Great Beginnings and Endings in Academic WritingGraduate Centre of Business, Lecture Series in Research Methodology - Spring 2010

Lawrence Cleary and Dr. íde O’SullivanResearch Officers,

Regional Writing Centre, UL, C1065/66, Main Buildingwww.ul.ie/rwc

Telos

• Teleology is at the heart of Aristotle's his theory of causes.

– Material cause– Formal cause– Efficient or moving cause– Final cause

• It is the study of purposiveness, or the study of objects with a view to their aims, purposes, or intentions

• What motivates our dissertation? What determines its form? What motivates it? What purpose is revealed from its realisation?

Dancing the Dance

• Put on your red shoes and dance the blues• Dance to the song they’re playin’ on the

radio• Sway through the crowd to an empty space• Let's dance for fear your grace should fall…

for fear tonight is all…• Because my love for you would break my

heart in two if you should fall…into my arms…and tremble like a flower

• Sway under the moonlight, the serious moonlight

Research/Writing Process

• Prewriting• Drafting• Revising• Editing and Proofreading

The Rhetorical Situation

• The context into which you write

• Occasion• Topic• Audience• Purpose• Writer

Strategy Development

• Cognitive• Metacognitive• Affective• Social

Where are you in the terms of the dance?

• Prewriting?• Drafting?• Revising?• Editing and Proofreading?

Where are you?

•How much of your thesis is already written, and how much writing would you like to do [in the long, medium and short term]?

– 5 minutes’ writing– Write complete sentences– Don’t edit– Private writing– Discussion in pairs/groups to follow

Put on your red shoes

• There are all kinds of things that you have to do before you start writing.

• The most difficult part is getting started.

• The most important thing is to start dancing now.

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Prewriting

• Planning– Evaluating the rhetorical situation, or

context, into which you write– Choosing and focusing your topic– Establishing an organizing principle

• Gathering information– Entering the Discourse on your Topic– Taking notes as a Strategy to Avoid

Charges of Plagiarism– Evaluating sources

Assessing your writing situation

• Your writing process• The rhetorical situation or context• Your own writing strategies

The music they’re playing on the radio

• Entering the discourse communities

• Reporting on what they are saying, on where they agree and where they disagree, and on how this pertains to you and your topic.

Let’s Dance• What do you already know about your topic and

the specific aspect of the topic are you going to discuss? What do you still need to pt: A topic in business that I would like to research is… – Keep writing non-stop for 5 minutes.– Write in sentences.– Do not edit or censor your writing.– Discuss what you have written in pairs.

Drafting

• Writer-based Writing (Writing to gather your thoughts and to explain it all to yourself so that you can, later, explain it to everyone else.)

– Don’t worry about order or grammar– At some point, stop to assess what was

written– Look for patterns or indications of direction, a

path into a discourse• Get your thoughts down on paper

Sway through the crowd to an empty space

• In the literature, identify

–Poorly supported conclusions

–Contested stances

–Gaps in the research

Points of Order

• Research papers are organized around the problem, not the topic per se.

• The problem, in a sense, is the topic.• Problems, however, exist in contexts,

as do solutions.

What’s your problem?

• Logical denoument:

– Question Answer – Problem Solution– Hypothesis Test (affirmation/negation)– Claim Defence

• When we talk about Aristotle’s formal cause…• Not all questions are answered in the same way

– How will your questions be answered?• Your problems solved/hypotheses tested?• Your claims defended?

Rowena Murray’s page-98 paper

• My research question is … (50 words)• Researchers who have looked at this subject are … (50

words)• They argue that … (25 words)• Debate centres on the issue of … (25 words)• There is work to be done on … (25 words)• My research is closest to that of X in that … (50 words)• My contribution will be … (50 words)

• Murray, R. (2006) How to Write a Thesis, 2nd ed. Maidenhead, England: Open University Press.

Dissertation Structure

• Preliminaries• Main Body

– Introduction, Lit. Review, Methodology, Presentation of Data, Analysis of Data, Conclusions and Recommendations

• End Matter

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Drafting your Dissertation or Thesis

• Try to visualize your dissertation or thesis. Work toward that vision.

• Begin to structure it—establish your section headings; give them titles. These do not have to be permanent.

• Examine the logical order of ideas reflected in those titles.

• Do not get hung up on details; elements of the draft are subject to change in the revision stage.

• Start to write the sections that you are ready to write. Don’t try to write the Introduction merely because it comes first.

Writing Prompt

• What question will I try to answer / problem will I try to solve / hypothesis will I try to affirm / claim will I try to defend?

• What do I need to know in order to answer that question? Defend the claim? Test the hypothesis?

• Layers: What other questions do I need to answer? Claims to defend? Hunches to test?

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Arguments & Logic

• A good argument will have, at the very least:– a thesis that declares the writer's position on the a thesis that declares the writer's position on the

problem at hand; problem at hand; – an acknowledgment of the opposition that nods to, or an acknowledgment of the opposition that nods to, or

quibbles with other points of view; quibbles with other points of view; – a set of clearly defined premises that illustrate the a set of clearly defined premises that illustrate the

argument's line of reasoning; argument's line of reasoning; – evidence that validates the argument's premises; evidence that validates the argument's premises; – a conclusion that convinces the reader that the a conclusion that convinces the reader that the

argument has been soundly and persuasively made. argument has been soundly and persuasively made. (Dartmouth Writing Program 2005) (Dartmouth Writing Program 2005)

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Literature Review & Logic

• The Lit. Review that you wrote for your proposal will not necessarily be the same review that you submit as part of your dissertation.

• Think in terms of your argument and the support that you provided for claims:– Include a review of all the literature that you read to learn

about your topic and the particular aspect of your topic that you focus on.

– Include a review of the literature on the methodologies that you used.

Pints of Porter• The literature that you read informs both the

immediate context of the problem and the larger context of which it is a part.

• The methodology you choose determines the data you get, as does your analytical methodology determine what you get from that data.

Writing the Literature Review

• What is it?• What is its purpose?

– To guide and inform your process– To identify the discourse(s) into which you

write– To locate your position within the

discourse/knowledge field– To inform your audience about the credibility

and value of your conclusions

Issues of Credibility• Definition from Merriam-Webster: “an

interpretation and synthesis of published research” (Merriam qtd in Murray 2006: 108).

• Choices speak to your understanding of the puddle.

Organization

• How will I organize my literature review?• Can I classify or categorize the stuff I’ve read so

far? • Can I say how each piece of literature has

helped to inform my over-riding questions and/or sub-questions?

Writing Prompt

• What do I know about my research topic?• What I am looking for in the literature is...• What are the schools of thought in the literature?• The ‘great debates’ in my area are...

Questions Your Lit Review Should Answer (Murray 2006: 115)

• Why is this subject important?• Who else thinks it’s important?• Who has worked on this subject before?• Who has done something similar to what I am

doing?• What can be adapted to my own study?

Questions Your Lit Review Should Answer (Murray 2006: 115) (Con’t)

• What are the gaps in the research?• Who is going to use my material?• What use will my project be?• What will my contribution be?• What specific question will I answer?• [What specific questions will my research not be

able to address?]

Writing Prompt• If we can frame the main question in a hierarchy,

below which are framed the sub-questions, and we can put these frames in a larger frame called the Literature Review, what frames are you ready to fill in?

• If you do not organize your literature around your question and sub-questions, how else will you categorize the literature in order to organize your discussion?

Organizing the Methodology Section(s)

• How will you organize your text in each section?• How would you logically organize the

information in this section?• Will you organize the methods around the

questions? Or around the methodological type?

Writing Prompt

• If you were to think about your main question and your sub-questions, what methods will you employ to answer each question?

• If you haven’t figured out what questions you are asking, do some backward engineering.

The Methodology Section

• “A thesis focuses on a central question and is unified by that focus” (Murray 2006: 123).

• In the methodology section, we have two kinds of data: – The methods used to gather data– The methods used to analyze the data

The Methodology Section

• Ultimately, your methodology section(s) will– Define and explain your method, your theoretical

approach, naming your instrument (e.g. Case study, interview, etc.)

– Show links between your method and the methods used by others

The Methodology Section

• Ultimately, your methodology section(s) should– Justify your choice of methods– Report what you plan to do– Show how you will select and analyse the data and

how you will document it– Say what you expect to find

Some Questions Your Methodolgy Section Should Answer

• Why will the data be admissible?• Why is your choice of measuring instrument

appropriate to your context / to the data you are aiming to retrieve?

• By what criteria will you measure the validity of your measuring instruments?

• How do we know that your method will yield reliable data?

Valid, reliable information

• “Sometimes there is universal agreement that a particular instrument provides a valid instrument for measuring a particular characteristic. We could all agree that a ruler measures length, a thermometer measures temperature, and a barometer measures air pressure. But whenever we do not have such universal agreement, we must provide evidence that an instrument we are using has validity for our purpose” (Leedy and Ormrod, 2005: 92).

Sometimes the Tail Wags the Dog

• Research methods affect:– data the researcher records about the phenomenon– the sorts of phenomena that can be studied– the sorts of understanding of the phenomenon that the

researcher is likely to arrive at– the sorts of knowledge claims they will be able to sustain

(Guba & Lincoln 1994 in Nandhakumar 2003)• Sometimes form follows content: Sway to the moonlight

Content and Form

• ‘Understanding organisational behaviour has never been more important for managers’ (Robbins, 2003:14).

• Explain why this is the case, outlining in your answer the challenges and opportunities faced by managers, and the value of understanding organisational behaviour to a practicing manager.

‘Writing in Layers’ (Murray 2006: 125-27)

• Outline the structure: write your chapter or section headings.

• Write a sentence or two on the contents of each chapter/section.

• List out sub-headings for each section.• Write an introductory paragraph for each

section.• At the top of each section, write the word count

requirement, draft number and date.

Conclusion

• As you write, your organization may change. • Many things determine order:

– Arguments have a logical order, as do comparisons, cause/effect relationships, temporal or spatial descriptions, etc.

– However, dissertations are thesis driven. Your question, and what you need to know, strongly influences the organization of your final product.

Don’t Forget

• Logical Choices and Unity of Purpose• Methodologies & Logic• Methodologies & Credibility• Unity and Coherence• Writing Strategies

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Logical Choices and Unity of Purpose

• Every choice serves to defend a claim, answer a question, or confirm a hypothesis– Word, phrase, sentence-structure

• Does the choice satisfy audience expectations?• Does it speak to your authorial credibility?• Does it further your argument, analysis?

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Methodologies & Logic

• When you know what you need to know in order to answer a question, then it is logical to choose methods of inquiry that will supply the reliable verifiable data that you need in order to answer the question.

• Don’t forget to qualify your data—what does it tell you and what is it unable to tell you?

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Methodologies & Credibility

• All data has to be analyzed. You need a methodology for analyses as well.– Quantitative data: can it be generalized?– Qualitative data: what criteria will be used to establish its

value?

• Do not overstate your results. An honest, quality analysis will speak volumes about your credibility, regardless of the quality of the data.

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Unity and Coherence

• If information included in your dissertation does not contribute to an understanding of the value of your conclusions and recommendations, then it only serves to befuddle the logic of your piece.

• A unified text is a more coherent text.

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Writing Strategies

• Map your paper– What sections or subsections are completed (keeping in

mind you still have to revise),– Pick one or two of the holes in your paper that you would

feel comfortable filling,– Assess the reasons for any anxiety you have over the

unfinished parts that cause you anxiety• Do you need to read more?• Do you need to rethink your paper?

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Writing Strategies

• Outline your paper

– Devise headings and subheadings for uncompleted sections

• This helps you see the logical progression (or lack of it) of your ideas

• It identifies the main ideas• It helps detect omissions

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Writing Strategies• Write about why you are having difficulty

making advances in your paper– It gets the fingers tapping and the cerebral juices flowing– An awareness of fears and anxieties helps you to develop

strategies to overcome those emotional roadblocks– You may discover that the reason that you are having

difficulty is that there is some chink in the logic of your argument that you must either fill or that requires a major rethinking of the line of reasoning.

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Writing Strategies• Don’t allow yourself to freeze up. When you

are feeling overwhelmed…– Satisfy yourself with small advances until you feel more

confident and unstuck– Free-write or write to prompts.– Seek help. Talk to friends. Talk about how you feel, but talk

about your ideas as well.– Eat lots of ice cream and candy.

Sources• Bowie, D. 1983 “Let’s Dance” [online], available at:

http://www.elyrics.net/read/d/david-bowie-lyrics/let_s-dance-lyrics.html [accessed 08 Feb. 2009].

• Leedy, P.D. and Ormrod, J.E. 2005 Practical Research: Planning and Design, 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson

• Murray, R. 2006 How to Write a Thesis, 2nd ed. Maidenhead, England: Open University Press.

• Nandhakumar, J. 2003 Interpreting Information Systems: A reflexive account of grounded theory analysis [ppt. online], available: http://project.hkkk.fi/gebsi/files/nav_activities/material/Nandhakumar_slides.pdf [accessed 15 Aug 2008].

• UEfAP.com 2008 Writing: Rhetorical Functions, Comparing and Contrasting Exercise 2 [online], available: http://www.uefap.com/writing/exercise/function/compcon2.htm [accessed Aug 16 2008].