understanding academic articles research workshop series
TRANSCRIPT
UNDERSTANDING ACADEMIC ARTICLES
Research Workshop Series
Presentation Overview
Introductions (Name, classes you’re taking?)
Important Terms How to find academic articles Major Sections of an Empirical
Study 4-Step Reading Strategy
Popular Sources
and Academic
Sources—What’s
the Difference?
Important Terms
Academic Journals Published by experts in field for other experts in the field
Sourced Objective
Important Terms
Peer Reviewed Many academic journals are peer reviewed
Panel of experts who review/approve for publication
Highest standard of publication
Important Terms
Empirical Research Data from actual observation
or experimentation Primary audience: other
experts Contributes to an ongoing
“discussion” of important issues in the field
Found in academic journals
How do you find academic articles?
Google Scholar vs. databases
EBSCO Search
You can narrow your EBSCO search to only search for Scholarly Journals (AFTER finding good search words)
Narrowing Your Search
Once You’ve Found an Article
6 Key Sections
of an Empirical
Study
Why learn how empirical research is organized?
Is the article relevant?
Why learn how empirical research is organized?
Know which section contains what you need
Why learn how empirical research is organized?
To save time
6 Key Sections to an Empirical Study
• Abstract• Introduction and
literature review• Methods/
methodology• Results• Discussion and/or
Conclusion• References
Abstract
What it is A brief summary
of the study Lets other
researchers know if article is relevant to their research
Abstract
How to Read it Skim to see if the
article fits your research topic
If a good fit, read again and break it down into the different parts of the study
Back to the Abstract…
Read Abstract First
Introduction and Literature Review
What it is Describes the
research problem Summarizes key
research to date Shows need for
current study States research
question(s) and hypotheses
Introduction and Literature Review
How to Read it Read first and last
paragraphs, first sentence of other paragraphs
Identify research questions and hypotheses (at end of section)
Note sources that sound relevant to your topic
Method/methodology
What it is Describes how
the experiment was conducted
Method/methodology
How to Read it Skim to identify
participants, measures, and procedures
Don’t stress the statistics
Tip: Imagine yourself as a participant in the study to make experiment more real to you
Results
What it is Describes
findings reached through analysis of the data
Often includes charts, graphs
Results
How to Read it Skim to identify
the findings Don’t be scared
by statistics or tables. You don’t need them to understand the key results.
Discussion and/or Conclusion
What it is Summarizes,
suggests implications, explains importance of findings
Discussion and/or Conclusion
How to Read it Read first and last
paragraphs, first sentence of other paragraphs
Identify what the findings tell us about the research topic
Find suggestions for the practical use of the findings (especially at end of section).
References
What it is Full citations of
all sources referenced in article
References
How to Read it Skim for other
sources you can use for your paper
Find references for any interesting sources you saw in previous sections
Sample Empirical Study
In this sample abstract, let’s identify the following sections: Introduction Methods Results Discussion
What is the most important point the author wants to make?
What might be some future areas for research? What are some other studies on topic?
What did we learn? How does knowing the parts of an
empirical study help you find important content?
A Reading Strategy?
What would you tell another student about how to read an academic article?
What would you skim/skip/read in detail?
4-Step Reading Strategy
Step 1: Read the Abstract Step 2: Skim the Introduction and
Discussion Step 3: Skim the Methods and Results Step 4: Read the Introduction and
Discussion in Depth
What we’ve seen
Academic Journals, Peer Review, Empirical Studies
How to find academic articles Major Sections of an Empirical Study Breaking down the abstract 4-Step Reading Strategy
Takeaways?
Need more help?
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