FYP 1 TALK

Nur Hidayati Othman

15/06/2016 – Dewan Kuliah H, UiTM

 CHAPTER 1 :
INTRODUCTION
Introduction should do following things:
1.1 Research background
1.2 Problem statement
 Tell the reader simply and clearly 1.3 Research objectives
 What the subject is. 1.4 Research scopes
 Why the subject is important
 How you are going to approach the subject i.e : The methodology.

1.1 Research Background

 Review the major literature on the subject and explain how this work is not covered
by existing works.
For example, the author might use well-known material and ask new questions or
approach an old subject with new questions. Perhaps the author is using new
material.

 Explains the need for this particular work.

1.2 Problem statement
 Usually comes at the beginning of a report to explain the problem or issue
 A problem statement will outline:
 The basic facts of the problem
 Explain why the problem matters
 Pinpoint a solution as quickly and directly as possible.
1.3 Research objectives
Aim: What you hope to achieve by the end of your dissertation. They should be clear and
concise statements, but expressed in general terms.

Objectives: How you intend to achieve those aims. They will include the specific means of
answering the research question that you have posed and details of the key issues
involved.

1.4 Scope of Works

Setting the boundary of your work. This will help one to assess whether the research
is feasible or not and also gives an idea of what is expected.
 Examples: Effectiveness of OPAC interfaces
General objective:
To find out how effective and friendly is the OPAC interface of NTU or NLB from end-users’ point
of view, with a view to comingup with suggestions for modifications, improvements, etc.
Specific objectives:
 To assess how far the OPAC is used as a tool for finding information by the end-users of
NTU or NLB;
 To assess how friendly and effective is the interface from the end-user point of view;
 To identify the problems faced by the end-users in searching the OPAC;
 To propose areas of improvement
Scopes: Setting the boundary of your work. This will help one to assess whether the research is
feasible or not and also gives an idea of what is expected.
 The research only considers students (postgraduate and/or undergraduate) as end-users
 The study will be conducted within a specified time-period, just in one semester or in one
month
 The study only considers the OPAC interface available on the NTU Intranet; and so on.
 CHAPTER 2:
LITERATURE REVIEW
How to start your literature review

■ Keywords in your research

■ Journal articles
■ The references should be past 3-5 years. Fundamental theories can be dated earlier
than that.
■ References software (Endnote, Mendeley, etc.)
 Purpose of Literature Review
A critical look at the existing research that is significant to the work that you are carrying
out.
 To provide background information
 To establish importance Effective Literature Review
 To demonstrate familiarity  Outlining important research
 To “carve out a space” for further research trends
 Assessing the strengths and
It should not be: weaknesses of existing research
Χ A descriptive list of papers or summaries of research
 Identifying potential gaps in
Χ Organised around the sources with each described in
great detail knowledge
 Establishing a need for current
Χ An argument for the importance of what you are
researching with no contextualisation of key issues and/or future research projects

Instead, your literature review must be organised around ideas with an assessment of previous studies (including
their strengths and weaknesses).
Stages in literature review

Early Review Progress Final

1. To establish the To keep in touch 1. To relate your
context and with current, findings to the
rationale for your relevant research findings of others
study in your field,
which is published 2. To identify
2. To confirm your during the period their implications
choice of research of your research; for theory,
focus/question practice, and
research.
Steps for Writing a Literature Review

■ Planning
■ Reading and research
■ Analyzing
■ Drafting
■ Revising
How to get started: Ask yourself these questions
■ What is the specific thesis, problem, or research question that my literature
review helps to define?
■ What type of literature review am I conducting?
■ Am I looking at issues of theory? methodology? policy? quantitative research?
qualitative research?
■ What is the scope of my literature review? What types of publications am I
using (e.g., journals, books, government documents, popular media)?
■ What time period am I interested in? What geographical area? What social
setting? What materials?
 1. Finding relevant literature
 Online:
Google Scholar
Scopus
Elsevier
Patents
Books
 Check references of references. it can be a good idea to check through their
reference lists to see the range of sources that they referred to.
 Use software packages such as Endnote / Mendeley to collect and store details of
articles but also read abstracts to make sure they are relevant.
 References software
Endnote download from PTAR : Password
ptarbpa2015
2. Writing up your literature review

■ Write up your review part way through your reading in order to identify
gaps/weaknesses
■ Keep the focus on your study and not the literature
■ Make sure the structure leads the reader through the key issues e.g.
signposting
■ Make sure that the literature review is framed by your research questions
■ Where possible, use original sources rather than other people’s review of
literature(s)
 Literature Review Writing Guideline
■ Introduce the literature review by pointing out the major research topic that will be
discussed
■ Identify the broad problem area but don’t be too global
■ Discuss the general importance of your topic for those in your field
■ Don’t attempt to cover everything written on your topic
■ You will need to pick out the research most relevant to the topic you are studying
■ You will use the studies in your literature review as “evidence” that your research
question is an important one
■ It is important to cover research relevant to all the variables being studied.
■ Research that explains the relationship between these variables is a top priority.
■ You will need to plan how you will structure your literature review and write from
this plan.
 Structure Of Literature Review
Introduction
 Gives a quick idea of the topic of the literature review, such as the central theme
or organizational pattern.
Body
 Contains your discussion of sources.
Conclusions/recommendations
 Discuss what you have drawn from reviewing literature so far. Where might the
discussion proceed?

A general organization looks like a funnel

• Broader topics
• Subtopics
• Studies like yours
28
 STRUCTURE OF LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
 Content - what is covered
 Structure - how it is organized
 Boundaries - what is outside of its scope

Body
SECTION 1
SECTION 2 ADDITIONAL SECTIONS
The most important topic or a key concept
The next most important  Follow the same pattern
topic or a key concept
 discussed and evaluated
 discussed and evaluated
 summarized and related to your research
 summarized and related to your research project
project

Conclusions
From each of the section summaries,
 highlight the most relevant points
 relate these back to the need for research
 reiterate what these mean for the
research design
(Golden-Biddle & Locke, 1997)
 Structure of the Literature Review
■ There is not one ‘ideal’ structure for your literature review so talk to your supervisor
about this.
■ Consider whether you wish to organise your literature review chronologically,
thematically, by development of ideas (or a combination of these)
• Topical Order—organize by main topics or issues; emphasize the relationship of
the issues to the main “problem”
• Chronological Order—organize the literature by the dates the research was
published
• Problem-Cause-Solution Order—Organize the review so that it moves from the
problem to the solution
• General-to-Specific Order—(Also called the funnel approach) Examine broad-
based research first and then focus on specific studies that relate to the topic
• Specific-to-General Order—Try to make discuss specific research studies so
conclusions can be drawn
Common Errors Made in Literature Reviews
Χ Review isn’t logically organized
Χ Review isn’t focused on most important facets of the study. Too broad
or too narrow topic
Χ Review doesn’t relate literature to the study. Review reads like a series
of disjointed summaries
Χ Review doesn’t argue a point
Χ Too few references / outdated references cited
Χ Recent references are omitted
Χ Relying too heavily upon secondary sources.
Χ Concentrating on findings rather than methods.
Χ Inaccuracy in the compiling of bibliographic information.
.
 Good Literature Review
√ Focused - The topic should be narrow. You should only present ideas and only
report on studies that are closely related to topic.
√ Concise - Ideas should be presented economically. Don’t take any more space than
you need to present your ideas.
√ Logical - The flow within and among paragraphs should be a smooth, logical
progression from one idea to the next
√ Developed - Don’t leave the story half told.
√ Integrative - Your paper should stress how the ideas in the studies are related.
Focus on the big picture. What commonality do all the studies share? How are
some studies different than others? Your paper should stress how all the studies
reviewed contribute to your topic.
√ Current - Your review should focus on work being done on the cutting edge of your
topic.
32
 Common problems in literature review and how they can be addressed
Problem Possible Solutions
Organising around individual • Use a mind map to help you organise your material under general themes/ issues
papers rather than around • Take notes under focus questions rather than from each article separately (this is like first sorting
themes/issues/questions (i.e. list the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle into piles of related pieces to simplify the job of putting the pieces
like writing lacking synthesis). together.
Lacking a clear organisational • Again, use a mind map or list of focus questions to help your organisation, and use descriptive
structure headings and sub-headings, and appropriate linking and signposting in your writing to help the
reader navigate their way around.
Not discriminating between • See your job as answering reader questions rather than just collating background information.
relevant and irrelevant materials. • Understand the purpose of each part of what you are writing You should be able to justify each
component of what you write with a “because”. If the reader (you too!) doesn’t need to or want to
know something, don’t tell them!
Not being critical • Remember, your goal is not to merely summarise existing literature, but to make a case that
there is a significant gap in or limitation with the existing literature that needs to be addressed;
that there are good reasons for believing your hypotheses are likely to be correct; etc. (See also
argument map below.)
Exclusion of landmark studies • Landmark studies should be mentioned in the introductions / lit reviews in good papers in your
field, so use these as a guide.
Emphasis on outdated material • Make sure you are keeping up with the latest literature, and use the literature it refers to also.

Adopting a parochial perspective • Make sure you read widely, not just papers from your research group or from one geographic
location.
 Read the Material Closer !
 Step 1: Read the abstract
 Decide whether to read the article in detail
 Step 2: Read introduction
 It explains why the study is important
 It provides review and evaluation of relevant literature
 Step 3: Read Method with a close, critical eye
 Focus on participants, measures, procedures
 Step 4: Evaluate results
 Do the conclusions seem logical
 Can you detect any bias on the part of the researcher?
 Step 5: Take discussion with a grain of salt
 Edges are smoothed out
 Pay attention to limitations
(Carroll, 2006)
 Analyse the Literature
 Take notes as you read through each paper that will be included in the review
 In the notes include:
 purpose of study reviewed
 synopsis of content
 research design or methods used in study
 brief review of findings
 Once notes complete organize common themes together. Some people do this
in a word document, others use index cards so they can shuffle them.
 Some people construct a table of info to make it easier to organize their
thoughts.
 As you organize your review, integrate findings elicited from note taking or
table making process.
(Green, Johnson, & Adams, 2006)
 Construct the Literature Review
1. In the introduction, explain why the topic is important and give the reader an idea of
where you are going in your paper.

2. Group research studies and other types of literature according to common

denominators.
 If you’ve taken notes before, the common themes are more easily identifiable.
 Some factors used to organize reviews are:
− Conclusions of authors
− Specific purpose
− Objective
− Chronology (this method will give the worst impression, use only if it really makes
sense to yourtopic!)

(University of Wisconsin, 2006)

 Construct the Literature Review
3. Summarize individual studies or articles
 Use as much or as little detail as each merits according to its comparative importance
in the literature
 Don’t need to provide a lot of detail about the procedures used in other studies.
 Most literature reviews only describe the main findings, relevant methodological
issues, and/or major conclusions of other research.

4. Discuss major areas of agreement or disagreement

5. Tie the study into the current body of lit.,

 Make logical interpretations from the lit reviewed.
 If there is no discussion of the relevance of the overview to other work in the field, or
no interpretation of the literature, it may signal the author has not thoroughly
investigated the topic.

(University of Wisconsin, 2006)

Focusing & organizing literature review with a mind map
Summary table
 It is very useful to prepare.
 Provide a quick overview that allows the reviewer to make sense of a
large mass of information.
 The tables could include columns with headings such as
 Author
 Type of study
 Sample
 Design
 Data collection approach
 Key findings

40
 Citation Sample Environment Method Conclusions
Colour
Summary table of literature
Atmospherics in service environments

Bellizzi, Crowley and 125 Adults Furniture store Laboratory Warm and cool colours created different emotional
Hasty (1983) experiment responses. Customers view red retail environments as
Photographic more negative and unpleasant than blue.
slide
simulations
Bellizzi, & Hite (1992) 70 Adult women Televisions Laboratory Study based on PAD affect measures and approach-
107 Students shown with experiments avoidance behaviours.
different colour Photographic More positive retail outcomes occurred in blue
backgrounds slide environments than red.
Furniture simulations
stores
Music
Smith and Curnow 1100 Retail store Field Time in store reduced with loud music but level of
(1966) Supermarket experiment sales did not.
shoppers
Hui, Dubé and Chebat 116 Students Bank branch Laboratory The positive impact of music on approach behaviours
(1997) - waiting for experiment is mediated by an emotional evaluation of the
service. Video environment and the emotional response to waiting.
simulation Pleasurable music produced longer perceived waiting
times.
Lighting
Areni and Kim (1994) 171 Shoppers Wine store Field The investigation found that brighter in-store lighting
41
experiment influenced shoppers to examine and handle more of
Grammar and Writing
Skills
1. TENSE PAIRS
2. SIGNALLING LANGUAGE
3. PASSIVE /ACTIVE USE
4. PARAGRAPHING

42
 1. TENSE PAIRS
•Present Simple/Present Continuous
(a) I live in Beijing. Present Simple (a)permanent situation
(b) I’m living in Beijing. Present Continuous (b)temporary situation.

(a) We found that the pressure increased as the temperature rose, which indicated that
temperature played a significant role in the process.

(b) We found that the pressure increases as the temperature rises, which indicates that
temperature plays a significant role in the process.

In (a), Past Simple tense means that your findings are linked only to your own research
In (b), Present Simple tense means that you believe your findings and deductions are strong
enough to be considered as facts or truths.
Present tense

■ A statement about what the thesis, chapter or section does

This thesis presents a report of an investigation into …….
This chapter thus provides a basis for the next.
In this section, the results from the first set of experiments are reported.
■ A statement of a generally accepted scientific fact
There are three factors that control the concentration of aluminum in seawater.
The finite rate coefficients have an effect on heat transfer through a horizontal porous layer.
■ A review of current research work, or research work of immediate
relevance to your study.
Schulze (2002) concludes that hydraulic rate has a significant effect on future performance.

■ Comments, explanations and evaluative statements made by you 44

when you are reviewing previous studies.

•Past Simple/Present Perfect
(a) Past Simple:
I lived in Tokyo for five years… but I don’t live there anymore.
(b) Present Perfect:
I have lived in Tokyo for five years… and I still live there NOW.
(c) Past Simple:
I broke my glasses… but it doesn’t matter/I repaired them.
(d) Present Perfect:
I have broken my glasses… and so I can’t see properly NOW.

The differences between (a) and (b) is the ‘time’ of the verb, i.e. when it happened.
In (c) and (d), ‘time’, i.e. when the verb happened, isn’t really what separates the two sentences; it’s
possible that both (c) and (d) happened last month, this morning, or one nanosecond ago.
What is important is that the event in (d) is considered more relevant to the situation now than the event in
(c), which is why it is given in the Present Perfect
 Example
Penney et al. showed that PLA composites could be prepared using blending techniques and more
recently, Hillier established the toughness of such composites. However, although the effect of the
rubber particles on the mechanical properties of copolymer systems was demonstrated over two years
ago, little attention has been paid to the selection of an appropriate rubber component.

Now look at what happens if the writer forgets to change tense and continues in the Past Simple:
Signalling language

However, although the effect of the rubber particles on the mechanical properties of copolymer systems
was demonstrated over two years ago, little attention was paid to the selection of an appropriate rubber
component.

Suddenly, the sentence means that little attention was paid THEN, i.e. two years ago. Perhaps
attention has been paid to this problem since then; perhaps the problem has even been solved!
past tense

■ Report the contents, findings or conclusions of past research

Haberfield (1998) showed that the velocity of many enzyme reactions was slowed
down if the end product had an increased paramagnetism.
Allington (1999) found that the temperatures varied significantly over time.

47
 PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

■ In citations where the focus is on the research area of several authors

Several studies have provided support for the suggestion that the amount of
phonological recoding that is carried out depends on orthographic depth (Frost,
1994; Smart et al, 1997; Katz & Feldman, 2001, 2002).
Joint roughness has been characterized by a number of authors (Renger, 1990;
Feker & Rengers, 1997; Wu & Ali, 2000).

■ To generalize about the extent of the previous research

Many studies have been conducted in this field.
Few researchers have examined this technique.
There has been extensive research into.........

48
 2. SIGNALLING LANGUAGE
•Sentence connection
Overlap: repeat something from the previous sentence:
The pattern of inflammation during an asthma attack is different from that seen in stable asthma. In
stable asthma, the total number of inflammatory cells does not increase.

Pronoun (it, they) or pro-form (this method, these systems) to glue the sentences together:
Many researchers have suggested ways of reducing cost without affecting the quality of the image.
These methods rely on data structures built during a preprocessing step.

The third way is not to finish the sentence at all, but to join it to the next sentence with a
semicolon or a relative clause (a ‘which’ clause). Joining sentences with a semicolon works well
when two sentences are very closely related and one of them is quite short:
The procedure for testing whether components are operationally safe usually takes many hours; this
means that tests are rarely repeated.
It has received much attention over the past few decades due to its biodegradable properties, which
offer important economic benefits.
 2. SIGNALLING LANGUAGE
•Sentence connection
Fourth way: signalling sentence connector to indicate the relationship between one sentence and
the next, or one part of a sentence and the next. You know how useful sentence connectors are from
your reading; when you see a word like therefore or however.

•Cause
The experiment was unsuccessful ________ the measuring instruments were inaccurate. The
experiment was unsuccessful ________ the inaccuracy of the measuring instruments.
due to (the fact that) as
on account of (the fact that) because
in view of (the fact that) since

•Result
The measuring instruments were calibrated accurately, ________ the experiment was successful.

therefore as a result (of which)

consequently which is why
hence so
• Contrast/difference
British students are all vegetarians, __________ Norwegian students eat meat every day.
however on the other hand
whereas while
but by contrast

• Unexpectedness
(a) _______ it was difficult, a solution was eventually found.
(b) _______ the difficulty, a solution was eventually found.
(c) It was difficult; ________ a solution was eventually found.
(a) Although (b) Despite (c) nevertheless
(a) Even though (b) In spite of (c) however
(a) Though (b) Regardless of (c) yet
(b) Notwithstanding (c) nonetheless
(c) even so

• Addition
We used a batch processing system because it was more effective; ___________ it was faster.
in addition also
moreover secondly (etc.)
furthermore in the second place (etc.)
apart from that/which what is more
 3. Active/ Passive
• You can use we to refer to your research group or team, but do not use it to refer to
people or humanity in general.
• If you are referring to people in general, it’s better to use a construction with It (It is
known/ thought that…) rather than We know/think that…
• It is also common to use the passive instead of we, especially in the central ‘report’
section (was measured, was added, etc.).
• In a thesis, you are writing as an individual and you don’t have a research group or team.
Since you cannot write your thesis using I, you will probably write in the passive.
• To let your reader know when you are referring to your own work. You can also use a
‘dummy’ subject to take the place of I or we:

This article describes an algorithm for clustering sequences into index classes.
The present paper presents a set of criteria for selecting such a component.
 4. Paragraphing
• Paragraphs are an important visual aid to effective reading and writing.
• Two common errors in paragraphing are clusters of short or single-sentence paragraphs,
and paragraphs that are too long.
• Skimming may help me read, but how does it help me to write?
1. READ THE TITLE and try to predict the type of information you expect to see
2. LOOK AT THE NAME OF THE AUTHOR : What you know about the writer will help you predict and
. content.
evaluate the
3. CHECK THE DATE and use it to help you assess the content.
4. READ THE ABSTRACT to find out what the researchers did and/or what they found
5. LOOK QUICKLY AT THE FIRST PARAGRAPH without trying to understand all the words.
6. LOOK QUICKLY AT THE FIRST SENTENCE OF EACH PARAGRAPH without trying to understand
all the words
7. LOOK QUICKLY AT EACH FIGURE/TABLE AND READ ITS TITLE to try and find out what type of
visual data is included.
8. READ THE LAST PARAGRAPH especially if it has a subtitle like ‘Summary’ or ‘Conclusion’
 VOCABULARY
■ ESTABLISHING SIGNIFICANCE
■ PREVIOUS AND/OR CURRENT RESEARCH
AND CONTRIBUTIONS
■ GAP/PROBLEM/QUESTION/PREDICTION
■ THE PRESENT WORK
 Establishing significance
(a) basic issue (a) major issue economically important one of the best-known
(a) central problem (a) popular method (has) focused (on) over the past ten years
(a) challenging area (a) powerful tool/method for a number of years play a key role (in)
(a) classic feature (a) profitable technology for many years play a major part (in)
(a) common issue (a) range (of) frequent(ly) possible benefits
(a) considerable number (a) rapid rise generally potential applications
(a) crucial issue (a) remarkable variety (has been) extensively studied recent decades
(a) current problem (a) significant increase importance/important recent(ly)
(a) dramatic increase (a) striking feature many today
(an) essential element (a) useful method most traditional(ly)
(a) fundamental issue (a) vital aspect much study in recent years typical(ly)
(a) growth in popularity (a) worthwhile study nowadays usually
(an) increasing number attracted much attention numerous investigations well-known
(an) interesting field benefit/beneficial of great concern widely recognised
(a) key•technique
A major current focus in population
commercial interestmanagement of is how tointerest
growing ensure sustainability widespread
of…
•
(a) leading Numerous
cause (of) experiments have
during the established
past that ionising
two decades often radiation causes… worthwhile
• Low-dose responses to radiation have generated considerable recent research interest.
• Analysis of change in the transportation sector is vital for two important reasons: …
• It is generally accepted that joints in steel frames operate in a semi¬rigid fashion.
• Nanocrystalline oxide films are attracting widespread interest in fields such as…
• The importance of strength anisotropy has been demonstrated by…
• Convection heat transfer phenomena play an important role in the development of…
• For more than 100 years researchers have been observing the stress-strain behaviour of…
55
 PREVIOUS AND/OR CURRENT RESEARCH contributions
address classify define evaluate imply prefer put forward study
adopt collect demonstrate examine improve obtain realise support
analyse compare describe explain incorporate overcome recognise suggest
apply concentrate design explore indicate perform recommend test
(on)
argue conclude detect extend interpret point out record undertake
assume conduct determine find introduce predict report use
attempt confirm develop focus on investigate present reveal utilise
calculate consider discover formulate measure produce revise
categorise construct discuss generate model propose review
carry out correlate enhance identify monitor prove show
choose deal with establish illustrate note provide simulate
• This phenomenon was demonstrated by…
claim debate estimate implement observe publish solve
• In their study, expanded T-cells were found in…
• Initial attempts focused on identifying the cause of…
• Weather severity has been shown to…
• Early data was interpreted in the study by…
• The algorithm has been proposed for these applications…
• The results on pair dispersion were reported in…
• Their study suggested a possible cause for…
• An alternative approach was developed by…
56
 Gap/problem/prediction/question
ambiguous inadequate not apparent incompatible (with) (to) demand clarification unclear few studies have..
unlikely incapable (of) not repeatable incomplete (to) disagree unrealistic it is necessary to
confused inferior not studied inconclusive (to) fail to (a) flaw little evidence is available
deficient inflexible not sufficiently + adjective inconsistent (to) fall short of (a) gap in our knowledge little work has been done
doubtful insufficient not well understood inconvenient (to) miscalculate (a) lack more work is needed
expensive meaningless not/no longer useful incorrect (to) need to re-examine (a) limitation there is growing concern
false misleading of little value (an) alternative approach (to) neglect not dealt with (a) need for clarification there is an urgent need…
far from perfect non-existent over-simplistic (a) challenge (to) overlook (the) next step this is not the case
ill-defined not addressed poor (a) defect (to) remain unstudied no correlation (between)
impractical unfortunately problematic (to) misjudge (to) require clarification (an) obstacle unresolved
improbable restricted questionable (to) misunderstand to) suffer (from) (a) problem unsatisfactory
inaccurate time-consuming redundant unsupported unanswered (a) risk unsolved
(a) difficulty (a) drawback computationally demanding uneconomic uncertain (a) weakness unsuccessful

(a) disadvantage (an) error unnecessary unfounded unproven (the) absence of

• Few researchers have addressed the problem of…

• There remains a need for an efficient method that can…
• However, light scattering techniques have been largely unsuccessful to date.
• The high absorbance makes this an impractical option in cases where…
• Unfortunately, these methods do not always guarantee…
• An alternative approach is necessary.
• The function of these proteins remains unclear.
• These can be time-consuming and are often technically difficult to perform.
• Although this approach improves performance, it results in an unacceptable number of…
• Previous work has focused only on…
• However, the experimental configuration was far from optimal 57
The present work
(to) facilitate (this) work simple
(to) illustrate begin by/with straightforward
(to) improve close attention is paid to successful
(to) manage to here valuable
(to) minimise overview Aim/goal/intention/ objective
purpose
(to) offer (to) outline to) predict
(to) propose (to) provide (to) reveal
(to) succeed
• This paper focuses on…
• The purpose of this study is to describe and examine…
• In order to investigate the biological significance…
• In this paper we present…
• New correlations were developed with excellent results…
• In the present study we performed…
• This paper introduces a scheme which solves these problems.
• The approach we have used in this study aims to…
• This study investigated the use of…
• In this report we test the hypothesis that…
• This paper is organised as follows:…

58
The Writing Process

SHOW OTHERS
■ Rough Draft
■ Edit
Have someone else look at your literature review for
■ Final Draft
• Clarity
■ Edit
• Can theyAgain
understand what you’re trying say?
• Flow
• Does the organization make sense?
• Completeness
• Are there areas left out?
• Questions left unanswered?
• Statements without citations? 59
 Research Tips

■ Use the A-Z guide to find key databases and other resources related to
your topic
■ Talk to experienced researchers in the field, they can recommend
resources and identify key works and authors
■ Look at reviews in completed dissertations and reports from your
program to get an idea of the format and requirements
■ When collecting references, use a citation management tool like
RefWorks or EndNote
Citation Management Tools

■ Managing the references you find and use in your review will take a significant
amount of work
■ Using a citation management tool like RefWorks or EndNote will save you much time
and effort
 Organize and store references
 Make in-text citations based on required style (ex. APA)
 Create a list of references based on required style
 Citation styles

Information prominent citation

– For viscoelastic fluids, the behaviour of the time-dependent
stresses in the transient shear flows is also very important (Boger
et al., 1974).

CITATION MANAGEMENT TOOLS

Author prominent citation
– Close (1983) developed a simplified theory using an analogy
between heat and mass transfer and the equivalent heat transfer
• Managing the references
only case. you find and use in your review will take a significant amount of work
– Several authors have suggested that automated testing should be
• Using a citationmore
management tool like (Balcer,
readily accepted RefWorks1989;
or EndNote
Stahl, will
1989;save you much
Carver & Tai,time and effort
1991).
Organize and store references
Make in-text citations based on required style (ex. APA)
Create a list of references based on required style 62
 Be accurate and thorough
• Your review acts as a guide of your topic for others.
• Take care to make your review:
 Accurate: e.g., Citations correct, findings attributed to authors
correct.
− Make sure someone can track down the article and that you have
provided.
− A reliable representation
 Complete: i.e., include all important papers
(not every paper written on the topic). REMEMBER
!!!
Thesis Statements

The thesis statement offers an argument about the literature. It may do

any of or a combination of the following:
■ Offer an argument and critical assessment of the literature (i.e. topic
+ claim).
■ Provide an overview of current scholarly conversations.
■ Point out gaps or weaknesses in the literature.
■ Relate the literature to the larger aim of the study.
Examples: Thesis Statements

3) Polyvalency refers to the simultaneous binding of multiple ligands on one entity to

multiple receptors on another. Polyvalent interactions are ubiquitous in nature, with
examples including the attachment of viruses to target cells, bacteria to cells, cells
to other cells, and the binding of antibodies to pathogens. . . . In this article, I review
recent developments in polyvalency and discuss the numerous opportunities for
chemical engineers to make contributions to this exciting field, whose applications
include drug discovery, tissue engineering, and nanofabrication.

4) In this article, we review and critique scholarship on place-based education in order

to consider the ingredients of a critical place-based pedagogy for the arts and
humanities. . . We begin by reviewing ecohumanism's call for a more locally
responsive education in light of the marginalization of place and community…