how to do research in writing the thesis.docx

how to do research in writing the thesis.docx

《how to do research in writing the thesis.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《how to do research in writing the thesis.docx（7页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

howtodoresearchinwritingthethesis

Howtodoresearch

Thefirstthingtosayisthatifithastobedone,it'syouwho’sgottodoit.

∙You.There’sno-oneelsetodotheprojectforyou.Verylikely,there’sno-onewhowillgiveyouanyhelp.You’retheonewhocares,thedrivehasgottocomefromwithinyou.You’retheonewhoknowshowtoanswerthequestion,no-oneelseknowsasmuch.

Theaboveisnotthewholetruth---asyourprojectevolves,you'llfindyourselfreceivingtechnicalhelp,wisdom,andemotionalsupportfromagreatmanypeople---butyouneedtobeawarethatself-relianceisvital.

Theremaybeothertypesofresearch,e.g.,inwhichaneophyteisfittedintoaslotintheGodProfessor'sprogram.Idon'thaveexperienceofthem.[neophyte:

apersonwhohasrecentlystartedanactivity]

∙Do.Itisimportantthatyoustartthemainactivitiesoftheresearch---experimentation,orsurvey,orsimulation,ordataanalysis---soonerratherthanlater.Acommonmistakeistothinkandplanandread,andnevergetroundtothemaingame.Whenyoustart,youmayfindthattherealdifficultiesandissuesarequitedifferentfromwhatyouthoughtintheabstract.

Researchhasseveralcomponents,forexample:

thinkingofthequestion,answeringthequestion,communicatingtheanswer.Itmaybeworthmentioningthatnotalloftheseareessential.

∙Evenwithoutmuchofaquestion,onecancollectsomedata,summariseit,andreporttheresults.Certainlyifyou'rethefirsttothinkofthiskindofdata,that'sallyouneedtodo.Certainlyifthedatakeepschangingfromyeartoyear（e.g.,accidents,andmanyothersociety-levelphenomena）,thistypeofstudyisalwaysusefultoagreaterorlesserextent.

∙Evenwithoutananswer,thequestionissometimessuchagoodonethatitisworthtellingothersabout.（Itmightbethatyoudon'thavetimetoanswerit,orareuninterested,ornotcompetentinthenecessarytechniques.）

∙Sometimesyoudon'twanttocommunicateyourquestionandanswer.Theymighthaveturnedouttobelessinterestingthanyouthoughtwhenyoustarted.Oryoumightwanttowaituntilyou'vedonesomethingadditional.

Nevertheless,mostresearchhasallthreecomponents.Theansweringandthecommunicatingcanbedismissedquitebriefly.

∙Thefactthatyou'redoingresearchisstrongevidencethatyouhavetheskillsnecessarytoanswerthequestion.Notallofthem,perhaps,butenoughtoworkoutawayofattackingtheresearchandtoserveasafoundationforadditionalskillstobelearntalongtheway.Incidentally,asaruleofthumb,ifthereisacourseonsomething,peoplethinkofitasalow-levelskill---itisnotnecessarilybelowyourdignityasaresearcher,butyoudon'tgetanymeritbadgesformasteringit.（Iamalittleconcernedattheincreasingamountofstructuredstudiesthatuniversitiesareprescribingfortheirfirst-yearresearchstudents.Tomymind,theoverwhelmingpriorityatthatstageistodoadoablepieceofresearch,notattendlecturesonbibliographictoolsandtheinstitution'spolicyonintellectualproperty.）Astonon-technicalaspectsofansweringthequestion,thereissomeadvicebelow.

∙Therearelotsoftextbooksandcoursestoaidyouinyourscientificwriting.Essentially,though,itisallamatterofpractice.

OneofthereasonsIrecommendpsychologytostudentsisthatyoucan'tescapeeithertheuseofnumbersortheuseofwords.（Economicsisanothergoodsubjectfromthispointofview,butitdoesn'thavemuchofanexperimentalcomponent.）

Assoonasyou'vegotamessagetocommunicate,youshouldwriteareportonit,notwaituntilthewholeprojectisfinished.Thatprobablymeanswriting1000wordsperweek,everyweek.Justoccasionally,supervisorsforgettotellnewwriterstheobvious---theeasiestsectionstowritearethedescriptionsoftheresults,andofwhatyoudid（becausethesesectionsarehighlyconstrainedbythefacts）,andyoushouldwritethesefirst;whattheresultsmean,andwhyyoudidwhatyoudid,arealtogethermoreproblematic,sotheDiscussionandIntroductionsectionsshouldbewrittenlater.Ifyou'redesperate,imagineyou'respeakingtoafriendaboutyourwork,andwritedownwhatyouwouldsay.（Then,asalways,reviseandedit,reviseandedit,reviseandedit.）

Someresearchhastobedonetoatightdeadline---forexample,thefinal-yearprojectscarriedoutbyundergraduates.Thebigdifferencethismakesisthatyoudon'thavetime（whichyoudoinmostsituations）togetthingswrongandthendothemagain.Theconsequenceisthatthere'sagooddealofluckinvolvedatthisstage,soIthinkthatifyourfinal-yearprojectfallsflatonitsface[failcompletely,usuallycausingembarrassment],itdoesn'tmeanyouwon'tbegoodatresearchinamorenormalenvironment.

Itisonlynaturalforastudenttoask"Whatwillgetmegoodmarks?

"Inassessingtheses,someuniversitieshavemarkingschemes---umarksareallocatedfortheprojectdesign,vmarksareallocatedfortheconductoftheexperimentorsurvey,wmarksareallocatedforthegeneralwritingofthethesis,xmarksareallocatedforthereviewofpreviousliterature,ymarksareallocatedforthepresentationoftheresults,zmarksareallocatedfortheinterpretationofthefindings,andsoon.Otheruniversitieshavenosuchmarkingscheme.（Evenwhereoneexists,itisveryoftenimpracticabletouseitstrictly.）Myadviceinsuchasituationmaybedifferentfromthatofothers.But,forwhatit'sworth,hereitis.Myimpressionisthatstudentstypicallyspendtoomuchtimereviewingpastliterature,andnotenoughtimethinkingaboutitandcriticisingit.Thestudent'sideasneedtobefirmlygroundedinestablishedwisdom,notpluckedoutofcloudcuckooland[脱离现实的幻境].Butthethingthatwillmostimpressthemarkerofathesisisafocusonthecentralideas,awillingnesstocriticiseimprecisethinkingbypreviousauthors,thedissectionofwhatisessentialfromwhatislessrelevant,andthedemonstrationofhowthestudent'sideassharpenwhathaspreviouslybeenblunt.Inotherwords,intellectualoomph[theactivenessofanenergeticpersonality].

Animportantissueisthatofwhattostudy.Ifyouhaveideas,there'snoproblem.But,isthereanythingyoucandotopromptideastocometoyou?

Or,intheabsenceofideas,howcanyoudosomethingworthwhile?

Idon'tsupposethere'sacompleteanswertothesequestions,butthefollowingcommentsareintendedtobehelpful.

Togetideas,exposeyourselftothem.

∙Talktosomeoneaboutyourresearch.Yourmumordad,forexample.Or（thoughI'venevertriedthis）thetopstreamof13-year-oldsatyourlocalselectivehighschool.Brainstormingwithyourcolleaguesisbetterthannothing[聊胜于无],butyou'renotreallyforcedtodecodeyourtalksufficiently[convertcodeintoordinarylanguage].Anyway,thereareotherusesforyourcolleagues,suchasbeingrudetoyou.

Itistremendouslyvaluableifthere'ssomeoneinyourcirclewhocanbringoff[tosucceedindoingsomethingdifficult]thetrickofbeingrudewithoutcausingoffence.Supposeyouareacognitivepsychologist,andinaseminaryouclaimthat"activationflowsthroughthelevels"ofyourmodel.Youbenefitifsomeonefromanothertraditionconfrontsyouwiththeclaimthat"activation","flows",and"levels"areallmeaningless.Itisgenerallyuptotheyoungtodothis.

Informalseminars,whereyoulistentoothers,andtalkyourself,areanimportantpartofthis.

∙Readwidely.（ButrememberwhatIsaidearlier:

readingisnotwhatresearchisabout.Indeed,Iwouldsaythereisatypeofpersonalityforwhomtoomuchreadingisamajordangertotheireverdoinganythingworthwhile.）

oHowtoread:

readthetitle,skimtheabstract,lookatthepicturesandmaybethetables,andifthere'sanythinginteresting,thenconsultthetext,lookingforthatspecificpoint.（No-onestartsatthebeginningofapaperandworkstheirwaythroughtotheend.）

oWhattoread:

manyofthe"prestigious"journalsarebestavoided,astheyhavegotintothehabitofattendingtoalotofdetailsthateveryoneknowsareunimportant,thusdilutingtherealmessage.Thepapersarepolishedandbland,andthereaderissuckedintotakingthemontheirownterms.Youneedsomethingrougher,thatyoucangettogripswith.

▪Commentsandlettersinanyjournal.Whateverthepointis,itismadequickly.Furthermore,anareaofcontroversymaybehighlightedforyou.

▪Journalsfromoutsideyourmaindisciplinethatarerelevanttoyourtopic.Forexample,ifyourowndisciplineispsychology,seewhatthemanagement,sociology,medicine,andengineeringjournalsaresayingaboutyourtopic.Theymayverywelltakesufficientlydifferentanattitudetoprovokethought.Andinterdisciplinaryjournals,e.g.,onthebordersofmusicandpsychology,orlawandstatistics.

▪Forthesamereason,journalsfromcountriesthatAmericanshaveneverheardof（suchasGermany,India,andJapan）.

▪Lowprestigejournalssometimespublishsimpledataonunusualquestions---ifthetopicattractsyou,ideasforimprovingthemethodorgeneralisingtheresultswillsooncome.

▪Forthesamereason,youcanoftenfindmentalstimulationinjournalsfrom60or80yearsago.

oYourattitude:

sympatheticcriticism.Somuchjunkispublishedthatadegreeofscepticalhostilityisappropriatewhenapproachingmostpapers（unlesstheauthorisontheApprovedList）.Buttemperthiswithsympathy:

apapermaybeuselesstoyou,anditmayevenbeclearthatbyanyreasonablestandardtheresearchwasawasteoftime,butyetthemethodmaybeusefultoonereader,adetailintheresultsmaybejustwhatasecondreaderislookingfor,andathirdreadermayfindherthoughtsclarifiedbyapointin