ARAŞTIRMA YÖNTEMLERİ

The research topic as well as the title is very
important to attract attention of the readers.
Finding an original and new research problem
is the main organizing principle guiding the
analysis of your research. It is difficult to choose
an interesting topic without doing a preliminary
reading in your discipline.

An abstract summarizes,
the research usually in one paragraph of 200-300
words or less. When writing a structured abstract,
consider the following sub-headings:
1. Problem statement: Why do we care about
the problem? What practical, scientific,
theoretical gap is your research topic filling?
2. Purpose: What is the overall purpose of the
study?
3. Method: The basic design of the study. What
did you actually do to get your findings/
results?
4. Results/Findings: Major findings found as a
result of your analysis. What did you learn/
invent/create?
5. Conclusion/Implications: What is your
concluding remark? What are the larger
implications of your findings, especially for
the problem/gap identified in the research?

Below
are the steps in writing an effective abstract (San
Francisco Edit, 2018):
1. Identify the major objectives and
conclusions.
2. Identify phrases with keywords in the
methods section.
3. Identify the major results from the
discussion or results section.
4. Assemble the above information into a
single paragraph.
5. State your hypothesis or method used in
the first sentence.
6. Omit background information, literature
review, and detailed description of methods.
7. Remove extra words and phrases.
8. Revise the paragraph so that the abstract
conveys only the essential information.
9. Check to see if it meets the guidelines of the
targeted journal.
10. Give the abstract to a colleague (preferably
one who is not familiar with your work)
and ask him/her whether it makes sense.

When selecting keywords, you
should choose keywords that best describe the
content of your thesis or manuscript and follow
the below steps.
1. Focus on the main topic of your research.
2. Avoid keywords that are only one word.
3. Avoid overlapping keywords in your title
and those in your keyword list.
4. Follow the journal guidelines when selecting
keywords.
5. Perform keyword research before submitting
your article

As Reyes (2017) highlighted “Think of
the introduction as a mental road map that must
answer these four questions for the reader:

1. What was I studying?
2. Why was this topic important to investigate?
3. What did we know about this topic before
I did this study?
4. How will this study advance new knowledge or new ways of understanding?

In general, Introduction section
of an article should cover: research background,
research problem/problem statement, and research
objective(s)/research question(s).

1. Establish an area to research by:
• Highlighting the importance of the
topic, and/or
• Making general statements about the
topic, and/or
• Presenting an overview on current
research on the subject.

2. Identify a research niche by:
• Opposing an existing assumption, and/or
• Revealing a gap in existing research,
and/or

• Formulating a research question or problem, and/or
• Continuing a disciplinary tradition.

3. Place your research within the research niche by:
• Stating the intent of your study,
• Outlining the key characteristics of your study,
• Describing important results, and
• Giving a brief overview of the structure of the paper

In general, Introduction section
of an article should cover: research background,
research problem/problem statement, and research
objective(s)/research question(s).

1. Establish an area to research by:
• Highlighting the importance of the
topic, and/or
• Making general statements about the
topic, and/or
• Presenting an overview on current
research on the subject.

2. Identify a research niche by:
• Opposing an existing assumption, and/or
• Revealing a gap in existing research,
and/or

• Formulating a research question or problem, and/or
• Continuing a disciplinary tradition.

3. Place your research within the research niche by:
• Stating the intent of your study,
• Outlining the key characteristics of your study,
• Describing important results, and
• Giving a brief overview of the structure of the paper

In general, Introduction section
of an article should cover: research background,
research problem/problem statement, and research
objective(s)/research question(s).

1. Establish an area to research by:
• Highlighting the importance of the
topic, and/or
• Making general statements about the
topic, and/or
• Presenting an overview on current
research on the subject.

2. Identify a research niche by:
• Opposing an existing assumption, and/or
• Revealing a gap in existing research,
and/or

• Formulating a research question or problem, and/or
• Continuing a disciplinary tradition.

3. Place your research within the research niche by:
• Stating the intent of your study,
• Outlining the key characteristics of your study,
• Describing important results, and
• Giving a brief overview of the structure of the paper

Elements of a paragraph. To be as effective as possible, a paragraph should contain each of the
following in order: argument/claim, evidence/proof, and summary. When writing a paragraph you should
bear in mind that a paragraph has three elements including 1) coherence, 2) a topic sentence, and 3)
adequate development (Driscoll and Brizee, 2013). Using and adapting them to your individual purposes
will help you construct effective paragraphs.

Elements of a paragraph. To be as effective as possible, a paragraph should contain each of the
following in order: argument/claim, evidence/proof, and summary. When writing a paragraph you should
bear in mind that a paragraph has three elements including 1) coherence, 2) a topic sentence, and 3)
adequate development (Driscoll and Brizee, 2013). Using and adapting them to your individual purposes
will help you construct effective paragraphs.

When writing a structured abstract, consider the following sub-headings:

The correct answer is C.

The topic sentence is the main idea of each paragraph. It contains the focus of the paragraph and tells readers what the paragraph is going to be about. A topic sentence is a sentence that indicates in a general way what idea or thesis the paragraph is going to deal with. It is good to start a new paragraph with an argument or a claim. The correct answer is D.

While ‘arguing against,’ the verb indicates that the source is responding critically to another source or with the position you are advancing. Common signal phrases to introduce a quote, paraphrase, or summary for an ‘argument against’ include:

The correct answer is A.

APA style requires the use of the past tense or present perfect tense when using signal phrases to describe earlier research (Example: “Smith (1992) found…” or “Smith (1992) has found. The correct answer is D.

The method shows exactly how you conducted your research. It describes actions to be taken to investigate a research problem and the rationale for the application of specific procedures or techniques used to identify, select, process, and analyze information applied to understanding the problem, thereby, allowing the reader to critically evaluate a study’s overall validity and reliability. The method section of a research paper answers two main questions: How was the data collected or generated? And, how was it analyzed? In general, we should provide detailed information on the research design/ model, research samples/participants, data gathering instruments/equipment, materials and procedure, validity and reliability of the research instruments and data analysis. Therefore, Elif is writing the Methodology section. The correct answer is E.

The transition words or expressions to give examples include ‘For example, for instance, namely, specifically, to illustrate.’ The correct answer is E.

According to Yin (1994, p.144)) reliability demonstrates “that the operations of a study-such as the data collection procedures-can be repeated, with the same results.” Will the same measure yield the same results on different occasions (assuming no real change in what is to be measured)? Will similar observations be made by different researchers on different occasions? These questions address reliability. The correct answer is B.

Ethnography is an in-depth description of a people group done through “immersed” participant observation and recorded in the vernacular of the host society. An ethnographic study may look at the Cree people of Western Canada. The correct answer is A.

The figure χ2 is used to refer to Chi-square tests. When reporting statistical test results, t is used for T Tests, F for ANOVAs, r for correlations and SD for standart deviation. The correct answer is C.

In the example, random sampling and convenience-sampling methods are two different and contradictory sampling methods. Therefore, the logical relationship between the two statements involves contrast. The transition word ‘however’ expresses contrast. The correct answer is D.