2. Are You Interested In Research Biology? Biology is the key to life. Medicines, agriculture, and life as we know it is due to biological research. Where would humanity be without vaccinations and cures for diseases and epidemics?

3. The Many Fields of Biology Biology is a huge field with many interests. If there is anything living on this Earth that you would like to research, biology has a field for it. To name a few: 1. Microbiology: study of microorganisms (bacteria)… 2. Ecology: study of plants, animals, ecosystems, etc… 3. Pathology: study of pathogens (diseases)….

4. Genre Within Research There are many genre in research. They include: research articles, publications, journals, abstracts, scholarly articles, and many more. The genre focused here are research articles, publications of findings, and scholarly articles.

5. Research Articles Probably the most popular genre used for communication in the field. Used to communicate possible research topics. Introduces what the problem the research will be attempting to solve. Explains the materials and methods needed to accomplish the research. Defines the possibilities the research could have for the betterment of humanity.

6. Research Articles Continued Usually used to get attention and support of people and corporations willing to fund the research presented. Target audience is anyone interested in the topic as these genre are made public. Can be found in most databases when using the right criteria during search.

7. Publications of Findings Not as commonly published as research articles are. Provides quick overview of research, not nearly as detailed as the research article in this aspect. Introduces the results/findings of the research after it was completed. Presents any possible errors within the results that could have lead to variance in results. Viewed as an invitation for other researchers to replicate the experiments to test whether findings are viable or not.

8. Publication of Findings Continued This genre of writing is used to strengthen or weaken the results of the study. After other researchers have replicated the research, the results will either be accepted or rejected by the community. If accepted than the research and results move to the next step. If rejected than start over again in hopes of better results.

9. Scholarly Articles This genre is the next, and some would argue, the final step in research. It is the genre of writing in the biological community that you would see news stories about or find in major science magazines. This genre provides the accepted results and discusses the uses the research’s results will provide. For example: New medicines are based on previous studies that have been published as scholarly articles.

10. Scholarly Articles Continued Patents are created by the corporations that funded the research after the scholarly article has been approved for publication. Scholarly articles are viewed by everyone and affect those that are in need of the results that have been published in them.

11. Content (Research Articles) Research articles usually contain much speculation since they are written before anything has actually been accomplished. The most basic research article contains a hypothesis, the problem the research wants to solve, the methods that will be used, and the possible uses the expected results might have.

12. Content (Publication of Findings) Unlike research articles, publications aren’t speculative. A publication usually presents the findings and gives every little detail about the materials and methods used to achieve those results. The detail must be concise in order to have other researchers replicate the research. The publication also has more detailed uses of the results compared to the research article.

13. Content (Scholarly Articles) Almost no speculation in this genre. The key here is almost because all science is mere speculation even after quantitative analysis. Scholarly articles are edited to be understood by more than just scientists and people studying the field. It contains a brief description of the research implemented and the results, and focuses mainly on the uses of the findings that have been accepted through multiple trials.

14. Data Collection The data I have collected about these genre come from multiple sources. These sources include many research articles, publications, and scholarly articles that have been read and analyzed. I have also experienced first hand how research is conducted, and have written many lab reports, which are arguably similar to research articles. Lastly, I have conducted a couple interviews with professors that are PhD’s in the vast field of biology.

15. Interview 1 Both interviews were with PhD’s and professors at Wayne State University. Ecology Professor at Wayne. Thorough knowledge of your subject is required to perform any research. Research articles are a popular genre in the biology discourse community. Articles and publications are used to communicate relevant information.

16. Interview 2 Teaches multiple biology course including basic life and human physiology. Has done research in neuroscience. Having an understanding of the problem you’re trying to resolve is important when conducting research. Research articles, thesis statements, and scholarly articles are different writing genres in biology. Communication in this discourse community usually occurs through research articles and publications.

17. Comparison of Interviews Both interviews state the importance of research articles as a writing genre when it pertains to communication in this field. They also both agree that having a great understanding of what you are about to research as a well as the problem your research will attempt to resolve is very important when conducting research. Interviewee 2 also stated scholarly articles and publications as important genres in this field.