Research Methods

ACADEMIC
WRITING I
Academic Writing Basics
Characteristics / priorities:
• specific activities: arrange, explain, justify, evaluate, make connections, collect, describe,
form hypotheses and theories
• how academic writing works: methodology, freedom from prejudice and values,
verifiable, option of criticism, and intersubjectivity
• result of the above-named activities: the collection of knowledge, systematic presentation
of the findings at a specific time

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Important for Scientific Writing
• Evidence
• Paraphrasing
• Quotation
• Justification
• Create reference
• Defining terms

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Important for Scientific Writing I
• Evidence: Claims must be documented in academic texts. Exceptions are trivial
statements, explanations, own considerations or statements which cannot be verified. A
claim is verified by references to sources, empirical data or the claims of other authors. It
is particularly important to verify the opinions of other people. Quotes can be used for
this.
• Paraphrasing: Ideas and opinions taken from other academic texts need to be
paraphrased (as far as they are not literally cited), which means that they have to be
expressed in different words than in the original text, otherwise one is guilty of
plagiarism.
• Quotation: Literally reproduced texts have to be quoted with quotation marks. The origin
of the text must be clearly identifiable.

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Important for Scientific Writing II
• Justification: It is legitimate to make statements in academic papers which cannot be
proved. In this case one must justify why they have this opinion. An opinion is based on
arguments. In academic work you have to justify the method you use, the extent of the
literature and sources you use, the questionnaire, and the conclusions.
• Create references: Academic Statements must be based on existing academic literature.
How many these references are varies with the demands on the work. In dissertations
and habilitations, for example, a comprehensive consideration of the literature is used as
an assessment criterion. Final thesis in Bachelor or Master degrees are usually done with
regard to the completeness of the literary review.
• Defining Terms: Academic statements require a definition of the terms. Defining means,
in principle, no more than explaining the meaning of words used. Since concepts are used
inconsistently in academic literature, this is often associated with a theory, school or
discourse. The use of many terms is thus already defined by a corresponding choice and
does not have to be repeated. In general, definitions of the key terms used can be limited.

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Where to Start?
Choose a topic from the list in the guidelines (available on myCampus) and narrow it down
Notes: Where were the main focuses? What is particularly interesting?
What to watch out for?
On current topics that are actually being discussed in the public, one should be aware that
this is often not academic writing, and the sources are only conditionally suitable
If the starting point is an everyday topic, it should be borne in mind that other terms may
be used in the subject literature

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Informing Yourself About a Topic
• Get an overview of the entire
topic
• Rough orientation
• Reading
• Perspectives

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Informing Yourself About a Topic
• Get to know the entire spectrum of ideas, concepts, methods on the respective topic
• Overview: rough orientation
 Read back of book / book covers
 Read the preface / introduction
 Browse the table of contents
 pictures, tables, surveys view  A picture says more than 1000 words!
 Browse the literature directory  Snowball system
• Comparative reading of several handbook and lexicon articles on the same topic
• in principle one can treat every object using different perspectives
• For example, One can look at a table under the aspects appearance, height, usable area,
stability, durability, price, material, ...
• one is usually not interested in everything, but only in a part, and usually in the problem,
i.e. the reason why one is interested in tables
• e.g. Because a table is work equipment, or social meeting place, decoration object, ...
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 ASWS 4 – ACADEMIC WRITING I

Reading Texts
• SQ3R method: dense technique for reading optimization (5 steps)
• Survey Browse, get an overview
• Question Ask questions to the text
• Read - accurate reading, Recite - recapitulate, summarize essential points and Review – Repeat
and reflect.
• Results SQ3R method:
• Improvement in the ability to remember
• Promoting understanding of the read text
• Better test performance
• 3 Phases of reading:
• Preparation of reading
• the actual reading
• the post-processing of reading

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 ASWS 4 – ACADEMIC WRITING I

Reading
Reading Styles:
• Browse: Quickly scroll through text
• Read text swiftly: fly over (read)
• Study the text: intensive deepening of the reading material

Understand the formal structure of texts:

• Problem
• literature analysis
• Hypotheses
• Method
• Results
• Discussion

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 ASWS 4 – ACADEMIC WRITING I

Marking the Text

• facilitates read repetition
• Increase reading speed
• Recognize the red thread in the text
• Content can be kept faster
• Mark sparingly!
• Always use the same system!

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After Reading
• Recapitulate: to understand what has been read, to control
the initial questions, to recognize relationships, to keep
new questions / aspects, to critically analyze the content, to
summarize the essence (excerpt, graphics, etc.)
• Text backdrops: check marked places, re-mark them if
necessary, recall contents, check what you have retained,
look up foreign words
• Critical analysis of the text: How does the author come to
the conclusion? Were there other interpretations? Are there
contradictions? Is the author pursuing certain intentions?
Which points do I agree with?

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Scheduling I
3 phases
• Compilation of the necessary work steps
• Estimation and definition of the time required for the individual work steps
• Establish the work and schedule
• Make a list with all activities related to academic work (overview)

1. Orientation
• Topic
• Explore the topic, activate your own knowledge, interview experts, gather information
• Primary literature search and evaluation
• Limit the topic
• Definition of questions, methodology and procedures
• Creation and review of a rough draft

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Scheduling II
2. Project planning
• Work scheduling and time scheduling
• Cost Planning

3. Literary research and procurement

• Systematic search for literature
• Bibliography or archiving of literature
• Procurement of literature and literature
• Reading, excerpting and condensing the literature

4. Structuring the material

• Arrange
• Clarify and
• Differentiate the sections
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Scheduling III
5. Draft of a detailed structure
• Determination of sub-topics
• Hierarchical order of the sub - topics and
• Definition of structure
6. Discussion of the detailed structure with the responsible expert (Prof., supervisor,
etc.)
7. Review and reconsideration
8. Preparation of the manuscript rough version
9. Consultation and discussion with experts if necessary
10. Review of the draft version
11. Revision
12. Final correction
13. Submission

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Managing Writing Problems

• Write at least one line every day. This makes writing an everyday thing that always
succeeds.
• Change the tool. From the pen to the pencil, from the pencil to the computer.
• Tell a friend what you want to write, then write. Often the narrative is easier than
writing.
• Write down the reasons why you cannot write. If the block is clear, you can also solve
it.
• Ask other writers about their tricks.
• Change the writing time. Perhaps it can be written at night, if it did not workduring the
day.
• Dictate your text on tape and write it down.
• Just take a break and try again later
• Read again what has just been written and see if new ideas come to the reader when
reading.
• walking, jogging, dancing, swimming, etc. Everything that activates the circulation
could also revive the write-up.
• Write the easiest parts of the text first.
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