Lesson 6-How to Describe Material and Methods Used in Research在线视频

Lead-in

As we will see

there are disciplinary differences in Methods sections

even the heading Methods

is not always used

as when authors use

The Study as their section heading

or Materials and Methods.

In some fields

it is common to have subsections

in Methods

that might deal with materials

the apparatus used

definitions employed

the subjects or participants in the study

or the statistical

procedures

or mathematical models used.

The section may vary

from very condensed one

to elaborately extended one.

Objectives

This chapter is designed

to help the students to

Get to know seven "moves"

in Methods sections

Understand

both the condensed

and extended types

Learn to use linking phrases

Tasks

Let’s start with a reading sample

Here is the Methods section

from a paper investigating

hypothetical consumer behavior

in buying stolen

pirated

or counterfeit goods

from the black market

The Method section includes two parts

participants and procedure

and questionnaire

Read it and then answer the questions

Take the first part as an example

The authors

gives the total number of participants

explaining that

they come from either

the University of Canterbury

or from the general public

recruited in four malls

The researchers

simultaneously

mark out the number of each group

(in brackets)

and how many

socio-economic levels

are involved in dividing the second group

of participants

Then

more specific information

such as the overall

age range

and the mean age

the final sample

and the rewards

all participant

were given

for their help

are available in this part

Have you completed

the first reading of the passage

Discussion questions

1. Do you think the level

of detail is sufficient

or insufficient

In other words

is there enough information

to allow the study to be adapted

or replicated by others

If not

what would you need to know

2.What verb tense dominates

Does active or passive voice dominate

Why is this the case

Now let’s take a look at

the suggested answers

Answers

1

It is an extended Method section

with sufficient details

in procedure

Additionally

it still needs to state

how the data was analyzed

2

Past tense and passive voice

(Past passive)

dominate in the Method section

because it describes

what was done by the researchers

several months or even years ago

Key points

This complex section

could be analyzed

by the pattern of seven "moves"

proposed by Peacock (2011)

The pattern consists of overview

research aim/questions/hypotheses

subjects and/ or materials

location

procedure

limitations

and data analysis

The specific contents

may differ from field to field

Take the third move

subjects and/or materials

as an example

In Business

Language and Linguistics

Law

and Public

and Social Administration

a description of the subjects

refers to a description of the people

(groups of people) in the study

and in the sciences

it means a description of the materials

and equipment

It is important

to keep in mind

that the moves

do not necessarily appear

in the order given

The science fields investigated

tend to follow

the moves

seen above

In the remaining fields

the move structure

may be much more

complex and variable

According to Peacock's research

(see the following table)

all Methods sections

contain some explanation

concerning procedures

We can see methods in the sciences

do not generally include

overviews

it is 100% for all fields

Language and linguistics

are most similar

to Business

in terms

of percentage

in each move

In the fields of Biology

Chemistry

Physics

and Public and Social Administration

less than

10% of the Methods sections

include a consideration

of the limitations of the methods

Do you agree on the analysis

You may discuss

with your partner

to find out

other information illustrated

by the table

The frequency of the moves

in different fields

The following Methods section

is taken from a research paper

in a Biology field

Read and discuss the questions

with a partner

How does the author

give an account of the procedures

Are there any explanations

or justifications for the procedures

Answers

There is no chronology here

no use of personal pronouns

and no explanations for the procedure

Also

notice that

the fourth sentence

concludes with

was done following protocols

in Mindell et al

Naming procedures by citation

rather than describing them

only seems possible in fields

with well-established

and standardized procedures

as in some of the hard sciences

We can consider

this type of description

as abbreviated

or condensed

Now let’s identify

two types of methods

Condensed methods

state what the researchers

did with little elaboration

or justification

Extended methods

present readers

with a rationale

of why and how

researchers did what they did

We need to get an idea of how fields

might differ

in terms of the condensed

to extended continuum

Do you agree

The following table will show

Disciplinary Variation

in Methods Section

The extended methods

are more commonly used

in the research fields

of Psychology

Sociology

Education and Applied Linguistics

The hard sciences

including Chemistry

Material Science

Mycology

and Molecular Biology

adopt the condensed methods

in Methods Section

The intermediate

methods can be seen

in research areas

of Public Health

Political Science

Medical Research

etc

However

it should also be noted that

the Methods section

will probably need to be more extensive

if any of these conditions apply

The paper is aimed at

a multidisciplinary audience

The methods

chosen are new

or controversial

The paper is essentially

a methods paper

Language focus

Here is the section of language focus

in this chapter

using linking phrases

in Methods Section of a research paper

to enhance

coherence

and stylistic variety

Linking Phrases in Methods Section

Using a linking phrase

to justify a procedure

in the methodology section

The word “justify” means to

show that something is right or

reasonable

Here

it means to show that

the procedure/ step

is right or reasonable

by offering a rationale

For example

Based on

previous reports of HR

mutations in APL

we performed direct

DNA

sequencing analysis

Here we provide

a few more linking phrases

that operate

to tie sections together

and to add

some stylistic variety

They include

Initial purposive clauses

or phrases

B

Phrases making temporal links

C

Causal or connective phrases

The linking phrases

will be specified

by the following examples

For example

we can use phrases

indicating purpose

“In an effort to evaluate”

“To further test

this hypothesis”

the phrases making temporal links

“During the data collection”

“On arrival on campus

the participants”

phrases revealing the causes

and logical connection

“Based on the feedback

from the pilot study”

“In spite of these issues

we”

Summary

Here are some tips

The main purpose of Methods section

is to describe

(and if necessary defend)

the experimental design

Most of this section

should be written in the past tense

Exact and specific items

are being dealt with

and precise use of English

is a must

Passive voice

often can properly

be used