Writing the Research Report & the Politics of Social Research

Presentation on theme: "Writing the Research Report & the Politics of Social Research"— Presentation transcript:

1 Writing the Research Report & the Politics of Social Research
Social Research Methods Spring, 2007 June 4~7, 2007

2 Writing should be clear, accurate, and well organized
Part I: A critical last step in the research process: writing up your results (研究報告的撰寫是研究過程中最重要的最後一步) Writing should be clear, accurate, and well organized (寫作必須清楚、正確、有系統的組織)

3 A reminder: Two ways to communicate research results
Oral Presentations Writing a Report

4 The Research Report (研究報告)
A research report: a written document that communicates the methods and findings of a research project to others (將研究方法及發現以書面文件形式告知他人) A record of the research process So more than just findings (整個研究過程的紀錄) Telling others what you did and what you discovered To disseminate knowledge (研究的目的在於傳播知識)

5 The Writing Process: Your Audience (你的對象或讀者)
Writing could be more effective if you know your audience Class reports: be clear and logical, substantive and methodological concepts, use technical terms when appropriate (課堂報告要清楚，有邏輯，足夠的內容及方法知識，善用專有名詞) Scholar reports: linking to theories or previous literature, research design, measurement, data collection & analysis, discussion of results (學術報告: 研究與理論或文獻的關聯，研究設計，變數測量，資料蒐集，仔細的討論結果) A short summary, do not overgeneralize (不要過度概化)

6 The Writing Process: Style and Tone
Style: the types of words chosen and the length and form of sentences or paragraphs used (風格: 作者選用的字彙和句子或段落的長度與格式) A formal and succinct style (研究報告: 正式簡潔的風格) Tone: The writer’s attitude or relation toward the subject (筆調: 作者對主題的態度或關係) expressing distance from the subject matter, professional and serious (和主題保持距離、專業而嚴肅) Check and recheck details (一再檢查細節) Be clear (研究過程複雜，所以寫作更應該清楚)

7 The Writing Process: Organizing Thoughts (如何組織想法)
Writing: involving a series of steps and activities Needs “something” (i.e. your research) to write about (需要題材，即你的研究) Organize writing by the outline (用大綱幫助你組織想法) Start from an initial, often sketchy outline (從原始、比較粗略的大綱開始) Writing helps you to clarify ideas, to stimulate new ideas or relations, and may reexamine analysis or findings or literature (寫作有助於澄清想法、刺激新的想法、分析或重新檢視文獻或發現)

8 The Writing Process: Back to the Library
We do not finish literature review before writing up a report. (寫報告時要再檢閱文獻) Return to the literature during writing: New studies may be available New questions may be emerged during research More details needed Avoid Plagiarism, use paraphrasing if needed (不要抄襲，可以改寫)

9 The Writing Process: Prewriting, Composing, and Rewriting
Prewriting (事前的寫作): an early step, organizing notes, lists of ideas, outlining, etc. Overcome writer’s block (克服寫作者的障礙: 暫時性的無法寫作) Freewriting: writing down everything your can as quickly as possible, not worrying about grammar or spelling (自由寫作: 把所有想到的東西都寫下來，不要考慮文法或用字遣詞) Thinking time is important (思考與寫作同等重要)

10 The Writing Process: Prewriting, Composing, and Rewriting
Rewriting (重寫): do rewrite your draft! Focus on clear communication Share your writing with others Revising and editing (修改與編輯) Typing a draft would be easier for rewriting Suggestions for rewriting: mechanics (技術層面), usage (使用), voice (語調), coherence (連貫性), repetition (重複), structure(結構), abstraction (抽象化), metaphors (隱喻)

11 Rewrite the Introduction and Title after Completing a Draft.
寫完初稿後再重寫前言與標題

12 The Quantitative Research Report (量化研究報告)
Abstract or Executive Summary What is interesting in the report Presenting the Problem: including introduction, literature review, hypotheses, etc. Methods: research design and data collection, measurement and sampling Results and Tables: select the minimum # of charts/tables! [選擇最少量的圖表來呈現原始資料] (detailed summary statistics in appendixes) Discussion: a concise interpretation of results Organize by hypotheses Conclusions: restate the research question and summarize findings

13 The Qualitative Research Report (質性研究報告)
More difficult to write, less structure and fewer rules, tend to be longer reports (質性研究報告比較難寫，結構及規則要求較少，報告通常比較長) Field research reports: Balance the presentation of data and analysis (avoid the error of segregation) (平衡資料及分析的呈現，避免隔離的錯誤) More personal tone (筆調比較個人化) Present your evidence (enough evidence) (應提供足夠的證據) Data reduction necessary (資料減少是必要的，因為田野筆記往往數量龐大，選擇精華即可)

14 The Qualitative Research Report
Field Research Reports: Organized by a natural history; a zoom lens; by themes, etc (可以用自然歷史、編年法、變焦鏡頭法、或特定主題等來組織報告) Need to discuss the methods used, but no fixed locations or forms Can include transcripts, maps, charts, photographs Can contain direct, personal involvement, should protect subjects’ privacy

15 The Qualitative Research Report
Historical-Comparative Research: “tell a story” Describe the sources and evidence, less description of the methods (歷史比較研究比繳少描述其方法，但會提供資料來源及證據) Builds a web of details and organizes the evidence to generalize and interpret (藉著建立如網絡般的細節來組織證據，加以詮釋及概化) Organize by topic and chronology (依主題或時序來組織)

16 The Research Proposal (研究計劃書)
A research proposal: a document that presents a plan for a project to reviewers for evaluation (一份說明研究計劃的文件，給評估者閱讀) Can be a supervised project or for a funding agency The purpose: to convince reviewers that the researcher (i.e. you) are capable of conducting the proposed research project (目的: 說服評估者研究者有能力進行研究計劃) Should be well written, organized, and have careful planning

17 The Research Proposal Similar to a research report, but written before the research project begins (與研究報告有些類似，但寫在研究開始之前) Include: research question(s), its importance, and detailed methods used and why (包括研究問題，重要性，詳細的方法及為何選擇此法) The proposal for quantitative research: has most of the parts of a research project, but no results, discussion, and conclusions Has a plan for data collection & analysis, and an estimated timeline

18 The Research Proposal Proposals for qualitative research: more difficult to write because the research process is less structured and preplanned (質性研究計劃書比較難寫，因研究本身比較沒有結構，較難事先計劃) Include: a problem statement, literature review, and bibliography (包括: 問題陳述，文獻，參考書目等) Should demonstrate: Well written, extensive discussion of the literature, significance of the problem, and sources Describe a qualitative pilot study (可包含一前置研究，其中將動機，對研究技術的熟悉，及有能力完成質性研究說明清楚)

19 Part II. The Politics of Social Research
記得: 社會科學的研究面臨許多倫理及政治的考量

20 The Politics of Social Research
Limits on What Researchers Study To control what social researchers study (控制社會研究) Control access to data or controls over how official statistics are collected (控制資料管道及官方統計如何蒐集) Limits due to the influence of politicians (政治影響的限制) People attack social research when disagreeing with their social or political values (因不同社會或政治價值來抨擊社會研究) National Security and Limits on Social Research

21 The Politics of Social Research
Indirect Limits through Control over Research Funding (控制研究經費的間接限制) Limits on the Dissemination of Knowledge (傳撥知識的限制) The Implications of Findings (研究發現的一些影響)

22 Objectivity and Value Freedom (客觀性與價值中立)
Should social science be objective and unbiased? (社會科學真的是客觀不偏的嗎?) The positivist approach believes so But Weber argued that the fact/value separation is not clear in the social sciences (韋伯認為奓會科學中事實與價值的界線並不清楚) Cannot ignore the cultural context of social concepts Be unbiased when applying accepted research techniques (應用研究技術是不偏的), not on ends/values/normative goals Adopt a relational position (採取一關係立場: 與任何特定社會團體保持距離，但與各方都有所接觸)