Research Paper , Dissertation

And Thesis

Research“A research paper is a carefully planned essay

that shares information or proves a point.“

Research is an essential ingredient of all fields of study as well as all professions.

Whether an academician or a working professional, one has to be involved in research to become better equipped in the chosen field.

Research can be performed individually on one's own initiative or as a member of a research project team.

Conti…

Sometimes one may undertake research work that is a replica (an exact copy or model of something) of some previous study in order to test the reported findings or the relevance of such findings under different circumstances.

At other times, one may undertake research to make decisions regarding a new development or to refine or qualify the findings of earlier studies.

Conti…

At the end of a research, once books and magazines have been referred to, field trips have been completed, and experiments have been carried out in the laboratory, there remains the task of organizing the results and publishing them.

The findings can be presented in a professional gathering, or if one wishes to reach a wider audience, the work can be published in a journal.

Conti…

Such an organized analysis of a subjectwritten mainly to record and disseminate (spread information widely) information or knowledge, or to present a point of view on a selected topic, is known as a research paper.

It may also be called a scientific paper, investigative paper, or library paper. In fact, it is a long essay often supported by relevant references from suitable sources.

Dissertation

A dissertation is longer than a research paperand arises out of the study, research, and analysis undertaken over a semester or a term. Hence, it is also known as term paper.

A dissertation is written especially for a university degree.

Thesis“A thesis is longer and more detailed than a

dissertation.”

It may span over a period of two to five years.

In a few cases, it may extend beyond five years also.

Extensive research is presented on a particular topic in the form of a thorough analysis, supported adequately by statistical data, survey findings, experimental results, etc.

Conti…

Although these three forms of written Communication vary in length, they exhibit several similarities in terms of their characteristics.

Research Paper

In its style, structure, and approach, a research paper closely resembles a formal report.

Hence, the characteristics are also similar, except for a few differences.

While a research paper is written mainly to disseminate new knowledge acquired through research, a report is written to facilitate decision-making or problem resolution.

Characteristics

A research paper is the most important form of expository discourse. It may be written on any topic or subject-scientific, technical, social, cultural, etc., but the treatment is scholarly in nature.

It is highly stylized and contains a high concentration of certain writing techniquessuch as definition, classification, interpretation, abstraction, and description.

Conti…

It is objective in nature and the presentation of information is accurate, concise, direct, and unambiguous.

Generally, it contains almost all the formal elements that a technical report includes.

Most research papers are characterized by the use of visual aids, and scientific, technical, or specialized vocabulary.

Conti…

Every research paper is a unified composition arising out of the study of a particular subject, assembling the relevant data, and organizing and analyzing the same.

A research paper is a documented prose work.All important analyses have to be supported by adequate evidence.

In short, documentation is essential for all research papers.

Research Report Design Template

Research Report

Prefatory

Parts

Main

Body

Appended

Parts

Research Report Component (1)

PREFATORY PARTS

Title Page

Letter of

Transmittal

Letter of

Authorization

Table of

Contents

Objectives

Results

Conclusions

Recommendations

Summary

Research Report Component (2)

MAIN BODY

Introduction

Methodology

Limitations

Conclusions

and

Recommen-

dations

Area 1

Area 2

Final Area

Results

Research Report Component (3)

APPENDED PARTS

Data Collection

Forms

Detailed

Calculations

General Tables

Bibliography

Components

A research paper is a piece of written communication organized to meet the needs of a standard, valid publication.

Title Discussion

Authors, affiliations, and addresses

Conclusions

Abstract Acknowledgements

Introduction List of symbols

Materials and methods References or bibliography

Results

Title The title of a research paper may be defined as

the fewest possible words that adequately describe the contents of the paper.

It ought to be well-studied and should give a definite and concise indication of the rest of the paper.

choose all the words in the title with great care and ensure that their association with one another is meaningful.

An Effective Title may Include…

Is a clear indication of the contents of the paper

Is neither too short nor too long

Contains specific and not general terms

Is built on careful syntax

Is a label and not a sentence

Avoids the use of common abbreviations, specific notations, and reference numbers

Title Page

Balance the following lines:

* Name of the report in all caps (e.g. Final Report)

* Receiver’s name, title, and organization

* Team name and team members

* Date submitted (month/year)

No page number on title page (page 1 is executive summary)

FINAL REPORT

XYZ Corporation

Jane Smith, VP Marketing

Longhorn Consulting

Bruce Springsteen, Faith Hill,

Huey Lewis, Melissa Etheridge

April 2006

Names, affiliations, and addresses of authors

The full names of the authors and their designations are mentioned just below the title of the research paper.

For instance, if the author ABC is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at XYZ University, the name and designation can be written as follows:

ABC

Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering

XYZ University, Address

Only those authors who have actively Contributed to the overall design and execution of the experiments are listed.

The authors are listed in the order of importance to the experiments, the first author being acknowledged as the senior author and primary progenitor(the originator of an artistic) of the work being reported.

AbstractA brief, written explanation of the research

project, consisting of a succinct description of the project’s purpose, the procedures followed, the data collected, and the conclusions reached.

A clear and simple summary statement of the main points of the experiment.

A self-contained statement that must make sense all by itself.

It Has two main functions:

To enable readers identify the basic content of a document quickly and accurately in order to determine its relevance to their interests and thus to decide whether they need to read the document in its entirety, and

To meet the requirement of abstracting journals.

Two Types …There are two types of abstracts: informative

and indicative.

Normally, a research paper should have an informative abstract that gives information about the purpose of the study, newly observed facts, conclusions of an experiment or argument, and, if possible, the essential parts of any new theory, treatment, apparatus (device , instruments), technique, etc.

Sometimes, the abstract is read instead of reading the full paper.

The other common type of abstract is an indicative or descriptive abstract.

This is more suitable for long, descriptive papers.

indicative abstract indicates the contents of the paper and the scope of the work carried out without giving much information about the results and conclusions.

Characteristics of an Abstract

It is as concise as possible and does not exceed 3 per cent of the total length of the paper.

It is self-contained.

It does not contain any bibliography, figure, or table references.

It does not contain any unfamiliar abbreviations and acronyms.

It is generally written after the paper is prepared.

The steps for Preparing Abstract

Read the introductory paragraph of the study to identify the objective.

Scan the summary and conclusions at the endto note down the main findings of the study.

Read through the text for information on methodology adopted, new data, and any other vital information.

Prepare a draft arranging the various items in the following order: objective, new methodology or equipment used, data of fundamental value, and major conclusion and/or correlations derived.

Modify and trim the abstract to the required size.

Title

Name

School

Purpose of project / experiment:

An introductory statement of the reason for investigating the topic of the

project.

A statement of the problem or hypothesis being studied.

Summarize procedures, emphasizing the key points or steps:

A summarization of the key points and an overview of how the investigation

was conducted.

Omit details about the materials used unless it greatly influenced the

procedure or had to be developed to do the investigation.

An abstract should only include procedures done by the student. Work done

by a mentor (such as surgical procedures) or work done prior to student

involvement must not be included.

Detail succinctly observations/data/results:

This section should provide key results that lead directly to the conclusions

you have drawn.

It should not give too many details about the results nor include charts or

graphs.

State conclusions/applications.

Introduction

Describe the problem

State your contributions

...and that is all

Conti…The first paragraph is crucial for catching the

attention of the audience and for conveying to them the importance of the questions that you have addressed in the paper.

If you don’t’ catch the attention of the audience in the first few sentences the chances are high that they won’t continue reading.

So, make the first sentence both snappy(Sharp) and profound.

The purpose of an introduction is to supply sufficient background information so as to allow the reader to understand and evaluate the results of the study.

Sometimes it is necessary to outline the author's earlier attempts to solve the problem along with citations to relevant literature.

Conti…Here are a few examples of good introductory

sentences:

Ex…“ Cell polarity plays a fundamental role in development. By asymmetrically localizing determinants in a cells before division, daughter cells can adopt different fates”

Ex…“ The Golgi complex has a pivotal role in the secretory pathway by acting as the central organelle through which newly synthesized proteins pass en route to their final destinations.”

Steps

First, present the nature and scope of the problem investigated.

Review the pertinent(appropriate) literature to orient the reader.

State the method of investigation and, if necessary, the reasons for the choice of a particular method.

State the principal results of the investigationand also the principal conclusions suggested by the results.

Materials and methodsThe main purpose of this section is to describe

(and if necessary defend) the experimental design, experimental technique, or theoretical derivation, and then provide enough details so that a competent worker can repeat the experiments.

If the original source is difficult to understand, the method must be described more in detail than just citing a reference.

Conti…In cases where the technique or approach

adopted involves some modification over the earlier technique or approach, give only a detailed description of the modification.

For materials, mention relevant specifications.

Results

This section forms the core of the paper-the data. There are three ways of presenting the data:

(a) Text,

(b) Tabular form, and

(c) Illustration form.

1) Choice of data While selecting data for inclusion in a paper, avoid the two extremes in this respect.

One extreme is the tendency to shift almost the entire data present in the laboratory

notebook to the paper. At the other extreme is the situation where data is so insufficient that

the reader cannot understand the logic of the conclusions drawn.

Give essential data and let the rest of the data (supporting data) stay in the laboratory notebook.

Extensive data for future reference should be deposited in a central data repository, to be made available on demand.

2) Choice of form of data presentation Present only simple and descriptive data in the text.

Highlight important data in tables or graphs.

This facilitates comprehension and makes descriptions and comparisons vivid.

Information given in tables or figures should supplement, not duplicate, the information provided in the text.

3) Presentation of data in tabular form Tables should be self-sufficient, capable of conveying a message independently.

Each table should have a self-explanatory title.

Column headings should be brief.

For units of measurement, standard abbreviations should be used and these should be placed below the column headings.

4) Presentation of data in illustration form Each illustration adds to the cost of production.

Therefore, include only absolutely essential figures.

For example, a figure showing a linear relationship between two parameters can be safely dropped; a mere statement to this effect in the text would suffice.

Infrared, ultraviolet, and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectra and Differential Thermal Analysis (DT A) curves need not be included; it is enough to give the significant numerical data in the text.

Restrict the number of structural formulae to the bare minimum.

5) Captions and legends should be simple, but self-explanatory As in the case of tables, crowding of data in illustrations is likely to cause difficulty for the reader to comprehend correlations and should be avoided.

Also avoid including too many explanatory notes and other details inside illustrations.

For presenting statistical data, various types of illustrations can be used: graphs, histograms (bar diagrams), pie charts, etc.

When there is continuity of variation between two parameters (e.g., temperature vs pressure), use graphs.

When data are taken over periodic intervals (e.g., census taken every ten years), use a bar diagram (histogram).

When the purpose in making an illustration is to show relative proportions of components of an entity (e.g., percentages of different minerals occurring in a country), it is preferable to use a pie chart.

5) Photographs (half-tone illustrations) Submit photographs that show important featuresprominently and clearly.

The background should be unobtrusive, free from distracting objects, and uniform in tone, yet in good contrast with the principal objects of interest.

Another way to indicate magnification is to insert a scale in the illustration itself at a suitable place.

Discussion

The main functions of this section are to interpret data and to highlight the significant features of the data and the possible causes of these features.

Avoid the tendency to repeat the description of data in this section.

What is obvious from the tables or figures need not be described in the text again.

Conclusion

Conclusions should stem directly from the data presented and no extra material should be introduced.

When there are significant findings, conclusions are a necessary part of the paper.

The major function of conclusions is to make recommendations based on the results of the study.

If no recommendation emerges, this section can be avoided.

In such cases where the study has led to clear-cut findings, it is preferable to give the conclusions in the form of a series of numbered points.

AcknowledgementIn the acknowledgements section, two possible

ingredients require consideration.

First, any significant technical help received from any individual, whether in the laboratory where the work was performed or elsewhere, should be acknowledged.

Also acknowledge the source of special equipment, other materials, etc.

Second, acknowledge any outside financial assistance such as grants, contracts, or fellowships in this section.

This section does not include scientific details, but is equally important as it conveys courtesy and gratitude for all the help received for the completion of the project.

List of SymbolsStandard abbreviations can be used.

It is a good practice to give the full version followed by the abbreviation within parentheses at the first occurrence.

Thereafter, only the abbreviated form may be used throughout.

Names of units and their abbreviations should conform to standard practices. The most appropriate system is the International System (SI) of Units.

References

The main purpose in citing references to the work of earlier researchers is to enable the reader to consult the original source.

Therefore, unless the references are complete in respect of all bibliographic details, the readers will face immense difficulty in locating the original sources.

Only such references should be cited as have been actually consulted.