Unit Seven

Constructing a Research Paper I

Units Seven and Eight consolidate many of the aspects of academic

writing that we have stressed in earlier units. However,they also
break new ground. They differ from the previous units in one
important way By this stage we think it possible that you may now
be carrying out a research investigation of some kind. The purpose of
these units, therefore, is to prepare you for and help you with writing
up your own research. But before we get to this, we need to narrow
the ground somewhat. This narrowing is necessary because there are
many types of research publication that appear in journals, not all of
which we have the space to deal with in this book.

Types of Serial Research Publication

A first point is that not all research articles are empirical. In
astrophysics, for example,experimentation is actually impossible:
"One cannot experiment on a star or a galaxy in the way in which
one can experiment on a chemical compound or a bean plant"(Tarone
et al. 1998, 115). As a result, astrophysicists tend to publish logical
argumentation papers that have a general-specific structure (see
Unit Two). This form of argument moves typically from known
principles, to observations, and then to equations designed to account
for the observed phenomena. This kind of paper can be common in
theoretical physics, in mathematics, and in those fields (economics,
biostatistics, engineering) that use computer modeling. In such "theory
papers," the standard Introduction-Methods-Results-Discussion
(IMRD)pattern (used for most research papers) does not apply.
Because such papers have no fixed structure, there is a considerable
amount of metadiscourse (Unit Four) which "roadmaps" the
organization of the paper. Because of their theoretical nature, the
use of first-person pronouns is widely accepted. We will not deal with
this type of paper in any detail in the last two units.

215
216 Academic Writing for Graduate Students

Another kind of serial publication that will not be discussed in

detail here is the review article, or meta-analysis (as it has come to
be called in medical research). Such articles are usually written by
senior researchers, often at the invitation of editors. Because they
are reviews, they also do not follow the IMRD pattern. According
to Noguchi's(2001)study of 25 review articles published in the
Proceedings ofthe National Academy ofSciences, such pieces are
likely to have a primary focus of one of these four types:

a. History Presenting a historical view of(part of) the

field

b. Current work Describing the current state of knowledge

c. Theory/model Proposing a theory or model to account for the

available data

d. Issue Calling attention to some issue in the field

TASK ONE
Take a review article of relevance of you. Does it have one (or more)
of the foci listed above? Or is the approach different? What kind of
section headings does it have? How long is it? How many references
does it have?

We will not be dealing with separate literature reviews in AWG

(for these please consult English in Today's Research World Units
Four and Five). However,in Unit Eight, we will be discussing
references and citations as part o/Hntroductions and Discussions.
There are three types of serially published pieces left. One
consists of responses and reactions to earlier work. These are rare in
most fields, and were covered at least in part in Unit Six. Then there
are short communications (also sometimes called brief reports or
notes) and standard empirical research papers (typically in IMRD
format). The main focus of these last two units will be on the latter,
but first we will examine short communications, especially because
these, along with book reviews, may be one of the first items that
junior researchers publish.
 Unit Seven: Constructing a Research Paper I 217

Short Communications(SCs)
This type of research communication is widespread and can be found
in international as well as national or regional journals. Unlike
major article-length research communications, which are increasingly
being published in English, many SCs in national or regional journals
are still being written in many academic languages as well as English.
They cover all the field disciplines (biology, archaeology, geology,
etc.) and such areas as folklore, architecture, and ethnomusicology.
They include case reports in medicine and descriptions of technical
improvements in engineering. Unlike research papers (RPs), SCs may
start directly with the research being reported, as in this engineering
note.

This note analyzes and provides implementable

solutions for stabilization and maneuver control of two
nanosatellites subject to control and state constraints,
bounded disturbance and measurement error.

According to our informant from aerospace engineering, such notes

tend to be pieces that offer technical solutions to particular problems
and will likely only be read by those concerned with those particular
problems. This is equally true for the readership of SCs in other fields
as well.
However, a principal function of many SCs is to report on a rare
or unusual phenomenon, whether it is a rare rock formation, disease,
dialectal usage, or organism of some kind. In effect, SCs are used for
reportable discoveries. The example in Task Two is taken from a
small regional journal called Michigan Birds and Natural History.
This journal is edited by a professional biologist at one of the state's
universities and is published four times a year. It contains many SCs.
The "Short Note" describes and discusses the discovery of a bat—one
which is rare in the state of Michigan.

TASK TWO
Read the passage and be prepared to answer the questions that
follow. Discuss the questions with a partner if possible.(A few
vocabulary glosses have been added and are indicated by superscript
letters.)
218 Academic Writing for Graduate Students

Eastern Pipistrelle in Ottawa County, Ml

William S. Martinus and Allen Kurta

The Eastern Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus subflavus) is a small (0.14 to

0.21 oz/4 to 6 g), insectivorous bat that is listed as a species of
"special concern" by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
A recent review of the status of this species in Michigan indicated that
it was known from only 24 animals that were captured in just 5
counties (Linger and Kurta 1998). All except 1 of these bats were
found hibernating in mines of the western Upper Peninsula or were
captured at Tippy Dam, in Manistee County, the only known
hibernaculum^ for bats in the Lower Peninsula (Kurta et al. 1997,
1999). The only Eastern Pipistrelle that was not associated with a
hibernaculum was discovered near Stevensville, Berrien County, in
1966. Herein, we report a new county record for the Eastern Pipistrelle
and the second instance of this bat being found away from a known
hibernation site in Michigan.
In mid-December, 1999, one of us (WSM) noticed an Eastern
Pipistrelle roosting in a garage attached to an occupied house. The
house was located 8.1 miles(13 km)S of Grand Haven, Ottawa County,
Michigan, about 55 yards (50 m) from a bluff' overlooking Lake
Michigan. The garage had finished walls and ceiling, but was unheated,
and the bat was hanging from a piece of wooden molding, 8.2 ft (2.5
m) above the floor, next to the door that led to the residence. The bat
was alive when first discovered, as indicated by small movements of
wings and ears in response to indirect disturbance, such as slamming
the door. The bat, however, was not handled until April 2000, and by
then, it was dead. It had remained in the same location throughout
winter, and exact date of death is not known.
The dead bat was stored in a freezer and not examined for almost
1 year. Consequently, the carcass was freeze-dried (mummified)in the
typical roosting posture, with tail curved over the belly and up to the
chest, and we are not able to sex the animal without damaging the
specimen. The animal is an adult, however, as indicated by obviously
fused phalangeal epiphyses"(Davis 1963). This bat is now preserved
as a specimen (#36169) in the Michigan State University Museum.
During hibernation, an Eastern Pipistrelle often is found in a cave
or cave-like structure that provides stable ambient temperatures
above freezing and typically near 45 to 52°F (7 to 11°C)(Fujita and
 Unit Seven: Constructing a Research Paper I 219

Kunz 1984; Unger and Kurta 1998). An unheated garage that frequently
experiences temperatures far below freezing is not a viable hiber-
naculum for any bat, so death of this animal is understandable. Eastern
Pipistrelles in southern states may remain active into December
(Barbour and Davis 1969), and mild temperatures during autumn
1999 in Michigan may have extended the period of activity for this bat.
However, presence of this individual so far from any known
hibernaculum (93.2 miles/150 km from Tippy Dam) in December is
surprising.
To date, all records of Eastern Pipistrelles from the Lower
Peninsula are from counties bordering Lake Michigan—Berrien,
Ottawa, and Manistee. We speculate that Eastern Pipistrelles are using
the lakeshore as a migratory aid (Timm 1989) and/or that they are
attracted to the lakeshore because of its mild climate, relative to more
inland areas (Keen 1993). Nevertheless, additional records of the
Eastern Pipistrelle in the Lower Peninsula are needed before these
hypotheses can be evaluated fully.

Literature Cited
Barbour, R. W., and W. H. Davis. 1969. Bats of America. Lexington: University
Press of Kentucky.
Davis, W. H. 1963. Aging bats in winter. Transactions of the Kentucky
Academy of Science 24:28-30.
Fujita, M. S., and T. H. Kunz. 1984. Pioistrellus subflavus. Mammalian Species
228:1-6.
Keen, R. A. 1993. Michigan Weather. Helena, Montana: American and World
Geographic Publishing.
Kurta, A., J. Caryl, and T. Lipps. 1997. Bats and Tippy Dam: species compo
sition, seasonal use, and environmental parameters. Michigan Academi
cian 29:473-490.
Kurta, A., C. M. Schumacher, M. Kurta, and S. DeMers. 1999. Roosting sites
of an Eastern Pipistrelle during late-summer swarming. Bat Research News
40:8-9.
Timm, R. M. 1989. Migration and molt patterns of red bats, Lasiurus borealis
(Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in Illinois. Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of
Sciences 14:1-7.
Unger, C. A., and A. Kurta. 1998. Status of the Eastern Pipistrelle(Mammalia:
Chiroptera) in Michigan. Michigan Academician 30:423-437.
Glosses

^Winter resting place.

'"Small cliff.
'"Separately boned digits.
220 Academic Writing for Graduate Students

1. The paper has two authors. Which of them do you suppose did
most of the writing?

2. Of the eight references cited, how many do you think are

themselves SCs? What is your reasoning?

3. The paper has five paragraphs. How would you summarize

(in a phrase or two)the main function or functions of each
paragraph?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

4. How and where do the authors first announce their new finding?
How do they prepare for this announcement? And why?

5. What can you learn about Allen Kurta from this SC?

6. You are an editorial assistant for Michigan Birds and Natural

History. The editor tells you that the SC is a bit long for what
it has to say. She tells you that it would be better if it could
be cut down to fit on one and a half pages. What are your
thoughts on this?

TASK THREE
Compare an SC from your field with Martinus and Kurta, especially if
there is one you have written yourself. What differences did you find?
How would you explain them? Be prepared to explain your findings
in class.

Longer Research Papers

We assume that you will be using a typical organizational pattern for

your paper—in other words, the IMRD format or some variant of it.
So, where do we stand? As can be seen from the following list, we
have already made good progress toward carrying out the difficult
task of writing a research paper.
 Unit Seven: Constructing a Research Paper I 221

Parts ofthe Research Paper Contributions So Far

Title

Abstract Unit Five, Summary Writing

Introduction Unit Two, General-specific

Unit Three, Problem-solution
Unit Six, Critiques

Methods Unit Three, Process descriptions

Results Unit Four, Highlighting statements

Unit Four, Qualifications

Discussion Unit Four, Explanations

(of unexpected results, etc.)
Unit Six, Literature comparisons

Acknowledgments

References

We can also see from the list that there is some more work to be done.
The really difficult areas, especially Introductions and Discussions,
need considerable attention. We also need to consider writing up the
Methods and Results for RPs, as opposed to, say, lab reports. There
are some smaller bits of business, such as Acknowledgments and
titles, to be discussed. Even so, enough has been done to make it
possible for you to write an RP.
When you read an RP, you may think that it is a fairly straight
forward account of an investigation. Indeed RPs are often designed
to create this impression so that they can appear more convincing to
their readers. However, we believe that such impressions are largely
misleading. RP authors typically operate in a highly competitive
environment. They need to establish that their research questions are
sufficiently interesting for publication. They need to demonstrate that
they are familiar with the relevant literature so that the research
questions can be shown to have not already been answered. And they
need to compete against other RPs for acceptance and recognition. As
a result, RP authors are very much concerned with positioning—with
showing that their studies are relevant and significant and have some
new contribution to make.
222 Academic Writing for Groduafe Students

Overview of the Research Paper

The overall rhetorical shape of a typical RP looks like this.

General
Introduction (I)
I
Specific

Methods and
Materials(M)

Results(R)

Discussion(D)
Specific

General

Fig. 10. Overall shape of a research paper

Figure 10 gives a useful indication of the out-in-out or general-

specific-general movement of the typical RP. In addition, as the RP
in English has developed over the last hundred years or so, the four
different sections have become identified with four different purposes.

Introduction (I) The main purpose of the Introduction is to provide

the rationale for the paper, moving from general
discussion of the topic to the particular question or
hypothesis being investigated. A secondary purpose
is to attract interest in the topic—and hence
readers.

Methods(M) The Methods section describes, in various degrees of

detail, methodology, materials (or subjects), and
procedures. This is the narrowest part of the RP.

Results(R) In the Results section, the findings are described,

accompanied by variable amounts of commentary.
 Unit Seven: Constructing a Research Paper i 223

Discussion (D) The Discussion section offers an increasingly

generalized account of what has been learned in
the study. This is usually done through a series
of"points," at least some of which refer back to
statements made in the Introduction.

As a result of these different purposes, the four sections have taken

on different linguistic characteristics. We summarize some of these
in Table 21. The first line of the table shows,for instance, that the
present tense is common in Introductions and Discussions but
uncommon in Methods and Results.

Table 21 Frequencies of Selected Features in RP Sections

Introduction Methods Results Discussion

Present tense high low low high

Past tense mid high high mid

Passive voice low high variable variable

Citations high low variable high

Qualifications mid low mid high

Commentary high low variable high

As you can see from the table, there are similarities between the
Introduction and Discussion, on the one hand, and between Methods
and Results, on the other. In effect, we see a pattern of more
"concrete" inner sections and more "conceptual" outer sections.

TASK FOUR

In 1993 Dorothea Thompson published a useful RP on Results

sections in biochemistry articles. She was particularly interested in
what kinds of comments researchers made in their Results sections
and whether researchers followed the guidelines in manuals. Here
are eight sentences from her paper. Based on Table 21 and on your
own knowledge, can you guess from which of the sections they come?
Mark each one I, M,R, or D. There are two from each section. Work
with a partner if possible.

1. Only further research can determine the applicability

of this study's findings to scientific disciplines outside
biochemistry.
224 Academic Writing for Graduate Students

. 2. The data were analyzed both qualitatively and

quantitatively.

. 3. Short communications and mini-reviews were excluded

from the sample because these publications have different
objectives and use a different format from that of the
experimental research article.

. 4. The assumptions underlying this study are grounded

largely in sociological accounts of the scientific enterprise
(Knorr-Cetina 1981; Latour 1987; Latour and Woolgar
1979).

. 5. These style guides are, at best, superficial descriptions of

the content of these sections.

. 6. In 15 of the sample articles, these methodological

narratives included explicit justifications for the selection
of certain technical procedures,laboratory equipment, or
alternatives to standard protocols.

. 7. Scientific style manuals reinforce the conception that

Results sections simply present experimental data in a
"cold," purely objective, expository manner (Council of
Biology Editors 1972; Day 1988; Mitchell 1968; Woodford
1968).

. 8. In 38% of the JBC Results sections sampled, Kornberg

and his coauthors directly relate their findings to those
of earlier studies, as the following illustrate.

Methods

You might have expected us to begin our discussion of RP sections

with the Introduction. Instead, we are beginning with Methods. This
is usually the easiest section to write and,in fact, is often the section
that researchers write first.
Methods sections are very variable across the disciplines, and
even the term Methods is not always used, as when authors use The
Study as their section heading. 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.
 Unit Seven: Constructing a Research Paper I 225

or the statistical procedures used. Methods also vary according to how

much information and explanation they contain. At one extreme,they
may be very condensed; at the other, elaborately extended. If they fall
in between,they can be termed intermediate.

TASK FIVE
Now consider this first part of the methodology for a research paper
written by a doctoral student in information and library science and
then answer the questions that follow. The purpose of this research
project is to study the effects on scientists of the new collaboratories
(or dispersed virtual research communities);in this case the collaho-
ratory is now called the Space Physics and Aeronomy Research
Collaboratory, or SPARC (http://intel.si.umich.edu/sparc/).

Methodology
Data Collection

O Data used in this research consists of two parts: Survey data and
data on coauthorship. Q Survey data were collected from 1993 to
1996.0 In the summer of 1993, a baseline survey was administered
to a group of scientists who were likely users of UARC/SPARC.O
to the commencement of data collection for the baseline survey, a
letter was sent to every member of the group, notifying them of the
forthcoming survey and informing them of its length, that their
participation was confidential and anonymous, and that upon
completion of the survey, they would be entered into a $100 cash
incentive lottery.0The sample size of the UARC/SPARC target group
was 94 and the response rate was 65%. O A questionnaire consisting
of 32 items was sent to all of the participants.0 The items asked
specifically about the scientists' communication behavior and social
networks within the space science community. O The questionnaire
was designed to allow the participants to complete it within thirty
minutes to an hour.
0 After administration of the baseline surveys in 1993, the
UARC/SPARC target group was surveyed annually from 1994 through
1996.0The 1994 survey was also a mail survey.0 In 1995, the
survey was administered via telephone, which lasted 15 to 20 minutes.
©In 1996, an email/web based survey was used in conjunction with
a telephone interview. © In all years, the incentive scheme used was
226 Academic Writing for Graduate Students

similar to that used in 1993. © In all years, scientists were asked

questions about their research behavior, the use of the UARC/SPARC,
and social networks within the space science community.
© Coauthorship data were based on the examination of the
publications of UARC/SPARC users from 1993 to 1996. © Data were
collected from the Science Citation Index. Data on whom the
scientists were coauthoring with were examined.

1. Of the 17 sentences in this subsection, which is the shortest

sentence and which the longest?

2. All the sentences are in the past tense except for one. Which
is it?

3. Does the writer believe that data is singular or plural?

4. This is the "data collection" phase of her methodology. What do

you think the next part contains:(a) description of the survey
participants;(b) methods of analysis;(c) descriptions of the
statistical procedures?

5. Where there is a potential choice, all the sentences are in

the passive (see Unit Three). Suppose her advisor says to her,
"We can use we sometimes too." Which three sentences in the
Methods section do you think are particularly suitable for
changing into the active. Why did you choose those three?

6. List all the phrases or clauses that come before the main
clause. Also identify their sentence numbers. What kind of
phrases and clauses are they? What does that tell us?

7. The text informs us in sentence 1 that two kinds of data were

collected. The survey data is described in a quite extended
manner, while the description of the coauthorship data is
condensed. Her advisor is not very happy with this. He says
that sentences 2-14 should be cut down and that sentences
15-17 should be extended. Revise either sentences 2-14 or
sentences 15-17.
 Unit Seven: Constructing a Research Paper I 227

Variation in Methods Sections

We have already mentioned that Methods sections can be quite

variable. In many of the social sciences, the methodology is very
important and is often described in considerable detail. Indeed,
in some cases in these areas, the main point of an RP will be to
announce some development in method. However,in the natural
sciences and engineering and in parts of medical research, standard
practices and established methods are much more widely available.
In these latter areas, then,sometimes methods may be largely taken
for granted. At other times, however, it is the procedure that is
newsworthy. We can put this variation in the form of a table (Table
22), with a "condensed" approach on the "hard" left and an "extended"
approach on the "soft" right. We have chosen eight pairs of features
to explore this variation.

Table 22 Variation in Mettiods Sections

Condensed Extended

Assumes background knowledge Sees need to provide background

Avoids named subsections Several named subsections

Uses acronyms and citations as Uses descriptions

shorthand

Running series of verbs (e.g., collected. Usually one finite verb per clause
stoined, and stored)

Few "by + vefb-/ng""how"statements A number of"how"statements

Few definitions and exampies More definitions and examples

Few justifications Several justifications (often initioi purpose

clauses)

Few linking phrases Wide range of linking phrases

Table 22 gives us a kind of rough "scorecard" for Methods sections,

if we subtract a point for each element under Condensed and add a
point for each one under Extended. For example,the coauthorship
data (sentences 15-17)from the text in Task Five would score a -7
(every element in the Condensed column except for a running series
of verbs).
 228 Academic Writing for Graduate Students

TASK SIX

1. Using the "scorecard" in Table 22, what score would you give
sentences 2-14 of the text in Task Five?

2. What score would you give the following extract?

Methods for Analysis and Functional Properties

The standard AOAC methods (AOAC, 1975) were used for the
determination of total solids, nitrogen, crude fat, ash, and Vitamin C.
Total sugars were determined by the method of Potter et al. (1968),
and the total carbohydrates (in terms of glucose) were assayed
according to the procedure of Dubois et al. (1956). The method of
Kohler and Patten (1967) was followed for determining amino acid
composition.(Quoted by Knorr-Cetina 1981, 157)

3. Score this extract from a botany paper.

To detect groups among the specimens and extract the variables
that best diagnose the groups, we used principal components analysis
(PCA). Before conducting the analysis, we standardized all measure
ments so that each variable would have a mean of 0 and a standard
deviation of 1. For the PCA, we included only continuous characters.
To avoid weighting characters, we excluded characters that are
probably genetically redundant, as revealed by high values for the
Pearson correlation coefficient between all possible pairs of
characters. (Naczi, Reznicek, and Ford 1998, 435).

4. Now take a Methods section from a paper in your field and

apply the "scorecard" to it. Be prepared to share your results
with others.

^ Language Focus: Linking Phrases In Extended Methods

In question 6 in Task Five we asked you to identify the initial
phrases or clauses coming before the main clause in the information
science text. As was discovered, most of these were temporal,
including the rather fancy "Prior to the commencement of data
collection for the baseline survey ..." Linking phrases in the short
botany extract in Task Six included one temporal one ("Before
conducting the analysis,..."), but there were also two purposive ones:
 Unit Seven: Constructing a Research Paper ! 229

To detect groups among the specimens ..., we used ...

To avoid weighting characters, we excluded . . .
Many extended Methods have a number of such linking phrases that
operate to tie the longer sections together and to add some stylistic
variety. How many of these can you turn into complete sentences?

1. In an effort to reduce ,

2. In order to establish .

3. For the purposes of this study .

is defined as

4. Based on the feedback from the pilot study .

5. On the basis of the literature review described above,.

6. With the exception of _

7. Of those who consented to participate,.

8. During the data collection,.

9. Prior to collecting this information,.

10. In the interest of generating maximally useful data.

230 Academic Writing for Graduate Students

Language Focus: Hyphens in Noun Phrases in Condensed Methods

Consider this opening sentence from a condensed Methods section

written by one of our students:"Cells were cultured in 24-well plates."
Hyphens are often used to clarify how complex noun phrases are to
be interpreted. In this case, the h3rphen indicates that the student
was using plates containing 24 wells. Without the hyphen the phrase
could be interpreted as 24 plates containing an unspecified number
of wells. What differences can you see between the following pairs of
noun phrases?

small-car factory/small car factory

blue-lined paper/blue lined paper

university-paid personnel/university paid personnel

Read the preceding pairs aloud. Can you make a distinction between
them in terms of stress and intonation? Can you think of one or two
similar pairs from your own field?
How would you indicate what you meant by the following noun
phrases? All are ambiguous, at least out of context.

light gray laptop computer

artificial heart valve

dominant group member

traditional food programs

rapid release mechanism

strong acting director

Writing Up a Methods Section

As we saw in Unit Three (Task Sixteen), John interviewed a student
planning her first research paper for her master's in social work.
You may recall that Mei-Lan's research was on Chinese elderly living
in the United States. She had chosen this topic because of some
"prevailing myths" that the Chinese communities would always look
after their elderly and that such elderly would not accept help from
outsiders. She further noted that all the research to date had been
conducted in the large Chinese communities in big cities on the east
 Unit Seven: Constructing a Research Paper I 231

and west coasts and that therefore it would be useful to study smaller
communities in the Midwest. John then asked her about her
methodology. We repeat the discussion here for your convenience.

JS: How did you find your subjects?

ML: I used friends and friends of friends in the local Chinese
community to introduce me.
JS: How did you collect your data?
ML: I used face-to-face interviews. I wanted one-on-one
situations since I was afraid that if family members had
been there, my interviewees might not have been truthful
about their feelings and experiences.
JS: Did you have to get permission from the review board?
ML: Yes, because I was dealing with human subjects.
JS: Did you have any problems with this?
ML: No,not at all. Interview methods are usually quickly approved.
JS: How many people did you interview?
ML: I only managed to interview about ten. Not much time, and
not all of my contacts worked out. I also got some refusals.
So this was just a small-scale pilot study. There were not
enough subjects for any statistical analysis.
JS: How long did the interviews last, and did you use a fixed list
of questions?
ML: About an hour. I had some questions but did not always
use them all. I guess my data could be said to be based on
what sociologists call "semi-structured" interviews.
JS: Did you use English?
ML: The interviewees used whatever language they were most
comfortable with—Mandarin,Taiwanese, or English. I think
this was a strong point in my method.

TASK SEVEN
There is quite a lot of detail in the preceding interview. In terms of
the expectations of your own discipline, make an ordered list of only
the methodological points you would include. Further, are there
aspects of the methodology that you would want to include but that
were not brought out in the interview? (If you have a partner from
the same field, work with him or her.) Be prepared to report your
conclusions.
232 Academic Writing for Graduate Students

TASK EIGHT
Now write a Methods section of your own, paying close attention to
how your field "scores" according to the "scorecard" in Table 22.

Results

The other section we will deal with in this unit is the Results section.
As we will see, this section has much in common with the material
that was covered in the unit on data commentary(Unit Four). Many
of the concepts discussed there are directly relevant here, such as

• Judging the right strength of claim

• Using location statements

• Highlighting key findings from the data

• Rounding figures and making generalized comparisons

We will begin with our own "ministudy" of the use of sentence

connectors in 12 articles from our field (see Appendix Four for further
details). Task Nine presents the first part of the Results section as it
now stands.

TASK NINE
Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

Results

O A total of 467 sentence connectors were found, averaging just

over two per page. Q Eleven of the 12 articles used connectors with
some frequency, with totals ranging from 24 to 58. O The one
exception was the only article in the sample that dealt with literary
texts, which used only nine connectors. Q The scarcity of connectors
in this paper may be due to its heavy use of commentary on literary
passages.
0Seventy different sentence connectors occurred in the sample.
O This large number is somewhat surprising, even taking into account
our broad interpretation of "connector." Q Those that occurred more
than ten times are listed in decreasing frequency of use in Table 23.
 Unit Seven: Constructing q Research Paper I 233

Table 23 Frequency of Connectors

Rank Item Total occurrence

1 however 62

2 first second, etc. 52

3 thus 33

4 also 30

5 for example 29

6 In addition 20

7 finally 19

8 therefore 16

9 on the other hand 14

10 then 12

11 nevertheless 11
for Instance
furthermore

O The heavy use of however and of enumerators such as first or

second could have been predicted. Q However, there are also a
number of surprises in the frequency data. ® Most people, for
example, would not have anticipated that thus would be twice as
common as therefore. O There was unexpectedly heavy use of
the "informal" connectors but (9 instances) and yet (8 instances).
0 Although these are known to be frequent in newspapers and
correspondence, we were somewhat surprised to find so many in
refereed scholarly journals. © In contrast, the minimal use of
"conclusives," such as in conclusion, was less unexpected. © In fact,
under 2% of all the connectors fell into this category.

1. Is Table 23 in the right place in the text?

2. Leaving Table 23 aside, the three short paragraphs are full of

numbers. Highlight all these numbers, whether written as
words (twelve) or as digits (12). Can you work out the rules we
followed in deciding whether to use words or digits? What are
the "rules" in your field?
234 /Academ/c Graduate Students

3. There are 14 sentences in this text. Decide into which of the

following categories each sentence best belongs.

Factual Description Interpretation!Commentary Unclear

4. Do your findings for question 3 surprise you? Do you approve?

5. In Table 23 only the 13 most frequent items are given;in the first
edition, the list was twice as long, extending to those connectors
that occurred four times or more. Which is preferable?(Is your
choice affected by what is said in sentence 11?)

6. The sentences in this Results passage are rather short. Which

pairs of sentences might be joined—and how?

Commentary in Results Sections

It is traditionally said that the Results section of an RP should simply
report the data that has been collected; that is, it should focus
exclusively on simply describing the actual results. However, as we
have seen from Task Nine, at least one pair of authors seems to be
behaving differently! So let us explore this issue a little further.

TASK TEN
Here are quotations from four textbooks and manuals. Read them and
answer the questions that follow.

Woodford(1976, 28):

The best guide to offer is, perhaps, that the Results section must be
comprehensible on its own and should indicate at least the trend
of the author's reasoning, but any extended discussion of the
observations or comparison with other's work is best deferred until the
last section. (Original emphasis)

Bjork and Raisanen (1996, 326):

Our advice is that you concentrate on reporting your results using

factual statements, usually in the past tense, and that you only
comment on these statements if they need immediate explanation, if
they contain ambiguities or contradictions, or if comments facilitate
the reader's understanding of the results. (Original emphasis)
 Unit Seven: Constructing a Researcti Paper I 235

Penrose and Katz (1998, 56):

Reducing the data, generalizing from the data, and highlighting
specific cases are all highly interpretive processes. It should be clear
by now that we don't let the data speak for themselves in research
reports; in summarizing our results, we interpret them for the reader.

Swales and Peak (1994, 171)

Authors often include commentary because they are aware of their
audience. They can anticipate that their readers may be thinking,"Why
did they use this method rather than that one?" or "Isn't this result
rather strange?" For obvious reasons, authors may not want to
postpone responding to such imaginary questions and critical
comments until the final section. (Original emphasis)

1. What differences do you see between the first quotation and

the last two?

2. Do you think the 1996 Bjork and Raisanen extract is more

similar to Woodford's or to the last two?

3. Which of these extracts would you bring to the attention of a

beginning graduate student in your field?(You can choose more
than one.) And why?

The fact that the traditional distinction between Results and

Discussions is not as sharp as commonly believed has been borne out
by some recent research. As we have mentioned,Thompson(1993)
studied the Results sections from 20 published biochemistry papers.
Table 24 presents what she found.

Table 24 Commentary Found In Results Sections

Number of Papers
Type of Commentary (max.= 20)

Justifying the methodology 19

Interpreting the results 19

Citing agreement with previous studies 11

Commenting on the data 10

Admitting difficulties in interpretation 8

Pointing out discrepancies 4

Calling for further research 0

236 Acodemic Writing for Groduqfe Students

As can be seen, the first four types of commentary were used by half
or more than half of her authors; indeed, only the "Calling for further
research" category was universally postponed to the Discussion. Here
is part of Thompson's conclusion.

My research demonstrates that scientists—in this case

biochemists—do not present results only in a factual
expository manner; they also employ a variety of
rhetorical moves to argue for the validity of scientific
facts and knowledge claims.(126)
Broadly similar results were found by Brett(1994)for sociology,
although Williams(1999)showed that in medicine statements of
findings still tended to predominate.

TASK ELEVEN
Carefully read a Results section that you have written or read from
your field, marking any commentary elements. In your estimation,
which of the following types is the section most like?

Type 1
Gives straightforward description of the author's results;
includes no commentary at all(no comparisons with the
work of others, no justifications, no—or very few—obvious
highlighting statements).

Type 2
Is mostly restricted to present findings, but includes a few minor
uses of commentary.

Types
Consists of both description of findings and a number of
commentary elements; uses several of the categories
mentioned by Thompson.

Type 4
Makes heavy use of commentary; uses most of the categories
found by Thompson; could almost be taken for a discussion.

Be prepared to discuss your findings in class. Bring your marked-up

copy with you.
 Unit Seven: Constructing a Researc Paper I 237

The Organization of Results Sections

Results sections may, or may not, have subsections. Some subsections
may simply reflect the different stages or parts of the investigation.
Consider the case of an article published in the International Journal
ofNursing Studies entitled "Hospitalized Children's Descriptions of
Their Experiences with Postsurgical Pain Relieving Methods." This
article, which we will be exploring more closely a little later, has four
subsections in the results:

5. Results

5.1. Children's self-initiated use of pain relieving methods

5.2 Nurses' use of pain relieving methods
5.3 Parents' use of pain relieving methods
5.4 Children's suggestions to nurses and parents
However,in another article from the same journal (entitled
"Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Developing a Short Disease Specific
Scale to Measure Health Related Quality of Life"), the subsections
were very different:

3. Results

3.1 Disease specificity

3.2 Factor analysis

3.3 Reliability
3.4 Validity

Doubtless,in all fields the specifics of the investigation (including the

methodology adopted) will determine subsection headings (if any).
The available research suggests that each aspect of the results
will likely be treated in a general-specific manner (see Unit Two),the
specifics variously being more exact data, cases or examples, or
elements of commentary. However, Kanoksilapatham (2003)shows
that at least for biochemistry Results sections, if there is a felt need
for an explanation of procedure or a further justification of
methodology, these will likely occur before general statements of
results. Again we can see this as a strategy for anticipating potential
238 Academic Writing for Graduate Students

reader concerns. Overall, one emerging pattern for handling a

particular result looks like this:

Procedure/justification (optional)

Location statement (if the first of several)

Statement of general findings

More specific statements

Example/case/commentary (optional)

TASK TWELVE
Choose either A or B.

A. The following is the first subsection of Polkki, Pietila, and

Vehvilainen-Julkenen's (2003) results on children's pain in
a Finnish hospital. Suppose this was a draft, what kind of
suggestions might you make for modification?

5. Results

5.1 Children's self-initiated use of pain relieving methods

The children reported 13 successful types of self-initiated pain
relieving methods. As shown in Table 2, most of the children reported
using distraction, resting/sleeping, positioning/immobility and asking
for pain medication or help from nurses when they experienced pain.

TABLE 2. Children's Attempts to Manage Pain

"How have you tried to manage pain/what have you done to help yourself when
you had pain?"
N %

Distraction 51 98
Resting/sleeping 42 81
Positioning/immobility 27 52
Asking for pain medications/help from nurses 27 52
Imagery 16 31
Walking/moving/doing exercises 11 21
Just being and trying to tolerate pain 10 19
Eating/drinking 6 12
Relaxation 4 8
Thought-stopping 1 2
Breathing technique 1 2
Thermal regulation (cold application) 1 2
Urinating often 1 2
 Unit Seven: Constructing a Researchi Paper i 239

The most common methods of distraction by which the children tried

to focus their attention away from pain included reading, watching
TV/videos and playing games. For example, a 10-yr-old boy described
his experiences as follows:

"I have read Donald Duck comics .. . this helps me

forget the pain. I can also get my thoughts elsewhere
by playing Nintendo games. When I concentrate on
playing I don't have much time to think about
anything else."(7)

Another method of drawing attention away from pain included the

use of imagery in which the children reported thinking about some
pleasant action/happening (e.g. getting home), important people (e.g.
mother/father, friends) or pets in order to forget the pain. The method
of thought-stopping was used by only one child. A 12-yr-old boy
described this method as follows without utilizing specific replacement
thoughts:

"Then I have kept on thinking that I am not hurting,

there is no pain, there is no pain."(11)

Children who used positioning typically associated this method

with immobility or restricting movement, as one 12-yr-old girl
described after undergoing an appendectomy:

"I have attempted to determine the best possible

position to be in . . . either on my side or in a
crouched position. I have tried to be without moving
so that it would not hurt more."(15)

All children reported using at least one self-initiated pain relieving

method. The majority of them claimed to use four of these strategies
during their hospitalization. The mean number of strategies identified
was 3.8 with a range from 1 to 8.

B. You are completing a master's thesis in information science,

and your topic is academic languages in the twentieth century.
A contact in Finland has provided you with original data on
the language of publication of doctoral dissertations in that
country. The data will be summarized in Table 25 which
follows.
240 Academic Writing for Graduate Students

Table 25 Language of Publication of Doctoral Dissertations in Finland

Finnish Swedish German English Other Number

1900-1910 20.6% 30.3% 41.2% 1.3% 6.6% 228

1911-20 30.4% 23.3% 39.1% 1.2% 5.9% 253

1921-30 30.0% 20.7% 41.3% 2.8% 5.2% 213

1931-40 27.7% 11.4% 52.5% 4.4% 4.0% 404

1941-50 34.1% 10.4% 32.7% 19.0% 3.7% 431

1951-60 24.4% 6.6% 19.5% 47.2% 2.3% 784

1961-70 21.9% 2.0% 5.8% 68.0% 2.2% 1249

1971-80 21.9% 3.0% 3.2% 71.3% 0.6% 2287

1981-90 18.6% 2.5% 1.1% 11 A% 0.3% 3434

1991-99 18.6% 1.6% 0.5% 77.8% 1.4% 6915

Source: Wilson 2002.

As you plan to write up this section of your results, which of the

following points do you want to include? (Indicate your decisions by
Y or N.)

1. Other languages might include Russian.

. 2. Finnish has been remarkably stable over the course of

the 20th century.

. 3. The second official language in the country, Swedish, has

virtually disappeared as a dissertation language.

. 4. The lowest numbers of dissertations completed occurred

in the 1920s.

. 5. The number of dissertations has rapidly increased since

1960, doubling in the century's final decade.

. 6. The decline of German followed its defeat in the Second

World War (1939-1945).

. 7. By the end of the century, the percentage of dissertations

written in English had consolidated at over 75%.

. 8. By the end of the century, around 700 dissertations were

being defended each year in Finland.
 Unit Seven: Constructing a Research Paper i 241

Decide the order of presentation of the points you have selected. Are
there other descriptive or evaluative points you would like to make?
Now write up this part of your Results section. Begin in the following
manner.

3. Results

3.2 Language of publication of theses and dissertations

3.23. The situation in Finland.

Unlike the other countries so far investigated, the overall data for
Finland is chronologically complete—even if it is not broken down into
broad divisions, such as sciences versus humanities.

TASK THIRTEEN
Produce a Results section from your own work (or part of one if your
work is extensive). If your results are not yet complete, create some
findings for this task.