). Writing a research paper involves synthesizing this external
information with your own ideas.

3. Dissertation: A dissertation (or thesis) is a document submitted at the conclusion of a Ph.D. program.
The dissertation is a book-length summarization of the doctoral candidate’s research. Academic papers
may be done as a part of a class, in a program of study, or for publication in an academic journal or
scholarly book of articles around a theme, by different authors.

4. Structure is an important feature of academic writing. A well-structured text enables the reader to
follow the argument and navigate the text. In academic writing a clear structure and a logical flow are
imperative to a cohesive text. These are the two common structures of academic texts that you need to
learn which depends on the type of assignment you are required: the three-part essay structure and the
IMRaD structure.

TWO COMMON STRUCTURES OF ACADEMIC TEXTS

1. The Three-Part Essay Structure

2. IMRaD Structure

3.
The Three-Part Essay Structure

The three-part essay structure is a basic structure that consists of introduction, body and conclusion.
The introduction and the conclusion should be shorter than the body of the text. For shorter essays,
one or two paragraphs for each of these sections can be appropriate. For longer texts or theses, they
may be several pages long.

Introduction. Its purpose is to clearly tell the reader the topic, purpose and structure of
the paper. As a rough guide, an introduction might be between 10 and 20 percent of the length of the
whole paper and has three main parts:

A. The most general information, such as background and/or definitions.

B. The core of the introduction, where you show the overall topic, purpose, your point of
view, hypotheses and/or research questions (depending on what kind of paper it is).

C. The most specific information, describing the scope and structure of your paper.

*You should write your introduction after you know both your overall point of view (if it is a
persuasive paper) and the whole structure of your paper.

You should then revise the introduction when you have completed the main body.

The Body.

• It develops the question, “What is the topic about?”. It may elaborate directly on
the topic sentence by giving definitions, classifications, explanations, contrasts,
examples and evidence.

• This is considered as the heart of the essay because it expounds the specific ideas
for the readers to have a better understanding of the topic. It usually is the largest
part of the essay.

Conclusion

• The conclusion is closely related to the introduction and is often described


as its ‘mirror image’.

• This means that if the introduction begins with general information and
ends with specific information, the conclusion moves in the opposite
direction.

• The conclusion usually begins by briefly summarizing the main scope or


structure of the paper, confirms the topic that was given in the
introduction, ends with a more general statement about how this topic
relates to its context.
• This may take the form of an evaluation of the importance of the topic,
implications for future research or a recommendation about theory or
practice.

THE IMRaD STRUCTURE

The sections of the IMRaD structure are Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion.

1. The Introduction usually depicts the background of the topic and the central focus of the study.

2. The Methodology lets your readers know your data collection methods, research instrument
employed, sample size and so on.

3. Results and Discussion states the brief summary of the key findings or the results of your study.

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