By Joan Whetzel
Week of October 14, 2012: Research Writing
By: Joan Whetzel
Reports on every conveyable subject are written for businesses, government agencies, schools and colleges, and scientific journals. In order to write these reports, the writers need to understand the subject matter of that report, which means doing the research. The hardest part of doing the research is choosing the best resources when so many information sources are available to choose from.
Reasons for Research
The type of research writing one does depends on the reason for the research and the writing. Scientists share their research writing in scientific journals so that their research must be duplicatable and that it usually provides the opportunity to build on or complement any prior research with new insights. Academic research writing scrutinizes, evaluates, and compares older documents and events with current documents and events, as a means of stirring thoughts and discussions on social, historical, political and other issues. Business research writing addresses marketing, company performance, and financial forecasting concerns.
What Research Writing Provides
Scientific research writing discusses the investigation process taken by the scientist. It begins with an abstract, which is a summary of the work, and an introduction to the basis for the work. It includes the scientist’s materials and methods used; followed by the data explaining the results and a discussion of the findings, and finally concludes with the list of any outside resources used in the research process. Academic and business research writing begins by introducing the topic being discussed or the question answered by the report. The body of the research writing that follows covers the research, which is separated into subheadings that discuss all the facets of the topic, and concludes with a discussion of the findings.
Primary and Secondary Research
One of the most important aspects of any research writing is primary research, that information and data the writer collects himself or herself. Primary research includes:
· Interviews (question and answer session either held one-on-one or in small groups).
· Surveys (rigid question and answer session with a large and diverse group of people which provide a limited amount of information).
· Observations (taking organized notes about real-world examinations and studies)
· Analysis (the collection, organization and evaluation of data from the primary research)
· Experiments and collection of the data from that experimentation.
Secondary research (finding what others have already written and published on a particular subject) is usually required so that the research writer has a good understanding of what is already known on the subject. It can also be used to supplement his or her writing with examples, explanations, and as back up for some of his or points.
Arranging the Research Writing
The research writing must be arranged logically so that the reader(s) can follow the writer’s train of thought. Breaking the research into smaller sections with descriptive headings (section titles) which will help the readers scan through the research writing to find the parts they need most.
A Word of Warning
Secondary research provides a lot of information from scholars and experts which is ripe for using as quotations. Quotations, used sparingly, are great and punctuate any research writing with the expert’s wisdom and experience. However, it is not the aim of research writing to quote others or repeat what others have said and written on the subject. When using other peoples’ work in your research writing, it is more important to appraise the work of other experts, then disclose your own thoughts and arguments on the topic than to load down the writing with a bunch of quotes from other experts and scholars.
Reference
Writing Research Papers. David R. Caprette. "Experimental Biosciences." Rice University: August 1995. http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reportform.html
Research and Citation Resources. "Purdue Online Writing Lab." 2010. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/
Writing Research Essays. "A Guide For Students Of All Nations - Part One." William Badke. October 2009. http://www.acts.twu.ca/Library/research_essays.htm#question
Handbook of Technical Writing. Gerald J. Alred, et al. Eight Edition. 2006. Bedford/St. Martin's.
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Joseph Gibaldi. Fifth Edition. 1999. The Modern Language Association of America.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Fifth Edition. 2003.
Purdue Online Writing Lab. What Is Primary Research and How Do I Get Started?
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