The Concept of Research

Students, professors, and researchers in every discipline use academic writing to convey ideas,
make arguments, and engage in scholarly conversation. Academic writing is characterized by
evidence-based arguments, precise word choice, logical organization, and an impersonal tone.
Though sometimes thought of as long-winded or inaccessible, strong academic writing is quite
the opposite: It informs, analyzes, and persuades in a straightforward manner and enables the
reader to engage critically in a scholarly dialogue.
Characteristics of Research Writing
Most academic disciplines employ their own stylistic conventions. However, all academic
writing shares certain characteristics.
1. Clear and limited focus. The focus of an academic paper—the argument or research
question—is established early by the thesis statement. Every paragraph and sentence of
the paper connects back to that primary focus. While the paper may include background
or contextual information, all content serves the purpose of supporting the thesis
statement.
2. Logical structure. All academic writing follows a logical, straightforward structure. In
its simplest form, academic writing includes an introduction, body paragraphs, and a
conclusion. The introduction provides background information, lays out the scope and
direction of the essay, and states the thesis. The body paragraphs support the thesis
statement, with each body paragraph elaborating on one supporting point. The conclusion
refers back to the thesis, summarizes the main points, and highlights the implications of
the paper’s findings. Each sentence and paragraph logically connects to the next in order
to present a clear argument.
3. Evidence-based arguments. Academic writing requires well-informed arguments.
Statements must be supported by evidence, whether from scholarly sources (as in a
research paper), results of a study or experiment, or quotations from a primary text (as in
a literary analysis essay). The use of evidence gives credibility to an argument.
4. Impersonal tone. The goal of academic writing is to convey a logical argument from an
objective standpoint. Academic writing avoids emotional, inflammatory, or otherwise
 biased language. Whether you personally agree or disagree with an idea, it must be
presented accurately and objectively in your paper.
The Importance of Thesis Statements
Let’s say you’ve just finished an analytical essay for your literature class. If a peer or professor
asks you what the essay is about—what the point of the essay is—you should be able to respond
clearly and concisely in a single sentence. That single sentence is your thesis statement.
The thesis statement, found at the end of the first paragraph, is a one-sentence encapsulation of
your essay’s main idea. It presents an overarching argument and may also identify the main
support points for the argument. In essence, the thesis statement is a road map, telling the reader
where the paper is going and how it will get there.
The thesis statement plays an important role in the writing process. Once you’ve written a thesis
statement, you’ve established a clear focus for your paper. Frequently referring back to that
thesis statement will prevent you from straying off-topic during the drafting phase. Of course, the
thesis statement can (and should) be revised to reflect changes in the content or direction of the
paper. Its ultimate goal, after all, is to capture the main ideas of your paper with clarity and
specificity.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Research writers from every field face similar challenges during the writing process. You can
improve your own academic writing by avoiding these common mistakes.
1. Wordiness. The goal of academic writing is to convey complex ideas in a
clear, concise manner. Don’t muddy the meaning of your argument by using confusing
language. If you find yourself writing a sentence over 25 words long, try to divide it into
two or three separate sentences for improved readability.
2. A vague or missing thesis statement. The thesis statement is the single most important
sentence in any academic paper. Your thesis statement must be clear, and each body
paragraph needs to tie into that thesis.
3. Informal language. Academic writing is formal in tone and should not include slang,
idioms, or conversational language.
 4. Description without analysis. Do not simply repeat the ideas or arguments from your
source materials. Rather, analyze those arguments and explain how they relate to your
point.
5. Not citing sources. Keep track of your source materials throughout the research and
writing process. Cite them consistently using one style manual (MLA, APA, or Chicago
Manual of Style, depending on the guidelines given to you at the outset of the project).
Any ideas that are not your own need to be cited, whether they're paraphrased or quoted
directly, to avoid plagiarism.

Types of Research

The four main types of research are descriptive, analytical, persuasive and critical. Each of these
types of writing has specific language features and purposes.

In many academic texts you will need to use more than one type. For example, in an empirical
thesis:

 you will use critical writing in the literature review to show where there is a gap or
opportunity in the existing research

 the methods section will be mostly descriptive to summarise the methods used to collect
and analyse information

 the results section will be mostly descriptive and analytical as you report on the data you
collected

 the discussion section is more analytical, as you relate your findings back to your
research questions, and also persuasive, as you propose your interpretations of the
findings.
Descriptive

The simplest type of academic writing is descriptive. Its purpose is to provide facts or
information. An example would be a summary of an article or a report of the results of an
experiment.

The kinds of instructions for a purely descriptive assignment include: 'identify', 'report', 'record',
'summarise' and 'define'.

Analytical

It’s rare for a university-level text to be purely descriptive. Most academic writing is also
analytical. Analytical writing includes descriptive writing, but also requires you to re-organise
the facts and information you describe into categories, groups, parts, types or relationships.

Sometimes, these categories or relationships are already part of the discipline, while in other
cases you will create them specifically for your text. If you’re comparing two theories, you might
break your comparison into several parts, for example: how each theory deals with social
context, how each theory deals with language learning, and how each theory can be used in
practice.

The kinds of instructions for an analytical assignment include: 'analyse', 'compare', 'contrast',
'relate', and 'examine'.

To make your writing more analytical:

 spend plenty of time planning. Brainstorm the facts and ideas, and try different ways of
grouping them, according to patterns, parts, similarities and differences. You could use
colour-coding, flow charts, tree diagrams or tables.

 create a name for the relationships and categories you find. For example, advantages and
disadvantages.

 build each section and paragraph around one of the analytical categories.
  make the structure of your paper clear to your reader, by using topic sentences and a clear
introduction.

Persuasive

In most academic writing, you are required to go at least one step further than analytical writing,
to persuasive writing. Persuasive writing has all the features of analytical writing (that is,
information plus re-organising the information), with the addition of your own point of view.
Most essays are persuasive, and there is a persuasive element in at least the discussion and
conclusion of a research article.

Points of view in academic writing can include an argument, recommendation, and interpretation
of findings or evaluation of the work of others. In persuasive writing, each claim you make needs
to be supported by some evidence, for example a reference to research findings or published
sources.

The kinds of instructions for a persuasive assignment include: 'argue', 'evaluate', 'discuss', and
'take a position'.

To help reach your own point of view on the facts or ideas:

 read some other researchers' points of view on the topic. Who do you feel is the most
convincing?

 look for patterns in the data or references. Where is the evidence strongest?

 list several different interpretations. What are the real-life implications of each one?
Which ones are likely to be most useful or beneficial? Which ones have some problems?

 discuss the facts and ideas with someone else. Do you agree with their point of view?

To develop your argument:

 list the different reasons for your point of view

  think about the different types and sources of evidence which you can use to support your
point of view

 consider different ways that your point of view is similar to, and different from, the
points of view of other researchers

 look for various ways to break your point of view into parts. For example, cost
effectiveness, environmental sustainability, scope of real-world application.

To present your argument, make sure:

 your text develops a coherent argument where all the individual claims work together to
support your overall point of view

 your reasoning for each claim is clear to the reader

 your assumptions are valid

 you have evidence for every claim you make

 you use evidence that is convincing and directly relevant.

Critical

Critical writing is common for research, postgraduate and advanced undergraduate writing. It has
all the features of persuasive writing, with the added feature of at least one other point of view.
While persuasive writing requires you to have your own point of view on an issue or topic,
critical writing requires you to consider at least two points of view, including your own.

For example, you may explain a researcher's interpretation or argument and then evaluate the
merits of the argument, or give your own alternative interpretation.

Examples of critical writing assignments include a critique of a journal article, or a literature

review that identifies the strengths and weaknesses of existing research. The kinds of instructions
for critical writing include: 'critique', 'debate', 'disagree' and 'evaluate'.

You need to:

  accurately summarise all or part of the work. This could include identifying the main
interpretations, assumptions or methodology.

 have an opinion about the work. Appropriate types of opinion could include pointing out
some problems with it, proposing an alternative approach that would be better, and/or
defending the work against the critiques of others.

 provide evidence for your point of view. Depending on the specific assignment and the
discipline, different types of evidence may be appropriate, such as logical reasoning,
reference to authoritative sources and/or research data.

Critical writing requires strong writing skills. You need to thoroughly understand the topic and the
issues. You need to develop an essay structure and paragraph structure that allows you to analyse
different interpretations and develop your own argument, supported by evidence.

Classification of Types of Research

There are various types of research that are classified according to their objective, depth of study,
analysed data, time required to study the phenomenon and other factors. It’s important to note
that a research project will not be limited to one type of research, but will likely use several.

According to its Purpose

Theoretical Research

Theoretical research, also referred to as pure or basic research, focuses on generating knowledge,
regardless of its practical application. Here, data collection is used to generate new general
concepts for a better understanding of a particular field or to answer a theoretical research
question. Results of this kind are usually oriented towards the formulation of theories and are
usually based on documentary analysis, the development of mathematical formulas and the
reflection of high-level researchers.

For example, a philosophical dissertation, since the aim is to generate new approaches from
existing data without considering how its findings can be applied or implemented in practice.
Applied Research

Here, the goal is to find strategies that can be used to address a specific research problem.
Applied research draws on theory to generate practical scientific knowledge, and its use is very
common in STEM fields such as engineering, computer science and medicine.

This type of research is subdivided into two types:

1. Technological applied research: looks towards improving efficiency in a particular

productive sector through the improvement of processes or machinery related to said
productive processes.

2. Scientific applied research: has predictive purposes. Through this type of research
design, we can measure certain variables to predict behaviours useful to the goods and
services sector, such as consumption patterns and viability of commercial projects.

For example, market research, because by examining consumption patterns, strategies can be
developed for the development of new products and marketing campaigns, etc.
Note: Applied research is usually based on knowledge or results obtained through theoretical
research.

In fact, it is common for research projects to first establish the theoretical framework both to
define the field of study and to identify possible theories that could be tested or applied to solve
the specific problem posed in the project.

According to your Depth of Scope

Exploratory Research

Exploratory research is used for the preliminary investigation of a subject that is not yet well
understood or sufficiently researched. It serves to establish a frame of reference and a hypothesis
from which an in-depth study can be developed that will enable conclusive results to be
generated. Because exploratory research is based on the study of little-studied phenomena, it
relies less on theory and more on the collection of data to identify patterns that explain these
phenomena.

For example, an investigation of the role social media in the perception of self-image.

Descriptive Research

The primary objective of descriptive research is to define the characteristics of a particular

phenomenon without necessarily investigating the causes that produce it.

In this type of research, the researcher must take particular care not to intervene in the observed
object or phenomenon, as its behaviour may change if an external factor is involved.

For example, investigating how the public census of influential government officials differs
between urban and non-urban areas.

Explanatory Research

Explanatory research is the most common type of research method and is responsible for
establishing cause-and-effect relationships that allow generalisations to be extended to similar
realities. It is closely related to descriptive research, although it provides additional information
about the observed object and its interactions with the environment.

For example, investigating the brittle behaviour of a specific material when under compressive
load.

Correlational Research

The purpose of this type of scientific research is to identify the relationship between two or more
variables. A correlational study aims to determine whether a variable changes, how much the
other elements of the observed system change.
According to the Type of Data Used

Qualitative Research

Qualitative methods are often used in the social sciences to collect, compare and interpret
information, has a linguistic-semiotic basis and is used in techniques such as discourse analysis,
interviews, surveys, records and participant observations.

In order to use statistical methods to validate their results, the observations collected must be
evaluated numerically. Qualitative research, however, tends to be subjective, since not all data
can be fully controlled. Therefore, this type of research design is better suited to extracting
meaning from an event or phenomenon (the ‘why’) than its cause (the ‘how’).

For example, examining the effects of sleep deprivation on mood.

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research study delves into a phenomena through quantitative data collection and
using mathematical, statistical and computer-aided tools to measure them. This allows
generalised conclusions to be projected over time.

For example, conducting a computer simulation on vehicle strike impacts to collect quantitative
data.

According to the Degree of Manipulation of Variables

Experimental Research

It is about designing or replicating a phenomenon whose variables are manipulated under strictly
controlled conditions in order to identify or discover its effect on another independent variable or
object. The phenomenon to be studied is measured through study and control groups, and
according to the guidelines of the scientific method.
For example, randomised controlled trial studies for measuring the effectiveness of new
pharmaceutical drugs on human subjects.

Non-Experimental Research

Also known as an observational study, it focuses on the analysis of a phenomenon in its natural
context. As such, the researcher does not intervene directly, but limits their involvement to
measuring the variables required for the study. Due to its observational nature, it is often used in
descriptive research.

For example, a study on the effects of the use of certain chemical substances in a particular
population group can be considered a non-experimental study.

Quasi-Experimental Research

It controls only some variables of the phenomenon under investigation and is therefore not
entirely experimental. In this case, the study and the focus group cannot be randomly selected,
but are chosen from existing groups or populations. This is to ensure the collected data is
relevant and that the knowledge, perspectives and opinions of the population can be incorporated
into the study.

For example, assessing the effectiveness of an intervention measure in reducing the spread of
antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

According to the Type of Inference

Deductive Investigation

In this type of research, reality is explained by general laws that point to certain conclusions;
conclusions are expected to be part of the premise of the research problem and considered
correct if the premise is valid and the inductive method is applied correctly.

Inductive Research

In this type of research, knowledge is generated from an observation to achieve a generalisation.

It is based on the collection of specific data to develop new theories.
Hypothetical-Deductive Investigation

It is based on observing reality to make a hypothesis, then use deduction to obtain a conclusion
and finally verify or reject it through experience.

According to the Time in Which it is Carried Out

Longitudinal Study (also referred to as Diachronic Research)

It is the monitoring of the same event, individual or group over a defined period of time. It aims
to track changes in a number of variables and see how they evolve over time. It is often used
in medical, psychological and social areas. An example can be a cohort study that analyses
changes in a particular indigenous population over a period of 10 years.

Cross-Sectional Study (also referred to as Synchronous Research)

Cross-sectional research design is used to observe phenomena, an individual or a group of

research subjects at a given time.

According to The Sources of Information

Primary Research

This fundamental research type is defined by the fact that the data is collected directly from the
source, that is, it consists of primary, first-hand information.

Secondary research

Unlike primary research, secondary research is developed with information from secondary
sources, which are generally based on scientific literature and other documents compiled by
another researcher.
According to How the Data is Obtained

Documentary (cabinet)

Documentary research, or secondary sources, is based on a systematic review of existing sources

of information on a particular subject. This type of scientific research is commonly used when
undertaking literature reviews or producing a case study.

Field

Field research study involves the direct collection of information at the location where the
observed phenomenon occurs.

From Laboratory

Laboratory research is carried out in a controlled environment in order to isolate a dependent

variable and establish its relationship with other variables through scientific methods.

Mixed-Method: Documentary, Field and/or Laboratory

Mixed research methodologies combine results from both secondary (documentary) sources and
primary sources through field or laboratory research.

Research Problem/Statement of the Problem

The first and most important step in any research is to identify and delineate the research
problem: that is, what the researcher wants to solve and what questions he/she wishes to answer.
A research problem may be defined as an area of concern, a gap in the existing knowledge, or a
deviation in the norm or standard that points to the need for further understanding and
investigation. Although many problems turn out to have several solutions (the means to close the
gap or correct the deviation), difficulties arise where such means are either not obvious or are not
immediately available. This then necessitates some research to reach a viable solution.

Characteristics of a statement of the problem

A good research problem should have the following characteristics:

 1. It should address a gap in knowledge.
2. It should be significant enough to contribute to the existing body of research
3. It should lead to further research
4. The problem should render itself to investigation through collection of data
5. It should be of interest to the researcher and suit his/her skills, time, and resources
6. The approach towards solving the problem should be ethical
Significance of the Study
In simple terms, the significance of the study is basically the importance of your research. The
significance of a study must be stated in the Introduction section of your research paper. While
stating the significance, you must highlight how your research will be beneficial to the
development of science and the society in general. You can first outline the significance in a
broader sense by stating how your research will contribute to the broader problem in your field
and gradually narrow it down to demonstrate the specific group that will benefit from your
research. While writing the significance of your study, you must answer questions like:

 Why should your research be published?

 How will this study contribute to the development of your field?