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PhD Research Seminar Series: Writing the Introduction

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Title: PhD Research Seminar Series: Writing the Introduction


1
PhD Research Seminar SeriesWriting the
Introduction
  • Dr. K. A. Korb
  • University of Jos

2
Outline
  • Research Process of identifying something
    unknown and collecting data to make it known.
  • Writing the Introduction
  • Background
  • Statement of Problem
  • Purpose, Research Questions, and Hypotheses
  • Significance
  • Theoretical Framework
  • Operational Definitions
  • Writing Tips

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
3
Review
  • Choose a research focus.
  • Basic Test a theory
  • Applied Improve practice
  • Extension Repeat a previously conducted study
    with a different sample
  • Write the conclusion you want to make.
  • Turn the conclusion into your general research
    question.
  • Identify IV and DVs
  • IV (Independent Variable) Cause
  • DV (Dependent Variable) Effect

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
4
Introductory Advice
  • Tell a story.
  • Be exhaustive, but dont be extensive.
  • Go into great detail on your key variables, but
    do not include distally related topics.

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
5
Example Study
  • The Effect of Goal Setting on Academic
    Achievement at the University of Jos
  • DV (Effect)
  • Academic Achievement
  • IV (Cause)
  • Goal Setting

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
6
Background
  • Purpose Provide the rationale for your study.
  • Include
  • Construct definition of your DV
  • Build a case for why your DV is important
  • Description of why your DV needs to be somehow
    changed
  • Basic Why is the theory not quite accurate?
  • Applied Why does your DV need to improve?
  • Extension Why do you think your sample will be
    different?

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
7
Background Example
  • Construct definition of your DV
  • Many diverse definitions of academic achievement
  • Definition in this paper Knowledge and skills
    developed primarily by formal schooling (Lohman,
    2005).
  • Build a case for why your DV is important
  • Academic Achievement is related to many future
    variables university performance, job
    performance, etc.
  • Description of why your DV needs to be somehow
    changed
  • Applied Why should the DV improve?
  • Want to improve our society, and academic
    achievement is related to many positive
    variables. Should continue to find ways to
    improve academic achievement.

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
8
Statement of Problem
  • Purpose State the problem you hope to fix.
  • Include
  • How do you think you can fix the problem?
  • Why do you think your solution will work?
  • Briefly explain the methods you will use to try
    to fix the problem.

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
9
Statement of Problem Example
  • How do you think you can fix the problem?
  • Why do you think your solution will work?
  • Goal setting theory states that setting goals
    improves performance. Think can improve academic
    achievement by providing a short seminar on how
    to set goals and providing time for students to
    set goals. Will work because previous studies
    have established relationship between goal
    setting and performance in many other domains.
  • Explain methods you will use to fix the problem.
  • Have treatment and control groups. Treatment will
    take a seminar on goal setting, during which will
    set goals for the ed psych class. Then compare
    final grades of treatment and control groups.

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
10
Purpose, Research Questions, and Hypotheses
  • Purpose Describe the answers you hope to
    ascertain from your study
  • Include
  • Direct relationship between each Purpose,
    Research Question, and Hypothesis.
  • Purpose Statement of the problem
  • Research Question Only for descriptive questions
  • Null Hypothesis No significant difference
    between IV groups on DV
  • Correlational No significant relationship
    between variables

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
11
Purpose, Research Questions, and Hypotheses
Example
Research Question
Purpose
Hypothesis
There is no significant difference between
students who set goals and those who do not on
academic performance.
Do students have higher academic achievement when
they set goals or when they do not set goals?
Determine whether goal setting improves academic
achievement.
There is no significant difference between
students who do and do not attend a goal setting
seminar on the quality of their goals.
Do students who have a goal setting seminar
set better goals before or after the seminar?
Determine whether a seminar on goal
setting improves the quality of goals that
students set.
Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
12
Significance
  • Purpose Describe how your study will influence
    theory and practice
  • Include
  • Summary from your Background of why the DV is
    important
  • How practice or theory will change based on the
    results of your study

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
13
Significance Example
  • Summary from Background of why the DV is
    important
  • A good way to improve society is to improve
    academic achievement
  • How practice or theory will change based on the
    results of your study
  • Practically Since academic achievement is
    related to job performance, if improve academic
    achievement, also likely improve future job
    performance
  • Theoretically Test goal-setting theory to
    determine whether the theory generalizes to a
    Nigerian context

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
14
Theoretical Framework
  • Purpose Connect your research study to the
    already-existing body of knowledge
  • Include
  • The theory that you think best describes the
    behavior of your DV
  • Basic The theory you want to refute
  • Applied The theory that says that your treatment
    will improve your DV
  • Extension The theory that says that your sample
    will be different than the original sample

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
15
Theoretical Framework Example
  • The theory that you think best describes the
    behavior of your DV
  • Applied The theory that says that your treatment
    will improve your DV
  • Theory of Goal-setting by Locke and Latham (2002)
    ? Building a practically useful theory of goal
    setting and task motivation
  • Describes how goal setting works and what makes a
    good goal

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
16
Construct vs. Operational Definitions
  • Construct Definition Explanation of your
    construct by relating it to other constructs
  • Operational Definition Statement of specifically
    how the construct will be measured or implemented
    in your study

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
17
Construct vs. Operational Definitions
WAEC Scores
Final Course Exam
AcademicAchievement
NECO Scores
State Exams
Self-Report on IM Questionnaire
Intrinsic Motivation
Behavioral Observations
Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
18
Construct vs. Operational Definitions
Weekly one-hour lessons on number sense for four
months
Teaching Intervention
Bi-weekly one-hour meetings with other bereaved
adults focused on discussing loneliness
Group Counseling
Two morning seminars that introduce key
principles of PowerPoint
Technology Workshop
Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
19
Construct vs. Operational Definitions
Self-Report of Parents Yearly Income
Economic Status
Free/Reduced Lunch Eligibility
Performance on Literacy Test
Illiteracy
Self-Report of Reading Ability
Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
20
Construct vs. Operational Definitions
Any person who attends school
Student
Secondary school and above
Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
21
Operational Definitions Example
  • Dependent Variables
  • Academic Achievement Final course grade in
    Educational Psychology course
  • Quality of Goal Rating from 1 (Low) to 5 (High)
    by an independent judge on two dimensions
    difficulty and specificity
  • Independent Variables
  • Goal The outcome that the student hopes to
    accomplish for their course grade in Educational
    Psychology.
  • Goal-setting seminar A two hour PowerPoint
    presentation on setting quality goals.

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
22
Writing Tips
  • Give a construct definition for every
    psychological term you use.
  • Explicitly state how each theory or concept you
    write about directly relates to your study.
  • Be specific!
  • Avoid vague words like it, this

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
23
Writing Tips
  • Be generous with providing examples
  • Examples make an abstract concept more concrete.
  • Examples help examiners know that you understand
    what you are writing.
  • Even though preschoolers successfully solve
    quantitative tasks that require either the
    exclusive use of verbal counting or nonnumerical
    quantitative skills, they appear incapable of
    solving tasks that require both of these
    abilities at the same time (Resnick, 1989
    Siegler Robinson, 1982). For example,
    preschoolers have difficulty answering the
    question Which is bigger, 9 or 5?

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
24
Writing Tips
  • Re-read and Revise
  • Re-re-read and Revise
  • Re-re-re-read and Revise
  • Re-re-re-re-read and Revise
  • Re-re-re-re-re-read and Revise
  • Re-re-re-re-re-re-read and Revise
  • Re-re-re-re-re-re-re-read and Revise
  • Re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-read and Revise

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
25
Technical Writing Tips APA Style
  • Acronyms University of Jos (UJ)
  • Only give the acronym if you will repeat the
    phrase many times throughout your paper.
  • If you only use the phrase once, do not give the
    acronym
  • If you use the phrase multiple times, explain the
    acronym once. Thereafter, always use the acronym.
  • The University of Jos (UJ) is located in Jos,
    Plateau State. Prof. Andzayi is the dean of the
    Faculty of Education at UJ.

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
26
Technical Writing Tips APA Style
  • Numbers
  • NEVER spell out and give the numeral for a
    number.
  • There were ten (10) students.
  • Always spell the first number in a sentence.
  • Fifteen chickens crossed the road.
  • If the sentence contains only numbers below ten,
    spell out all numbers.
  • There were nine plates of jollof rice and five
    pieces of chicken.
  • If the sentence contains a number greater than
    ten, write the numeral for every number in the
    sentence (except when the first word is a number,
    in which case spell it out).
  • Eleven students attended the retreat, as well as
    15 workers and 5 retirees.

Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos
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