science research writing – unit 2: how to write about...
TRANSCRIPT
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Science Research Writing –
Unit 2: How to Write about
Methodology
陳日昌
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The Organization of This Book
• Unit 1: How to Write an Introduction
• Unit 2: Writing about Methodology
• Unit 3: Writing about Results
• Unit 4: Writing the Discussion/Conclusion
• Unit 5: Writing the Abstract
– Methodology: 方法/方法論 (有系統的方法)
– Abstract: 摘要
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Unit 2: How to Write about
Methodology
• 2.1 – Structure
• 2.2 – Grammar and Writing Skills
– Passives and tense pairs
– Use of ‘a’ and ‘the’
– Adverbs and adverb location
• 2.3 – Writing Task: Building a Model
– Building a model
– Key
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Structure
• The first part of the central ‘report’ section.
(the second part is the Results section)
• Sometimes called Materials and Methods
• Also called Procedure, Experiments,
Simulation, Methodology or Model.
• It reports what you did and/or what you
used.
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Structure (continued.)
• For computer engineering or computer
science, it’s typically:
– about system design, architecture, models, etc.
for system (design and implementation) papers
– about definitions, algorithms, and proofs for
theory papers
• Most journals publish a “Guide for Authors”
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Structure (continued.)
• A typical sentence from “Guide for Authors”
– The Methodology should contain sufficient detail for readers to replicate the work done and obtain similar results.
• The point is:
– To be able to communicate information about a new procedure, a new method, or a new approach so that the reader can replicate, understand, and accept your procedure.
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Grammar and Writing Skills
• Passives (被動式) and Tense Pairs
• Use of ‘A’ and ‘THE’ (不定冠詞/定冠詞)
• Adverbs and Adverb Location (副詞)
我們自己就算不用英文寫報告也要讀懂英文報告中文法的眉角。
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Passives
• Active � Passive
– The dog bit the policeman. active 主動
– The policeman was bitten by the dog. passive
• Typically, we need to leave the agent out:
– We/I collected the samples. active
– The samples were collected. Passive
– 正式的學術寫作中:by us/me 通常會被拿掉
– 但是有時候是一群人的共同成果,可用主動
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Tense Pairs
• 描述過程會使用這兩種時態:
– 簡單現在被動式(Present Simple passive)
• … is collected, … is executed, … is carried out, …
– 簡單過去被動式(Past Simple passive)
• … was collected, was executed, … was carried out, …
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Tense Pairs
An Example:
『要解此問題,先建一個三維模型。』
(a) To solve it, a 3D model is built first. (Present Simple passive)
(b) To solve it, a 3D model was built first. (Past Simple passive)
What is the difference? Which one is right?
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Tense Pairs (continued.)
(a) To solve it, a 3D model is built first. (Present Simple passive) �簡單現在被動表示正常作法或者標準設備或操作
(b) To solve it, a 3D model was built first. (Past Simple passive) �簡單過去被動表示是作者自己這樣做
因為只使用簡單被動式描述程序沒辦法區別是別人做的還是文章作者自己做的,使用現在式還是過去式就成為很重要的提示!!即使母語是英文的作者也會犯下不能區分的錯誤。
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Tense Pairs (continued.)
An example:
目標應用程式是以Thompson描述的方法以Java寫成,而Thompson原來是以C程式寫的。
The target app was written in Java using the method described by Thompson (2005), which uses a C program.
如果作者用was written in C,讀者會搞不清楚前者是誰做的,也就不能看出作者的貢獻。
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Tense Pairs (continued.)
為了避免這個問題,作者也可以加上如下文字以茲區別:
In this study, the target app was written in Java.
In our system, the target app was written in Java.
同時,別人的成果也寫明出處:
In Thompson (2005), the target app was written in C.
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5 Possible Uses
of Tense Pairs
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Possible Uses of
Tense Pairs (4-5)
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Use of ‘a’ and ‘the’
1. Singular countable nouns need a determiner.
– 單數可數的名詞需要定冠詞(a/an/the/one/two/this/that/my/our/some/many)
– 但是通常不可數的也可能用複數
• There have been three deaths this year from pneumonia.
• Our childhoods were very different; I grew up in France
and she grew up in Taiwan.
• Many industries rely on fossil fuels.
• Some steels are used in the manufacture of medical
instruments.
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Use of ‘a’ and ‘the’ (2)
2. Use THE if or when you and your reader both know
which thing/person you mean.
– 只要作者確信讀者知道他在說什麼東西,就可以用定冠詞THE
• I had a cheese sandwich and an apple for lunch. The
sandwich was fine but the apple had a worm in it.
• There is a book on the shelf above my desk; can you
bring it here? 文法沒錯
• I bought a new computer but the keyboard was faulty.
• He turned on a computer but the BIOS failed to boot up.
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Use of ‘a’ and ‘the’ (3)
3. Use THE if there is only one possible referent.
– 只有一個可能的對象,就用定冠詞THE
• He started to program from the top layer of protocol.
• Taipei is the capital of Taiwan.
• The opening was located at the center of each circle.
• The government policy is committed to protect the
environment.
• The Sun’s altitude is used to determine latitude.
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Use of ‘a’ and ‘the’ (4)
4. Use A if it doesn’t matter or you don’t know or your reader doesn’t know which thing/person you are referring to.
– 如果沒有關係,或者你不知道,或者讀者不知道作者指涉的東西或人或事物,就用不定冠詞A
• A 30-line C program was used to do the test. (It doesn’t matter which 30-line C program 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 way as a smart phone. (It doesn’t matter which smart phone.)
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Building a Model
• The Goal – write a short description of what the
writer is doing in each sentence.
• The Guidelines – it's not what the author is saying
in it but what he is doing!
– No content words, no specific terms. 沒有領域相關詞
• Clues:
– Delete the sentence to see the difference.
– Look at the grammar and vocabulary, the tense, the
tense change, and so on.
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Building a Model like this –
textbook example
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Four Basic Components
1A
1B
1C
1D
2A
2B
2C
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Four Basic Components
Component 1: Foundation (建立基礎資訊)
Provide a general introduction and overview of the materials/methods. (1A)
Restate the purpose of the work. (1B)
Give the source of materials/equipment used. (1C)
Supply essential background information. (1D)
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Four Basic Components
Component 2: Core Information (描述核心資訊)
Provide specific and precise details about
materials and methods (i.e., quantities,
temperatures, duration, sequence, conditions,
locations, sizes). (2A)
Justify choices made. (2B)
Indicate that appropriate care was taken. (2C)
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Four Basic Components
Component 3: Citation (比較他人成果)
Relate materials/methods to other studies.
(3)
Component 4: Problem/Difficulty (問題/困難)
Indicate where problems occurred. (4)
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1A Vocabulary
材料與方法的一般介紹以及來源的概觀說明
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Give the source of
materials/equipment used
材料與設備來源說明
1C Vocabulary Table
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1D Vocabulary Table
Supply essential
background information
提供基本背景資訊
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2A Vocabulary
Provide specific and precise details
about materials and methods
提供材料與方法
特定且準確的細節
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2A Vocabulary Table
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2B Vocabulary
Justify Choices Made
選擇作法的正當性
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2B Useful verbs in
infinitive, -ing, and noun forms
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2B Useful verbs (continued.)
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Indicate that appropriate
care was taken
說明已經做了適當處置
(多數只列副詞但是形容詞
也會出現)
2C Vocabulary Table
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Relate materials/methods to
other studies
涉及其他的研究相關的
材料或方法
Component 3 Vocabulary
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Option 1 選項一
其他的研究相關的
材料或方法完全相同
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Option 2 選項二
其他的研究相關的
材料或方法類似
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Option 3 選項三
其他的研究相關的
材料或方法相當不同
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Indicate where problems occurred
指出問題發生之所在
Component 4
Vocabulary
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Homework
• Building the model for the Methodology of your
article. Which part of the paper is it?
– After Introduction and before Discussion
– After Introduction and before the sentence mentions the
word “result.”
– Also, Related Work, Tools and Methods, Proposed
Architecture, Methods and Materials.
• 可能一整段而不是一句話都是在做相同的一項事情!