1. Lecture 7 Discussing Your Results and the Writing of Outline

2. 1. Writing the Outline

3. 1.1 The purpose of outlining General Purpose: Aids in the process of writing Specific purpose: Helps you organize your ideas Presents your material in a logical form Shows the relationships among ideas in your writing Constructs an ordered overview of your writing Defines boundaries and groups

4. Before you begin: –Determine the purpose of your paper. –Determine the audience you are writing for. –Develop the thesis of your paper. Then: –Brainstorm: List all the ideas that you want to include in your paper. –Organize: Group related ideas together. –Order: Arrange material in subsections from general to specific or from abstract to concrete. –Label: Create main and sub headings.

5. 1.2 The role of the outline An outline is an orderly plan, in writing, showing the division and arrangement of ideas. Its principal function is to indicate the relationships of ideas to each other, to show which are important and which are subordinate. The outline is put together after you have decided on the thesis statement because its purpose is to amplify the many ideas inherent in the thesis statement and to show their relationships, each to the others.

6. It is usually developed after you decide on a way of organizing your material, because then you have a guide to how you proceed. (You may, however, find one organization doesn’t work well and need to try another.) And an outline is always written before the text of the paper. Making an outline after a paper is written just to fulfill an assignment is foolish and useless!

7. Even though you have an order of presentation in mind when you write the thesis statement, the outline is important because it –keeps ideas firmly in mind, even if writing the paper takes a long time –lets you rearrange ideas without difficulty, –shows you how parts and transitions fit together, and –exposes strengths and weakness in time to make adjustments before writing. Some people like to write from an outline; others do not. However, it is clear that your outline will help you to get an overall view of your thesis, perhaps more important, to keep track of all important aspects of your subject while you write.

8. 1.3 Types of outlines Outlines could be classified into two types from the constructing point of view: the running outline, which is a listing of facts and ideas in no particular order, and the formal outline, which shows the order, the relationships, and the relative importance of its parts. A running outline is most useful during the early stages of the research process when you are searching for sources and brainstorming for ideas.

9. This preliminary outline will help organize your ideas and shape these ideas into the paper design. A formal outline is a diagram of the design of a paper, a bird’s eye view of its structure. A formal outline may be composed of words and phrases, sentences, or a combination of the two. Basically speaking, there are four kinds of formal outlines: (1) Topic outline, (2) Sentence outline, (3) Combination outline, and (4) Paragraph outline.

10. The topic outline is widely used because the wording is succinct. After each of the traditional outline symbols, you write your ideas in a word, a phrase, or a dependent clause. Thus, the wording of a topic outline will look something like this:

11. Thesis: Byron had a continuing interest in animals that helps illuminate his character. I. Byron’s menagerie on the road II. Byron’s critical reputation III. Byron’s animals at Newstead Abbey A. The Boatswain episode B. Wild animals IV. Byron in Italy A. The Italian menageries B. The maddened elephant C. Byron’s attitude toward hunting and fishing V. Animals in Byron’s poetry VI.Byron’s love of freedom

12. 1.4 Format of Outlines The sequence for a decimal outline proceeds as follows: The two reasons for... –The first reason... The women... –They could... The time... The place... –They could... The men... –The reasons against... The reasons against...

13. 1.5 Preparing and using outlines Using an outline can help you organize your material and can also help you discover connections between pieces of information that you weren't aware of when you first conceived the plan of your paper. It can also make you aware of material that is not really relevant to the purposes of your paper or material that you have covered before and should therefore be removed.

14. A Working Outline might be only an informal list of topics and subtopics, which you are thinking of covering in your paper. Sometimes, however, your professor might require that a working outline be submitted at the beginning of your work; then your instructor might suggest ways in which the work needs to be further developed or cut back.

15. Your professor might also see that you're trying to accomplish too much or too little for the scope of the assignment he or she has in mind. The working outline can be revised as you discover new material and get new ideas that ought to go into your paper.

16. Most word processing programs have outlining features with automatic formatting that make it easy to create and revise outlines. It is a good idea to keep copies of old outlines in a computer folder in case new versions of the outline lead you in false directions that you will later have to abandon.

17. A Final Outline should enhance the organization and coherence of your research paper. Professors sometimes require that a final outline be submitted along with the final version of your paper. Material that is not relevant to the purpose of your paper as revealed in your outline should be excised from the paper; if portions of your outline seem weak in comparison to others, more research may be required to create a sense of balance in your argument and presentation.

18. Outlines can be organized according to your purposes. Are you attempting to show the chronology of some historical development, the cause-and- effect relationship between one phenomenon and another, the process by which something is accomplished, or the logic of some position? Are you defining or analyzing something? Are you comparing or contrasting one thing to another? Presenting an argument (one side or both)?

19. 1.6 Principles of organization 1.6 Principles of organization Most useful principles for structuring a research paper are : Chronology ---The chronological pattern explains each of the steps in a sequential ordered process. It is appropriate for a paper describing a series of historical, political or sociological process or events.---the significance of the research ; the problem to resolve; the result already made, the controversy existing in the field of study; the process of the research work and the final result.

20. Comparison and contrast --- presenting the similarities or differences between two or more things. A logical development by comparison and contrast entails discussion of the same qualities of both subjects. The writer should understand both and be able to distinguish them at certain levels.

21. Cause and effect ---presenting the events or forces that produced certain results, speculating about how things might have turned out if conditions had been different, or reporting controlled experimentation to determine the factors important to a particular outcome,taking into account as many factors as possible.

22. Exemplification --- often used in the thesis based on empirical data or case study, presenting figures, tables or numbers.

23. Argumentation Argumentation is inseparably connected with exposition,but its emphasis is to convince and persuade the readers. The subject must have two even-balanced sides there being about equal number of strong points for either the positive or negative. The proposition must be expressed in definite statement.

24. And there must be careful analysis covering different phases of the subject, including the search for proofs that are essential. The proofs must be carefully tested and arranged. The conclusion is a restatement of the points that have been considered. It is the summery of the important thoughts said about the subject. The argument must be clear and definite.

25. Analysis --- a process of dividing a subject into its parts and classifying them and manifesting their respective features.

26. Parallelism Whenever possible, in writing an outline, coordinate heads should be expressed in parallel form. That is, nouns should be made parallel with nouns, verb forms with verb forms, adjectives with adjectives, and so on (Example: Nouns: computers, programs, users; Verbs: to compute, to program, to use; Adjectives: home computers, new programs, experienced users).

27. Although parallel structure is desired, logical and clear writing should not be sacrificed simply to maintain parallelism. (For example, there are times when nouns and gerunds at the same level of an outline are acceptable.) Reasonableness and flexibility of form is preferred to rigidity.

28. Coordination In outlining, those items which are of equal significance have comparable numeral or letter designations: an A is equal to a B, a 1 to a 2, an a to a b, etc. Coordinates should be seen as having the same value. Coordination is a principle that enables a writer to maintain a coherent and consistent document.

29. Correct coordination A. Word processing programs B. Database programs C. Spreadsheet programs Faulty coordination –A. Word processing programs B. Microsoft Word C. Page Maker

30. Explanation: Word is a type of word processing program and should be treated as a subdivision. Page Maker is a type of desktop publishing program. One way to correct coordination would be:

31. A. Types of programs 1. Word processing 2. Desktop publishing B. Evaluation of programs 1. Word processing a. Word b. Word Perfect 2. Desktop Publishing a. Page Maker b. Quark Express

32. Subordination In order to indicate levels of significance, an outline uses major and minor headings. Thus in ordering ideas, you should organize it from general to specific or from abstract to concrete- the more general or abstract the term, the higher the level or rank in the outline. This principle allows your material to be ordered in terms of logic and requires a clear articulation of the relationship between component parts used in the outline. Subdivisions of each higher division should always have the same relationship to the whole.

33. Correct subordination A. Word processing programs 1. Microsoft Word 2. Word Perfect B. Desktop publishing programs 1. PageMaker 2. Quark Express

34. Faulty subordination A. Word processing programs –1. Word –2. Useful –3. Obsolete

35. Explanation: There is an A without a B. Also 1, 2, and 3 are not equal; Word is a type of word processing program, and useful and obsolete are qualities. One way to correct this faulty subordination is: A. Word –1. Positive features –2. Negative features B. Word Perfect –1. Positive features –2. Negative features

36. Division To divide you always need at least two parts; therefore, there can never be an A without a B, a 1 without a 2, an a without a b, etc. Usually there is more than one way to divide parts; however, when dividing use only one basis of division at each rank, and make the basis of division as sharp as possible.

37. Correct division A. Personal computers: hardware –1. Types –2. Cost –3. Maintenance B. Personal computers: software –

38. Faulty division A. Computers –1. Mainframe –2. Micro –a. Floppy disk –b. Hard disk B. Computer uses –1. Institutional –2. Personal

39. Therefore, An outline is: –A logical, general description –A schematic summary –An organizational pattern –A visual and conceptual design of your writing An outline reflects logical thinking and clear classification.

40. 2. Discussion

41. 2.1 The Nature of Discussion Discussing the results found in the study means much more than summarizing and interpreting them. It is a stage at which you make claims of your own by referring to relevant previous studies and theories in your field and other relevant fields.

42. In the discussion section, you step back and take a broad look at your findings and your study as a whole. As in the introduction, you examine your work in the larger context of your field.

43. 2.2 Basic Steps for Discussion 1. Restating the main finding point which you are going to discuss. 2. Interpreting what is implied. 3. Making comparison and contrast with the findings of relevant previous studies to say whether they are in consistency and discrepancy

44. 4. Explaining what has been found by referring to relevant theories to explain why there is such a finding and what are the possible causes. 5. Evaluating your own finding to claim your own theories/ theoretical orientations.

45. 2.3 Points to Remind Discussion is a very important part and perhaps the most difficult part for your thesis writing. Don’t mix it up with results presentation. It is impossible to discuss all the results, just keep to the most important findings. Usually Discussion is a separate in a dissertation.