What is research? - use of existing knowledge in a new and creative...

What is research?Research is defined as the creation of new knowledge and/or the use of existing knowledge in a new and creative way so as to generate new concepts, methodologies and understandings. This could include synthesis and analysis of previous research to the extent that it leads to new and creative outcomes.The most important methodological choice researchers make is based on the distinction between qualitative and quantitative data. As mentioned previously, qualitative data takes the form of descriptions based on language or images, while quantitative data takes the form of numbers.Qualitative data is richer and is generally grounded in a subjective and interpretivist perspective. However, while this is generally the case, it is not always so. Qualitative research supports an in-depth understanding of the situation investigated and, due to time constraints, it generally involves a small sample of participants. For this reason the findings are limited to the sample studied and cannot be generalised to other contexts or to the wider population. Popular methods based on qualitative data include semi-structured or unstructured interviews, participant observations and document analysis. Qualitative analysis is generally more time-consuming than quantitative analysis.

WHAT IS AN ACADEMIC OR SCHOLARLY ARTICLE?

The most important characteristic of an academic or scholarly article is that it has to pass an academic quality assessment before it can be published in an academic journal.Before an article is accepted for publication, it has to be

reviewed by researchers working in the same field (referees).This control process is called peer-reviewing and is designed to guarantee the academic standard of an article.

THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF

ACADEMIC/SCHOLARLY ARTICLES:

• Original articles consist of study reports and describe results obtained from research for the first time • Review articles are critical evaluations of studies that have already been published • Theoretical articles are reports in which the authors are trying to formulate new theories based on existing research

USUALLY AN ACADEMIC/SCHOLARLY ARTICLE

COMPRISES THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS:

• Abstract - The abstract contains a short summary of the article as well as a description of the objective, method, result and conclusion of the study. Keywords (or subject words), which identify the contents of the article, are also given in the abstract.

• Introduction - This is a general description of the background to the research. The objective and research questions are presented, together with the delimitations of the study.

• Method and material - Descriptions of the method(s) used in doing the research should be so detailed and precise that stages in the research process could be followed and reproduced by the reader. The methods ought to be reasonable for and

appropriate to that which is being studied.

• Results - Here the results of the research are presented.Important data are either given textual form or by using tables and figures. Even unexpected or negative results are presented.

• Discussion - The discussion is an assessment of the results.Methodological considerations as well as the way in which the results compare to earlier research in the field are discussed.

• References - All documents mentioned in the article should be included in the bibliography, so that the reader is able to refer to the original sources.APA Citation Basics When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in- text citation. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, like, for example, (Jones, 1998). One complete reference for each source should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.If you are referring to an idea from another work but NOT directly quoting the material, or making reference to an entire book, article or other work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication and not the page number in your in-text reference.On the other hand, if you are directly quoting or borrowing from another work, you should include the page number at the end of the parenthetical citation. Use the abbreviation “p.” (for one page) or “pp.” (for multiple pages) before listing the page number(s). Use an en dash for page ranges. For example, you

might write (Jones, 1998, p. 199) or (Jones, 1998, pp. 199–201).This information is reiterated below.Regardless of how they are referenced, all sources that are cited in the text must appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.In-text citation capitalization, quotes, and italics/underlining • Always capitalize proper nouns, including author names

and initials: D. Jones.

• If you refer to the title of a source within your paper, capitalize all words that are four letters long or greater

within the title of a source: Permanence and Change.

Exceptions apply to short words that are verbs, nouns,

pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs: Writing New

Media, There Is Nothing Left to Lose.

(Note: in your References list, only the first word of a title will

be capitalized: Writing new media.)

• When capitalizing titles, capitalize both words in a

hyphenated compound word: Natural-Born Cyborgs.

• Capitalize the first word after a dash or colon: "Defining

Film Rhetoric: The Case of Hitchcock's Vertigo."

• If the title of the work is italicized in your reference list,

italicize it and use title case capitalization in the text: The

Closing of the American Mind; The Wizard of Oz; Friends.• If the title of the work is not italicized in your reference list, use double quotation marks and title case capitalization

(even though the reference list uses sentence case):

"Multimedia Narration: Constructing Possible Worlds;"

"The One Where Chandler Can't Cry."