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Research Methods for MSc CEM and MSc PEMEssentials of academic
writing :Content and structure of academic paper.
Tutor: Dr.S.Ganesan
1) Organisation
An appropriate format for most papers is the same format as
fororganization of a research proposal (see previous
handout)Problem and its setting; research objective and sub
problems; literaturereview, data interpretation and analyses. ; and
conclusions ,
This structure is fundamental to a good academic paper. .
2) Problem and its setting The problem and its ramifications are
stated here. Importance is
revealed. If sub problems are mentioned, the reader gets a
deeperunderstanding of the proposed research.
Place the problem within its immediate context- a
somewhatbroader picture to introduce the problem. For example,
Designand Build procurement system is one of three mainprocurement
systems; the other two are the traditional design andbid method,
and Project management.
A table to compare the three systems may be a part of
literaturereview.
3) Literature review In a short paper, literature review may
follow the statement of the
main research problem; in a thesis, literature review follows in
aseparate chapter, following introduction of problem, its setting
andmain research question.
Literature review should include current knowledge, gap
inknowledge and their relevance to the research question ;
In depth research is facilitated by disaggregating key issues
or
complex concepts with in the problem. For example
projectmanagement may be broken down into various stages:
planning,design, construction, buildings ervcies , etc ;
Breaking into Sub problems will help in literature search and
review.
2) Analyses The quality of the paper will be heavily influenced
by the new data
collected, and how it si anlysed and interpreted. The
interpretationmust discover new evidence and arguments to support
or rejectassumed hypotheses.
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Descriptions of data and other scetsion of a Report should be in
objective, scientific(factual) style.
Develop a reasonable writing schedule in terms of content, size
and time required; Use main headings and sub headings, tables
charts, figures etc.
References:
1) www.Schools of California Online Resources for Education; A
Project of the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools.
2) Leedy, Paul D, and Ormrod, J. E.( 2005) Practical Research:
Planning and Design,Pearson International edition, Chapters 4 and
12.
