Writing Research

Writing Research

Prepared by Sir Norman B. Tabios

SHS English Language Teacher

Quezon City Science High School

Writing Introduction

• establish the context, background and/or importance of the topic

• indicate an issue, problem, or controversy in the field of study

• define the topic or key terms

• state the purpose of the essay or piece of writing

A model for an introduction -The deficiencies model of introduction

• state the research problem

• review the studies that have addressed the problem

• indicate the deficiencies of these studies

• advance the significance of the studies for particular audiences

• state the purpose statement

Multiple Choice

Which of the following must be avoided in writing the opening paragraph of a research proposal ?

• Use of quotation, especially the long ones.

• Indicate why the problem is important by citing numerous references.

• Consider numeric information for impact

• Make sure that the problem is framed in a manner consistent with the approach to research in the study.

Open Ended

Furthermore, to date, there has been no reliable evidences and studies that investigates the attitude of English Language Teachers (ELT), from both public and private institution in the Philippines towards English as a representative from the Outer Circle of Kachru's World English Paradigm.

What needs to be done to further improve the sample excerpt from a research introduction?

Deficiencies in Literature

may exist because topics have not been explored with a particular group, sample or population, the literature may need to be replicated or repeated to see if the same findings hold because of mixed results given new samples of people or new sites for study; or the voices of underrepresented groups have not been heard in publised literature.

Example

For this reason, the meaning of war and peace has been explored extensively by social scientist (Cooper, 1965; Alvik, 1968; Rosell, 1968; Svancarova & Svancarova, 1967-68; Haavedsrud, 1970). What needs to be explored, however, is how veterans of past wars rect to vivid scenes of a new war.

Remember!

For this reason, the meaning of war and peace has been explored extensively by social scientist (Svancarova & Svancarova, 1967, 1968)

Svancarova and Svancarova (1967, 1968) stated that ...

A note on verb tenses: 

• For general reference to the literature, the present perfect tense (have/has + verb + participle) tends to be used.

• For reference to specific studies carried out in the past, the simple past tense is most commonly used. This is always the case where a specific date or point in time in the past forms a part of the sentence.

• When referring to the words or ideas of writers, the present tense is often used if the ideas are still relevant, even if the author is no longer alive. The examples given below reflect these general patterns, but these are by no means rigid. 

Taxonomy of Research Gap

One of the most prevailing issues in the craft of research is to develop a research agenda and build the research on the development of the research gap.

-which is a primary basis in the investigation of any problem, phenomenon or scientific question 

Taxonomy of Research Gap

Miles (2017) proposed a new model built on the two previous models that consist of seven core research gaps renamed: (a) Evidence Gap; (b) Knowledge Gap; (c) Practical-Knowledge Conflict Gap; (d) Methodological Gap; (e) Empirical Gap; and (f) Theoretical Gap; (g) Population Gap

Multiple Choice

___________occurs with a provocative exception arises if a new research finding contradicts widely accepted conclusions. This gap involves contradictions in the findings of the prior research. It occurs if results from studies allow for conclusions in their own right, but are contradictory when examined from a more abstract point of view. The identification of contradictory evidence starts with analyzing each research stream.

• Knowledge Gap

• Population Gap

• Methodology Gap

• Evidence Gap

Evidence Gap

An evidence gap occurs with a provocative exception arises if a new research finding contradicts widely accepted conclusions. This gap involves contradictions in the findings of the prior research. It occurs if results from studies allow for conclusions in their own right, but are contradictory when examined from a more abstract point of view. The identification of contradictory evidence starts with analyzing each research stream. Subsequently, the results from these analyses need to be synthesized in order to reveal contradictory evidence [Müller-Bloch & Kranz, 2014]. 

Multiple Choice

is the type of gap that deals with the conflict that occurs due to the influence of methodology on research results. This gap addresses the conflicts with the research methods in the prior studies and offers a new line of research that is divergent from those research methods. It is noted that it might be useful to vary research methods, especially if certain research topics have been mainly explored using a singular or common method [Müller- Bloch & Kranz, 2014].

• Knowledge Gap

• Population Gap

• Methodology Gap

• Evidence Gap

Methodological Gap

• the type of gap that deals with the conflict that occurs due to the influence of methodology on research results.

• addresses the conflicts with the research methods in the prior studies and offers a new line of research that is divergent from those research methods.

• might be useful to vary research methods, especially if certain research topics have been mainly explored using a singular or common method [Müller- Bloch & Kranz, 2014]. 

Multiple Choice

__________ is a common gap recognized among researchers. This gap is the type of research regarding the a set of people that is not adequately represented or under-researched in the evidence base or prior research (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, age and etic) [Robinson, et al, 2011].

• Methodology Gap

• Empirical Gap

• Theoretical

• Population Gap

Population Gap

• is a common gap recognized among researchers.

• There are always under- served populations that have been under-researched.

• This gap is the type of research regarding the population that is not adequately represented or under-researched in the evidence base or prior research (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, age and etic) [Robinson, et al, 2011]. 

Multiple Choice

_____________ gap is a common gap in the prior research. First, information about the phenomena under investigation may not exist in the actual field to theories and literature from related research domains. Second, it might be the case that results of a study differs from what was expected [Müller-Bloch & Kranz, 2014].

• Practical Knowledge Gap

• Knowledge Gap

• Empirical Gap

• Theoretical Gap

Knowledge Gap

• The knowledge gap is a common gap in the prior research. There are two settings where a knowledge gap (knowledge void) might occur. First, knowledge may not exist in the actual field to theories and literature from related research domains. Second, it might be the case that results of a study differs from what was expected [Müller-Bloch & Kranz, 2014]. 

Practical-Knowledge Gap

This kind of gap tends to be a discrepancy that can motivate new research in this direction. A practical–knowledge (action-knowledge) conflict arises when the actual behavior of professionals is different from their advocated behavior. In this case, research could seek to determine the scope of the conflict and to uncover the reasons for its existence [Müller-Bloch & Kranz, 2014]. 

Empirical Gap

the type of gap that deals with gaps in the prior research. This conflict deals with the research findings or propositions need to be evaluated or empirically verified. For example, the empirical gap often addresses conflicts that no study to date has directly attempted to evaluate a subject or topic from an empirical approach [Müller-Bloch & Kranz, 2014]. 

Theoretical Gap

the type of gap that deals with the gaps in theory with the prior research. For example, if one phenomenon is being explained through various theoretical models, similar to a methodological gap conflict, there might be a theoretical conflict. Researchers and scholars could examine whether one of those theories is superior in terms of the gap in the prior research. Theoretical gaps are a common occurrence in examining prior research on a phenomenon [Müller-Bloch & Kranz, 2014]. 

Open Ended

The researcher identified an apparent knowledge gap in the prior research concerning_____________. In addition, the prior research did not address the subject of ___________________. This encompasses several unexplored dimensions that lately have attracted research attention in other disciplines (cite two to three relevant articles). The ___________ should be explored further to provide an understanding as to why such is not the case with __________________ [Miles, 2017].

Open Ended

Based on the review of the prior research, there is a population gap. Some of these sub-populations have been unexplored and under- researched. The________ appear to be important and worthy of investigation in the context of __________________________. An investigation of this group is important because ________________________. Furthermore, previous research has focused primarily on this population of _________________. Very little research has been done on ______________[Miles, 2017].

Conclusion

The foundation of research is based on asking questions and finding a new line of inquiry based on gaps in the prior research. This is a driving force in the inquiry of new knowledge. Proposed framework will provide researchers with a template and a foundation for conducting a systematic and thorough literature review.