Concepts of Research: An Overview

Contents
1. What is a Problem?
2. What is Research?
3. Meaning of Research
4. Types of research
5. Characteristics of Research
6. Major Steps in Research
7. Ethical Considerations in
Research

What is a Problem?
• A problem is that which creates
concern over a time and which needs
solution for progress and development
to occur.
• Problem delays progress and hinders
the realization of the stated objective.

Researchable Problems
All problems are not researchable:
 Problems who solution are not based
upon facts or data are not researchable.
Problems whose investigation cannot be
carried out through research procedures
and processes are not researchable.
For instance, problem that tends to be
mystic or are based on guess work
cannot be researchable.

Cont…
• Problems that are based on:
• Fantasy
• Unfounded of unverifiable facts
• Sympathy
• Moral sentiments
• Religious beliefs
• Already formed opinion
All these are hardly good for study

Cont…
• Researchable problems among other
considerations should be those upon
which:
• Data can be collected
• Data can be organized
• Data can be analyzed
• Reliable and valid instrument can be
used for data collection
• Solution seem difficult.

What is Research?
• Research is not a story, a guess, a
dream, an imagination or a prophecy.
• All these activities or phenomena are
not usually based on data.
• Research is based upon data. This
means that it is upon data that research
stands to make its claims.

Cont…
• What is research?
• systematic investigation into reality
to gain knowledge.
• Simply put, research is a process of
finding out solution to a problem.

Research implies the following:
• an empirical investigation into a problem
• an inquiry into the unknown
• a scientific approach to solving problem
• an attempt to provide total or partial solution
to a problem
• a systematic process of problem solving
• a search for new knowledge
• a process of creating new ideas or knowledge
• a logical system of investigating problems.

Types of research
• Broadly, Research May Be Classified
Into:-
1. Descriptive research
2. Historical research and
3. Experimental research.

1. Descriptive research
This includes among others:-
(a) Survey research
(b) Case - study research
(c) Library research
(d) Documentary research.
In descriptive research, data are usually
collected, organised, and analysed and
then described as they exist (natural
setting) without interfering with them.

2. Historical Research
• In historical research, past trends,
attitude, events and facts etc are
examined, judged and interpreted. For
instance, what ways past social facts
have in common and how they repeat
themselves are analysed and
interpreted and inferences drawn
thereafter. Generalisation can emerge
from direct or indirect logical
reasoning.

Cont…
• Often historical research:
• leads to interpreting the present and
the future based on the past.
• Important aspects of historical
research are dates, event, nature of
incidence, result are dates, causes of
the event and conclusion that followed
all the episode.

3. Experimental Research
• This involves controlled observation of
change and development.
• The great rule is to vary only one
circumstance at a time, and to maintain
all other circumstances rigidly
unchanged.
• Hence, there are usually control and
experimental groups or subjects.

Cont…
Other classifications of research include
Among others:
• Observational studies
• Correlational studies
• Evaluation studies
• Instrumentation studies
• Applied research (try out work)
• Basic research (developing a model or
theory)

Characteristics of Research
1. Research is a Structured Process
Research has some systematic rules.
In other words, there are rules for
carrying it out which all researchers
must know and comply with.
2. Research is a Logical Affair
Research starts with a problem and
the solution to the problem is logically
attained and inferences made.

Cont…
3. Research as a Reality-Reference
• This implies that data is the end result of
research procedures. Data are collected
and they identify research as empirical
process.
• Findings in research are based on data
analysed and conclusions are made
based on the findings and without data,
there would be no findings.

Cont…
4. Research involves Reductionism
• Analytical procedures reduce the
confusion of individual events and
objects to more understandable
categories of concepts.
5. Research is Replicable and
Transmittable
• Research is reported in the form of
document or record and this makes it
transmittability possible.

Ethical Considerations in Research
• During the research studies, the subject
or respondents or one that provides data
for the researcher has the right to:
• remain anonymous
• privacy
• confidentiality
• expect experimenter responsibility.
• Moral or ethical judgment should be
avoided in research studies particularly
in drawing conclusions.

WRITING THE
PRELIMINARY PAGES OF
THE REPORT

Contents
1. The Title Page
2. The Approval Page
3. Acknowledgement
4. Table of Contents
5. Lit of Tables
6. List of Figures
7. The Abstract

The Title Page
• The title page consist of the following:
• the title of the project
• the name of student submitting the
project
• the student’s department
• the registration number of the student
• the university or institution to which the
report is to be submitted.
• the programme being run by the student
• the month the project is submitted and
• the year of submission of the project.

For Example
• Title page
• Title
• BY
• John Chikwe
• (Reg. No xxxxxxx)
•
• A Project Report
• Presented to
• Department of Technology Education
• Faculty of Education
• University of Bargania
•
• In Partial Fulfillment
• of The Requirement for the Award of
• Bachelor of Science (BSc) Degree
• In Mechanical Technology
• August 1997.

Approval page
• In this page, provision is made for the
following important people to sign their
names indicating acceptability and
approval of the work:
• the supervisor(s),
• internal examiner(s),
• external examiner,
• head of the department and
• the dean of the faculty.

Example 1
• A thesis presented to the department of vocational teacher
education, university of Nigeria, nsukka in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
(Ph.D) in Industrial Technical Education.
.......................................
Thesis Supervisor
.......................................
Head of Department
.........................…............
External Examiner
........................................
Dean of the Faculty

Example 2
• CERTIFICATION
• This is to certify that this study was carried out by GAMBARI,
Isiaka Amosa (93/036103) in the Department of Science
Education, Faculty of Education, University of Ilorin, Ilorin,
Nigeria.
Dr. M. O. Yusuf Signature
• Supervisor
• Prof. M. O. Fajemidagba Signature
• Head of Department
•
• Prof. D. O. Durosaro Signature
• Dean of Education
•
• Prof. Mrs. V. I. Ezenwa Signature
• External Examiner
•

Dedication
• This involves the writing of name(s) of a person or
persons at the beginning of a book to show gratitude
or the extent of regards to such people even when
such people made little or no contribution to be book.
The author uses some words to convey his feelings
about the people and indicate that the book is indeed
offered to or dedicated to them.
• Examples:
• This Thesis is dedicated to my beloved wifePromise
and to all our children.
• This project report is dedicated to my beloved
daughter, Miss Ogeri Ada Eze.
• I dedicate this work to my teachers.
• To the blessed memory of my father.

Acknowledgement
• This section has to do with the recognition of
some contributions made by individuals which
enabled the author or the researcher to
complete the study.
• There are people whose moral, physical and
financial contributions should be recognised.
Some times it might be the contributions of
organisations, committees, library staff,
communities, typist, other individuals etc.
• The author may wish to recognise those who
missed his interactions during the period of
writing the report.

Cont…
• For student researcher, the following should be
recognised and acknowledged for their
contributions towards the project:
• The project Supervisor
• Head of Department
• Dean of the faculty
• Staff in the department where they actually
helped.
• Library Staff
• Members of the researcher's family.
• Other as may be recognized by the researcher.

Table of Content
• The table of content contains all the
major headings, sub-headings, chapters,
sections, divisions of the work according
to the arrangement or format used.
• It should contain the pages at which
subheadings can be found.
• The of purpose of table of content is to
facilitate getting to any part of the work
or report without much delay.

List of Tables
• This involves the listing of all the tables in the
report, including the table numbers and their titles
as well as the pages where each can be found.
• Example
• List of tables
• Table 1: Summary of Senior Secondary School
Physics Syllabus ----------------------------------------32
• Table 2: Competitive, Individualized and
Cooperative Learning Groups ------------------------84
• Table 3: Traditional Versus Cooperative Learning
Groups------------------------------------------------------86

List of Figures
• List of figures is similar to the list of tables. The
difference while list of tables contains tables, list of
figures contains diagrams, graphs, sketches,
maps, drawings etc. found in the work. The figure
numbers, and the figure titles must be included as
well as the pages where they are located.
• Example:
• Figure 1: Instructional System Design (ISD)
Model -------------------------------------------------------70
• Figure 2: ISD Model Flow Chart--------------------79
• Figure 3: Cooperative Learning Strategy --------87

Abstract
• Abstract can be described as a resume of a
report, a book, or article.
• It is a summary which has touched all the
important aspects of the work.
• The abstract should not be too short and
should not be too long.
• If it is too long, then the researcher is
forcing his reader to go into the details he
would not;
• if it is too short, then the researcher has
denied his reader knowledge of some
certain facts in the work.

Cont…
• For research project report, abstract should contain brief
comments on:-
1. Background of he Study i..e Main purpose of the study
2. Problem statement
3. Purpose of the study
4. Research Questions that guided the study (most cases
only the number they are will suffice)
5. The Hypotheses tested (only the number may suffice).
6. Design of the study
7. Sample size and the technique of Sampling
8. Instrument Used
9. Validity of the instrument
10. Reliability coefficient of the instrument
11. Data Analysis used
12. Findings of the study
13. Recommendations made

WRITING CHAPTER ONE
OF THE PROJECT

Contents
1. Background of the Study
2. Statement of the Problem
3. Purpose of the Study
4. Significance of the Study
5. Research Questions
6. Research Hypotheses
7. Delimitations (Or Scope) of the
Study
8. Assumptions of the Study
9. Definition of Terms

Background of the Study
• Writing the background of the study can be
described with the illustration of a funnel as
shown in figure 1.
• Many people write the background using either
a or b approach. Those who use ‘a approach
start from a broad general idea or and logically
zero their argument to specificity.

• The following conditions are taking care of:
1. Express clearly the fundamental idea or motive
underlying the problem identified of which your
study intends to address.
2. Start from a reasonable point or idea and progress
logically and convincingly to a conclusive point.
3. Make sure you are free from disjointed ideas or
points. Ideas in writing research report should flow
freely and logically.
4. Verbose or high sounding writing or words should
be avoided.
5. Always put your work into perspective. That is,
relate your divergent ideas to the topic under study.
Ideas should not ‘hang out’ off the topic or problem
under study.

Cont…
6.literature review enables the researcher to
write a very good background. So, do a
very good review of related literature.
7.the researcher should in background
demonstrate having a comprehensive
knowledge of the research area.
8.the background should not be too lengthy.
Between three to six pages of quarto-size
papers are sufficient. The danger of writing
many pages is the fact that the writer may
derail off the original idea with which he
started and end up with a bundle of
disjointed ideas.

Statement of the Problem
• the researcher should state the main
problem of the study.
• The problem of a study refers to the
inevitable consequences arising from lack
of a phenomenon under study. For
instance, using our topic – Job satisfaction
among technical teachers in Niger State.
• What lack of job satisfaction among
technical teachers can cause to teaching
and learning.

• For instance, if the technical teachers have no job
satisfaction, the tendency exists that they may:
• not go to classroom to teach rather they will sit in staff
room chatting and discussing irrelevant issues.
• go to classroom without doing their best work;
• they may not prepare their lessons properly and may
bully at pupils at the slightest provocation.
• The resultant effect is that the pupils will not perform
well in examination due to poor teaching or no teaching.
• Consequent to this, the pupil will lack the skill required
of them at their level and it will affect technological
development in the country.
• Poor learning and lack of skill acquisition are the
problem of the study. This is what the researcher saw
and got disturbed and was prompted to carry out the
study.

Cont…
• to catch the concept when writing the
statement of the problem put up a question
to yourself thus:
• What are the inevitable consequences that
will occur if what you are investigating is
ignored?
• What gap(s) that the study want to fill
• The statement of the problem therefore
exposes the need or the why for the study.

Purpose of Study
• The purpose of the study contains the major
things the researcher intends to do as a pursuit
toward providing solution to the problem
identified in the statement of the problem.
• The purpose of the study usually provides guide
to the intended research questions for the
study.
• The entire research work is hinged on the
purpose of the study. Usually, attempt is made
to see that there is a correlation between the
purpose of the study and the research
questions which usually guide the study.

Cont…
To raise your purpose of the study
attempt must be made to:
1. raise a purpose that is key to the
problem, i.e. an item that is directly
addressing the problem.
2. raise other items that are closely
following the major item.

Significance of the Study
• The significance of the study contains the
benefits or value of the study.
• The reader would like to know who would
benefit from the study;
• what will be the benefit; and
• how will the people benefit.
• These three things must be borne in mind.
• In writing this subsection, the benefits may
not be itemised. The item benefits may be
written in paragraphs and should be
discussed.

Research Questions
 These are well constructed and structured
questions designed to guide the researcher
in order to provide solution to the problem
identified.
 Research question must correlate
positively with the purpose of the study.
The questions must also be those that can
be answered through the analysis of data.
The questions must be constructed with a
view to the main topic and the problem
identified.

Cont…
• Usually, the number of RQ may depend on:
(i)The nature of the problem being
investigated in terms of variables
concerned.
(ii) The ability of the researcher to handle the
questions effectively in terms of data
analysis and interpretation of the results.
(iii) The level of the research. First degree
project should contain fewer questions than
higher degrees.
(iv)The discretion of the researcher.

Research Hypotheses
• Hypotheses are intelligent guesses regarding some
pertinent variables.
• What is a variable? A variable refers to pertinent factor
that may vary in an experiment or a study.
• For instance gender, (male, female), environment or
location (urban, rural), states, qualifications etc. are
variables.
• In order to formulate a hypothesis, the researcher
should be sure of what the following mean:
1. dependent variables and
2. independent variables.
• Dependent variables are variables that can vary or
change value when another factor changes.
Independent variables do not change and does not
depend on any factor.

Cont…
• To formulate hypotheses, (null) dependent and
independent variables should be present.
• What is a null hypothesis? All null hypotheses are
the hypotheses to be tested and represented by
Ho. the null hypothesis is one which states that
there are no differences or no relationship exists
between two or more variables. In fact, it is a
hypothesis of no difference.
• On the other hand, what is called alternative
hypothesis specifies the possible conditions not
contained in the null hypothesis. The condition
specified in the alternative hypothesis will hold if
the null hypothesis is rejected. The alternative
hypothesis is denoted by Ha.

Delimitations (Or Scope) of the Study
• This refers to all those aspects of the
study which the researcher
deliberately eliminated off the study
due to certain pertinent reasons. This
shows the scope or the extent of
coverage done in a study.
• Subject scope
• Geographical scope
• Variable scope

Assumptions of the Study
• This refers to certain assumptions or
superstitions made by the researcher
regarding his study.
• There are certain conditions which the
researcher needed before carrying out
the study but of which has no obvious
control over it.
• The researcher will assume that such
condition has existed so that he will be
free to carry out the investigation.

Cont…
• It is important to state that the assumption of
the study is not necessary in all
investigations
• Example: An investigation regarding
performances of students. If the, researcher
is comparing the performances of two or
three groups of people may be in different
locations, he can assume a number of things
namely:
• 1. that the tests were administered under
similar conditions in the two locations and
• 2. that the learning conditions were also the
same in the two locations.

Definition of Major Terms and
Variables
• Terms that will be used with other
meaning other than the usual meaning
should be defined.
• Also, terms that are prone to many
interpretations should be defined in
order to pin down the particular
concept which is used in the study.

Literature Review
&
Research Problems
Session 4

Contents
1. Revision
2. Role of related literature
3. Steps of the literature review
process
4. Sources and search strategies
5. Citation and plagiarism
6. Information analysis, synthesis
and evaluation
7. Structure of the LR

What is literature?
• Literature refers to a collection of
printed materials provided in the form
of books, journals, magazines,
newspaper, abstracts, extracts, etc.
dealing with specific subject.
• literature refers to all printed or non-
printed materials addressing a
particular area of knowledge.

What is literature review?
• Literature review is an exhaustive
survey or search of what has been
done or known on a given problem.
• An account of what has been
published on a topic by researchers,
scholars and practitioners.
• A systematic method for identifying,
evaluating and interpreting the work
produced by researchers, scholars
and practitioners

Why Do We Review Literature?
1. To helps the researcher to discover
the extent of work done already in the
problem area.
2. To help formulate some hypotheses or
straighten out the research questions.
3.To help build a mental picture of what
the solution to the problem may likely
be.

4.To discover whether the. problem has
already been studied.
5.To discover other possible problems
arising as a result of the problem to be
studied.
6.It sharpens the general picture of the
problem under focus so that the
researcher obtains a more, precise
knowledge of the problem.
7.

To discover research techniques,
arguments, analysis, and
conclusions of previous studies of
similar nature.
8.To define and control goals in a
research study.
9.Literature review gives insights into
methods to be used in the study as
well as new approach.

10. It helps the researcher to delimit
his research problems
11.It also exposes the significance of
the study; who should benefit from
the study and how to benefit.
12. Exposes the gap that is existing
after previous studies which the
present study should aim at filling.

Major reasons for doing
literature review
For planning
Primary
research
As an end
in itself

Literature review for planning
primary research
• An overall framework
for where this piece of
work fits in the “big
picture” of what is
known about a topic
from previous
research

Literature review in the research process
8. Evaluate results and draw conclusions
1. Identify problem areas
2. Survey literature
3. Formulate research questions
3’. Survey literature
4. Construct research design
5. Specify sources of data
6. Specify data collection & data analysis
procedures
7. Execute research plan

Literature review in relation
to other steps
Redefine the
scope of
research as
well as
research
questions
Literature review
Provide
conceptual
frameworks for
data collection
& data analysis

To do
good research
DON’T NEED TO
KNOW
EVERYTHING
HAVE TO KNOW
THE UNKNOWN

The Design of Literature Review
1.Break-up the review in line with the
topic, research questions and
hypotheses.
2.Introduce the steps with a
sentence or two.
3.Review Literature sequentially as
arranged; sub-heading arising from
research questions and
hypotheses.

Cont…
4.Relate each sub-section to the topic
i.e. put each subsection into
perspective.
• In other words, let each step
attempt to throw light to the topic
or the problem.
5.Make a summary of the review at
the end.

Recent Development
1. Conceptual framework
2. Theoretical framework
3. Empirical Studies
4. Summary of Reviewed Literature

Example
(a) Conceptual /Philosophical
Framework
• (1) The Concept, Relevance and
Problems of History Instruction in
Secondary Schools
• (2) Computer Application in Education
• (3) Computer Animations and
Students’ Performance
• (4) Development of Computer
Assisted Instructional Packages

(b) Theoretical Framework
(5) Cognitive Theory of Multimedia
Instruction
(6) Cognitive and Dual Coding Theory in
Multimedia Learning
(7) Cognitive Theories and Computer
Assisted Instruction

(c) Review of Empirical Studies
(8) Computer Assisted Instruction and
Students’ Achievement
(9) Simulation, CAI and Students’
Achievement
(10) Computer Assisted Multimedia
Instructions and Students’
Achievement

Cont…
(11) Ability levels and Students’
Achievement
(12) Gender and Students’
Achievement
(d) Summary of related literature

Sequence in the Review
• The researcher should arrange the
subheadings so that one flows into the
other. He will review the literature in
sequence as it is listed making sure
there is a summary of the review at
the end.

Putting Sub-Headings into
Perspective
• Each sub-heading should be linked
to the topic or the problem under
study.
• Each sentence or idea should flow
and point to the topic under study.
• Disjointed ideas or sub-headings
do not towards the contribute
significantly towards the objective
of the study.

Summarizing the Literature Review
• Objective of the review is to discover
the gap that has existed after other
researchers have made their
contributions.
• This is necessary because it is
expected that after the findings have
been made, during the discussion, the
researcher should be able to show
evidence that his study has indeed
filled the gap or not.

Cont…
• So, there is always a link between the
literature review and the findings of
the study.

Conducting Literature Review
• Step one: List key words in the topic.
For example in the topic Job
satisfaction among technical teachers,
the key words are;
• Job
• Job satisfaction
• Teachers
• Technical teachers
• Productivity among workers

Cont…
• The researcher can go to the library
and read books, journals, magazines,
newspapers which have articles
reflecting the key words.
• As he reads, he jots down important
assertions or comments considered
relevant to the problem under study.

Step Two
• Check preliminary sources. These
include index, abstracts, thesaurus
etc. that are intended to help one
identify and locate research articles
and other sources of information.

Sources of Information Data
• Primary Sources: Students research
project reports, report of research
conducted at the national or
international level, journals, abstracts,
publications, conference proceedings,
technical reports, periodicals etc.
• Secondary Sources: Textbooks,
other books, reviews of research
reports, encyclopedias, book reviews
etc.

Organization of Information
Collected
• Arrange the review in sub themes
• synthesize and organise information in
sub-themes. The appropriate sub-
themes should relate to the topic of
the research.

Paraphrasing
• In reviewing literature, a passage or
an idea can either be paraphrased or
cited.
• For paraphrasing, the reviewer
restates the passages in his own
words.
• This means that an idea can be re-
written in another form other than the
form it was found.

• If you are paraphrasing an idea from
another work, you only have to make
reference to the author and year of
publication in your in-text reference, but
APA guidelines encourage you to also
provide the page number (although it is
not required.)
• According to Jones (1998), APA style is a
difficult citation format for first-time
learners.
APA style is a difficult citation format for
first-time learners (Jones, 1998, p. 199).

• Using signal phrase: - Involves the
use of the author’s name and date in
the sentence. Use this to introduce
short quotation, paraphrase, or
summary. Mention author’s name
either in introductory signal phrase
with years in parenthesis. For
instance,
• (a) Adekunle (1995) reported that
students’ failure in mathematics can
be attributed to teachers’ factor. tor.

• Or
• (b) According to one study (Adekunle,
1998) students’ failure in mathematics
can be attributed to teachers’ factor.
Or
• (c) In a 1998 study, Adekunle affirmed
that students’ failure in mathematics
can be attributed to teachers’ fac

Parenthetical citation
• :This is the placement of the author’s
name and date of publication in
parenthesis at the end of the cited
material. It must be emphasized that
the citation should be before the
period (full stop). For example
• (a) Students’ failure in mathematics
can be attributed to teachers’ factor
(Adekunle, 1998).

• When several works are cited in
parenthetical form the following basic
rules should be observed
• Works too be ordered alphabetically (e.g.
Ijanaku, 2004, Lawal, 2004, Onyealu,
1990, Ukoli, 1981). Where some of the
works in parenthesis has more than an
author, the ordering is based on first
author
• Works by the same authors to be ordered
using years (e.g. Lawal, 1988, Lawal,
2000, Lawal, 2004, Ukoli, 1981).

• A Work by Two Authors: Name both
authors in the signal phrase or in the
parentheses each time you cite the
work. Use the word "and" between the
authors' names within the text and use
the ampersand in the parentheses.
• Research by Wegener and Petty
(1994) supports...
• (Wegener & Petty, 1994)

• A Work by Three to Five Authors: List
all the authors in the signal phrase or in
parentheses the first time you cite the
source.
• (Kernis, Cornell, Sun, Berry, & Harlow,
1993)
• In subsequent citations, only use the first
author's last name followed by "et al." in
the signal phrase or in parentheses.
• (Kernis et al., 1993)
• In et al., et should not be followed by a
period.

• Six or More Authors: Use the first
author's name followed by et al. in the
signal phrase or in parentheses.
• Harris et al. (2001) argued...
• (Harris et al., 2001)

• Join the authors name in a joint work with
the word and if they are referred to in text
(signal phrase). For example, Ajayi and
Salami (2001) observed that microteaching
is indispensable in teacher education.
However, join the authors name with
ampersand (&) if used in parenthetical
citation. For instance, microteaching is an
indispensable aspect of teacher education
(Ajayi, Salami, Taiwo, & Ogundele, 2001)

• Unknown Author: If the work does
not have an author, cite the source by
its title in the signal phrase or use the
first word or two in the parentheses.
Titles of books and reports are
italicized or underlined; titles of
articles, chapters, and web pages are
in quotation marks.
• A similar study was done of students
learning to format research papers
("Using APA," 2001).

• Note: In the rare case the
"Anonymous" is used for the author,
treat it as the author's name
(Anonymous, 2001). In the reference
list, use the name Anonymous as the
author.
• Organization as an Author: If the
author is an organization or a
government agency, mention the
organization in the signal phrase or in
the parenthetical citation the first time
you cite the source.

• According to the American
Psychological Association (2000),...
• If the organization has a well-known
abbreviation, include the abbreviation
in brackets the first time the source is
cited and then use only the
abbreviation in later citations.
• First citation: (Mothers Against Drunk
Driving [MADD], 2000)
• Second citation: (MADD, 2000)

• Two or More Works in the Same
Parentheses: When your
parenthetical citation includes two or
more works, order them the same way
they appear in the reference list,
separated by a semi-colon.
• (Berndt, 2002; Harlow, 1983)

• Authors With the Same Last Name: To
prevent confusion, use first initials with the
last names.
• (E. Johnson, 2001; L. Johnson, 1998)
• Two or More Works by the Same
Author in the Same Year: If you have two
sources by the same author in the same
year, use lower-case letters (a, b, c) with
the year to order the entries in the
reference list. Use the lower-case letters
with the year in the in-text citation.
• Research by Berndt (1981a) illustrated
that...

• Introductions, Prefaces, Forewords,
and Afterwords: When citing an
Introduction, Preface, Foreword, or
Afterwords in-text, cite the appropriate
author and year as usual.
• (Funk & Kolln, 1992)
• Personal Communication: For
interviews, letters, e-mails, and other
person-to-person communication, cite the
communicator's name, the fact that it was
personal communication, and the date of
the communication.

• Do not include personal
communication in the reference list.
• (E. Robbins, personal communication,
January 4, 2001).
• A. P. Smith also claimed that many of
her students had difficulties with APA
style (personal communication,
November 3, 2002).

• If you use a source that was cited in
another source, name the original source
in your signal phrase. List the secondary
source in your reference list and include
the secondary source in the parentheses.
• Johnson argued that...(as cited in Smith,
2003, p. 102).
• Note: When citing material in
parentheses, set off the citation with a
comma, as above. Also, try to locate the
original material and cite the original
source.

• Electronic Sources
• If possible, cite an electronic
document the same as any other
document by using the author-date
style.
• Kenneth (2000) explained... Or

• Unknown Author and Unknown
Date: If no author or date is given, use
the title in your signal phrase or the
first word or two of the title in the
parentheses and use the abbreviation
"n.d." (for "no date").
• Another study of students and
research decisions discovered that
students succeeded with tutoring
("Tutoring and APA," n.d.).

Sources Without Page Numbers
• When an electronic source lacks page
numbers, you should try to include
information that will help readers find the
passage being cited. When an electronic
document has numbered paragraphs, use
the abbreviation "para." followed by the
paragraph number (Hall, 2001, para. 5). If
the paragraphs are not numbered and the
document includes headings, provide the
appropriate heading and specify the
paragraph under that heading.

• While quoting internet sources use
page number if available. However,
use paragraph as para. or the
paragraph symbol, or the section, if
necessary, for a web document of
hypertext markup language (html) or
other without pagination. For example,
Yusuf (2005) opined that “the Nigerian
national policy on information is
inadequate to improve the integration
of ICT in Nigerian school” (para. 6) or
(¶. 6) or (Conclusion section) or
(section 9).

• Note that in some electronic sources,
like Web pages, people can use the
Find function in their browser to locate
any passages you cite.
• According to Smith (1997), ... (Mind
over Matter section, para. 6).
• Note: Never use the page numbers of
Web pages you print out; different
computers print Web pages with
different pagination.

Citation of Secondary Sources
• In citing a work read in a secondary
source, the original work and
secondary source must be named.
However, only the secondary source
will be cited on the reference list. For
instance,
• (a) In a 1998 study, AbdulKareem (as
cited in Yusuf, 2005) noted that… Or
• (a) Self-efficacy propels greater action
(Bandura, 1989, as cited in Fiest,
1998).

Personal Communication
• Personal communication like,
telephone conversation, personal
discussion, interview, e-mail, and so
on, are considered non-retrievable.
They can be used in-text for research
or publication. Provide first name or
initials and last name of the
communication and exact date (not
years alone). However, since they are
considered as non-retrievable, they
should not be included in the
reference list.

Cont…
• Examples:
• (a) A. Y. AbdulKareem (telephone
conversation, April 2, 2005) noted the
importance of management in
education.
• (b) Education is sine qua non to
national development (A.Y Ajayi,
personal interview, March 5, 2006).

Article without author
• To cite such works use abbreviated title
to replace the author(s). For example, in
a study, it was affirmed that educational
researchers do not use consistent format
(Research process, 1998).
• 9. Article without date: For such to be
cited use n.d. for no date for the date. For
instance, in a study, it was affirmed that
educational researchers do not use
consistent format (Ogunlade, n.d.).

10. Article accepted for publication:
• Use in press for the date For instance, in
a study, it was affirmed that educational
researchers do not use consistent format
(Ogunlade, in press).
• 11.Several articles by a single author in
a year: Letter alphabets to be included
with the dates to indicate different works
(Ajayi, 2002a, Ajayi, 2002b, Ajayi, 2002c,
etc.) The initial letters of the first words of
each work would determine the
alphabetical ordering.

Cont…
12. English translation of a textbook:
Cite the date of publication in the
original language and date of
translation into English of the
publication. For example, (Laplace,
1814/1951)

Copyright Permission Notes
If you quote more than 500 words of
published material or think you may be in
violation of “Fair Use” copyright laws, you
must get the formal permission of the
author(s). All other sources simply appear
in the reference list.
• Follow the same formatting rules as with
Content Notes for noting copyright
permissions. Then attach a copy of the
permission letter to the document.

• If you are reproducing a graphic, chart, or
table, from some other source, you must
provide a special note at the bottom of the
item that includes copyright information.
You should also submit written permission
along with your work. Begin the citation
with “Note.”
• Note. From “Title of the article,” by W.
Jones and R. Smith, 2007, Journal Title,
21, p. 122. Copyright 2007 by Copyright
Holder. Reprinted with permission.

Quotation Or Citation
• In citation, usually passages are lifted
the way they are:
• In the past, if a passage is cited, it
was enclosed with quotation marks.
Such practice is no more in vogue as
different styles of citation unfold
everyday.
• Long passages (e.g. 40 words and
above) are usually indented.

Suggestions for Reviewing
Literature
• For first degree project 15 to 30 pages
are ideal; for masters degree project
30 to 55 pages are good; and for
doctoral (PhD) thesis 60 pages and
above are conducive.
• Disjointed rendering the volume
useless and unacademic.

• Do not introduce words that will
compel the reader to go to
dictionary first before
understanding them.
• Always endeavour to summarise
your literature review at the end of
the review; you should be able to
articulate the state of the art with
respect to the problem under
study.

Cont…
• Always acknowledge the contributions
of other people. Do not lift passages
or ideas and claim them as your own.
That practice is referred to as
plagiarism.
• There is the need to be mindful of
tenses, spellings and grammar.

Guide to Reviewing Literature in the Library

Steps of the Literature Review process
• Selecting the topic
• Getting the information
• Looking at information sources
• Setting the topic in context
• Positioning the literature review
• Using information sources
• Writing the literature review
• Organizing information (information
management)

A simple model
1. Selecting the topic
2. Setting the topic in context
3. Looking at information sources
4. Using information sources
5. Getting the information
6. Organizing information (information
management)
7. Positioning the literature review
8. Writing the literature review

Words
• DISSERTATION: a long piece of writing on
a particular subject, especially one written
for a university degree
• PROCEEDINGS: the official written report
of a meeting, etc.
– E.g. His paper is published in the new issue of
the proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences.
• MONOGRAPH: a detailed written study of a
single subject, usually in the form of a short
book (chuyên khảo)

Types of publications
– Journal articles
– Books
– Conference proceedings; Government
reports
– Theses/ dissertation
– Newspapers/ magazines
– The Internet

Define what you want to know
“I’m looking for literature and data that
focus on the factors influencing
students’ participation in in-class
group work”
• Use this to choose search words
and phrases

Define search words and phrases
• group work
• in-class group work
• students’ participation in group work
• students’ participation in in-class
group work
• speculated factors: motivation,
culture etc.

Look at information sources
Classification of information sources
• General sources: daily newspapers,
news weeklies, magazines etc.
• Secondary sources: books, reviews
of research etc.
• Primary sources: journals,
abstracts, scholarly books etc.

Where?
• Library
• Internet

http://www.asian-efl-
journal.com/

In-text Citation Rules
(APA style)
Use the Past Tense or
Present Perfect when
using signal phrases to
describe earlier
research.
E.g. Jones (1998) found
…
Jones (1998) has found ...

Follow the author-date method:
• in the text:
E.g. (Jones, 1998)
• at the end of the paper: a complete
reference should appear in the
reference list

 Use a direct quotation:
• Include the Author, Year, and Page Number as part
of the citation.
• A quotation < 40 words: quotation marks and
incorporated into the formal structure of the
sentence.
E.g. Patients receiving prayers had “less congestive
heart failure, required less diuretic and antibiotic
therapy, had fewer episodes of pneumonia, had
fewer cardiac arrests, and were less frequently
incubated and ventilated” (Byrd, 1988, p.829).

• A lengthier quotation of 40 or more
words should appear (without
quotation marks) apart from the
surrounding text, in “block” format.
• Use (…) to indicate where you have
omitted the author’s irrelevant words.

Cont…
E.g. Referring to communicative competence,
Savignon (1997) says:
communicative competence is the
expression, interpretation, and
negotiation of meaning; and
communicative competence is
always context specific, requiring
the simultaneous, integrated use of
grammatical competence,
discourse competence,
sociolinguistic competence, and
strategic competence”(p.225)

Plagiarism
Plagiarism:
• uses someone’s words, ideas or
information without referencing them, i.e.
presenting them as your own.
• is a very serious academic offence and
leads to severe penalties.

Plagiarism
To avoid plagiarism, make sure you:
• Use quotation marks for the extracts you
copy directly from a source and
acknowledge the source.
• Use proper paraphrasing and acknowledge
the source.
• Keep careful notes of your source when you
read. Keep the bibliographical information
that you will need to write a full reference for
the source.

Common mistakes
• Lack some of the required
information
• Some sources are cited in text
but are not listed in the
references

Reference List Rules
Appear at the end of the paper.
Reference list entries should be
alphabetized by the last name of the first
author of each work.
Chronological by same author

Journal Article Reference
• Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year).
Title of article. Journal Title, Vol (no),
pages.
Wheelan, S. A. (2003). An Initial exploration
of the internal dynamics of leadership
teams. Consulting Psychology Journal:
Practice & Research, 55, 179-188.

Book Reference
• Author, A. A. (Year). Title of
book (Edition). Location:
Publisher.
• Taylor, S. E. (2003). Health
psychology (5th ed.). Boston:
McGraw-Hill.

Electronic source
• Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work.
Retrieved Month Day, Year, from
source.
• American Psychological Association.
(2003). Electronic references.
Retrieved March 21, 2005, from
http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html.

Common mistakes
• The list is not arranged alphabetically
• No hanging
• Write the authors’ full name

Practice
• Work in group of 4
Write references for the following
documents in APA style

Critical reading of materials on
the Internet
1. AUTHORSHIP/ PUBLISHING BODY
2. AUTHOR’S PURPOSES AND INTENDED
AUDIENCE
3. CONTENT
4. STRUCTURE
5. FORMAT AND STYLE

(1) AUTHORSHIP
& PUBLISHING BODY
PUBLISHING BODY
• Is it a personal page
• What type of domain
is it?
• Who published the
page?
• How well-known is the
site?
• What are the purpose
of the site?
AUTHORSHIP
• Who is the author?
Is he or she
qualified/ competent
enough to write on
the topic?
• Can the author be
contacted?
• Is there a relation
between the topic
and the author?

SEVERAL TIPS AND
TECHNIQUES
TO ANSWER THESE
QUESTIONS

• What is the domain?
– http://en.wikipedia.org:80/wiki/Special:Se
arch?search=train&go=go
– http://www.silcom.com/~noster/
• What does it tell?
– The host of the site
– The geographical source
LOOK AT THE DOMAIN

Domai
n
Hosts of the site Examples
.edu an education institution www.harvard.edu/
.gov a government agency www.nasa.gov/
.net
a network related
organization
www.microsoft.com/
net/
.com
a commercial
organization
www.cnn.com/
.org
a nonprofit and/or
research
organization
http://www.w3.org/

Domain
Geographical
source
Examples
.ca Canada www.cbc.ca
.uk United Kingdom www.bbc.co.uk/
.au Australia www.uq.edu.au/
.jp Japan
www.japantimes.c
o.jp/
.fr France www.lemonde.fr/
MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_name
BACK

TRUNCATE BACK THE URL
•http://www.crvp.org/book/Series03/III-
16/chapter_xvii.htm
(1) http://www.crvp.org/book/Series03/III-16/
(2) http://www.crvp.org/book/Series03/
(3) http://www.crvp.org/book/
(4) http://www.crvp.org/

http://www.crvp.org/book/Series03/III-
16/chapter_xvii.htm

(2) AUTHOR’S PURPOSES &
INTENDED AUDIENCE
2.1 INTENDED AUDIENCE
•What type of audience is the author addressing?
•Is the publication aimed at a specialized or a
general audience?
•Is this source too elementary, too technical, too
advanced, or just right for your needs?
•Etc.

2.2 AUTHOR’S PURPOSES
• The purpose of the site
• The author and the relation between
the author and the information
• Striking facts and figures of the text
• Tone of the writer
BACK

(3) CONTENT
• (3.1) Accuracy
• (3.2) Objectivity
• (3.3) Currency
• (3.4) Comprehensibility & User-friendliness
• (3.5) Authenticity

3.1 ACCURACY
• Checking the information against other
resources
• Studying the literature
CONTENT
GRAMMAR, SPELLING,
PUNCTUATION
BACK

3.2 OBJECTIVITY
• Bias is “a tendency to support or
oppose a particular person or
thing in an unfair way by
allowing personal opinions to
influence your judgment”
(Oxford Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary, Oxford University Press,
2003).

OBJECTIVITY
• Examine the source
• Examine the language
• Detect the unchallenged
assumptions
• Examine the balance of ideas
• Compare with other sources
BACK

3.3 AUTHENTICITY
 CHECK AGAINTS OTHER
SOURCES

4. STRUCTURE
• Chronological order
• Order of importance
• Sequence/ Process order
• Topic order/ Categories
• Compare and contrast
• Problem solving/ Problem - Solution
• Cause and effect
• Report style
(Background – Analysis – Recommendations)
• Induction - Deduction

5. FORMAT & STYLE
STYLE
• In what style has the material been written?
• How does the style influence your reaction to the
material? Do you think the style is appropriate for the
information?
• Do you think that the style is consistently applied
throughout the information?

Critical reading of materials on the
Internet
1. AUTHORSHIP/ PUBLISHING BODY
2. AUTHOR’S PURPOSES AND INTENDED
AUDIENCE
3. CONTENT
4. STRUCTURE
5. FORMAT AND STYLE

Information processing
• Identify issues involved
• Look for definitions, recurring themes,
debates (conflicting ideas)
• Make a content analysis of each
definition/theme/debate

Structure of the LR
• What do you need to do?
• Where do the key points for the
literature review come from?
• How to structure the LR?
• What are the characteristics of a
good LR?

What do you need to do?
Grouping texts according to
the similarities
of their ideas or arguments
Grouping studies that focus on
similar phenomena
or share similar methodologies

What do you need to do?
commenting on the main ideas
that feature in each
group of texts or studies
comparing and contrasting the
different studies,
methodologies … and
identifying for the reader those
which have the greatest
bearing on your own research
indicating which articles, methodologies …
will form the basis of
your investigations

Where do the key points for
the literature review come
from?

How to structure the LR?
• Chronological
By publication
By trend
• Thematic
• Methodological

What are the characteristics
of a good LR?
• It lays out what research has been done by
others relevant to your research
aim/objectives
• It presents the work of others in a clear,
interesting and progressive manner (to build
up a coherent/logical picture)
• It provides evidence of in-depth critical
evaluation (i.e. to show that YOU can give
an opinion and support it with
argument/evidence).

What are the characteristics
of a good LR?
• It highlights emerging issues
• It cites a variety of relevant
sources properly (to show that
you are well read and scholarly
in your approach).

A note on language
• Active vs. Passive
 Peters (1992) discovered that . . .
(active)
 It was discovered by Peters (1992)
that . . . (passive)
 Depend on your purpose

A note on language
Biggam (2008)

References
• Mertens, D. M. (2005). Research and evaluation in education
and psychology: integrating diversity with quantitative,
qualitative, and mixed methods (2nd ed.). SAGE
Publications.
• Phạm Minh Tâm (2007). Slides for theme 2: Literature
review & research problems. VNU, HULIS
• Vũ Hải Hà (2007). Slides for session 2: Finding materials for
literature review. Research workshops for students of the
English Department.
• Doan Thi Thu Trang (2008). Slides for theme 2: Literature
• Murray, N. & Hughes, G. (2008) Writing up your university
assignments and research projects. England: Open
University Press
• Biggam, J. (2008) Succeeding with your Master’s
Dissertation. England: Open University Press
• Phung Ha Thanh (2008). Slides for theme 2: Literature

Identify what is unknown-
Common rationale for research
1. Lack of consistency
2. A flaw in previous research
3. Research may have been conducted on a
different population than the one in which
you are interested.
4. Identify an ongoing edu. or psy. problem
and propose studying the effect of an
innovative intervention
5. Uncertainty about the interpretation of
previous studies’ findings.

Concepts of Research: An Overview

Concepts of Research: An Overview

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Concepts of Research: An Overview

Similar to Concepts of Research: An Overview (20)

More from Gambari Amosa Isiaka

More from Gambari Amosa Isiaka (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Concepts of Research: An Overview