Analyzing Research Papers from Different Fields
Being a member of an academic community requires highly developed communicative
as well as argumentative skills from the professionals in order to share
findings and potential solutions for different fields. Research papers represent a useful instrument
for researchers to extend knowledge based on the combination of their
analytical and thinking skill, and the information obtained by other
colleagues. For this reason, the aim of
this paper is to analyze sections from different research papers on the
education and the medicine fields and make a comparative analysis. Initially, it is worth mentioning that the
educational article is a qualitative research paper which is mainly descriptive
and it is based on a case study applying a non- experimental procedure. Conversely, the medical article is a
quantitative research paper with an explanatory purpose using a deductive reasoning
to analyze data.
As regards the introduction, the article written by Chang and Sun (2012)
is organized according to the Create a Research Space Model (C.A.R.S.)
developed by Feak and Swales (1994) that includes three moves. In move 1, the relevance of the topic for
research is introduced. This relevance
is presented from the general, use of blogs as a tool that “changed the way we
use the Internet, from mostly information consumers to information creators and
contributors” (Chang &Sun, 2012, p.46); to the specific, the use of blogs
in pedagogical settings. The literature
review is included using in-text citations according to the American
Psychological Association (APA) style. Move
2 is indicated by the use of negative openings establishing that “though past
literature (…) little, if any, empirical research has been done” and move 3 is
introduced by the opening phrase “in the current study” (Chang &Sun, 2012,
p.44).
Considering the structure of the introduction in the article written by
Aaby et al. (2010), the three moves described by the C.A.R.S. model can be also
found. Move 1 is represented by a
succession of references to previous conditions including historical periods. Move 2 is described by the negative statement
“the impact on overall mortality of revaccination with intradermal BCG
vaccination has not been examined” (Aaby et al, 2010, p.2). The literature review is included by the
insertion of a summary of what has been investigated so far and this
information is supported by endnotes referring to previous studies. Percentages are also included with statistical
purposes. Move 3, in this case, is not
introduced by an opening phrase; Aaby et al. (2010) explain that “[they]
assessed whether intradermal revaccination with BCG is associated with a
reduction in childhood mortality between 19 months and 5 years” (p.2).
Comparing the introduction sections in both articles, it could be stated
that Chang and Sun´s (2012) article is more organized since move 1, move 2 and
move 3 are clearly defined. Aaby´s et
al. (2010) article, however, is structured with a recursive style which turns the
limits between moves more blurred. Another difference is the way in which
literature review is included (APA style in the former article and endnotes in the
latter article). Considering move 1,
only the second one contains Reid´s (1994) process paragraph technique to
indicate previous actions in the research topic. As regards similarities, both articles include
tentative language by means of modal verbs and the use of passive voice.
According to Swales (1990), Swales and Feak (1994) and Online Writing
Lab (OWL) (2008), methods sections should include the description of the people
involved in the research, named as participants, the tools used to measure and
analyze the phenomenon, called considered as materials and the procedure
including a detailed step by step process of the research. For example, in Chang and Sun´s (2012)
article there is also a reference to the sample size and a definition of the
evidence as qualitative.
As far as titles are concerned, Chang and Sun´s (2012) work, the methods
section includes a title which is not placed according to APA Manual since it
is not centered at the start of the section, being typed at the left margin. This title is followed by a brief
introduction mentioning the use of a case study as a method to explore English
as a Foreign Language (EFL) writers´ development as academic writers through
collaborative dialogues in the blogosphere.
The first subheading within the methods
section in Chang and Sun´s (2012) article describes participants´ age, sex,
level of English and hours of exposure to the target language. The procedures subheading within the methods
section in the same article includes the description of the two main
assignments for the course as well as the role of the course instructor “as a
facilitator to guide students as they embarked on the blog project” (Chang
& Sun, 2012, p.46). The use of
charts and tables is present in this section as a means of exemplification
since Chang and Sun (2012) add Table 1 to illustrate the use of the language of
the participants showing number of posts and replies. Finally, the data analysis subheading
introduces a section in which passive voice sentences are used to describe the
way the collected data was examined and the reasoning applied to identify
“salient themes, patterns and relationships regarding students’ learning and
perception of their identities as writers” (Chang & Sun, 2012, p.47).
Analyzing Abby´s et al.
(2010) paper, it can be observed that the method section is presented at the
left margin, too; but there is no paragraph anticipating
the characteristics and purposes of the study.
In this research paper, the present perfect tense is used to describe
the setting, the study population and the routine data collection; and passive
voice sentences are included to emphasize the role of the participants and the
way in which the study was conducted.
Additionally, the present simple tense accompanied by percentages is
included to explain sections like vaccination status and survival status. Similarly, a process paragraph composed by
descriptive sentences is implemented with the previous mentioned objective. In order to specify the study design and
study objective; simple past tense is chosen; and conditional sentences are
found when establishing the internal and external criteria for the enrollment
of the population.
Analyzing the two
methods sections, it could be observed that while Chang and Sun´s (2012) work includes
only three subheadings, Aaby´s et al. (2010) paper presents a variety of
subheadings which offer a detailed description of the study process. Furthermore, in the first article there is no
shift in verbal tenses being the simple past redundant throughout the text; in
contrast, the second article is written using different tenses. Drawing an analogy between the two research
papers, it could be assumed that tentative language is present in both articles
and there are references to legends of tables as a tool to support the
researchers´ assumptions.
As a conclusion, it could be inferred that although both research papers
respect the main characteristics of the genre (text-type features, established
structure patterns, language and grammatical aspects); they also present
differences that are mainly caused by the different research topics they
tackle. As members of the educational
field, we have to bear in mind those general characteristics and the specific
features of the learning-teaching area in order to achieve a successful
development of our academic writing skills.
References
Aaby, P.,et al (2010) Effect of revaccination with BCG in early
childhood on mortality: randomized trial in Guinea-Bissau. BMJ;340:c671. doi: 10.1136/bmj.c671
American Psychological Association (2007). Concise rules of APA
style. Washington, DC:
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.
American Psychological Association (2008). Publication Manual (5th ed.). Washington,
DC: British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.
American Psychological Association (2010). APA
formatting and style guide.
Retrieved April, 2012 from
Chang, Y. & Sun, Y. (2012). Blogging to learn: becoming EFL academic
writers through collaborative dialogues. Language,
Learning &Technology, 16(1), 43-61. Retrieved April, 2012 from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=15606
Swales, J.M. (1990). Genre
analysis: English in academic and research settings. (Cambridge Applied
Linguistics Series). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Swales, J.M., & Feak, C.B. (1994). Academic
writing for graduate students: Essential tasks
and
skills. Ann Harbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.
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