Chapter 8 Part 2在线视频

The Organization within Subsections

After we know the content of the subsections

and how they can be organized

as a whole

the organization within the subsections

should be further noticed

Within each subsection of the Methods

you can organize topics in 2 types of orders

either chronologically

or in order of most to least important

for Chronological order

If you have methods for

both independent variables and dependent variables

describe methods

for the independent variables first

for most to least important order

If you measured all variables simultaneously

describe the methods

for the dependent variables

that answer the question first

and then the methods

for other dependent variables

Regarding the structure

and content of the Methods section

as well as the division of subsections

one important thing that you need to note

is the guidelines and checklists

provided by your target journals

Take The Lancet for example

its official website offers authors

very detailed information in

“Preparing your manuscript”

on what should be included

in the Methods section

Similarly

JAMA includes an

“Instructions for Authors”

section in its official website

The New England Journal of Medicine

put this type of information

in its “Author Center” section online

and provides detailed guidelines

for reporting data

part three

The Writing tips for METHODS

The structure and content of the Methods section

help you know how to construct

the framework of this section

as well as how detailed the information

you should provide

Still

in writing practice

you would sometimes feel confused

about the development of paragraphs

and the language use unless you know

some quite useful writing tips

Now let’s have a look at the Writing tips

for the Methods section

firstly

Consistency with Other Sections

In addition to answer the 3 basic questions

the Methods section should also well

connects the Introduction section

and the Results section

like a crossroad

First

to ensure the Study Design relates

clearly to the research question it answers

you may need to restate the question

in a topic sentence or a transition phrase

at the beginning of the Study Design subsection

When restating the question

be sure to use the same key terms

the same verbs

and the same point of view as

in the original question

so that the reader can easily recognize this question

is the same question asked in the Introduction

Second

there should be a method

in the Methods section corresponding

with every result in the Results section

The Methods should facilitate

interpretation of the study results

and convince readers regarding

their validity of the results

and to help them to understand

how the results and conclusion were derived

from the experiments

the second tip is Sample Size

When you have different sample sizes

for groups or subgroups

make sure that the numbers add up correctly

throughout the Methods section and throughout the whole paper

Similarly

for clinical studies of human subjects

make clear how the numbers of subjects relate

to each other

the third tip is Transition

For Transition

The first way is to make sure

there is a smooth transition

between different sections and subsections

We can achieve smooth transitions

in 2 ways

One is topic sentences

the other is transition phrases or clauses

Topic sentences can be used

to signal the topic of a paragraph

especially when a subsection has

more than one paragraph

In the Methods section

transition phrases or clauses

that state purposes

usually “To do…”

can be used to signal the topic of a paragraph

The transition phrases or clauses

come at the beginning of the first sentence

of the paragraph

and the end of that sentence states the first step

in the procedure.

meanwhile

Some phrases are quite useful

in organizing paragraphs of the Methods section

as you can see in the table

To state purpose of methods

We can use to detect

to avoid

in order to identify

to enable etc

To link related time procedures

We can use before

after

during

prior to

on arrival

To state a reason

which means causal related phrases

We can use based on

on the basis

because of

in spite of

or in light of

To justify the use of a special method

We can use

we believe

or we think

To state similarity with previous methods

you can see something is reported

is detailed

as described

as explained

as proposed

etc.

And to describe the apparatus and materials

We can use use

adopt

employ

consists of

is made up of

is composed of

design

develop

set up

incorporate

exploit

Remember those useful phrases and choose

to use them appropriately

It's quite useful writing tips

especially for beginners

the forth tip is Precise Word Choice

In the Methods section

words like verbs

nouns

adjectives

adverbs as well as phrases

should be accurately chosen to

indicate precisely

what you did and what you used

You are expected to be highly

aware of the frequently used words

in the Methods section

when reading SCI papers on the daily basis