Method and Materials

1
Method and Materials

• Wu-Lin Chen (wlchen_at_pu.edu.tw)
• Department of Computer Science and Information
  Management

2
Review Introduction - Stage II

• Most individuals seem to agree that the
  microcomputer will continue to hold an important
  role in education. Gubser (1980) and Hinton
  (1980) suggested phenomenal increases in the
  numbers of computers both in the school and the
  home in the near future. There are always
  problems with a sudden onslaught of new
  technology. Like any new tool that has not been
  fully tried and tested, the role of the computer
  is in question. How should the computer be used
  in the classroom? Should the computer be the
  teacher or used as a tool in the classroom in the
  same way as an overhead projector? Can teachers
  do a better job of teaching certain types of
  material with the microcomputer than with
  conventional teaching methods? Will the
  microcomputer have different effects on students
  with varying levels of experience? Schmidt
  (1982) identified three types of microcomputer
  use in classrooms the object of a course, a
  support tool, and a means of providing
  instruction. Foster and Kleene (1982) cite four
  uses of microcomputers in vocational agriculture
  drill and practice, tutorial, simulation and
  problem solving.

3
Review Introduction - Stages II and III

• The findings of studies examining the use of
  various forms of computer-assisted instruction
  (CAI) have been mixed. Studies by Hickey (1968)
  and Honeycutt (1974) indicated superior results
  with CAI while studies by Ellis (1978), Caldwell
  (1980) and Belzer (1976) indicated little or no
  significant effect. Although much work has been
  done to date, more studies need to be conducted
  to ascertain the effects of microcomputer-assisted
  instruction in teaching various subjects in a
  variety of learning situations.

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Review Introduction - Stages IV and V

• The purpose of this study was to ascertain the
  effect of using microcomputer-assisted
  instruction as compared to a lecture-discussion
  technique in teaching principles and methods of
  cost recovery and investment credit on
  agricultural assets to graduate students in
  agricultural education (Rohrbach, 1983). This
  topic was identified as being of importance to
  teachers in providing them the necessary
  background to teach lessons in farm records.

5
Method

• The main part of the method section is a
  description of
• the procedural steps used in your study
• the materials employed at each step

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Information Elements Included in Method

• Overview of the Experiment
• Population/Sample
• Location
• Restrictions/Listing Conditions
• Sampling Technique
• Procedures
• Materials
• Variables
• Statistical Treatment
• ( always included)

7
Writing the Procedural Description

• The description of the steps you followed in
  conducting your study should be written clearly.
• How clear?
• It should be clear enough for a reader in your
  field could accurately replicate your procedure
  and get the same results.

8
Describe the Procedure

• The best way to describe a procedure is
• Step-by-step
• Chronologically

9
Correct Verb Tense in Procedural Descriptions

• The procedures you used in carrying out your
  study should usually be described in the simple
  past tense.
• Sentences included under method that are not
  written in the past tense usually do not refer to
  the procedures used in the study being reported.

10
Procedural Descriptions Past Tense

• For examples
• Surveys were sent to student health services at
  180 colleges.
• The study was carried out on a marine laboratory
  research vessel.
• The generators supplied about 14,000 amps when
  fully operational.

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Appropriate Verb Voice Active or Passive

• Either the active or the passive voice can be
  used.

Main verb (active)
Agent
Object
Complement



to the rubber segments in gradually increasing
increments.
stress
We
applied
Main verb (passive)
Subject
Agent
Complement



Stress
was applied
(by the investigators)
to the rubber segments
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Conditions for Deciding Verb Voice Active or
Passive

• The passive voice is conventionally used to
  describe procedure in order to depersonalize the
  information. The passive construction allows you
  to omit the agent (usually I or we), placing
  the emphasis on the procedure and how it was
  done.
• EX A For reasons related to personal safety, the
  test facility was constructed (by us) in a remote
  area 4 miles from the main road.
• EX B Tests were conducted (by me) with four
  different types of reactors.

Note You advisor may ask you not to use the
passive voice since he or she prefers a more
personal style with frequently use of the
pronouns I or we.
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Conditions for Deciding Verb Voice Active or
Passive

• Intermix the active and passive voices
• Place old information near the beginning of the
  sentence and new information at the end.
• EX The four reactors we tested in the work
  reported here are all contained a platinum
  catalyst (ACTIVE). Each reactor-catalyst
  configuration will be described separately
  (PASSIVE). The quartz reactors were manufactured
  by the Wm. A. Sales Company of Wheeling, Illinois
  (PASSIVE).

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Materials

• Any item used to carry out a research project.
• Beside method, you also have to describe any
  equipment or other materials used with each step
  in your procedure.

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Information Conventions

• Materials
• laboratory equipment
• field equipment
• human or animal subjects
• natural substances
• fabricated materials
• surveys, questionnaires and tests
• computer models
• mathematical models

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What To Describe

• If the materials you used are well known to
  researchers in your field, it is conventional to
  identify them only.
• If you used specially designed or unconventional
  materials in your research, it is common to write
  a detailed description of them in your paper.

17
Verb Tense and Voice in Describing Materials

• Sentence describing the subjects or materials
  used in a study require either the past or the
  present tense.
• When we describe the sample used in a study we
  commonly use the past tense.

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Describing Samples Past Tense Verbs
Main verb (past)
Sample
Description
The boys
were
between the ages of 7 and 13.
The men interviewed
were
primarily from St. Louis, Mo.
The subjects
were
18 Arabic-speaking students attending classes at
the American University in Cairo.
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Describing Populations Present Tense Verbs

• When describing the general population from which
  the sample subjects were selected, the present
  tense is normally used.

Main verb (present)
Sample
Description
the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency.
All students who apply for admission to the
American University of Cairo
take
They
enter
the English Language Institute where they follow
an intensive program of English language training.
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Verb Tenses in Describing Specially Designed
Materials

• If you use equipment in your study which is
  standard or conventional in your field and
  probably familiar to most other researchers, you
  should describe it using the present tense.
• If you describe specially designed materials with
  which other researchers in your field may not be
  familiar, the descriptions are usually written in
  the past tense. Common devices that you modified
  in some special way for use in your study are
  also sometimes described in the past tense.

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Describing Conventional Material Present Tense
Verb
Conventional material
Main verb (present)
Description
the assessment of oral language comprehension of
English and Spanish.
The Auditory Test for Language Comprehension
(Carrow 1968)
permits
A typical chemical reactor
includes
a helical, tube-in-tube heat exchanger.
22
Describing Specially Designed Or Modified
Materials Past Tense Verbs
Modified material
Main verb (past)
Description
protected from weather by an outer window of .10
mm tedlar.
For the testing program this collector
was
23
Active and Passive Voice in Describing Materials

• Both active and passive voice verb constructions
  are used in describing experimental materials.
• Your decision to use active or passive voice
  depends on partly on whether the verb is
  transitive or intransitive.
• Only transitive verbs can be used in the passive
  voice.

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Active and Passive Voice in Describing Materials

• The passive voice is usually used when a human
  agent (the experimenter) is manipulating the
  materials.
• The active voice is usually used when no human is
  directly responsible for manipulating the
  materials that is, when the materials operate
  by themselves.
• The passive voice may be used to describe an
  action involving a nonhuman agent, but a phrase
  must be included to indicate the agent.

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Human Agent Involved Passive Voice

• Example The temperature inside the chamber was
  increased from 0 to 20 C.
• The researcher increased the temperature.
• Example Four thermocouples were monitored
  hourly.
• A researcher monitored them.

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No Human Agent Involved Active Voice

• Example A 200 hp generator provided power to the
  piezometers.
• Example Control gauges monitored air pressure
  inside the chamber.
• In above two examples, the use of active voice
  indicates that the experimenters were not
  directly involved in the functioning of the
  equipment.

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No Human Agent Involved Passive Voice

• Example Power was supplied by 14 generators with
  capacities ranging from 90 to 300 KW.