Reading Research a guide to Writing Research

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Reading Research - a guide to Writing Research

• Prof Claire Woods
• School of Communication

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Reading a scholarly research article as a writer

• Knowing how to read a scholarly research article
  helps you as a writer.
• Always read an article as a writer.
• An effective article or text considers the reader
  over the researchers shoulder.
• You need to know what to look for - and therefore
  what to provide for your reader.

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Research is

• Research is a disciplined form of inquiry, the
  process of systematic investigation. Researchers
  study phenomena in a planned, step-by-step manner
  and report it so that other inquirers can
  replicate the process if they choose.(Frey,
  Botan, Friedman and Kreps,19923)

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Introduction

• Is the purpose of the article and of the
  research clearly explained?
• Was the goal of the research to explore,
  describe, critique etc? Was the goal appropriate
  and justified?
• Was the significance of the research made clear?
  How useful and to whom was the research?
• (The points in these slides are drawn from Frey
  et al Interpreting Communication Research A Case
  Study Approach,Englewood Cliffs, N.J Prentice
  Hall,1992)

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Review of Literature

• Summarise what is known, unknown and perhaps
  controversial theoretical perspective current
  research gaps.
• What theoretical perspectives? Was the theory
  explained appropriately?
• Was the research reviewed adequate to give a good
  understanding of the topic? ( Enough details?
  Shows how the studies relate?)
• Was the Lit review well organised -
  chronological, topic based,problem- solution ?
• How is this an extension of previous research -
  does it fill a gap?

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Research Questions or Hypotheses

• Are these clearly expressed and appropriate to
  the topic?
• Do the R Q or Hypotheses emerge logically from
  the review of literature?

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Methods

• Who or what has been studied and How?
• Has the method - methodology and data gathering
  processes - been justified?
• Is it appropriate? Is it systematic? Does it seem
  credible?reliable?

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Results/Data/Findings

• Straightforward reporting of findings- (little or
  no interpretation)
• Were the data appropriate for answering the
  research questions?
• Were the results presented in a clear and
  organised way? (Charts?Tables?)

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Discussion- Conclusion

• Interpretation of meaning and significance of the
  findings.
• 4 goals to accomplish in this section -
• Summarise and examine the results in light of
  research questions/theory/findings from previous
  research identify problems or limitationspropose
  the significance of the findings propose
  directions for further research.

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Discussion - evaluating questions

• Do the conclusions seem valid/credible?Has the
  case been argued well?
• Have potential problems/limitations been
  identified/
• Has the significance of the study been
  explained?How can the findings be used/applied?
• Has the research proposed further
  directions/research?(The heuristic function)

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Convincing the reader

• The researcher must win authority by skillfully
  reconstructing data, contextual features, and his
  or her own observing- and experiencing self. The
  goal is to convince readers that what the study
  purports to be is in fact what it is. (T Lindlof,
  Qualitative Communication Research Methods, SAGE
  Publications, Newbury Park 1995 250)

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The Goal a confident account

• how to turn a littered research trail into a
  confident, authoritative narrative that tells
  what happened and what it means. (T Lindlof,
  Qualitative Communication Research Methods, SAGE
  Publications, Newbury Park 1995 145)