1. Reading Research Reports
Robert Blake
Student Learning Development Centre

2. Reading Research Reports
This session covers
research report structure in Communication Systems
efficient reading techniques
avoiding plagiarism
Reading techniques for mini-projects and in dissertations
Use an ejournal written by Comms system lecturer

3. Reading Research Reports: How we read?
First a question about reading skills in general.
How do you read
a novel?
a newspaper?
assessment feedback on a mini-project?
the blurb on a DVD or video film?
a letter from your partner?

4. Reading Research Reports: Reading strategies
We change speeds & depths of reading according to our purpose:
skimming and scanning
light reading
‘normal’ reading
intensive reading i.e. reading with great attention
critical reading to evaluate texts & then answer specific research questions
e.g. design, operation, etc

5. Reading Research Reports:
You have a pile of research papers to read just like the one handed to you.
Are you going to read them all in depth?
How are you going to make efficient use of your time?

6. Reading Research Reports:
Look at either the article by
Coulton and Honary or
b) Coulton, Rashid and Ahmed.
or find an article in your own scientific field
What strategies are you going to use to read it?

7. Strategies for Surveying Research Reports
use the abstract to get an overview of content
skimming & scanning
read the intros & conclusions first
scan headings & sub-headings
scan graphical information: tables, figures
read topic sentences & concluding sentences of paragraphs
glide over each paragraph to pick up key words

8. Reading Research Reports: Surveying
Now have a go at surveying the report as a whole using the strategies just suggested.
Spend about 7-8 minutes

9. Reading Research Reports: Surveying
What did you learn?
What is the overall structure of this article?

10. Reading Research Reports: Surveying-IMRaD
Many scientific & engineering reports are based on an IMRaD structure:
Introduction
Method
Results
And
Discussion
In some reports there is also a conclusion.
Can you trace an IMRaD structure in this article?
If the terms are different, what are they?

11. Reading Research Reports: Surveying- IMRaD
Whilst many scientific & engineering reports are based on an IMRaD structure. At the same time there may also be a:
Situation
Problem pattern
Solution
Evaluation
In some reports this may be recursive- repeated until an appropriate solution is reached.

12. Reading Research Reports: Surveying- IMRaD
What other strategies & information did you use to
help you work out the
main idea of the article?

13. Reading Research Reports: SQ3R
We’ve been using the 1st stage of SQ3R
The 5 stages are:
SURVEY
QUESTION
READ
RECALL
REVIEW

14. Reading Research Reports: SQ3R- Surveying
Once you have an idea of the overall structure by surveying the text
you can reduce your processing load when you come to read the article closely.
you can then work out the structure & meaning of smaller chunks
You can also identify which bits to glide over and which bits to concentrate on

15. Reading Research Reports: SQ3R- Questioning
The 2nd stage of SQ3R is
to question
This involves
making questions about what you want to learn from the article
adopting a critical i.e. evaluative frame of mind

16. Reading Research Reports : Questioning
Why formulate questions?
Reading to answer specific questions allows you to
read more purposefully & ‘time-efficiently’
give you points to look out for
allows you to glide over unimportant sections
means that you’re reading critically- interacting with the content and evaluating, thereby reading at postgrad level

17. Reading Research Reports : Question
Now use your knowledge of the article from the surveying stage to make 3-4 questions about the topic of the article [maximum 5 minutes]
What sort of questions did you formulate?

18. Reading Research Reports : Reading
Spend 10 minutes reading the article
with the purpose of finding answers to your questions

19. Reading Research Reports : Read
What questions did you ask?
Did you succeed in finding answers to your questions?
How well has surveying & questioning worked so far?

20. Reading Research Reports : Recall & Review
The final two stages are:
Recall
Review
Recall- unless you have a remarkable memory you’ll probably forget 50% of what you read, shortly after reading. So you’ll need make a deliberate attempt to recall the key ideas &/or take notes

21. Reading Research Reports : Recall
You can record your notes in a number of ways including:
Linear notes
Flow diagrams
Mind maps

22. Reading Research Reports : Recall
An example of Mind maps from Tony Buzan

23. Reading Research Reports : Recall
Use subordination to identify the importance of information:
key information on the left hand side
detailed points in the middle
comments & questions on the right hand side

24. Reading Research Reports : Recall
Symbols and abbreviations can save valuable time, enabling you to write less and identify the main points more efficiently

25. Reading Research Reports : Recall
When taking notes:
remember on each page of your notes to record author[s], year, title of book or journal, article name,+ pages if journal.
paraphrase the key ideas
put quotations i.e. any identical chunks of the original article in speech marks “”
These techniques will help you to avoid plagiarism, the serious offence of using other people’s ideas as if they were your own

26. Reading Research Reports : Review
How well can you recall the key ideas? Look at your questions. Can you still remember the answers?
If not, reread to refresh your knowledge and fill the gaps in your knowledge
NB This is very useful for test and exam revision!

27. Avoiding Plagiarism

28. Which Of These Is Plagiarism?
1. Copying a paragraph verbatim from a source without any acknowledgement.
2. Copying a paragraph and making small changes - e.g. replacing a few verbs, replacing an adjective with a synonym; acknowledgement in the bibliography.
3. Cutting and pasting a paragraph by using sentences of the original but omitting one or two and putting one or two in a different order, no quotation marks; with an in-text acknowledgement plus bibliography.
4. Composing a paragraph by taking short phrases from a number of sources and putting them together using words of your own to make a coherent whole with an in-text acknowledgement + bibliography.
5. Paraphrasing a paragraph by rewriting with substantial changes in language and organisation; the new version will also have changes in the amount of detail used and the examples cited; citing in bibliography.
6. Quoting a paragraph by placing it in block format with the source cited in text & bibliography.
[Carroll J Teaching News November, Based on an exercise in Academic Writing for Graduate Students by Swales and Feale, University of Michigan, 1993] on Accessed 12/05/2003 ]

29. Avoiding Plagiarism
From Purdue University, accessed 14 May 2003

30. Avoiding Plagiarism
Practise paraphrasing from the beginning of your course look at:
Remember to reference all original ideas that are not common knowledge
Remember that software programs are used to detect plagiarism from the internet & plagiarism between students on the same course

31. Reading Research Reports :SQ3R
If you want to read more about SQ3R,
see Rowntree’s excellent book
Derek Rowntree (1998) Learn How to Study,Warner Books