Lesson 8 - Research Writing 2

Lesson Eight Research Writing

Lesson 7

RESEARCHWRITING 2


Students will …

1. … use features of good writing style

2. … practice writing a research paragraph

3. …structure, format and write research

reports

Learning Outcomes


6 C’s for Good Style

• Coherent• Complete• Concise• Considerate• Concrete• Correct


2. Complete

• Evidence of research: Questionnaire Survey results Interview transcripts Focus group record Completed consent forms


3. Concise

• Avoid unnecessary details• Use simple, specific language• Write clear objectives

Objectives

concisely

state the

main points

of the

project


Example Objectives Statement

This report for Dove explores the way in which foreign companies advertise in China. Many Western companies use concepts that are alien to the Chinese consumer, in particular young Chinese women. This report is a result of extensive research into the female Chinese consumer, advertising in China and the Chinese context using a literature review, survey and visual anthropological study. A key finding of our project was that certain brands were associated positively with modernity while others were associated by consumers with the negative aspects of modern life.



client/topic




issue/problem




research




findings



4. Considerate

• Reader friendly• Non-offensive• Non-discriminatory

Discuss how these statements could be made more considerate:1. A designer should think carefully about his audience.

2. The toilets were designed for handicaps.

3. The furniture consists of manmade materials. The toilets were designed for the disabled.

Designers should think carefully about their audiences.

The furniture consists of synthetic materials.


5. Concrete

• Explain• Specify• Convince• Illustrate• Give examples

A subculture is sort of like a culture but different according to my research. XAccording to Wood (2006, p. 164) a subculture is a group that is distinct from a dominant or mainstream culture, for example, the Chinese community in Indonesia.


6. Correct

• Presentation and format: Follow sample• Register: Use formal language • Grammar: Keep sentences short. Have your

writing proofread• Spelling: Use consistent, standard style• Punctuation: Capitalise, Space and highlight

quotes• Referencing: Use Author-Date style only



Example B

One of the strengths of Brown and Raymond's 1998 article in the Journal of Nursing is its organisation and layout. The organisation of the article into numerous separate sections transforms a reasonably lengthy article into a series of small, easily readable sections. These enable the reader to browse through the article and quickly find important pieces of information. These pieces of information are also easily located because the article's introductory paragraph gives a brief yet highly detailed outline of the content.

Another of its strengths is the extensive use of evidence such as references and statistical data to give validity to the authors' claims. An example of their evidence use through referencing is the authors' use of numerous examples and references to justify their claim that current nursing literature emphasises client involvement (Brown & Raymond, 1998, pp. 66-67). An example of evidencing through the inclusion of statistical data is their rebuttal to previous claims by researchers such as Foley that clients are submissive (1997, p. 732). The authors validate their position through the inclusion of statistical data from their own study. The large size of their sample population adds to the validity of these results. In contrast to these strengths, however, the article contains several weaknesses. One minor weakness is the authors' use of a number of references that are outdated in comparison to the publication date of their article. Of greater concern, however, is the authors' obvious bias against hospitalisation as a treatment alternative indicated by the inclusion of such emotive terms as ‘personal crisis’, ‘distressed’ and ‘separation from society’ to describe the experience of patients who had undergone this treatment.

List of ReferencesBrown, WP & Raymond, X 1998, 'Patients and their involvement in decisions about care', Journal

of Nursing, Vol. 33, pp. 53 71. Foley, RS 1997, Nursing and Client Management, Juniper Publications, London.


1. Coherent – being clear and consistent

• Headings• Functional structure • Sections, subsections and paragraphs• Fluent presentation of research


Paragraphs

A paragraph

is a group of

sentences

that discuss

one main

topic or idea


Practice

Figure 2. Write a research paragraph

Write a short paragraph using the three extracts as research support. You will need to:

1. Read carefully to decide the topic. 2. Write an introductory sentence explaining the paragraph topic.3. Highlight information in the extracts that you wish to use. 4. Use paraphrase and/or quotation to discuss this information. 5. Write a concluding sentence (‘So what?’ sentence). 6. Give full citations and references in author/date style.


Figure 2. Write a research paragraphFrom page 660 of the 8th edition of George Belch and Michael Baker’s 2009 book Advertising and Promotion published by McGraw-Hill in New York:

Advertisers can encounter problems with the meanings of signs and symbols used in their messages. For example, the thumbs-up sign, which has a positive meaning for most Americans, has offensive meaning in some countries such as Russia and Poland … There can also be problems associated with the symbolic meanings of colors. In Japan, as in many Asian countries, white is a color for mourning rather than black, and purple is associated with death in many Latin American countries.

From page 105 of Intercultural Communication in the Global Workplace by Iris Varner and Linda Beamer, published 2010 by Pearson Education, London:

Television commercials offer insights into cultural priorities – not so much in the products they advertise as in the values suggested by the appeals the commercials make to the viewers. Whereas convenience is the central appeal in certain breakfast cereal advertisements to young single working people in the United States, family membership is the central appeal in advertisements for the same breakfast cereal in Mexico.

… One Southeast Asian country has advertised its airlines for years by showing attractive young women attentively serving male customers. In North America and Europe, this approach has offended some who see this as gender bias.

From page 25 of the 1974 article How Culture Affects Advertising Expression and Communication Style by Stephen Unwin in the print version of the Journal of Advertising, volume 3, issue number 2 on pages 15 to 26:

Intercultural distinctions in advertising expression make the pre-testing of finished advertisements, for example, through focus groups, … an important step in international campaign planning procedure.


Different cultures understand the symbols and images used in advertising differently. According to Belch and Baker, this can cause problems with the meanings used by advertisers in their messages. For example, the thumbs-up sign, which has positive meanings in America, is offensive in Russia and Poland (2009, p. 660). Furthermore, Varner and Beamer explain that ‘cultural priorities’ mean that television commercials for the same product will have different focus in different countries. Citing the example of breakfast cereal, Varner and Beamer explain how this is seen as convenient, fast food in America but a family orientated meal in Mexico (2010, p. 105). Therefore, as there are many potential problems facing international advertisers, research is very important and so Unwin emphasizes the importance of pre-testing advertisements through methods such as focus groups (1974, p. 25). If advertisers wish to successfully reach audiences in different cultures they must research the culture and adapt their messages appropriately.

ReferencesBelch, G. & Baker, M. (2009). Advertising and Promotion (8th ed.). New York:

McGraw-Hill. Unwin, S. (1974). How Culture Affects Advertising Expression and

Communication Style. Journal of Advertising, 3(2), 15-26.Varner, I. & Beamer, L. (2010). Intercultural Communication in the Global

Workplace. London: Pearson Education.


Report Writing


Report Writing: Main sections

Preliminary Section Main Body

1. INTRODUCTION1.1 Objectives

2. METHODOLOGY3. ANALYSIS4. CONCLUSIONS5. RECOMMENDATIONS

Supplementary Section

Word Count


Title Page

Table of Contents

List of Figures

Report Writing: Preliminary section




• Provide figure number & description with illustrations in Introduction & Main Body

• Reference in brackets preceded by ‘Source:’• Refer to the figure in the text!

List of Figures:



Report Writing: Main section

1. INTRODUCTION

Introduce the client and the issue

Who are you working for? What do they do? What does the brand/organization

represent? What issue/problem is your

research concerned with? How does this relate to the client? What background is important? Give sources.


1. INTRODUCTION1.1 Objectives

Short, clear statementsIn your own wordsKey points of research:

• Who is your client? What is your topic?• What is the issue?• What research methods did you use?• What were the key outcomes of your research?



2. METHODOLOGY

• How exactly did you do your research?• Primary/Secondary?• Quantitative/Qualitative?• How did you sample? • What problems did you encounter, if any?



3. ANALYSIS: Title of the Report

• Main text of the report in subsections • Key findings & connections made between sources on

the topic• Consists of information & ideas you have found on your

topic, what they mean and your interpretation of it • Do the findings support or contradict each other? • What data is worth highlighting? • What insights did you gain from the research?• Provide sources



3. ANALYSIS: Title of the Report

• Include analysis of primary research data• Use data in graphic form

Fig. 2 – Survey question 3. 61.54% of respondents said a better paying job would be the key factor in making them happier. 23% said finding a wealthy husband would make them happier.

According to the survey results (see Figure 2 opposite), a woman’s ability to secure a well-paid job is more important than marriage to a wealthy husband. This indicates that women surveyed are more independent minded and less willing to depend on a husband for financial security. Furthermore, the results indicate that a majority of those sampled would prefer to marry later in life than their mothers did, while



4. CONCLUSIONS

• So what? • What does your research tell you?• No new data here



5. RECOMMENDATIONS• Based on conclusions• Solve the problems that made writing the report

necessary• Brief feasible/practical statements:

5.1 Change to organic cotton5.2 Use celebrity endorsement to build brand prestige



• Reference only sources mentioned• Use author/date system• ALPHABETICAL ORDER!

References

Report Writing: Supplementary section


Report Writing: Supplementary section

Extra illustrations/charts Primary Research

documentation: Surveys –

Questionnaires, Tables, Graphs.

Interviews & Focus Groups -

Transcripts, Consent forms.

Visual studies –

Photos/Designs with short description.

* if necessary

Appendices


REFERENCES‘Acknowledging Sources’ 2004, Language and Learning Skills Unit –

The University of Melbourne. Retrieved: 31 July 2008 from

http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/llsu/resources/ref00

9.html ‘Author/Date Style’ 2005, The University of Melbourne Library.

Retrieved: 31 July 2008 from

http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/cite/harvard_dis/

‘Harvard Referencing’ 2005, Curtin University. Retrieved: 12 March,

2005 from http://library.curtin.edu.au/referencing/harvard.pdf

Raffles Design Institute Student Handbook 2008, Student and

Administrative Services Department, Singapore.

Summers, J & Smith, B 2004, Communication Skills Handbook, John

Wiley and Sons, Australia.

Lesson 8 - Research Writing 2

Technology

chinese context

female chinese consumer

chinese community

particular young chinese

research writing

foreign companies

western companies

result of extensive