3. Analysing an Academic Paper.

Not all academic papers will conform to the same mould; every subject has its own conventions of writing up research. However, implicit in almost every academic paper will be some main elements, even if they aren't separately headed and identified. You should be able to find:

1. A research question. Every piece of research is prompted by a searching question, by the researcher asking how, why, what, where, when, etc. questions. Research is driven by a desire to know ... and that means asking and answering questions. Such a question is likely to be precisely expressed and carefully delineated; research involves taking small nibbles at big questions - questions about life, the universe and everything are difficult to tackle head-on.
2. A working hypothesis. Research usually works by falsification - by hypthesising an answer to the research question and then seeing whether it can stand the test of reality.
3. A literature survey. No research stands alone; rather it builds on previous work. It is necessary to sum up the previous results assumed by a piece of research in a survey of what other people have said on the subject. A literature survey might cover approaches and results with which the researcher agrees, and with which the researcher disagrees. They will usually be trying to locate themselves within a piece of intellectual territory.
4. A research methodology. All research will be based on some fundamental assumptions about what constitutes a valid method of enquiry; the method of enquiry must be identified. This will be a statement of how reliable knowledge can be obtained in the academic area in question - in some highly mechanistic areas of enquiry (well-developed sciences) the underlying methodology may be taken for granted.
5. A research strategy or design. Every research activity must be organised as a logical sequence of practical activities, these must cohere to produce valid results. This putting-into-action of an underlying research methodology constitutes the strategy or design of the research.
6. Findings. As the research proceeds, results will be obtained, problems encountered, intrusive factors will introduce doubt, etc. All of these must be written up comprehensively and honestly.
7. Analysis. Research is more than obtaining a set of findings; those findings have to be analysed to reveal their significance - they will be processed in some way.
8. Conclusions. The end result of analysis will be some conclusion, and a confirmation, rejection or modification of the working hypothesis ... and hence a tentative answer to the research question.
9. Future directions. Research is seldom completed, every enquiry opens up new avenues to be pursued in new ways; a researcher will generally indicate the most fruitful avenues opened up by their work.

Check out some of the papers on your shortlist against these points - if their is any radical discrepancy then you have to ask yourself whether you have actually got an academic paper in front of you. Choose a final paper (and model for your own work) which does match up to these points. Write up your analysis in 500 words and you have section 2 of your workbook.

We will go through this with a sample paper in the lecture.

The paper for analysis is linked here.