how to do research in writing the thesis.docx
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how to do research in writing the thesis.docx
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howtodoresearchinwritingthethesis
Howtodoresearch
Thefirstthingtosayisthatifithastobedone,it'syouwho’sgottodoit.
∙You.There’sno-oneelsetodotheprojectforyou.Verylikely,there’sno-onewhowillgiveyouanyhelp.You’retheonewhocares,thedrivehasgottocomefromwithinyou.You’retheonewhoknowshowtoanswerthequestion,no-oneelseknowsasmuch.
Theaboveisnotthewholetruth---asyourprojectevolves,you'llfindyourselfreceivingtechnicalhelp,wisdom,andemotionalsupportfromagreatmanypeople---butyouneedtobeawarethatself-relianceisvital.
Theremaybeothertypesofresearch,e.g.,inwhichaneophyteisfittedintoaslotintheGodProfessor'sprogram.Idon'thaveexperienceofthem.[neophyte:
apersonwhohasrecentlystartedanactivity]
∙Do.Itisimportantthatyoustartthemainactivitiesoftheresearch---experimentation,orsurvey,orsimulation,ordataanalysis---soonerratherthanlater.Acommonmistakeistothinkandplanandread,andnevergetroundtothemaingame.Whenyoustart,youmayfindthattherealdifficultiesandissuesarequitedifferentfromwhatyouthoughtintheabstract.
Researchhasseveralcomponents,forexample:
thinkingofthequestion,answeringthequestion,communicatingtheanswer.Itmaybeworthmentioningthatnotalloftheseareessential.
∙Evenwithoutmuchofaquestion,onecancollectsomedata,summariseit,andreporttheresults.Certainlyifyou'rethefirsttothinkofthiskindofdata,that'sallyouneedtodo.Certainlyifthedatakeepschangingfromyeartoyear(e.g.,accidents,andmanyothersociety-levelphenomena),thistypeofstudyisalwaysusefultoagreaterorlesserextent.
∙Evenwithoutananswer,thequestionissometimessuchagoodonethatitisworthtellingothersabout.(Itmightbethatyoudon'thavetimetoanswerit,orareuninterested,ornotcompetentinthenecessarytechniques.)
∙Sometimesyoudon'twanttocommunicateyourquestionandanswer.Theymighthaveturnedouttobelessinterestingthanyouthoughtwhenyoustarted.Oryoumightwanttowaituntilyou'vedonesomethingadditional.
Nevertheless,mostresearchhasallthreecomponents.Theansweringandthecommunicatingcanbedismissedquitebriefly.
∙Thefactthatyou'redoingresearchisstrongevidencethatyouhavetheskillsnecessarytoanswerthequestion.Notallofthem,perhaps,butenoughtoworkoutawayofattackingtheresearchandtoserveasafoundationforadditionalskillstobelearntalongtheway.Incidentally,asaruleofthumb,ifthereisacourseonsomething,peoplethinkofitasalow-levelskill---itisnotnecessarilybelowyourdignityasaresearcher,butyoudon'tgetanymeritbadgesformasteringit.(Iamalittleconcernedattheincreasingamountofstructuredstudiesthatuniversitiesareprescribingfortheirfirst-yearresearchstudents.Tomymind,theoverwhelmingpriorityatthatstageistodoadoablepieceofresearch,notattendlecturesonbibliographictoolsandtheinstitution'spolicyonintellectualproperty.)Astonon-technicalaspectsofansweringthequestion,thereissomeadvicebelow.
∙Therearelotsoftextbooksandcoursestoaidyouinyourscientificwriting.Essentially,though,itisallamatterofpractice.
OneofthereasonsIrecommendpsychologytostudentsisthatyoucan'tescapeeithertheuseofnumbersortheuseofwords.(Economicsisanothergoodsubjectfromthispointofview,butitdoesn'thavemuchofanexperimentalcomponent.)
Assoonasyou'vegotamessagetocommunicate,youshouldwriteareportonit,notwaituntilthewholeprojectisfinished.Thatprobablymeanswriting1000wordsperweek,everyweek.Justoccasionally,supervisorsforgettotellnewwriterstheobvious---theeasiestsectionstowritearethedescriptionsoftheresults,andofwhatyoudid(becausethesesectionsarehighlyconstrainedbythefacts),andyoushouldwritethesefirst;whattheresultsmean,andwhyyoudidwhatyoudid,arealtogethermoreproblematic,sotheDiscussionandIntroductionsectionsshouldbewrittenlater.Ifyou'redesperate,imagineyou'respeakingtoafriendaboutyourwork,andwritedownwhatyouwouldsay.(Then,asalways,reviseandedit,reviseandedit,reviseandedit.)
Someresearchhastobedonetoatightdeadline---forexample,thefinal-yearprojectscarriedoutbyundergraduates.Thebigdifferencethismakesisthatyoudon'thavetime(whichyoudoinmostsituations)togetthingswrongandthendothemagain.Theconsequenceisthatthere'sagooddealofluckinvolvedatthisstage,soIthinkthatifyourfinal-yearprojectfallsflatonitsface[failcompletely,usuallycausingembarrassment],itdoesn'tmeanyouwon'tbegoodatresearchinamorenormalenvironment.
Itisonlynaturalforastudenttoask"Whatwillgetmegoodmarks?
"Inassessingtheses,someuniversitieshavemarkingschemes---umarksareallocatedfortheprojectdesign,vmarksareallocatedfortheconductoftheexperimentorsurvey,wmarksareallocatedforthegeneralwritingofthethesis,xmarksareallocatedforthereviewofpreviousliterature,ymarksareallocatedforthepresentationoftheresults,zmarksareallocatedfortheinterpretationofthefindings,andsoon.Otheruniversitieshavenosuchmarkingscheme.(Evenwhereoneexists,itisveryoftenimpracticabletouseitstrictly.)Myadviceinsuchasituationmaybedifferentfromthatofothers.But,forwhatit'sworth,hereitis.Myimpressionisthatstudentstypicallyspendtoomuchtimereviewingpastliterature,andnotenoughtimethinkingaboutitandcriticisingit.Thestudent'sideasneedtobefirmlygroundedinestablishedwisdom,notpluckedoutofcloudcuckooland[脱离现实的幻境].Butthethingthatwillmostimpressthemarkerofathesisisafocusonthecentralideas,awillingnesstocriticiseimprecisethinkingbypreviousauthors,thedissectionofwhatisessentialfromwhatislessrelevant,andthedemonstrationofhowthestudent'sideassharpenwhathaspreviouslybeenblunt.Inotherwords,intellectualoomph[theactivenessofanenergeticpersonality].
Animportantissueisthatofwhattostudy.Ifyouhaveideas,there'snoproblem.But,isthereanythingyoucandotopromptideastocometoyou?
Or,intheabsenceofideas,howcanyoudosomethingworthwhile?
Idon'tsupposethere'sacompleteanswertothesequestions,butthefollowingcommentsareintendedtobehelpful.
Togetideas,exposeyourselftothem.
∙Talktosomeoneaboutyourresearch.Yourmumordad,forexample.Or(thoughI'venevertriedthis)thetopstreamof13-year-oldsatyourlocalselectivehighschool.Brainstormingwithyourcolleaguesisbetterthannothing[聊胜于无],butyou'renotreallyforcedtodecodeyourtalksufficiently[convertcodeintoordinarylanguage].Anyway,thereareotherusesforyourcolleagues,suchasbeingrudetoyou.
Itistremendouslyvaluableifthere'ssomeoneinyourcirclewhocanbringoff[tosucceedindoingsomethingdifficult]thetrickofbeingrudewithoutcausingoffence.Supposeyouareacognitivepsychologist,andinaseminaryouclaimthat"activationflowsthroughthelevels"ofyourmodel.Youbenefitifsomeonefromanothertraditionconfrontsyouwiththeclaimthat"activation","flows",and"levels"areallmeaningless.Itisgenerallyuptotheyoungtodothis.
Informalseminars,whereyoulistentoothers,andtalkyourself,areanimportantpartofthis.
∙Readwidely.(ButrememberwhatIsaidearlier:
readingisnotwhatresearchisabout.Indeed,Iwouldsaythereisatypeofpersonalityforwhomtoomuchreadingisamajordangertotheireverdoinganythingworthwhile.)
oHowtoread:
readthetitle,skimtheabstract,lookatthepicturesandmaybethetables,andifthere'sanythinginteresting,thenconsultthetext,lookingforthatspecificpoint.(No-onestartsatthebeginningofapaperandworkstheirwaythroughtotheend.)
oWhattoread:
manyofthe"prestigious"journalsarebestavoided,astheyhavegotintothehabitofattendingtoalotofdetailsthateveryoneknowsareunimportant,thusdilutingtherealmessage.Thepapersarepolishedandbland,andthereaderissuckedintotakingthemontheirownterms.Youneedsomethingrougher,thatyoucangettogripswith.
▪Commentsandlettersinanyjournal.Whateverthepointis,itismadequickly.Furthermore,anareaofcontroversymaybehighlightedforyou.
▪Journalsfromoutsideyourmaindisciplinethatarerelevanttoyourtopic.Forexample,ifyourowndisciplineispsychology,seewhatthemanagement,sociology,medicine,andengineeringjournalsaresayingaboutyourtopic.Theymayverywelltakesufficientlydifferentanattitudetoprovokethought.Andinterdisciplinaryjournals,e.g.,onthebordersofmusicandpsychology,orlawandstatistics.
▪Forthesamereason,journalsfromcountriesthatAmericanshaveneverheardof(suchasGermany,India,andJapan).
▪Lowprestigejournalssometimespublishsimpledataonunusualquestions---ifthetopicattractsyou,ideasforimprovingthemethodorgeneralisingtheresultswillsooncome.
▪Forthesamereason,youcanoftenfindmentalstimulationinjournalsfrom60or80yearsago.
oYourattitude:
sympatheticcriticism.Somuchjunkispublishedthatadegreeofscepticalhostilityisappropriatewhenapproachingmostpapers(unlesstheauthorisontheApprovedList).Buttemperthiswithsympathy:
apapermaybeuselesstoyou,anditmayevenbeclearthatbyanyreasonablestandardtheresearchwasawasteoftime,butyetthemethodmaybeusefultoonereader,adetailintheresultsmaybejustwhatasecondreaderislookingfor,andathirdreadermayfindherthoughtsclarifiedbyapointin
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