Elements of Research

What does the product of an expert researcher look like? To provide a concrete example of the research process, we will dissect a biology article in the field of genetic engineering and examine the research effort that went into it. This article is a significant piece of scholarship, something an expert researcher would write. While you would not have the subject expertise or time to complete such a project during your time in college, it provides an opportunity to learn from the experts. Title Number of References Types of References Notice the Range of Years Scholarly Notice That No Article Deals Exactly with the Topic Research Hints What's Not Noticeable

Title The title is a gauge of how clearly you understand your topic and the benchmark for determining whether you are staying focused on your topic. View this article entitled "Commercialization of transgenic plants" (hereafter referred to as theCommercialization Example). The authors decided to focus on the genetic engineering ofcommercial plants, like corn or wheat, and not wild plants. Notice the subheading following the colon. This is an important technique for clearly narrowing a topic. Genetic engineering of commercial plants is the main topic of the study, but only theecological risks will be dealt with fully. This means health issues and government regulation issues will either not be covered or be covered tangentially. If the authors had not added the subheading, "potential ecological risks," the topic would have been far too broad and unmanageable. On the other

hand, if the title had been "Commercialization of transgenetic plants: Bacillus thuringiensis and herbicide-tolerant legume," the researchers might not have found enough information to build a paper of reasonable length. To write a successful research paper, the thesis statement must be clear and concise and neither too broad nor too narrow.
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Number of References Notice in the Commercialization the number of references the authors used: seventy-one. The more sources you find, the easier it will be to write a high-quality research paper. As a general rule, collect twice as many sources as your professor requires. You can then evaluate them critically, and you will have the luxury of eliminating those that are inferior or miss the focus of your thesis statement. The authors of this article probably had hundreds of sources to choose from but felt that these were the most relevant.
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Types of References

Notice the different types of references in theCommercialization . Most of the references are for journal articles (Adler, Arias, Bartels, etc.), several are for books (Anderson, Baum, Gatehouse, etc.), two are for websites (APHIS and NBIAP), two are for papers given at a conference (Gould 1992 and Krattiger), and one refers to a government document (Snow). Heavy dependence on journal articles is typical for most disciplines in the sciences and the social sciences. The humanities, as a rule, rely equally on books and journals.

However, each discipline has its own unique sources of knowledge. Become knowledgeable concerning where information in your discipline is most readily found.
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Range of Years Notice the range of years in the Commercialization . There are 31 references (44%) to material published in 1994, 1995, and 1996, the three years previous to the publication year. This is to be expected in a fastchanging field like genetic engineering. Expectations vary from discipline to discipline and topic to topic. In some areas, the definitive works might have been written three decades or three centuries ago. As a general rule, your professor will expect you to locate current scholarship on the subject as well as important historical sources. Notice the authors reference a number of "classics." To better understand how oats and millet propagate, the authors cited the 1977 books by Baum and Brunken on the subjects. It's important for the researcher to understand what has already been written on the subject. Also, there are nearly as many references to sources published in the 1980s as there are to sources published in the 1990s. To write intelligently on a topic today, you must understand what went on before. Successful scholars stand on the shoulders of those who went before them.
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Scholarly Sources Notice that all the journal references in the Commercialization are from scholarly journals (in a later section

we'll discover how to tell a scholarly journal from a popular magazine.) You'll be able to use a few articles from popular magazines, such as Time and Newsweek, but most of your sources will have to be from scholarly journals.
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Tangential References Notice that no article in the Commercialization deals exactly with the topic. It's the rare article that covers a research topic exactly. Chances are you will need to look for articles that address your topic from a number of different viewpoints. For example, some of the sources look at only one type of plant, others deal with plant genetics, while others focus on resistance to viruses. It will be up to you to synthesize all that material into your paper.
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Research Hints Look for research hints in the references. Notice in theCommercialization that Gould, F. is listed five times. This may indicate an authority on the subject.Similarly, if several authors cite the same author, then it's safe to assume that this person is an expert on the subject and that other books and articles by this author should be sought. Or, you may discover a useful phrase that may lead to other useful articles. For example, Bacillus thuringiensis might be a bacteria worth examining more carefully. Research requires that you pay attention to all the clues and hints scattered along the way.
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What's Missing? There is no evidence of the blood, sweat, and tears the authors shed! Everything is nicely polished, and arguments flow smoothly into each

other. The introduction clearly identifies the issues, and the conclusion summarizes the findings. But if the authors were to stand before you, they would describe their journey, their long days and nights locating sources, the frustrating dead ends, and the continual revising and rewriting.
goto top These pages were written by Glenn Remelts. and edited by Jeffrey L. Nyhoff and Nancy Zylstra 2005 Calvin College, All Rights Reserved If you encounter technical errors, contact rit@calvin.edu.

HYPOTHESIS

As mentioned previously, a hypothesis is a tool of quantitative studies. It is a tentative and formal prediction about the relationship between two or more variables in the population being studied, and the hypothesis translates the research question into a prediction of expected outcomes. Soa hypothesis is a statement about the relationship between two or more variables that we set out to prove or disprove in our research. study. To be complete the hypothesis must include three components:

The variables. The population. The relationship between the variables.

A hypothesis should be:

stated clearly using appropriate terminology; testable; a statement of relationships between variables; limited in scope (focused).

Examples of a hypothesis are:

Health Education programmes influence the number of people who smoke. Newspapers affect people's voting pattern. Attendance at lectures influences exam marks. Diet influences intelligence.

Types of hypotheses There are different types of hypotheses:

Simple hypothesis - this predicts the relationship between a single independent variable (IV) and a single dependent variable (DV)

For example:

Lower levels of exercise postpartum (IV) will be associated with greater weight retention (DV).

NB.

IV = independent variable D V = dependent variable

Complex hypothesis - this predicts the relationship between two or more independent variables and two or more dependent variables.

1. Example of a complex multiple independent variable hypothesis: Low risk pregnant women (IV) who:

value health highly; believe that engaging in health promoting behaviours will result in positive outcomes; perceive fewer barriers to health promoting activities; are more likely than other women to attend pregnancy-related education programmes (DV).

2. Example of a complex multiple dependent variable hypothesis: The implementation of an evidence based protocol for urinary incontinence (IV) will result in (DV):

decreased frequency of urinary incontinence episodes; decreased urine loss per episode; decreased avoidance of activities among women in ambulatory care settings.

Hypotheses can be stated in various ways as long as the researcher specifies or implies the relationship that will be tested.

For example:

Lower levels of exercise postpartum are associated with greater weight retention. There is a relationship between level of exercise postpartum and weight retention. The greater the level of exercise postpartum, the lower the weight retention. Women with different levels of exercise postpartum differ with regard to weight retention. Weight retention postpartum decreases as the woman's level of exercise increases. Women who exercise vigorously postpartum have lower weight retention than women who do not.

Directional hypotheses

These are usually derived from theory. They may imply that the researcher is intellectually committed to a particular outcome. They specify the expected direction of the relationship between variables i.e. the researcher predicts not only the existence of a relationship but also its nature.

Non-directional hypotheses

Used when there is little or no theory, or when findings of previous studies are contradictory. They may imply impartiality. Do not stipulate the direction of the relationship.

Associative and causal hypotheses

Associative hypotheses

Propose relationships between variables - when one variable changes, the other changes. Do not indicate cause and effect.

Causal hypothesese

Propose a cause and effect interaction between two or more variables. The independent variable is manipulated to cause effect on the dependent variable. The dependent variable is measured to examine the effect created by the independent variable.

A format for stating causal hypotheses is: The subjects in the experimental group who are exposed to the independent variable demonstrate greater change, as measured by the dependent variable, than do the

subjects in the control group who are not exposed to the independent variable.

Null hypotheses

These are used when the researcher believes there is no relationship between two variables or when there is inadequate theoretical or empirical information to state a research hypothesis Null hypotheses can be:

simple or complex; associative or causal.

Testable hypotheses

Contain variables that are measurable or able to be manipulated. They need to predict a relationship that can be 'supported' or 'not supported' based on data collection and analysis.