Science Research Writing - Methodology
Science Research Writing for Non-Native Speakers of English by (Glasman-Deal, 2009) takes all the credit for images and examples.
Structure
Information Flow
A Model for Methodology
A useful writing model can be transferred, but don’t expect a perfect model.
All models are wrong, but some are useful. The famous quote about statistical models by George E.P. Box also applies to writing models.
Four Basic Components
Model Components |
---|
Part I |
Provide a general introduction/overview of the materials/methods |
Restate the purpose of the work |
Give the source of materials/equipment used |
Supply essential background information |
Part II |
Provide specific and precise details about materials and methods |
Justify choices made |
Indicate that appropriate care was taken |
Part III |
Relate materials/methods to other studies |
Part IV |
Indicate where problems occurred |
Train of Thoughts
In this section, the message that you’d like to send to your readers is:
This is exactly what I did, I did it carefully and I had good reasons for doing it in this way.
A good writing model for the Methodology/Experiments section should answer the following questions:
- How do writers normally start the Methodology/Experiments?
- What type of information should it contain, and in what order?
- How do writers normally end the Methodology/Experiments?
Miscellaneous
In some cases, writers begin immediately with a description of the procedure or the materials. This is appropriate where the research focus is very narrow and all those who are likely to read it are carrying out similar research.
Your aim is to make sure that your readers accept the conclusions at the end of the paper. You have to make sure your readers accept the methodology before they accept your results. Therefore, this section also has a strong persuasive and communicative element. You need to communicate not only This is exactly what I did/used but also I had good reasons for those decisions. Try to use words that can communicate reliability and answer possible criticism or doubts about your choices.
If you’re not certain that all readers are familiar with the precise details of your methodology, it is better to give slightly too much information than too little. You should include every specification and detail for other researchers to be able to reproduce your work.
It is sometimes appropriate/necessary to mention the effects of the procedures you used. However, it is not a good idea to discuss them or comment at this stage. It’s common to provide further details about the methodology in the Results section.
…; the resulting precipitate can be washed and stored easily.
Sometimes you do need to mention results in this section, but only if the preliminary results were used to modify or develop the design of the main experiments/simulations.
Write up the research and acknowledge the problems or difficulties you encountered. Mention problems in this section to indicate that you are aware of them, which is far more professional than not mentioning them. It’s not only considered acceptable to mention them in this section, it’s much better to do it here rather than wait until the end. It isn’t considered appropriate to mention limitations or imperfections for the first time when you are discussing suggestions for future work in the Discussion/Conclusion. Use vocabulary that
- minimizes the problem
- minimizes your responsibility
- maximizes the good aspects
- suggests a solution
Grammar and Writing Skills
Passive and Tense Pairs
Check with the Guide for Authors in your target journal to decide whether this part should be written in the active or passive form.
Using the active is not usually appropriate for a Ph.D. thesis because it’s not normally written up in the first person singular.
In most cases, the procedure used is described in the passive, either in the Present Simple Passive or in the Past Simple Passive. In formal academic writing, always use the agentless passive.
A common need is to distinguish between standard procedures and methods used in the present research. It’s conventional to use the agentless passive for both, and the only way to separate them is the correct tense. Therefore, it’s clearer to use the Present Simple passive for standard procedures and the Past Simple passive for methods used in the present research whenever possible (remember to check your target journal first).
Make sure the readers can identify the contributions of the present work!
There are several ways to make sure that the previously mentioned differences are clear and easy to identify:
- Move to the active.
- Mark it with words, such as In (this/our/their) (procedure/study/experiment/model).
- Use a dummy subject, such as This study/experiment/model.
- When a reference is needed for standard procedures, use phrases such as as in.
The Use of A and The
General Rules
- Singular countable nouns need a determiner.
- Use The if/when you and your readers both know which thing/person you mean.
- Use The if there is only one possible referent.
- Use A/An if it doesn’t matter/you or your readers don’t know which thing/person you are referring to.
Train of Thoughts
Rule 1
No. 1 - A determiner is a word like the, a/an, my, this one, some, etc.
Deciding which nouns are countable nouns and which aren’t isn’t as easy as it looks. Many nouns that are often considered uncountable can actually be used countably (Here is a list of such nouns). When using a word of this kind, stop and think if it’s being used to mean something in general (uncountable) or something particular (countable).
Rule 2
Use a the first time you talk about something, and use the when referring to it again.
I had a cheese sandwich and an apple for lunch. The sandwich was fine but the apple had a worm in it.
No. 2 - Use The if/when you and your readers both know which thing/person you mean.
In the following examples, the context made both the speaker and listener know about the thing they are talking about.
- I arrived at Heathrow Airport but the check-in was closed.
- I bought a new computer but the keyboard was faulty.
- He lit a match but the flame went out.
- Did she get the job? (the job we both know she wanted)
- I’ll meet you in the library later. (the library we normally use)
Rule 3
No. 3 - Use The if there is only one possible referent.
- We removed the softest layer of the membrane.
- Cairo is the capital of Egypt.
- The opening was located in the center of each mesh.
- Government policy is committed to protecting the environment.
- The sun’s altitude is used to determine latitude.
Rule 4
No. 4 - Use A/An if it doesn’t matter/you or your readers don’t know which thing/person you are referring to.
- A 35 ml brown glass bottle was used to store the liquid. (It doesn’t matter which 35 ml brown glass bottle was used.)
- The subject then spoke to an interviewer. (It doesn’t matter which interviewer/I know which one but you don’t.)
- It works on the same principle as a combustion engine. (It doesn’t matter which combustion engine.)
Miscellaneous
The choice of a/the/\(\varnothing\) sometimes changes the meaning of the sentence.
- This effect may hide a connection between the two. (There may possibly be a connection.)
- This effect may hide the connection between the two. (There is definitely a connection.)
- The nodes should be attached to \(\varnothing\) two adjacent receptor sites. (There are many receptor sites and any two adjacent ones will do.)
- The nodes should be attached to the two adjacent receptor sites. (There are only two receptor sites.)
They can all be used to express a general truth.
- The electroencephalograph is a machine for measuring brain waves.
- An electroencephalograph is a machine for measuring brain waves.
- Electroencephalographs are machines for measuring brain waves.
A is used before consonant sounds, while an is used before vowel sounds.
Adverbs and Adverb Location
A proofreader or editor will notice an obvious grammatical error and correct it, but if the sentence is written in grammatically correct English the error is not visible to proofreaders and editors. Here are some common hidden errors:
- the use of a and the
- whether or not to use a comma before the word which in relative clauses
- adverb location errors
Adverbs needing prepositions can be ambiguous.
Reading with one eye. (It can either mean using one eye or having one eye.)
Be careful where you put your adverb, and be especially careful if you are using more than one adverb in a sentence.
The patient was discharged from the hospital after being shot in the back with a 9 mm gun. (Did the doctors shoot her?) He gave a lecture about liver cancer at the hospital last January. (Did the lecture refer to cancer cases occurring in January or did the lecture itself occur in January?)
Consider putting adverbs that relate to the whole sentence at the front of the sentence.
Last January, he gave a lecture about liver cancer at the hospital.
If you are still left with ambiguous adverb clusters, break the sentence into units, each with its own adverb.
Last January, he gave a lecture at the hospital; his subject was liver cancer.
Vocabulary
General Introduction and Source of Information
General Verbs | Specify Procedures 1 | Specify Procedures 2 |
---|---|---|
attempt | all | (be) commercially available |
consider | both | (be) acquired |
conduct | each | (be) carried out |
determine | many | (be) chosen |
investigate | most | (be) conducted |
report | majority | (be) collected |
suggest | (be) devised | |
verify | tests | (be) found |
… | samples | (be) generated |
Introduction Vocabulary | trials | (be) modified |
experiments | (be) obtained | |
chemicals | (be) performed | |
models | (be) provided | |
instruments | (be) purchased | |
materials | (be) supplied | |
(be) investigated |
*There is also a vocabulary list for each research filed which should be built by yourself.
Essential Background Information
Col 1 | Col 2 | Col 3 |
---|---|---|
above | inner/outer | occupies |
adjacent | intersect | on both sides |
at the front/back | (be) aligned | on each side |
below | (be) attached | on either side |
bisect | (be) connected | on the front/back |
border | (be) coupled | on the right/left |
boundary | (be) covered with/by | on top |
circular | (be) embedded | opposite |
conical | (be) encased | out of range |
converge | (be) fastened | over |
downstream | (be) fitted | parallel (to/with) |
edge | (be) fixed | perpendicular |
end | (be) joined | rectangular |
equally spaced | (be) located | side |
equidistant | (be) mounted | tip |
extends | (be) placed | to the right/left |
facing | (be) positioned | under |
far side/end | (be) situated | underneath |
higher/lower | (be) surrounded | upper/lower |
horizontal | lateral | upstream |
in front | margin | vertical |
in the front/back | near side/end | within range |
Specific and Precise Details
Col 1 | Col 2 | Col 3 |
---|---|---|
was adapted | was divided | was operated |
was added | was eliminated | was optimised |
was adjusted | was employed | was plotted |
was adopted | was estimated | was positioned |
was applied | was exposed | was prepared |
was arranged | was extracted | was quantifi ed |
was assembled | was fi ltered | was recorded |
was assumed | was formulated | was regulated |
was attached | was generated | was removed |
was calculated | was immersed | was repeated |
was calibrated | was included | was restricted |
was carried out | was incorporated | was retained |
was characterised | was inhibited | was sampled |
was collected | was inserted | was scored |
was combined | was installed | was selected |
was computed | was inverted | was separated |
was consolidated | was isolated | was simulated |
was constructed | was located | was stabilised |
was controlled | was maintained | was substituted |
was converted | was maximised | was tracked |
was created | was measured | was transferred |
was derived | was minimized | was treated |
was designed | was modified | was utilised |
was discarded | was normalized | was varied |
was distributed | was obtained |
Justify Choices Made
Col 1 | Col 2 |
---|---|
because | provide a way of |
by doing …, we were able to | selected on the basis of… |
chosen for | so |
chosen to | so as to |
for the purpose of | so/such that |
for the sake of | thereby |
in an attempt to | therefore |
in order to | thus |
it was possible to | to |
off er a means of | to take advantage of |
one way to avoid… | which/this allows/allowed etc. |
our aim was to | with the intention of |
Infinitive | -ing Form | Noun |
---|---|---|
achieve | achieving | achievement |
allow | allowing | \(\varnothing\) |
assess | assessing | assessment |
avoid | avoiding | avoidance |
compensate for | compensating for | compensation for |
confi rm | confi rming | confi rmation |
determine | determining | determination |
enable | enabling | \(\varnothing\) |
enhance | enhancing | enhancement |
ensure | ensuring | \(\varnothing\) |
establish | establishing | establishment |
facilitate | facilitating | facilitation |
guarantee | guaranteeing | guarantee |
identify | identifying | identifi cation |
improve | improving | improvement |
include | including | inclusion |
increase | increasing | increase |
limit | limiting | limitation |
minimise | minimising | \(\varnothing\) |
obtain | obtaining | \(\varnothing\) |
overcome | overcoming | \(\varnothing\) |
permit | permitting | \(\varnothing\) |
prevent | preventing | prevention |
provide | providing | provision |
reduce | reducing | reduction |
remove | removing | removal |
validate | validating | validation |
Indicate Appropriate Care Was Taken
Col 1 | Col 2 | Col 3 | Col 4 |
---|---|---|---|
accurately | every/each | immediately | rigorously |
always | exactly | independently | separately |
appropriately | entirely | individually | smoothly |
at least | firmly | never | successfully |
both/all | frequently | only | suitably |
carefully | freshly | precisely | tightly |
completely | fully | randomly | thoroughly |
constantly | gently | rapidly | uniformly |
correctly | good | reliably | vigorously |
directly | identical | repeatedly | well |
Related Materials/Methods
Exactly the same
Col 1 | Col 2 | Col 3 |
---|---|---|
according to | as reported by/in | given by/in |
as described by/in* | as reported previously | identical to |
as explained by/in | as suggested by/in | in accordance with |
as in | can be found in | the same as that of/in |
as proposed by/in | details are given in | using the method of/in |
Similar
Col 1 | Col 2 | Col 3 |
---|---|---|
a (modified) version of | (very) similar | (to) adapt |
adapted from | almost the same | (to) adjust |
based in part/partly on | essentially the same | (to) alter |
based on | largely the same | (to) change |
essentially identical | practically the same | (to) modify |
in line with | virtually the same | (to) refi ne |
in principle | with some adjustments | (to) revise |
in essence | with some alterations | (to) vary |
more or less identical | with some changes | |
slightly modified | with some modifications |
*For words in Col 3, it may NOT be necessary to state the differences.
Significantly Different
Col 1 | Col 2 | Col 3 |
---|---|---|
a novel step was … | although in many ways similar | (to) adapt |
adapted from | although in some ways similar | (to) adjust |
based on | although in essence similar | (to) alter |
in line with | with the following | (to) change |
loosely based on | modifi cations/changes: | (to) refine |
partially based on | (to) revise | |
partly based on | (to) vary | |
(to) modify |
*For words in Col 3, it is necessary to state the differences.
Indicate Problems
Minimize Problem | Minimize Responsibility | Maximize Good Aspects |
---|---|---|
did not align precisely | limited by | acceptable |
only approximate | inevitably | fairly well |
it is recognized that | necessarily | quite good |
less than ideal | impractical | reasonably robust |
not perfect | as far as possible | however |
not identical | (it was) hard to | nevertheless |
slightly problematic | (it was) difficult to | |
rather time-consuming | unavoidable | Talk about Solutions |
minor deficit | impossible | future work should … |
slightly disappointing | not possible | future work will … |
negligible | currently in progress | |
unimportant | currently underway | |
immaterial | ||
a preliminary attempt | ||
not significant |
Countably Used Uncountable Nouns
Col 1 | Col 2 | Col 3 | Col 4 | Col 5 |
---|---|---|---|---|
absence | concern | failure | organization | strength |
advice | death | fashion | paper | technology |
age | democracy | fear | philosophy | time |
agriculture | depression | fire | policy | trade |
analysis | design | food | power | treatment |
art | duty | growth | pressure | trouble |
atmosphere | economy | heat | purity | truth |
beauty | education | history | reality | velocity |
behaviour | electricity | industry | salt | vision |
calculation | energy | life | sand | waste |
cancer | environment | light | science | water |
capacity | existence | loss | silence | wind |
childhood | experience | oil | space |
Reference
- Glasman-Deal, H. (2009). Science research writing for non-native speakers of English. World Scientific.