Research Paper

Writing (RPW)
(Student Version)
 What is the RPW course about?
The process of writing a research paper

01 02 03 04
• Finding a problem • Narrowing down the
•
• Finalizing the Getting acquainted
that needs to be topic to find re levant
research question. with research paper
solved studies.
te rmino log y.

05 06 07
• Summarizing the • Le arning how to cite • Writing a Lite rature
re levant studies sources. Review.
(Article Reviews).
 Why do you study RPW?

• Try to solve problems

01 in practical life (i.e. 03 • Conduct a literature
review.
Keto diet+ weight loss).

02 • Analyze / appreciate
different research
articles
 Course Work and Final 70%
Narrowing down assignment.
- Part (1) 2%
- Part (2) 3%
Article review (1) (5%)
Article review (2) (10%)
Article Review (3) / (4) (10%)
Draft of Literature
Review + Group
Conference (10 %)
• Midterm 20%
• 2 Quizzes (Best one - 10%)
Literature
review 30%
What is a literature review?
• A critical summary of previous studies or research on a
topic of interest.
• It is generally written to put a research problem in
context or to identify gaps and weaknesses in prior
studies so as to justify a new investigation.
Literature Review Sections

Introduction Article Reviews

Methodology Narrowing Down

Results Article Reviews

Discussion Conferencing

References
Research Terminology

Types of Sources

Preliminary source of information

01 • Publications that lead us to primary sources (indexes and abstracts,
databases that are organized based on keywords).

• We use Keywords from our research questions to guide our library search.

• Include both primary and secondary sources

Research Terminology

Types of Sources
Primary resources of information
02 • Research- based (Experiment).

Secondary resources of information

03 It is a type of research that has already been comp iled, gathered, organized and
pub lishe d by others.
• Summaries.
• Reports.
• Article review.
• Literature review/meta- analysis.
• Position paper.
• Books.
 Research Terminology

Title: Variables & relationship between them

The components of a primary research.

Abstract: Summary of the study: 1) purpose, 2)
source of data/ participants, 3) the method used,
4) the results in general, 5) their interpretation

Introduction: 1) The purpose of the study, 2) the

1. Title . gap, 3) review of the literature 4) definitions of
variables and 5) the research questions/
2. Abstract. hypotheses
3. Intro duction.
4. Methodo log y. Method: Sample, the research design, the data
5. Results. collection procedures/ the instruments used

6. Discussion/conclusion.
7. Table of Reference.
Results: Answer of the RQ or hypothesis: p-value

Discussion: Findings, RQ answer, hypotheses

answer, practical implications, limitations
(weaknesses) of the study, strengths, and
suggestions for future research.
Research Terminology

02 What is an abstract?

• It is a clear, concise summary of the study that communicates the essential

information about the study.
• In research articles, it is usually located at the beginning of the article.

• Can you depend on this summary to obtain concrete information

without reading the whole research article?
• No. Why?
• Abstracts are mainly used by researchers to identify if an article is
relevant to their research question or not.
Research Terminology

01 What does a title include?

1. Variables: are the things that vary/change in a study.

• Inde pendent variab le : the variable of influence.
• Dependent variab le : the variable be ing influenced.
2. Relationship between the variables.
3. Sample: the partic ipants or the objects used in the study.
4. Type of the study: e x: e xperimental/e xploratory/ lite rature review.
Research Terminology

03 What does an introduction include?

1. Literature review.

• It is the part that summarizes previous primary resources on the topic you are investigating.

2. Gap/significance of the study.

• A gap is what was not covered by other researchers in this field.

• If not found, the study’s significance should be identifie d.

 Research Terminology

03 What does an introduction include?

3. Operational definitions (ODs).

• It is how the researcher decided to measure the variables. (check the ne xt two slides).
4 . Aim/purpose/goal of the study.
• It is the main goal or the overarching purpose of your research project.
5 . Research Question or Hypothesis.
• RQ: it is the question that the study aims to answer.
• Hyp : it is a statement that states the researcher’s predictions about what the research will find (it
should be confirmed or re jec ted).

If the study has no research question or a hypothesis, we formulate a research

question out of the aim.
Research Terminology

What is an operational definition?

• It is how the researcher measured the variables in the study.
• There are usually many ways to measure a variable.
• Therefore, each researcher should identify how they measured the variables in their study.
• The operational definitions should be found in the introduction section.

• If they are missing from the introduction, we should look at the methodology section,
particularly, look at the instruments sub- section of the methodology.
 Research Terminology

What is an operational definition?

What is the difference between a theoretical de finitio n and an operational one?
• A theoretical definition te lls you what a variable means in abstract or theoretical te rms (non- measurable).
• It is usually found in the lite rature review section (i.e ., a summary of previous re levant studies).
• Ex: Social med ia add ic tion is defined as being driven by an uncontrollab le urge to log on to or use social med ia
(Bergman, 20 23).

• However, an operational definition te lls you how the researcher measured his/her variables in the specific
research article you are reading. Dimension
• Ex: Social media addiction is operationally de fined as the screen time detected on the participants’ phones per
day, on a scale from 1- 10 hours, where (1- 3 ) means not addicted, (4 - 7) moderately add ic ted, and (8 - 10 ) means
severe ly addicted.

Scores & their meanings

 Keywords
1) Aim The objective of the study is...
This research aims to explore…/ The study exp lored…
This study sets out to assess the…/ The study investigated…
This research study’s target is to find out the …/The research
sought to find the e ffect o f…..
The goal of this study is to determine ….
2 ) Gap There are limited studies on…
There are mixed findings…
Not enough studies have been conducted on…
There is a paucity in…
The studies found in the German context are not enough.
Most studies piloted undergraduate students, not X.
 keywords

3) This study posits that when social anxiety increases, self-

Hypothesis esteem decreases.
This research hypothesizes…/ It is hypothesized
This study predicts…
This researcher believes that…
Research Terminology

04 What does a methodology include?

1. Sample: participants.

2. Instruments: measures/tools.

3. Procedures: steps.
 Research Terminology

04 What does a methodology include?

Convenient sampling
1. Sample.
• A samp le is the participants used or observed in
a study.
What do we need to identify in a sample?
Random sampling
A. Final sample size.
B. Characteristics of the sample (gender, age, and
education).
C. Selection criteria (random or convenient or not
mentioned).
D. Loc ation of the experiment. (Country).
N.B: the sample should be in the methodology section. If you cannot find it, you
should look in the results section. (in this case, the sample is misplaced).
Research Terminology

Sampling Procedures

Target Population
GENERALIZE
A Sample

C B
C
D B A
SECLECTION

The sample is not fully representative

Adapted from: Perry, p.60
 Research Terminology

04 What does a methodology include?

2. Instruments (also calle d tools or measures) .

• They are the tools/means of which the data is collected.
a. Quantitative: tests/ surveys/questionnaires (numbers and statistics).
b. Qualitative: interviews /observations (words).
What do we nee d to identify in each instrument?
A. Name and abbreviation of the instrument.
B. The variable being assessed by this instrument.
C. Description of this instrument (scale name/type, number of items, dimensions of
the variable, and the scores).
 Research Terminology

04 What does a methodology include?

Keywords:
1- Design
2 Duration
3. Procedures (i.e. steps of the e xp eriment) . 3 How was it conducted?
• They are details of how this e xperiment was administered.
What do we nee d to identify?
1. Research desig n (Cross- sectional, longitudinal, pre- post). (check ne xt slide).
2. Duration of the e xperiment.
3. How was the e xperiment conducted?
• Was it online? on- campus? Email?
• Was there a consent? Parental approvals?
N.B: If you read the procedures section, you should be able to conduct a similar
e xperiment.
N.B: You should identify all the steps of the e xperiment even if they are not all listed under
the methodolog y or procedures section.
 Research Terminology

Experimental Research Designs

1) Cross- sectional

Intervention Questionnaire

2) Pre- post

Questionnaire Intervention Questionnaire

3) Longitudinal

Questionnaire Intervention Questionnaire Questionnaire Questionnaire

✓ What is the research design of the experiment?
3 case scenarios of many others ☺

Cross- sectional design Pre- post design Long itud inal design
Data is gathered once at Data is gathered by taking Data is gathered by repeating
a specific point in time. measurements of participants the same e xperiment over a
both be fore and after they are short or long periods of time.
subjected to an intervention.
 Research Terminology

05 What does the results include?

• Results are expressed in numbers or statistics for Quantitative studies, and in words for
qualitative studies.
What do we need to identify in the results?
A. Answer to the RQs and/or hypothesis.
B. Corre lation between the independent and dependent variables.
C. P- value and signific ance.
A p- value is the probability of error in the results:
• If the p- value is ≤0.05, then the results are acceptable/borderline.
• If the p- value is ≤0.01, then the results are significant.
• If the p- value is ≤0 .005 or 0 .00 1, then the results are highly significant.
• If the p- value is >0.05, then the results are insignificant.
 Research Terminology

05 What does the results include? Keywords:

1 ans. to RQ/hyp.
2 correlation.
Notes about the results section: 3 p-value.
4 significance.

N.B: You need to make use of the tables/graphs/charts found in the article.
N.B: You need to discuss ONLY the results of the relevant variables (that answers our RQs and/or hypothesis).
N.B: Having similar p- values does not happen in all studies.
 Research Terminology

06 What does the Discussion/conclusion include?

1. Interpretation of the results

• What does the results show? What does this mean?
• It comes in words, not numbers.
• It accounts for the reasons behind the obtaine d results.
• The results are discussed in re lation to the RQs or Hypothesis + previous studies.
2. Limitations of the study
• They are the weaknesses found in the study, but acknowledged by the researcher.
• They are not our own opinions/analysis of the article .
3. Recommendation for future research
• They are the suggestions written by the researcher for other researchers who want to tackle the same topic.
4. Practical implications
• How can people in charge/institutio ns/communitie s apply the results in real life ?
• They are usually addressed to policymakers and practitioners (people working in the fie ld).
 keywords

Practical Health policies and guidelines should be enacted…

implications
It is necessary to consid e r differential educational policies in
re lating ...
It will be necessary to implement such action plans as soon as
possible…
Digitally informed psychiatry education should be taught,
including topics on...
 Research design
1. Basic Applied
OR
(theoretical) (practical)

2. Exploratory Confirmatory
OR
(has a research question) (has a research hypothesis)

Quantitative Qualitative
OR
(Results include numbers & statistics) (Results include words, no statistics)
Research Terminology

07 How can we write the full reference/citation of

the article?
• Usually all the information you need will be in the beginning or at the end of the first page.
What do we need to identify?

1. Family name(s).
2. First name(s) initials.
3. Year.
4. Article title.
5. Journal name.
6. Volume.
7. Issue.
8. Page range.
9. Doi link.
 Research Terminology

07 How can we write the full reference/citation of

the article? Volume Page range Issue
Journal name

Article title
Year

Family/Last name
First names initials

DOI link?

Smith, A., P., & Stamatakis, C. (2010). Cereal bars, mood and memory. Current topics in nutraceutical
research, 8(4 ), 169 - 127.
 Research Terminology

08 Evaluation of the Article

• Points of strengths • Points of weaknesses
1. Random sampling. 1. Any missing component.
2. Large sample size. • Missing research questions.
3. Clear procedures. • Missing gap.
4. Practical implications. • Missing operatio nal definitions from the intro ductio n.
5. Limitations. 2. Any misplaced component.
6. Title is clear (variables & relationship). • Misplaced sample in the results section (instead of
the methodo log y).
3. Unclear procedures.
4. Missing practic al im plic atio ns.
5. Missing lim itatio ns.

N.B: having a p-value, or results, or any main component in the article is not a point of strength.
N.B: Missing a main component is a weakness.