The Science Of Scientific Writing Set G The Introduction The Pivot Point of the Paper Challenges to Coherence Exercise 1 Hand in Glove Exercise 2 Final Page . |
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OVERVIEW: The way to well-written science
PART I: Paragraphs and Sentences SET A: Paragraphs: The Maps Behind Them SET B: Paragraphs: Using Maps to Meet Readers' Expectations SET C: Paragraphs with Something Extra: Points and Tails SET D: The Generic Section: Expectations and Maps as Blueprints SET E: Scientific Sections: The Methods and Results SET F: Scientific Sections: The Discussion SET G : Scientific Sections: The Introduction SET H : Sentences SET I : The Paper as a Whole
PART II: The Paper and its Sections SET 1: Argument Parts SET 2: Indicator Words SET 4: Locating Arguments in Prose SET 5: Rationale's Essay Planner SET 6: Evidence in Arguments: Basis Boxes Synthesis 1: Position-Early Paragraphs Synthesis 2: Position-Final Paragraphs Synthesis 3: Writing a Discussion I Synthesis 4: Writing a Discussion II |
The Specific Research Question is the pivotal point of the Introduction - and the Paper's contract statement When we consider the Introduction as a Section, then the sentence that expresses the Specific Research Question (SRQ) is the Framing Sentence. Thus it is already of great importance. But it is even more important than this, because at the level of the paper as a whole the Introduction is, unsurprisingly, the paper's Framing Section. Thus the SRQ is basically the Framing Sentence for the entire paper! It is thus critical to handle it properly. One story that George Gopen tells in this book is of a senior academic who first became consciously aware of the importance of having a single framing sentence for a paper after having had a paper rejected for the first time in twenty years. Realising that the rejection might have been due to there being no framing sentence in his Introduction, he did no more than add one, and submitted the paper again, this time to a higher impact journal. It was quickly accepted, and the author lavished with praise for the brilliance of his work! To give another view of the importance of the SRQ, George Gopen refers to the Framing Sentence of the Introduction as the paper's "Contract Statement" : it is what you as the author promise to fulfill - by provding an answer to the stated problem. Let's look at what is involved in managing the SRQ 1. You must decide what the real SRQ is (or are, if there are several). This is easy: it is the question/s to which your title is the answer (or if the title is a also question, they are the same). 2. The SRQ should be a presented as a concluding "standalone" Point Sentence in the paragraph where it is located. Readers expect to be led towards the Introduction's Framing Sentence, they anticipate its arrival in the same way as one is drawn into the climax of a movie or novel. The question should be located in a single sentence - not spread over several - and largely understandable in its own right (e.g. "Thus whether “indoor-time-associated” asthma involves indoor or outdoor allergens is an ongoing issue.") 3. One must prevent the reader confusing the real SRQ with other candidate SRQs. Remember that we have three, four or more levels of questions in a typical Introduction. Unless you take measures to avoid it, readers can end up very frustrated if they find themselves repeatedly deciding that they have located the "point" of the paper, only to have their hopes dashed a sentence or two down the track. The three paragraph format I suggest here is largely designed to prevent such confusion. Let me explain:
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