Developing Academic Reading Skills Planning Research Chapter 2

Why Academic Reading?  Reading is the most critical part of the learning process.  Reading often appears to students to be the most boring of all tasks  BUT  Your ideas about research will come mainly from reading  Wide reading expands your perspectives

Selective Reading  It is unrealistic to expect that you can read everything!  You therefore have to read selectively  Criteria for selection might be: Learning outcomes of module Your research question Overall purpose of the assignment

Is it worth reading this Paper?  Examine these three parts of the paper / project or article:  The abstract: Dealing with the topic, results and findings  The introduction Lining up the research Where are the gaps?  The conclusion Trying to convince the reader that this is worth reading!

Reading the Paper Abstract  Approach to the investigation of the topic  Will report on what was discovered during the work  Analysis, discussion or results – in short  What is ”new” about the work?

Reading the Paper Introduction  This is where the authors make a promise  Like a contract between authors and the reader  Identifying relevant research gaps  At least some of them will be filled out!

Reading the Paper The Context of the Research  Reading the ”background” section will give you a better grasp of the situation that gave rise to the research  The ”real world” location into which the research problem might fit

Reading the Paper The Litterature Review  If you were an architct and we asked you to build a house in an earthquake zone, you would make sure that the foundations were strong and solid  This is how authors think of their dissertations and academic papers  Not just a description of others previous work, but the litterature review: Appraises, compares and contrasts it with each other and relevant work

Reading the Paper Research Design  Discusses how the research was carried out – often called methodology or research design  Research Strategy: case study, survey, observations  Research Methods  Why these methods?  Population, the sample, data collection, interpretation, analysis

Reading the Paper Findings  Do the findings confirm the litterature?  Do the findings dis-confirm the litterature?  Do the findings go further than the litterature?  There is no single manner or method of presentation of research findings

Reading the Paper Conclusion  The authors do not try to ”reinvent the wheel” but:  To deliver the promise given in the introduction section  Make a ”minor” contribution to the body of knowledge on the subject  Should be MORE than a summary, namely synthesizing the overall arguments presented in the paper, and Highlight meanings Emphasize contributions

Extracting Value from your Reading  Finding the Claim  What question does the author pose?  What is the primary argument?  Why is this argument significant?

Validity of the arguments?  1. Evidence: What evidence do the authors offer in support of their position? How convincing is the evidence  2. Counter-arguments: What arguments are made in opposition? What evidence was used in the refutation  3. Effectiveness: What were the strength of the article? Did you get a clear picture?

SQ3R Academic Reading Technique  Survey, Question, Read, Record, Review  1. Survey (one minute): Scan title, headings, figures and conclusion  2. Question (30 seconds): What is the research question?  3. Read (takes some time): Trying to find the answer to the question in each heading

SQ3R Academic Reading Technique  4. Record (no more than five minutes): Make a few notes, use highlighter, write in the margin  5. Review (no more than five minutes): Test yourself by trying to recall some of the highlighted phrases How does these points fit with what you already think or know?