English for Academic Purposes

Week 3

What is Research ? – 1

• Searching for something you won’t know until you find it.

• Research is not only about gathering data and analysing it.

It is also about understanding a problem in a more

fundamental way.

• In the broadest terms, everyone does reach: we all gather

information to answer a question that solves a problem.

(i.e. you want to learn about Galatasaray’s new coach , you

search the internet for websites on his career)

What is Research ? – 2

• Though we all do that kind of research, we do not

all write it up. But we do rely on those who did ,

regardless of their reliability.

• What if those resources are not reliable, they are

solely based on uninformed opinions to support?

Why write it up ?

• Write to remember more accurately

• Write to better understand ( i.e. discovering

new connections, contrasts, complications,

and implications)

• Write to gain perspective ( i.e. see what you

think clearly; improve your thinking)

Why a research project ? • Change the way you think, but only by giving you more

ways of thinking. • Whatever community you join, you’ll be expected to

show that you understand its practices by reporting your research.

• Once you know the standard forms, you’ll have a better idea about your particular community’s predictable questions and understand better what its members care about, and why.

• But what counts as good work is the same in all of them.

• If you learn to do research well, you gain immense advantage, regardless of the kind of research you will do later.

Planning Your Project

1) Find a topic specific enough to let you to reach a reasonable amount of information on it.

2) Ask questions about the topic until you find some that catch your interest.

3) Determine what kind of evidence or data (anything you find “out there” that might support your point) that your readers will expect of your answer.

From an interest to a research topic

• A research topic is an interest defined narrowly enough for you to imagine becoming a local expert on it.

• A subject matter to you that just want to know more than you do now.

• Suggestion: Start with what interests you most deeply. Nothing contributes to the quality of your work more than your commitment to it.

From a Broad Topic to a Focused one

• Risk of a topic so broad that it could take 700

pages to deal with (i.e. History of Kurds ).

• So narrow it down like “Democratic rights of

Kurds in Modern Turkey”

• Caution: Do not narrow your topic so much

that you can’t find enough data on it.

Coming out with a research question • All research usually starts with a question.• Do not report data for their own sake, but to

support the answer to a question that they ( and they hope their readers) think worth asking.

• There might be a problem to solve, or a difficult situation might need to be explained and understood in order to be resolved.

• What you are doing, in fact,is demarcating a topic for possible research by problematising it.

How to Write a Research Question

• A research question is a clear, focused, concise, complex and

arguable question around which you center your research. You

should ask a question about an issue that you are genuinely

curious about.

• Help writers focus their research by providing a path through

the research and writing process.

• The specificity of a well-developed research question helps

writers avoid the “all-about” paper and work toward

supporting a specific, arguable thesis.

Steps to developing a research question:

• Choose an interesting general topic

• Do some preliminary research on your general topic

• Consider your audience

• Start asking why/how (ideally) questions

• Evaluate your question ( Clarity, Focused, Complexity )

• Hypothize (i.e. What kind of argument or thesis

statement are you hoping to make/support? )

Sample Research Questions• Why does NATO member Turkey accept China’s anti-

ballistic missile offer ?

• How will recent constitutional amendments will effect

Turkish democratization towards its Kurdish citizens ?

• How identity has shaped Turkey new foreign policy in the

Middle East ?

• As a candidate of Expo 2020, what are Turkey’s

advantages and disadvantages in comparison to others ?

• Why does the UK support Turkey’s EU membership bid,

but not France ?

Developing a thesis statement

• One of the characteristics of a good research paper is that the authors do more than merely discuss or “cover” a topic in a paper, sharing facts and other information.

• They explore a thesis by explaining the thesis statement , which you want to explore and argue logically, based on evidence from the literature.

• Basically, the answer that you give to the research question.

Using Sources

• To make your research as reliable as you expect , your have to use your reliable sources fairly and accurately.

• How you use the sources you find depends on stage of your research.

• If you have only a topic, you may have to do a lot of unfocused reading to find a question to pursue.

• If you intend to use the sources you have found to answer a question you have, then you can use them to test and support your answer.

3 Uses for Sources 1) Read for a Problem/Question: Look for claims that

puzzle you that seem inaccurate or simplistic or for

data that others have ignored or not pursued.

2) Read for Argument: When you see how other

researchers address similar problems, you can learn

how to address yours in particular.(i.e. outline of

argument, but not its substance)

3) Read for evidence: As the most common reason,

finding data useful as evidence to support a claim.

Screening sources for reliability

• The source is published by a reputable press (i.e.

Iletisim, OUP, Princeton )

• The publisher of the book/journal uses peer review for

everything it publishes.

• The author is a reputable scholar.

• The source is current.

Deadliest Sin : Plagiarism

• “When, intentionally or not, you use someone else’s words or ideas but fail to credit that person, leading your readers to think that those words are yours.” (Booth,et.al,2003:201)

• Every time you use an idea and/or the exact

words of source, cite !

What do I expect from you ? 1) Come out with a research question

2) Initial thesis statement

3) Outline (i.e. table of contents)

4) Annotated Bibliography : At least 5 sources ( only books based on

research and academic articles ) you plan to use with explanation of

why you think they will contribute to your research in few sentences

for each.

Do not forget to bring them to the class on October 23 , Wednesday.

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