Kinesiology 2032A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Salami Slicing, Thesis Statement, Standard Deviation
8 Jan 2020
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Lecture 1 - Introduction to Research
Goals of Scientific Writing
• To present results of empirical research
• To gather together published results from other authors
o Meta-analyses
o Critical reviews
• Knowledge exchange
o Re-framing scientific ideas so that they are more accessible to a different audience
• A research project is not finished until the manuscript is written and published
Know Your Audience
• Different audiences require different approaches
o If you are presenting within a clinical journal, your paper should emphasize clinical
applications
o If you are presenting research on a topic that is not well-established within a particular
audience you may need to reframe your presentation
• The author must make the manuscript easy to read for the intended audience
• Salami slicing - taking articles and slicing them up to make one that can be republished
How Much Information is Enough?
• Each paper should have a singular message
o Doesn't necessarily mean that each paper should only contain a single study, but you should
be able to summarize your conclusion in one or two sentences
• Should avoid "publication-splitting"
o When readers have to read multiple papers to get the full idea of what went on in the study
The Manuscript IS the Message
• Define your thesis statement very carefully
• Why is this publication important?
o Straight replication of earlier research
o New methodology used to identify important conclusions
o Novel results tat contradict earlier findings
o Demonstration of effective clinical intervention
o Exposition/definition of part of an existing theory
o Demonstration of relationships between existing variables
Components of a Research Paper
• Abstract
o Very useful!!
• Introduction
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion/conclusion
o Sometimes separate, sometimes not
Abstract
• Single paragraph describing the whole project
• Structure:
o One or two sentences on the background - why
o One sentence on population studied - who
o One or two sentences on method - how
o One or two sentences on results - what
Document Summary
Know your audience: different audiences require different approaches. If you are presenting within a clinical journal, your paper should emphasize clinical applications. If you are presenting research on a topic that is not well-established within a particular audience you may need to reframe your presentation: the author must make the manuscript easy to read for the intended audience. Salami slicing - taking articles and slicing them up to make one that can be republished. How much information is enough: each paper should have a singular message, doesn"t necessarily mean that each paper should only contain a single study, but you should be able to summarize your conclusion in one or two sentences. Should avoid "publication-splitting: when readers have to read multiple papers to get the full idea of what went on in the study. Components of a research paper: abstract, very useful! Introduction: methods, results, discussion/conclusion, sometimes separate, sometimes not. Introduction: outline of pertinent research that has already been done.
