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Bowen University, Iwo BOWEN UNIVERSITY, IWO COLLEGE OF COMPUTING AND COMMUNICATION STUDIES 2019/2020 SECOND SEMESTER COURSE NOTE COURSE TITLE: THE FUNDAMENTALS OF SCHOLARLY WRITING COURSE CODE: CMA 312 Week 1&2 Before you commence your research project, consider answering the following questions; • Issue: In broad terms, what is the overarching issue or topic? • Problem: What is the specific problem or piece of the issue I am addressing? • So What: Why does this matter to my audience? Why should they care? • Solution: What are the potential solutions to the problem? • Benefits: What are the potential benefits if the problem is resolved? Identifying and justifying chapters of a research project Chapter 1: This is the foundational chapter, where you introduce what you want to study, and why. The research objectives and significance are also stated. Let’s briefly look into the possible subheadings in the first chapter. Introduction/Background to the Study In this section, you paint the picture of your area of study and or concern. You can sprinkle the reason(s) for this study in this section as well. This could be done in three to four paragraphs or more. Problem Statement Following from the motivation for the study that you have discussed in the background to the study, you will then state the problem clearly. You may ask questions that can lead to research questions in this section. Research Objective In this section, you will state what you intend to achieve in bullet format. It is these objectives that will guide the formation of your research questions. Research questions Your research questions are essentially arrived at by turning your research objectives into questions. Ensure that your research questions are not questions that could be answered by a simple Yes or No. A research question should be in the form of a question, it should suggest a relationship among variables, and should be empirically testable. For example; How do adolescents with dyslexia cope with the effects of their learning disabilities? What is the level of influence that group assignment has on communication apprehension? Significance of the Study Here, you discuss the policy relevance, and or the people who will be benefiting from the study and how. Are there expected theoretical or practical implications from the study? In other words, you will be discussing why the study is important. If it is not important, why carry out the study in the first instance? This section doesn’t contain too many paragraphs but it is an extremely crucial part of your project. Operation Definition of Terms Should there be any word or concept used to mean something different from conventional knowledge, you state it here. Chapter 2 In the introduction to this second chapter, you talk about things you want to do in the chapter. So it's more of a summary of what you’ll be doing. In the second chapter, the researcher is expected to carry out the conceptual review, theoretical review, and empirical review. In this chapter also you can discuss your variables for the study, and also review the concept(s) as it/they relate(s) to your work. Remember the variables are phenomena or events, concepts or constructs that you can measure, and you can relate all that value changes for your research. You may require examining the intersection of only a subset of variables and repeating the process with another subset of variables because the literature does not have all variables incorporated in extant research. Few examples of variables are; age gender success status and things like that. For example, in the conceptual review aspect, if your work has to do with perception, you may want to discuss what perception is with examples, and how it is related to your work. For the second part which is the theoretical review, you are going to be talking about the theory or theories you are using, while making a case for why the theory or those theories are relevant for your study. The third part is the empirical review. In this part, you do a review of studies related to your study. You talk about their conclusions, their recommendations, or their suggestions. Remember that research is a global conversation. You mention why you agree with them or why you disagree. Ensure that you analyze only very relevant literature. In case your review is not up to date you are likely to be conducting research that has been conducted and duplicating what is not necessary. Although there is a place of replication in research however you must also be up to the date on what is going on about the area you are researching globally. This should be more than a listing of studies. Identify the common thread hold them together. Use transitions to effectively tie one section with another. Incorporate discussion of strengths/weaknesses of methodology in previous studies and on which you are building on/hoping to avoid/improve upon in your study. Use headings and subheadings liberally to organize this section. This section should be reflective of deductive reasoning; starting broadly and narrowing the focus as the chapter progresses Chapter 3 Method The method chapter should give sufficient detail about the methodology used so that the study could be replicated. Sections in Chapter 3 can include but are not limited to, the following: methodology, instrumentation, Population, sampling procedure, and data analysis plan. Chapter 4 Results and Analysis After the collection of data, this chapter presents the results of the data collection. This is done usually in the order of the research question. This will be followed by any results of further analyses (that is, analyses that were not proposed but which were carried out). Results should be presented with the analysis of the report. In some cases, only result is presented, while analysis or interpretation is to be done in the discussion in chapter 5. Chapter 5. Discussion of Findings and Conclusion Results are interpreted in light of the research questions and discussed in conjunction with other literature. Limitations of interpretation and implications for further research may be presented. You are expected to briefly summarize the results, discuss results in non-statistical terms, and then answer the research questions. Explicitly discuss the implications of the results. Integrate your results with the theoretical background and very relevant literature findings. You should also relate findings to the literature review while pointing out consistencies and inconsistencies it has with the results of those studies reported in the literature you cited in Chapter 2. You should also provide answers to whether your findings provide support or differ from extant theoretical positions. You can also have a section called Limitations A limitation is a weakness or handicap that potentially limits the internal or external validity of the results, such as using a sample with a particular characteristic such as all males. Most limitations should have been considered when the study was conceptualized. Therefore, limitations in this section are those that were largely outside the control of the researcher. You should not mention finance as a limitation. Limitations often include a statement of the generalizability of the results, controls that may be impossible to meet, etc. For example, if you must use intact groups rather than random assignment, how might this affect the interpretation of your results? Recommendations for Future Research You should provide specific suggestions for research in the future based on the findings of your study. You may also mention why the proposed research is needed and what form should it take. References: Sources from which you have cited or quoted. The style to be used is dependent on the journal, or department to which the research is to be submitted. Appendices: Materials such as your research instruments and other relevant materials used in the study. Week 2&3: How to improve as an academic writer (Project) This largely applies to other areas of academic writing, and not just your final year undergraduate project. When you are writing a dissertation, thesis or research paper, many words and phrases that are acceptable in conversations or informal writing are considered inappropriate. You should try to avoid expressions that are too informal, unsophisticated, vague, exaggerated, or subjective, as well as those that are generally unnecessary or incorrect. Bear in mind, however, that these guidelines do not apply to text you are directly quoting from your sources (including interviews). 1. Avoid too Broad Statements Focus and precision are essential in essay writing. That is why it is unacceptable to include too many details in the statement that serves as the main focus of your argument. You may think that broad statement ensures covering a larger scope of issues. Thinking deeply, by writing a statement too broad, you may not meet the expectations of the readers. An example of too broad thesis: People who live in poverty face many challenges. It is necessary to narrow down the focus of the broad thesis by underlining certain aspects of the problem you want to discuss in the essay. Improved example; According to Upkoho (2019) most residents of the Ajegunle community live below the poverty line, and lack access to good health facilities and portable water. 2. Avoid informal sentence starts Some words are acceptable in certain contexts but become too informal when used at the beginning of a sentence. You can replace these with appropriate transition words or simply remove them from the beginning of the sentence. Also Also, the participants were in agreement on the third question (Moreover/Furthermore), the participants were in agreement on the third question So So it can be concluded that the model needs further refinement Therefore it can be concluded that the model needs further refinement And And the participants were all over the age of 30 The participants were all over the age of 30 3.
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