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WRITING AN ESSAY
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Short literature review
around 2500 words (+10%)
Logical progression and structure
Flowing
Key phrases between paragraphs when necessary
Should summarise the actual state of knowledge on thesubject
Use a scientific writing style- structure
- style
Main characteristics
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Essay Structure - 1
Use appropriate headings
Use paragraphs:- they should make a point or establish an idea; the next
idea demands a new paragraph- make them obvious (a blank line in between looksgood)
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Essay structure - 2
Introduction / background moves from general to specific, and maybe from
known to unknown
general statements help to set the scene
provide some history / description of the topic /background
more specific statements about what has beenstudied, and summarise the different componentswhich will be developed in the essay
Remember - first impressions count!
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Essay Structure - 3
Main body of essay Expand and discuss the different components outlined inintroduction
Conclusion
A conclusion must fulfill the promise of the introduction
It can:- summarise- state implications- give recommendations for future work
It should not:- introduce new points- be too long
- be too repetitive
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Essay Style
Be simple and concise
Read widely and learn from papers that are clearly written
The third person, passive voice rule is the norme.g.
The experiment was designed to test the hypothesis thatorWe tested the hypothesis that
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References
Show that you know the literature
Choosing the right references is critical. Select the sourcescarefully (no Readers Digest-style ones)
Cite them at the right place to support your statements
All references need to be presented in the same way in theessay.
There are 2 major styles: Vancouver and Harvard.
USE HARVARD STYLE !- In the text: (Masson et al. 2011a), (Peace and Thies 2001) .
- In the reference list:Richard JK, Henri JB & George F. Influence of protein contenton biscuits density. Int J of Dog Biscuit1998; 53: 15-22
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How to get references?
From books, websites or articles published in
scientific journals
Books- Check in the library catalogue for books written on the subject- Check the year of publication
Articles- Some will be referenced in the books- Others will need to be identified by key words using scientific
databases (Medline, Embase, pubmed etc.)- Try to identify recent review articles
Web sites- Use your own judgment!
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How to choose my keywords?
Key words are usually indicated in the title:e.g.
- Role of genetic and nutritional factors in thedevelopment of diabetes.
- Influence of dietary lipids on inflammatorydiseases.
Searching references in a database involves workingwith carefully chosen key words by association (AND,
OR, NOT)
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Scientific journals related to nutrition
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Annual Review of NutritionBritish Journal of NutritionEuropean Journal of Clinical NutritionJournal of the American Dietetic AssociationJournal of Clinical Nutrition and metabolic care
Journal of Human Nutrition and DieteticsJournal of NutritionJournal of Nutritional BiochemistryNutritionNutrition Bulletin
Nutrition in Clinical CareNutrition Research ReviewsNutrition ReviewsNutrition Metabolism & Cardiovascular DiseasesProceedings of the Nutrition SocietyPublic Health Nutrition
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Scientific journals related to nutrition
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Annual Review of NutritionBritish Journal of NutritionEuropean Journal of Clinical NutritionJournal of the American Dietetic AssociationJournal of Clinical Nutrition and metabolic care
Journal of Human Nutrition and DieteticsJournal of NutritionJournal of Nutritional BiochemistryNutritionNutrition Bulletin
Nutrition in Clinical CareNutrition Research ReviewsNutrition ReviewsNutrition Metabolism & Cardiovascular DiseasesProceedings of the Nutrition SocietyPublic Health Nutrition
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Other journals related to nutrition
Almost all the others:
generalist journals
ScienceNaturePNASetc
other journals
J of Clin. Inves.FASEB JournalJ Biol. Chem.LancetImmunology Letter New England J of MedProgress in Lipid Research
LipidsAm J of PhysiolAge and agingCardiovascular Research
AppetiteCurrent opinion inCirculationDiabetesDiabetes, Obesity & MetabInt J ObesityProg Lipid Res
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WRITING A PRACTICAL REPORT
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Structure of practical report
Headings
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
(Conclusion)
References
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Introduction
Small paragraph containing background information
Concise description of the principle of the method used ifrelevant: may be chemical equations, type of analysis,etc...
Aims and objectives- these should follow logically from the introduction
- use the same order of themes as you will present inthe results in order to make it easy for the reader tofollow
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Methods
DO NOT copy every step listed in manual summarise in your own words
Could use diagram to summarise the methodology.
List assumptions
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Results
Look carefully at your data
Check your calculations
Write down the results as requested, with all the details
(equations + individual values)
Use tables & graphs to assist you in presenting the data
Read carefully what is requested
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Comment on your results:
- are they high, low, expected, surprising?
Comment on the method used:- is it precise enough?- what are the limitations/advantages of the
method?- would other methods be more adequate?
If there were problems:
discuss how they could be solved
How do your results compare with others?
What can you conclude?
Discussion
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References
Include a reference list at the end of the report
Show evidence of relevant reading, particularly inthe introduction and discussion
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Essays & Practicals
3 key stages
1. Plan
2. Execute
3. Polish
Try not to do two or more of these at the same time
Allow plenty of time!
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And finally
Take time to read over the finished product before submitting
Check your spelling and proof read with care - it is not enoughto use a computer spell-check.
Be your own critic:- Can you read the text aloud without stumbling?- Is every word necessary? Could I be more concise?
Text should be as short as possible and as long as necessary- Avoid big words if simple ones will do
Give your Student ID on the title page of your report / essayNOT your name
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Some useful sources of help
Northedge, A (1990). The good study guide.
Open University Press, UK.
For writing skills
http://abdn.ac.uk/writing
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/academicwriting/
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PRESENTING DATA
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Introduction
A clear presentation of the data is essential for a clear understanding of
their meaning
The type of presentation chosen depends on
the type of data
whether one variable is being presented, or several variables are
being compared etcTypes of data
Qualitative (or categorical)
- Dichotomous (binary) e.g. male/female or success/failure
- Nominal (unordered) e.g. blood group (A, B, AB, O)
- Ordinal (ordered) e.g. degree of pain (severe, moderate, mild)
Quantitative (or numeric)
- Discrete (integer values) e.g. number of visits to a GP
- Continuous (takes any value in a range) e.g. vitamin C intake
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Types of presentation
1. Tables
2. Figures (graphs)
- Bar or column chart
- Pie chart
- Line, curve or scatter (dot) plot
- Histogram
Some common features of tables and graphs
They should be able to stand alone, without any accompanying description
Informative title e.g.Table 1: Vitamin C intake (mg/d), by age and sex
Always be referred to in the text e.g.Table 1 shows
Give the units presented, e.gmmol/L, % total energy, kg/m2
For categorical or some discrete numerical data
For continuous data
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Tables - example
Table 4.8 Blood lipid concentrations(mean + SD)
All (n=239) Men (n=91) Women (n=148)
Cholesterol (mmol/L) 4.81 1.02 4.93 1.04 4.73 1.00
LDL cholesterol (mmol/L) 2.76 0.86 3.01 0.87** 2.61 0.83
HDL cholesterol (mmol/L) 1.59 0.39 1.36 0.31*** 1.73 0.38
TG (mmol/L) 1.02 0.65 1.24 0.82*** 0.88 0.46
Apo A1 (g/L)1 1.41 0.24 1.32 0.19*** 1.47 0.25
Apo B (g/L)2 1.04 0.32 1.12 0.33** 0.98 0.31
1n=225 for all, and n=134 for women;
2n=224 for all, and n=133 for women
**p
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Bar or column chart - example
Used for categorical or discrete data
Bars are separated by small gaps
Axes are labelled and units given
Key supplied to explain different coloured bars
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
< 20 20-24.9 25-29.9 30-34.9 35-39.9 >40
BMI (kg/m2)
Percentage(%)
Men
Women
Figure 4.14 BMI category of subjects.
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Pie chart - example
Used for categorical or some discrete numerical data
The area of each section of the pie is proportional to the frequency in that
category
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Line graph - example
0
100
200300
400
500
600
700
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
Deathra
te/100,0
00 men - Scotland
men - UK
women - Scotland
women - UK
Figure 1.1 Age-standardised CHD death rates for men and women aged 35-74 years.
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Scatter plot - example
Used if both variables arecontinuous or ordinal
Each observation isrepresented by one dot
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Dietary fat and breast cancer mortality
J Intern Med 2001;249:395-411
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Histogram - example
Similar to a bar chart, but with no gaps between bars
Used if the data are continuous
10
19
27
1311
8
43
1
0
10
20
30
4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000ffq energy (kJ/d)
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Is this a good table?Table 4.5 subjects
A B
Age 34.59.4 31.49.12
BMI 25.423.86 24.054.91
Systolic BP 136.0815.48 121.0412.47
Diastolic BP 83.959.55 77.568.33
PAL 1.740.35 1.510.22
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International System of UnitsSI Units
Systme International d'Units (International System of Units) with theinternational abbreviation SI is a single international language of scienceand technology first introduced in 1960.
Basic SI units
Physical quantity Basic SI unit name Unit symbolLength metre mMass kilogram kgTime second s
Electric current ampere AThermodynamic temperature kelvin KAmount of substance mole molLuminous intensity candela cd
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Non-SI units accepted for use with SI
Physical quantity Unit name Unit symbolTime minute min
Time hour h
Time day d
Angle degree o
Volume litre l, L
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Prefixes for SI units
Prefix Symbol FactorTera T 1 000 000 000 000 1012 (e+12)Giga G 1 000 000 000 109 (e+9)Mega M 1 000 000 106 (e+6)Kilo k 1 000 103 (e+3)Hecto h 100 102 (e+2)Deca da 10 101 (e+1)
------------------------------1-----------------------------------------------Deci d 0.1 10-1 (e-1)Centi c 0.01 10-2 (e-2)Milli m 0.001 10-3 (e-3)Micro 0.000 001 10-6 (e-6)
Nano n 0.000 000 001 10-9
(e-9)Pico p 0.000 000 000 001 10-12 (e-12)
E.g50 mL = 0.050 L = 50 x 10-3 L or 5 x 10-2 L20 L = 0.00002 L = 20 x 10-6 L or 2 x 10-5 L
Recommended