Reading a research paper

Research paper

The topic that was covered was on how to “read a research paper” the lecturer then explained the importance of a research paper, what is it, and the main points to look at while reading a research paper.

Figure 1.Center for economic research in Pakistan (2014)

According to Blandford (2010) a research paper is not a report that contains lots of facts from different sources, nor is it an essay that expresses a person’s opinion on a subject. As said by Blandford (2010) a research papers is a combination of both where logical facts that are collected; such as statics and examples that were found from various different sources. This information is then used to develop an opinion about the subject that relates to the research. This is done in order to provide evidence to the reader who reads the research paper to agree upon the opinion the author tries to make. This should be clearly documented and referenced. furthermore it states that using other people’s work in a research paper without giving proper credit is considered to be dishonest and unethical and is considered to be cheating and will be plagiarized if found guilty.

As stated in Suny Empire State College (2014) a research paper should be able to argue a particular point by giving evidence based on varies information gathered in a specific topic area. It’s not just a sum up of various sources of information. No matter what research paper is written a research paper should be backed up by others idea and information that is related to the authors thinking.

·         An example of a research could be that a lawyer reads many different cases to support his/her own case.

The lecturer then provided points on how to write a research paper

• Answer questions
• Provide findings
• Detailed analysis of topic/area
• Provide references
• Apply various types of research methods
• Validate findings
• Review literature

According to About Education (2014) these are the few points to be considered while writing a research paper

• Exploring a topic
• Narrowing your topic
• Collecting your research
• Developing a thesis
• Writing a paper
• Editing the paper
• Proofreading the paper
• Writing a bibliography or reference list
• Formatting the paper

Initial guidelines for how to read a paper

Read critically

While reading other research papers there might be instances where the author who wrote the research paper does not provide the correct information, therefore all research papers cannot be always correct. Always make sure to be suspicious about what the author has written and ensure it’s the right information provided.

Critical reading involves looking at possible questions while reading the research paper, some examples are is the author solving the problem, how is the author solving it, are there different or simple methods to overcome the problem etc. always ensure that questions are formed and criticized while writing reading a research paper (Harvard School of engineering and applied sciences 2014).

Read creatively

Criticizing a research paper might seem easy whereas reading it creatively involves positive thinking. For an instance by reading the research paper you can identify the good ideas that are proposed, the possible improvements, the benefits, do the applications have any additional extensions, will this be a good point to start, what would the next step to be taken etc. (Harvard School of engineering and applied sciences 2014)

Make notes as you read the paper

A good practice while reading a research paper is making notes, this can be in many ways. The simplest way is to highlight the important points, write down any questions you have, underline key points made, mark important data analysis, this would provide an insight to the paper as well as it will help the party who is re-reading the paper after a period of time to understand it with ease. This is a good method while doing a long term research (Harvard School of engineering and applied sciences 2014).

After the first read-through, try to summarize the paper in one or two sentences

The authentic and good research paper tries to provide an answer to a specific question. If you have successfully identified the question then it’s time to focus on the main idea, once this is done the next step is to summarize the research paper into one or two sentences. By doing so you can identify the more specific details of the research paper, Furthermore you can also summarize the important points that the research paper contains (Harvard School of engineering and applied sciences 2014).

If possible, compare the paper to other works.

 “Summarizing the paper is one way to try to determine the scientific contribution of a paper.” But to get a clear idea its best to compare the paper with other papers in the same area, by doing so you can identify new ideas, new techniques which weren't available at the time the author conducted his/her research. In addition to that by comparing different research papers in the same area can help identify what type of contribution a particular research paper makes (Harvard School of engineering and applied sciences 2014).

Defining and analysing the problem

The lecturer then gave the students a handout on “defining and analysing the problem”. The first task to be done is to identify the nature of the problem “what is the problem?”  a problem is basically the difference between what is, and what might or should be. The problem could be a serious one or not at all that serious, the foundation is to identifying the nature of the problem in order to lay an effective solution.

After that the problem should be clarified this is done by understanding that the problem and knowing that something is wrong, and by doing so it is the starting point of clarifying a problem. Continued by information gathering based on the problem; collection of any type of information that relates to the problem, these would most likely fall into the following categories.

• Facts
• Interference
• Speculation
• Opinion

When collecting information you will most likely collect all these types of information to support the problem; then it’s best to define the problem based on the information that is gathered. the next step is writing the problem statement.

After this is done the next is to decide on the problem solution. Based on the problem in hand then the step to take is finding an appropriate solution. This is done by analyzing the problem, answering any questions that exist about the problem, continuously asking questions, agree on the root cause of the problem.

Learning outcomes

• Understanding of how to read a research paper
• The purpose of writing a research paper; to support a opinion with evidence
• Importance of crediting/citing appropriate authors in a research paper
• Important points to consider while writing/reading a research paper
• Understanding on how to define a problem, clarify it, gather information, find a solution

Research Paper

Problem statement and research process

Problem statement

A problem statement contains clear and concise facts about the problem that is to be addressed, furthermore it can be stated that a problem statement is a clear description of issues that needs to be addressed that include a vision statement and a method to solve the problem in consideration. The ultimate objective of a problem statement could be considered to be identifying a generalized problem into a well-defined problem that can be overcome by focused research and proper decision making. (Professor BISWA, 2014)

Students were given a hand out on the tips of writing a problem statement, the below image is extracted from Your Dictionary (2014) shows the tips and techniques used to write a problem statement.

The students were then given the task of completing a document on “writing a problem statement”. The students were to fill this document by referring to the task given in one of the previous lectures about drawing a mind map.

The task was done successfully and the document is attached as below.

Writing a Problem Statement Worksheet

Original problem or focusing question	How to manage time efficiently?
Stakeholders who are most affected by the problem	My self, students
Type of problem	Due to improper planning of tasks and activities, and the prioritization of important and urgent tasks students face the problem of managing time efficiently.
Suspected cause of the problem	Students are not aware of the techniques that could be used manage time efficiently. Eg:- to do list, mind map, deadlines, priority list
Goal for improvement and long-term impact	Urgent and important tasks should be given priority whereas students should complete all tasks within the given period of time or before. Finding various methods and techniques used to manage time and follow them accordingly as chosen.
Proposal for addressing the problem	Improvement in time management
Final problem statement	·         As stated majority of students are not aware of the time management techniques available and therefore they do not manage time efficiently. ·         The problem can be addressed by making aware of the time management techniques that are available to students, to do this a lecture or a mentoring session could be arranged, furthermore students can be advised to read up on various techniques that are available to manage time. ·         The students should also briefed on the importance of managing time.

Additional reading on narrowing a topic

Focus your project on a specific aspect of the topic

·         If subdivision of the topic can be done the most of the time the topic can be narrowed down, most issues and concepts can be narrowed down and subdivided.

Narrow your topic to a specific time period

·         By doing so most of the activities that needs to be researched can be restricted to a specific time period, by restricting it to a specific time period the outcome would be the reduction in the material needed to be covered. 

Narrowing a topic to the specific event

·         Another way to narrow down a topic would be to restrict your topic to a specific event, by doing so collection of information a specific event would depend on the amount of information available on relative importance of that event.

Narrowing a topic to a specific geographic are

·         Topics could be restricted to a specific region of a country.

Narrow down a topic to a problem or question

·         Compare/contrast

·         Cause/effect

·         Problem/solution

·         Opinion/reason

Above information was extracted from Virginia Tech (2014)

In the next lecture the lecturer discussed about “research process” this topic includes the steps on how a research should be done.

Steps

Lessons learnt

·         Was able to obtain a clear understanding about problem statement and how to write a problem statement

·         Understood the tips in writing a problem statement

·         Additional reading on how to narrow a problem statement was conducted

·         Was able to get a clear understanding of the “research process” which is helpful for the completion of the ARMPD individual assignment.

Ethics & Codes of Conduct Nature and Purpose of Research

Ethics

As stated by Fernando (2009) ethics attempts to figure out the nature of morality and to identify and differentiate from what is right and wrong. Furthermore it’s said that ethics is a “is a branch of axiology which together with metaphysics, logic and epistemology constitutes philosophy.”

Business ethics

As stated by Investopedia (2014) business ethics is the study of business practices regarding controversial issues, such as cooperate governance, insider trading, bribery, discrimination, corporate social responsibility and fiduciary responsibilities.”

Business ethics are often governed by law, while some businesses provide a basic framework to be followed to gain the general acceptance of the public.

Business ethics are implemented to ensure a certain level of trust among consumers and various forms of market participants.

Task

The tasks given to student were to list down bcs.com and another businesses code of conduct.

By looking into bcs.com the following code of conducts were extracted.

(BCS, 2014)

the second organization was chosen to be Riverside county regional medical centre (RCRMC)

At the next lecture students were told to provide the work completed and points were noted down on the board, then the lecturer additionally gave out some code of conducts that should be considered. Those are as follows.

• Integrity
• Privacy
• Reputation
• Responsibility
• Monitoring of Use (system )
• Organizational culture - Behavior & Honesty
• Use of Internet - Job & Personal
• Public Interest
• Competencies
• Loyalty
• Interaction with customers
• Good Practices

On completion of the topic ethics and code of conduct the students were briefed about research.

According to Kumar (2008)research is defined as an intensive and purposeful method of searching for information and understanding of social and physical phenomena. Furthermore it can be stated that research is a scientific activity and systematic search for information on a particular subject.

The students were taught about two forms of reasoning.

1. Inductive
2. Deductive

Inductive reasoning

• Inductive reasoning is a research technique used by taking a specific and then generalizing it, generalization is based on a limited number of observations.
• Eg:- today tom left for school at 8 am, and arrived at 8.30 am therefore tom would reach school at 8.30 am everyday if he left at 8 am.
• This form of reasoning is commonly used in science but not entirely accurate when considering the general principle is correct. There may be other factors that affect this type of reasoning like traffic, weather condition etc. so the outcome cannot be considered to be accurate all the time.
• Also known as “bottoms up” approach

Deductive reasoning

• Deductive reasoning takes place when a researcher works from more general to the specific, researcher starts with a broader spectrum and concludes to a specific.
• Eg:- Every day I make tea at 8 am. Every day the time taken to make tea is 10 minutes, therefore in conclusion in can be stated that if I make tea at 8 am today I can complete the task in 10 minutes.
• This type of research solely depends on the initial information to be correct, a delay may occur if one of the products used to make tea isn’t available.
• There will always be a possibility that the initial hypothesis to be proved wrong therefore it cannot be considered to be completely accurate or proved.

Inductive and deductive reasoning don’t always provide solid conclusions.

Above Information extracted from Berg & Latin (2008)

5 scientific methods that were mentioned by the lecturer

• Identifying the problem
• Formulating a hypothesis
• Developing a research plan
• Collecting & analyzing data
• Interpreting results & forming conclusions.

In the next lecture students were given a self-assessment on are you ethically challenged?

The results are posted as below.

The author falls under the category of “If B’s appear most on your list”

Lessons learned

• What is ethics and business ethics?
• Why ethics is important?
• Study on two businesses code of conduct
• understanding the importance of code of conduct
• Understanding of inductive and deductive reasoning
• How ethical the author is by looking at the results obtained in the self-assessment test