翻譯研究方法Research Proposal

11.AssessingYour

ResearchEvaluationisacrucialpartoftheresearchprocess.Givingandreceivingcriticalfeedbackisanessentialpartoflifeinanacademiccommunity.11.1Self-assessmentHereisachecklistofthekindsofpurelymethodologicalissuesyoumightwanttoassessinyourownwork:Researchquestion/aimIsitclearlystated?Haveyouexplainedwhythisisagoodquestion/animportantorinterestingaim?Otherrelevantresearch

Howwelldidyourelatewhatyouaredoingtowhatothershavedone?Haveyouconsultedthemostrelevantsources?Hypothesis

Areyoustartingorconcludingwithaspecifichypothesis?Didyoumakethisclear?Whatkindofhypothesisisit?Whyisitinteresting/important?Isitwelljustified?Material

Haveyoupresentedyourempiricalmaterialclearly?Haveyouexplainedwhyyouchoseit?Howrelevantisittoyourresearchquestion?Haveyouexplainedhowyoucollectedit?Howrepresentativeisit?Relationbetweenvariables

Whatkindofrelationareyoulookingfor?Doyouthinkyouhavefoundanyrelation?Betweenwhatvariablesistherelationyouhavefound?Isthiscleartothereader?Theoreticalmodel

Haveyouexplainedwhyyouchoseaparticulartheoreticalmodelorapproach/aparticularvariantofthatmodel?Whataboutotherpossibilities?Didyouexplainwhyyourejectedthose?Haveyouadaptedthemodelatall?Why?Generalconceptsand

categoriesAretheyadequatelydefined?Aretheyjustifiedagainstalternativeconcepts,categoriesanddefinitions?Whatkindofcategories?Whatkindofclassification?Haveyoubeenexplicitenoughinpresentingthese?Counter-evidence

Haveyouconsideredanycounter-evidence?Haveyoudealtwithborderlinecasesadequately?Arethereanycounter-arguments?Arethereanyalternativeexplanations?Reliability

Istheanalysisreliable?Isitexplicitenoughtobereplicable?Arethecalculationsaccurate?Aretheclassificationsconsistent?Arethestatisticsappropriate?ValidityAretheconclusionsvalid?Arethehypothesessupportedornot?Isthereadequateevidence?Istheargumentlogical?Istheevidencerelevanttotheoriginalresearchproblem?

Dotheconclusionslineupwiththeintroductionandthestatedaim?Follow-up

Nowwhat?Haveyoumadesomesuggestions?ImplicationsSowhat?Haveyouconsideredthese,intheconclusion?11.2InternalAssessmentThekeyquestionis:arethereadersconvincedbywhatyouaretellingthem?Behindthisquestiontherelievariousassumptions.Readersaremorelikelytofeelimpressedif:YouappeartobetrustworthyYouprovideevidencethatlogicallysupportsyourclaimsYourespecttheirneedsasreadersYouaretellingthemsomethingthatchangestheirwayofthinking.

Aversionoftheinternalassessment

Toillustratehowtheseassumptionsappearinassessmentcriteria,hereisaversionoftheassessmentwhenreadingandgradingMAtheses.Asteachersread,theyusuallytakenotesundereachoftheseheadings:

Justificationoftopic,interest,relevance;Definitionofproblem,basichypothesis,aims;Awarenessandcriticalpresentationofotherrelevantresearch;Choiceandjustificationoftheoreticalframework;Presentationandjustificationofmethodology;Presentationandjustificationofdata;

Analysisanddiscussionofresults,useofevidence,logic;Validityofconclusions,self-criticalawarenessofthework’sstrengthsandweaknesses;Overallstructure,stylisticaspects,academicconventions,clarity;Originality,widerimplications,significance.11.3ExternalAssessmentWhenyousubmityourresearch

forpublicationtoajournalorpublisher,yourworkwillbeassessedagain.Beforesubmittingyourresearchitthereforemakessensetocheckwhetheryourcontributionmeetstheparticularcriteriaofthejournal/publisheryouaretargeting.11.4TypicalWeaknessesThefollowingarethekindsofthingsthatrefereesdrawattentiontowhenrecommending,orinfactnotrecommending,thatsomethingbepublished:LengthThemainreasonsforexcessivelengthseemtobe:?Topictoowide?Irrelevance?Repetition?BanalitiesOrganizationOrganizationmaybeunclear,orillogical.Whethertheworklacksanoverallawarenessofwhatthepointofthewholethingis;Howthevarioussectionsfittogetherintoacoherentwhole.Reviewoftheliterature

Thewriterneglectssomemajorrelevantsources;Thewriterisuncriticalofthesourcesused;He/shereliesveryheavilyononeortwosourcesonly,givingabiasedpictureofwhatothershavedone.Methodology

Lackofexplicitness

Thetopicquestion(theaim)istoovague;Crucialtermsarenotexplicitlydefined;Necessaryinformationaboutthematerialormethodofanalysisismissing.Lackofevidence

Claimsaremadewithnoevidencetobackthemup,sothattheyappeartobepurelysubjective.Conclusionsarenotjustifiedbytheanalysis.Thereissimplynotenoughdatatosupportthegeneralizationsthatareproposed.Lackofacriticalattitude

Severaldefinitionsoftermsarelisted,forinstance,butwithnocriticaldiscussion,noargumenttodefendwhyoneparticulardefinitionhasbeenselectedratherthanothers;Otherstudiesinthesameareaaresimplylistedratherthanevaluated;Methodsaredescribedwithnocriticalcomment,nativelytakenatfacevalue,assumedtobeperfect;Otherscholars’poorinferencesareadoptedandcopiedwithnocriticalreaction.Lackofstatistics

Inaquantitativestudy,necessarystatisticsarenotusedwheretheywouldbeappropriate.Lackofappropriatetheory

Thetheoreticalsectionsometimesseemstohavenoconnectiontotheanalyticalpart,sothatonewonderswhatthetheoreticalbitwasactuallyfor.Ortheanalysisseemstoproceedmerelyatrandom,fromonesubjectiveimpressiontoanother,withnotheoreticaljustification.Lackofcriteriafor

dataselection

Thechoiceofdataisnotsufficientlymotivatedwithrespecttotheresearchquestion.ThereaderwonderswhythewriterislookingatmaterialXifthequestionathandisY.Noimplications

Theconclusionisonlyasummary;thereisnoawarenessofthepossiblepracticalortheoreticalimplicationsofthework,howthiskindofresearchmightbecontinued.Theconclusiondoesnotanswerthequestion‘Sowhat?’Logicweakness

ConceptualconfusionNon-likecategoriesLackofcriteriaforcategoriesCircularargumentFallaciousargumentConfusionofcorrelationandcausesStyleweakness

ReadabilityQuotationExamplesNopersonaltouchAddedvalueTheresearchbringsnothingnew:nonewinformation,nonewdata,nonewwayoflookingatthequestion,nonewanswers,nonewconcepts,nonewresearchmethods,nonewevidencethatsupportsorweakensahypothesis,nonewtheoreticalcontribution.PlagiarismPlagiarismmeanstakingideasorpassagesoftextfromotherauthorswithoutsayingwheretheycomefrom.Plagiarismisaseriousmatter,withseriousconsequences;maybeeventheendofanacademiccareer.開題報(bào)告：翻譯方向1．Specifictopicofresearch2．Significanceofthetopic(therationaleforyourproposedresearch)3．Existingresearchonthistopic(literaturereview)4．Specific,realquestionsexistingresearchdoesnotanswerbutyouattempttoanswer.Stateifthesearedefinitionorbasicdataquestionsandwhatyouhavedonetoavoid“reinventingthewheel”inyourproposedstudy.5.Yourtentativeanswertothequestions(yourhypothesis):interpretive,descriptive,explanatory,orpredictive?Howwillyouoperationalizeyourhypothesissothatitcanbetested(e.g.bymeasuringitskeyconcepts)?Ify