东南大学学术论文写作-单元2Unit2

•Tounderstandtheimportanceandmajorcomponentsofaresearchproposal;•Tobecomeawareoftheuseofpersonalpronounsandnominalizationinacademicwriting;•Toinitiateyourownresearch;•Tolearntowritearesearchproposal.LearningObjectives•Whatisyourpurposeofinitiatinganacademicresearch?•Whydoyouneedtowritearesearchproposal?•Howdoyouchooseatopic?•Doyouoftenencounterthefirstandsecondpersonalpronounsinacademicwriting?Andwhy?I.Warm-up1.Summarizethecomponentsofaresearchproposalbasedonthetextinafewkeywordsandfillinthefollowingtable.II.SampleReadingComponentsKeywordsPart1AworkingtitlePart2OverviewoftheresearchPart3ReviewofliteraturePart4ResearchmethodologyPart5FacilitiesrequiredPart6ConclusionPart7Listofkeyreferences2.Readthefollowingpairsoftopicsanddecidewhichismoresuitableforashort-termresearch.Thefirstoneisgivenasanexample.II.SampleReadingNo.TopicsSuitableornot1.a.InwhatwayaregraduatestudentsofSoutheastUniversity(dis)satisfiedwiththeirlife?✓b.Students’collegelife2.a.JobprospectofgraduatesofMastersofScienceatSEU.✓b.Anemploymentreview3.a.IndiaintheageoftheMogulsb.RoyalmonumentsofIndiaduringtheageoftheMoguls✓4.a.Classificationofanxietyb.AnxietytypeamongtheSEUgraduates✓5.a.Englishwordlearningb.NeedsanalysisofEnglishwordlearninginSEUgraduates✓6.a.Facultybilingualismb.IspersonalsuccessofSEUfacultymemberscorrelatedwithbilingualism?✓7.a.IsthereanenvironmentalimpactoncitiesinSouthAmericaduringholidays?b.IstherelativevolumeofrubbishproducedduringcarnivalinBuenosAiresrelatedtotheeconomicrevenuegeneratedcomparedwith“normal”weekends?✓8.Isthereanincreaseinwaterbornediseaseinthe3daysfollowingsummerholidayscomparedwiththethreedaysfollowing“normal”daysinCaracas?✓IsthewaterqualityofSouthAmericancitieswithalargepopulationworseonChristmasdaycomparedwith“normal”days?3.Decideifthefollowingquestionsareappropriateforresearchtopics.Whyorwhynot?Andhowtoimprovethemifnecessary?II.SampleReading1)HowmanycarsaretherevisitingtheDesertVistaMall?It’stoosmallandtootrivial.Youknowhowtoanswerthisquestion.Youknowwhichmalltovisitandwhattodo.Theproblemwiththisquestionisthatitdoesnotaddresswhatisimportantintheliterature.Thisquestioncouldbeimportantforthetransportationplanningliteraturehoweverandcouldberephrasedtoreflectthat.Thequestionisimprovedbyrelatingittoweekendorweekdaytrafficorwhichmallentrancehasmoreorlesstraffic.2)Howdoweimprovereadinginelementaryschools?It’stoolargeandnotdoable.Thisquestiontiesclearlyintotheresearchareaofelementaryschoolsuccessbyresearchingreadingingeneral,butitlacksanylinktotheresearchmethods.Thequestioncouldbeimprovedbyaskinghowdifferentinterventionprogramshelpstrugglingstudentsorhowcurriculaatcharterschoolsdifferfrompublicschools.3)Canremotesensingbeusedtodetectimpervioussurfaces?Itcanbeansweredyesorno(whilesomeyes-or-noquestionsareactuallyokay,theyneedtobetestingsomethingspecific).Thisisaweakyes-or-noquestion.Thereisalinktoboththeliteraturereview(theneedtodetectimpervioussurfaces)andtheapproach(remotesensing),butbothpieceslackspecificity.Youcanimprovethequestionbyaddingdetailstoboth:CanMarkovrandomfieldsimproveclassificationofimpervioussurfacesinQuickbirdimagerycomparedtomaximumlikelihoodclassifiersindesertcities?Thisisanexampleofastrongyes-or-noquestion.Ontheliteraturesideitsuggestsahistoryofdetectingimpervioussurfaceswithmaximum-likelihoodclassificationapproaches.Onthemethodsside,itsuggeststheapproachwilluseMarkovrandomfieldsmethodsinanunspecifieddesertcity.A.Personalpronouns•FirstpersonpronounsEstablishingauthoridentifybyusingitandstrengtheningimpersonaltonebyremovingit.•SecondpersonpronounsSeldomusedunlessyougiveinstructions.•ThirdpersonpronounsSoundsmoreobjectiveandconvincing.III.LanguageFocusTasks1.Rewritethefollowingsentencestomakethemmoreacademicbyavoidingfirstandsecondpersonpronouns.1)Ithinkthatthemethodologysectionisahugelyimportantpartofyourresearchproposal.•Themethodologysectionisofgreatimportancefortheresearchproposal.2)Whenyoureviewliterature,youshouldbeawarethatyouneedtoidentifyexistinggapsthatyourresearchintendstofill.•Existinggapsshouldbeidentifiedthatthepresentresearchintendstofillintheliteraturereview.3)Ichosethismethodbecauseitwaslesscomplex.•Thismethodwaschosenforitssimplicity.4)Myreadinghasshownthatthereareseveralreasonswhyplantsaredispersedbyants.•Accordingtotheliteraturereviewed,thereareseveralreasonswhyplantsaredispersedbyants.5)Thereviewofrecentrelatedliteraturecouldhelpyoudiscoverthelatestfacilitiesthataremoreefficientthanearlierexistingonesincarryingoutyourwork.•Inthereviewoftherecentliterature,latestfacilitiescouldbefoundwhicharemoreefficientthanearlierexistingonesinthecurrentstudy.6)IalsofoundthattheresultsofthisstudyconcurredwithBerg’s(1975)hypothesisthatseedsareprotectedfromfirethroughtheirburialinantsnests.•TheresultsofthisstudyconcurredwithBerg's(1975)hypothesisthatseedsareprotectedfromfirethroughtheirburialinantsnests.2.Rewritethefollowingparagraphstomakethemmoreacademicbyavoidingfirstandsecondpersonpronouns.Thepresentstudyistoinvestigatetheimpactoftwosimpleactionsaimedatgettingmorefemaleemployeestousethe