《碩士博士畢業(yè)論文寫作教程》課件Chapter 9 Findings and Discussion

Week9FindingsandDiscussionZHENCONGLIUContentsFindingsDiscussionTablesandFiguresFindingsThefunctionofthissectionistosummarizegeneraltrendsinthedatawithoutcomment,bias,orinterpretation.ChapterPatternsofFindingsandDiscussionGeneralSpecificsSummaryQuestion-oriented:quantitativeand/orqualitativestudiesTheme-oriented:qualitativestudiesQualitativeReportFormatCase-orientedorganizationTheme-orientedorganizationFindingsExampleInterpretationPossibleProblems:GreatervariabilityOrganizationalchallengesforNon-nativespeakersLinguisticproficiencyStructureofFindingsMove1–presentingmetatextualinformation:referringtotheoverallstructureofthethesisorchapteritself,itsetsthesceneforthepresentationoftheresultstofollow.Itisadvisabletoalertsecond-languagestudentstotheneedtoutilizeMove1asanorganizingandsignpostingdevicetoassisttheirreader(examiner)inlocatingtheResultswithinthebroadercontextoftheresearch.StructureofFindingsMove2–presentingresultsThismoveisincludedinallResults/Findingschapters.Itisessentialtoensurethattablesandfiguresarenumberedsequentiallythroughoutthethesis–e.g.Figure3.1,Figure3.2,etc.Tablesandfiguresmusthavelegendsthatareself-explanatoryandwhichdefineanyabbreviationsandsymbolsusedinthetableorfigure.Allcolumnsintablesmusthaveheadingsandunitsstated.Allfiguresshouldbeclearlylabeled.StructureofFindingsMove3thenbeginstoprovideacommentaryonoraninterpre-tationoftheresults.InMove3,thewriterbeginstointerprettheirresultsandmakeclaimsabouttheirmeaningandsignificance.Thewritermayalsomakecomparisonswithpreviousstudiesinordertojustifymethodsorproceduresfollowedandmaycommentonthestrengths,limitationsorgeneralizabilityoftheirresults.Hedging“Hedgingallowswritersto‘suggest’explanations,makeinterpretationsoftheirdataanddrawtentativeconclusions.Inessence,thewriterseeksthroughtheuseofhedgingdevicestomoderatetheirclaimsbyanticipatingand/orrebuttinganypotentialchallengestotheirmethodologyandtheinterpretationoftheirdata.”CautiousandappropriatelyhumblelanguageHedgingis“notoriouslyproblematic”forsecond-languagespeakers(Hyland1996:253).ExamplesofHedgingFindingsThemainfindingsoftheresearchDOUsefiguresandtablestosummarizedataShowtheresultsofstatisticalanalysisCompare“l(fā)ikewithlike”DON'TDuplicatedataamongtables,figuresandtextUsegraphicstoillustratedatathatcaneasilybesummarizedwithtextDiscussion

Thefunctionofthissectionistoanalyzethedataandrelatethemtootherstudies.Principles:①TheDiscussionshouldcontainatleast:therelationshipbetweentheresultsandtheoriginalhypothesisanintegrationofyourresultswiththoseofpreviousstudiespossibleexplanationsforunexpectedresultsandobservations②Trendsthatarenotstatisticallysignificantcanstillbediscussediftheyaresuggestiveorinteresting,butcannotbemadethebasisforconclusionsasiftheyweresignificant.③AvoidredundancybetweentheResultsandtheDiscussionsection.④EndtheDiscussionwithasummaryoftheprincipalpointsyouwantthereadertoremember.FunctionsofDiscussionRudestamandNewton(2001)pointoutthattheDiscussionchapteriswherethestudentshouldmovebeyondtheirdataandintegratetheresultsoftheirstudywithexistingtheoryandresearch.IntheDiscussionchapter,thestudent’sstudyistheprimaryfocusandpreviousresearchthesecondaryfocus.Here,previousresearchisusedforconfirmation,comparisonorcontradistinction(Swales2004).OrganizationofDiscussions:SwalesandFeak(1994)Move

1Pointstoconsolidatetheresearchspace–erpretivepointsratherthandescriptivefactsorresults.Move2Pointstoindicatethelimitationsofthestudy;whatcannotbeconcludedfromtheresearch;Move3Pointstoidentifyusefulareasoffurtherresearch.(SwalesandFeak1994)Move1Pointstoconsolidatetheresearchspaceareminderoftheoriginalpurposeofthestudy;statementofresultsfollowedbyafollow-upsuchas:statementoftheimportance(orotherwise)oftheresultsexamplesfromthedatawhichillustratetheresults

comparisonwithotherwork/previousresearchreviewofthemethodology

referencetothetheoryunderpinningthestudy

conclusionsthatmightbedrawnthestrengthsofthestudywhethertheresultswereexpectedorunexpected.OrganizationofDiscussions:HopkinsandDudley-Evans(1988)1backgroundinformation;2statementofresults;3(un)expectedoutcome–i.e.whethertheresultisexpectedornot;4referencetopreviousresearch–comparisonofresultswithpreviousresearchreportedintheliterature;5explanationofunexpectedoutcome–i.e.suggestingreasonsforanunexpectedresult(ifthisisthecase)oronedifferentfromthosefoundinpreviousstudies;6exemplification–providingexamplestosupporttheexplanationgiveninStep5;7deductionorclaim–makingamoregeneralclaimarisingfromtheresultsofthestudy,e.g.drawingaconclusion,statinganhypothesis;8supportfrompreviousresearch–quotingpreviousresearchtosupporttheclaim/sbeingmade;9recommendation–makingsuggestionsforfutureresearch;10justificationforfutureresearch–arguingwhythefutureresearchisrecommended.OrganizationofDiscussions:Samraj(2005)

1backgroundinformation;2reportonresults;3commentaryonresultsinterpretationofresultscomparisonwithotherresearchexplanationforresultsevaluationofresults4summaryofresults;5evaluationofthestudy;limitationssignificance/advantageofthestudyevaluationofthemethods6evaluationofthefield;7deductionsfromtheresults;researchdeductionsapplieddeductions.OrganizationofDiscussions:RudestamandNewton(2001)lAnoverviewofthesignificantfindingsofthestudy2Aconsiderationofthefindingsinthelightofexistingresearchstudies3Implicationsofthestudyforcurrenttheory(exceptinpurelyappliedstudies)4Acarefulexaminationoffindingsthatfailtosupportoronlypartlysupportthehypothesesoutlinedinthestudy5Limitationsofthestudythatmayaffectthevalidityorthegeneralisabilityoftheresults6Recommendationsforfurtherresearch7Implicationsofthestudyforprofessionalpracticeorappliedsettings(optional)(RudestamandNewton2001:121)StrategiesforWritingDiscussion1.Studentswritedownallthethingstheyknownowinasinglesentenceforeachitem.2.Sortthesesentencesintosomesortofgrouping,giveheadingstoeachofthesegroupsofsentences.ThesewillformthebasisforthesectionheadingsoftheDiscussionchapter.3.Thesentencesineachgroupshouldbegivenheadingswhichwillformthebasisforsub-headingsforeachofthesectionsofthechapter.Allofthiscanthenbeusedtoprovideatentativeframeworkforthewritingofthischapter.ProblemsforDiscussion1.Studentsareoftennotawareoftheneedtoshowtherelationshipbetweentheresultsoftheirstudyandtheresultsofsimilarstudiesandrelatedargumentsinthepublishedliterature.2.Studentstendtooverstatetheirclaims,partlyperhapsbecauseoftheirinabilityto“hedge”intheirwriting.3.ThetendencyofstudentstomixtheResultsandDiscussionsectionsoftheirthesis.4.UncertaintyaboutwhatcontentshouldbeincludedintheDiscussionsectionandhowitshouldbeorganized.ProblemsMaking“grandstatements”thatarenotsupportedbythedataExample:“Thisnoveltreatmentwillmassivelyreducethecostofazeotropicdistillation.”Introducingnewresultsorterms.TablesSomewidelyobservedguidelinesfortheuseoftablesare:①Thetableshouldbeself-contained.②Atableisusuallyplacedinapositionnearitsrelevantdescription③Provideeachtablewithanumber(Table1,Table2,etc.)andatitle.④Thetitleshouldbeclear,concise,completeandaccurate.Trytousedescriptivewords,notabbreviatedforms.Thereshouldbenopunctuationattheendofthetitle.⑤Thetitleofatableordiagrammostcommonlyfollowsthesamethreemethodsasgivenaboveforthepapertitle.

Tables

⑥Theformatofthecolumntitle.Thefirstletterofthefirstwordandpropernounsarecapitalized,otherwordsareinlowercase.Thereisnopunctuationincolumntitles.Ifyouuseabbreviations,usecommonacronyms.⑦Notesoftable.Toexplainthecolumntitle,abbreviations,symbolsanddata,addnotesorfootnotesatthebottomofthetable.⑧Donotrepeatinformationinatablethatyouaredepictinginagraphorhistogram;includeatableonlyifitpresentsnewinformation.⑨Itiseasiertocomparenumbersbyreadingdownacolumnratherthanacrossarow.⑩Usecross-references,e.g....(Table5.4)Figures

Figuresrefertoexplanatorymaterials:maps,photos,drawings,figures,images,graphs,histogramsandillustrations.

GuidelinesforFigures①Self-contained.②Numbereachfigure(Fig.1,Fig.2,etc.)andgiveacaptionthatexplainswhatthefigureshows.③Illustrationsornote.④Usedifferentnamesinaseriestodistinguishdifferenttypesoffigures.⑤Figuressubmittedforpublicationmustbe“photoready,”⑥Proportionsmustbethesameasthoseonthepageofthepaper.Assignment1.FindingsandDiscussionWriting:SupposeyouhavefinishedwritingyourMethodologypartofyourpaperandenterthestageofFindingsandDiscussionwriting.PleaseexaminethestepsandstrategiesforFindingsandDiscussionwriting.ThenwritetheFindingsandDiscussionsectionofyourownpaperinaclearmanner.Assignment2.FindingsandDiscussionEvaluation:Selectaclassroom-basedstudyfromarecentjournalsuchasLanguageLearning,TESOLQuarterly,ortheModernLanguageJournal.SummarizetheFindingsandDiscussionsectionbyprovidingthefollowingdata:a.thetypicalmovesb.themainfindingsc.thediscussiond.CritiqueReferencesPaltridge,B.,&Starfield,S.(2007).ThesisandDissertati