A COMMON FORMAT IN WRITING COMPRISES OF : Abstract Introduction Literature Review Data/ Material & M

1. WRITING FORMAT • A COMMON FORMAT IN WRITING COMPRISES OF: •       Abstract •       Introduction • Literature Review • Data/Material & Methodology •       Results •       Discussion • Conclusion • Acknowledgement • References

2. Method and Research Design PURPOSE • For social science /survey based, • The method section answers these two main questions: • How was the data collected or generated? • 2. How was it analyzed? • In general, • - has the research problem been “solved”? • - to what extent have the objectives been achieved? • In other words, it shows your reader how you obtained your results.

3. But why do you need to explain how you obtained your results? We need to know how the data was obtained because the method affects the results. For instance, if you are investigating users' perceptions of the efficiency of public transport in Kuala Lumpur, you will obtain different results if you use a multiple choice questionnaire than if you conduct interviews. Knowing how the data was collected helps the reader evaluate the validity and reliability of your results, and the conclusions you draw from them. Often there are different methods that we can use to investigate a research problem. Your methodology should make clear the reasons why you chose a particular method or procedure. The reader wants to know that the data was collected or generated in a way that is consistent with accepted practice in the field of study. For example, if you are using a questionnaire, readers need to know that it offered your respondents a reasonable range of answers to choose from (asking if the efficiency of public transport in Bangkok is "a. excellent, b. very good or c. good" would obviously not be acceptable as it does not allow respondents to give negative answers). Method and Research Design

4. Method and Research Design The research methods must be appropriate to the objectives of the study. If you perform a case study of one commuter in order to investigate users' perceptions of the efficiency of public transport in Bangkok, your method is obviously unsuited to your objectives. The methodology should also discuss the problems that were anticipated and explain the steps taken to prevent them from occurring, and the problems that did occur and the ways their impact was minimized. In some cases, it is useful for other researchers to adapt or replicate your methodology, so often sufficient information is given to allow others to use the work. This is particularly the case when a new method had been developed, or an innovative adaptation used.

5. Method and Research Design If you propose a new model/approach/concept, it has to discuss the model/ approach/concept from the beginning till the end. It has to be accompanied with the correctness of the model/ approach /concept . This can be done through implementation or mathematical approach. The implementation can be either simulation or real-time test case.

6. Example: Method and Research Design A SOTrieIT consists of two levels of tree nodes such that every tree node w has a label i (represents an item) and an integer j (represent support count) Let C(wi) be the set of child nodes of node wi and S(wi) be the support count of an itemset represented by wi. If C(wi) ≠Ø, then C(wi) {wj,…..,wn}, where j> i S(wj) ≥ S(wj+1). i.e., the child nodes are sorted y decreasing support counts. The SOTrieIT is ordered by support count (speeds up search) and does not require a power sets of transactions (reduces construction time).

7. Example: Method and Research Design Two new algorithms are introduced. Advantages: The main strength lies in its speed in discovering L1 and L2 without scan the database. It can incrementally updated because it constructed without the need to know the support threshold. Disadvantages: It can only discover L1 and L2.

8. Method and Research Design COMMON PROBLEMS irrelevant detail unnecessary explanation of basic procedures Remember that you are not writing a how-to guide for beginners. Your readers will be people who have a level of expertise in your field and you can assume that they are familiar with basic assessments, laboratory procedures etc, so do not explain these in detail. For example: "Total chlorophyll content (microgram/gram vegetable tissue) was determined spectrophotometrically by the Anderson and Boardman method (1964), as adapted by Barth et al., (1992)" (Barth et al., 1993). Notice that the authors do not explain the Anderson and Boardman method (we can assume it is known in their field of study) nor their own previous adaptation of it (because the adaptation has already been recorded in the work they published in 1992). However they do record in detail their own procedures that have not been previously recorded: "At each time interval, three replicates/treatment were taken, ground (stem and florets) with a Kitchen-Aid grinder Model K5-A and used for determination of reduced ascorbic acid" (Barth et al., 1993). Notice that they specify the equipment used because it could affect the results.

9. Method and Research Design Common blindness (survey) Most of us encounter some problems when collecting or generating our data. Do not ignore significant problems or pretend they did not occur. Often, recording how you overcame obstacles can form an interesting part of the methodology, and means you can also give a rationale for certain decisions, plus a realistic view of using the methods you chose

10. Method and Research Design Voice in the Method chapter Verbs can be used in either in the passive voice (The biscuit was eaten by the dog OR The biscuit was eaten) or the active voice (The dog ate the biscuit). What does it matter? Well, using passive or active voice changes the emphasis of a piece of writing. For example: "The biscuit was eaten by the dog."This sentence is passive because the main focus of the sentence is on the biscuit, but the biscuit does not do anything - instead something is done to the biscuit (by the dog). In fact, we can even leave out the part about who performed the action: The biscuit was eaten. "The dog ate the biscuit." This is active because the main focus of our attention is on the dog, and the dog is the one who does something (it eats the biscuit).

11. Method and Research Design WHY USE PASSIVE VOICE? People reading your thesis or dissertation are going to be far less interested in you than in your work so the emphasis should be on what you did and not on you. Also, by not saying "I weighed the sample" but "The sample was weighed" you make your writing sound more objective.

12. Method and Research Design HOW DO I MAKE THE PASSIVE VOICE? Passive voice is the verb to be followed by a past participle: For example: Rice is grown in Thailand.(simple present is plus past participle grown) The film is being shown at Future Park Mall.(present continuous is being plus past participleshown) The sample was weighed to find its dry weight.(simple past was plus past participle weighed) The samples were being dried . . .(past continuous were being plus past participle dried) The interviews will be conducted in groups.(future will be plus past participle conducted)

13. Method and Research Design WRITING ABOUT WHAT THE RESEARCHERS HAVE DONE Research writing usually avoids using "I" or "we" (although "we" is becoming more acceptable in co-authored papers). By convention, if the passive voice is used we assume that an action was carried out by the researcher/s, and we don't say directly who did it. For example: INCORRECTThe temperature inside the chamber was increased from 0 C to 20 C by the researcher. CORRECTThe temperature inside the chamber was increased from 0 C to 20 C. (We assume the researcher increased the temperature.) INCORRECTFour thermocouples were monitored hourly by the researcher. CORRECTFour thermocouples were monitored hourly. (We assume the researcher monitored them.)

14. Method and Research Design WRITING ABOUT WHAT THE EQUIPMENT HAS DONE The active voice is usually used when the equipment has performed an action (i.e. when it is not the researcher/s who have performed the action). For example: A 200hp generator provided power to the piezometers. Control gauges monitored air pressure inside the chamber. The use of active voice indicates that the researchers were not directly involved in the functioning of the equipment. The passive voice can be used to describe an action involving equipment, but a "by" clause must be included to which equipment performed the action. For example: Power was supplied by 14 generators with capacities ranging from 90 to 300 KW.

15. Method and Research Design Verb Tense and Method FOR YOUR THESIS OR DISSERTATION PROPOSAL Because you haven't yet carried out your research, you should write about what you plan to do in the future tense (because you will do the work at some point in the future). For example: A multiple choice questionnaire will be administered to the top managers of fifty information technology companies in the country. Use "will" to make the future tense rather than the more informal "going to."

16. Method and Research Design Takii, K. and Shimano, S. et al.. In The Current Status of Fish Nutrition in Aquaculture, Takeda, M. And Watanabe, T. (Eds.) Materials and Methods Formulations and proximate compositions of the experimental diets are shown in Table 1. Brown fish meal was usedto provide approximately 54% (dry matter basis) crude protein for the control diet 1. In diets 2-4 and 5, approximately 15-46% and 31% of the fish meal was isonitrogenously substituted with a soy protein concentrate (SPC), respectively, diets 2-4 were supplemented with the essential amino acids (DL-menthionin, L-lysine, L-histidine, L-valine and L-threonin) to simulate the composition of the control diet 1. Feeding stimulants (L-alanine, L-proline and 5’-IMP) were supplemented to each diet. The SPC used in this experiment was DANPRO-A, product of Aarhus Olie Co., Ltd, (Denmark, supplied by Bayer Japan Co., Ltd., which contains a high level of crude protein and a low level of trypsin inhibitors, as a result of the treatments of defatting, ethanol extraction and toasting. Moist pellets were preparedby thoroughly mixing the dry ingredients with oil and cold water and then extruding the dough through a laboratory pelleting machine. Resulting pellets, 3 or 5 mm in diameter, were stored at -20 degrees until use.

17. used/was/supplied by: simple past. The product was used (an action now finished). In this experiment (now finished) the product was DANPRO-A. The product was supplied (also an action that is now finished).  Method and Research Design are shown in Table 1: simple present (passive). Always use simple present to refer the reader to a table or figure in your text.  was used to provide/was isonitrogenously substituted/were supplemented/were prepared/were stored: simple past (passive) - this is the most commonly used tense in a method section because it describes actions that are now finished. Passive Voice because it sounds more objective not to use “I” (see Active and Passive). 

18. http://www.scribd.com/doc/1016595/Research-Methodology-Part-3-Research-Design-Plan#fullscreen:onhttp://www.scribd.com/doc/1016595/Research-Methodology-Part-3-Research-Design-Plan#fullscreen:on