Transcript Slide 1

Relevance of findings in
Results to Discussion sections in
applied linguistics research
Doing Research in Applied
Linguistics
April 22, 2011
Punjaporn Pojanapunya
Richard Watson Todd
• Writing research articles is difficult
• Discussions & Literature reviews are most
difficult to write
• Difficulty in writing discussions
▫ Language proficiency
▫ Genre
▫ Content
(Bitchener & Basturkmen, 2006)
Content in discussions
• Discussions involve “commenting on results”
(Lim, 2010; Basturkmen, 2009), but how is this
organised?
▫ Genre
 e.g. reporting results,
commenting on results
▫ Results discussed
summarising
results,
Research questions
1. What findings are reported in the discussion
section of articles?
2. What functions of discussion sections are these
findings reported in?
Data
• Results and Discussion sections of 10 research
articles
▫ Quantitative research articles
▫ Explicit RQs
▫ IMRD structure
Analysing Results
• Identify each individual finding
• Match each finding to the relevant RQ
• Identify if the specific finding:
▫ answers or is relevant to an RQ
▫ answers more than one RQ
▫ is not relevant to the RQs
Analysing Discussion sections
• Identify all findings reported in discussions
• Identify how the findings are reported in terms of
level of detail
• Analyse genre move in discussions
Presenting new findings
Repeating purpose
Repeating findings
Contributions to the field
Linking to literature about the research methodology
Linking to real-world applications/practical recommendations
Discussing limitations of the study
Pointing to directions for future research
Explaining reasons for the finding
• Match findings with genre moves
Results
RQ1: What findings are reported in the discussion section of articles?
RAs
1
No. of
Findings in R
8
No. of
Findings in D
5
Percentage of findings in R
which are discussed in D
62.50
2
28
11
39.29
3
33
7
21.21
4
55
11
20.00
5
58
29
50.00
6
62
2
3.23
7
74
6
8.11
8
102
9
8.82
9
119
15
12.61
10
247
11
4.45
M
78.6
10.6
SD
67.86
7.46
Match between specific findings and RQs
No. of
Findings in R
%
665
84.61
93
87.74
Answer more than 1 RQ
54
6.87
4
3.77
Not relevant to RQ
67
8.52
9
8.49
Match findings
with specific RQ
Answer RQs
786
No. of
Findings in D
106
%
3 ways of reporting findings in D
• Actual quantitative data e.g.
▫ During the semester, the 31 students whose data was included in the analysis read 11
graded readers at various levels on average, ranging from 8 to 19 readers with a standard
deviation of 2.5
▫ Comparing post-test 1 and post-test 2, 8 learners achieved lower scores and only 3 higher.
• Summary of data/ statistics e.g.
▫ According to time logs kept during RR treatments, the average wpm of the experimental
group increased significantly.
▫ The participants were most fluent in the V/NV condition as predicted by Hypothesis 1.
• Interpretation e.g.
▫ Again, the results of the current research showed that textbooks with communication
strategies are more effective tools of second language instruction than those without them.
▫ The edge which class B has on class A on the Achievement test is another indication that
teaching communication strategies can be fruitful.
Ways of reporting findings in D
Ways of reporting findings
Actual quantitative data
No of types of
findings
%
21
19.81
Descriptive statistic
18 (85.71%)
Inferential statistic
3 (14.29%)
Summary of data/statistics
57
53.77
Interpretation
28
26.42
Summary of findings: RQ1
• High variation of no. of findings in R, while more
consistency in no. of findings in D (range from 5-15
findings)
• Most findings answer RQs, while some having no
relevance to RQs are reported in R and discussed in D
• Findings in D are most commonly reported as
summaries
• Statistic data presented is descriptive rather than
inferential
Genre pattern
No of articles
Summarising findings
9
((Linking to literature about the research methodology))
1
Explaining reasons for the finding
9
Contributions to the field
9
Linking to real-world applications/ practical recommendations
8
(Discussing limitations of the study)
5
Pointing to directions for future research
8
((Presenting new findings))
1
Results
RQ2: What functions of discussion sections are these findings reported in?
Discussion functions
Frequency
%
Summarizing findings
22
20.75
Linking to literature about the research
methodology
0
0.00
Explaining reasons for the finding
53
50.00
Contributions to the field
13
12.26
Linking to real-world applications/practical
recommendations
7
6.60
Discussing limitations of the study
5
4.72
Pointing to directions for future research
1
0.94
Presenting new findings
5
4.72
Summary of findings: RQ2
• Findings in D are reported more frequently in
the beginning of discussion sections
• More than half of findings in D are reported to
explain reasons for findings
Discussion and Implications
• Different paradigms can lead to great differences in no.
of findings but appears to be implicit expectation about
no. of specific findings that can be discussed
▫ Expected length of discussion section limits number?
▫ The more you discuss, the less the focus?
▫ Limited number gives more coherence
• Most findings are presented as summary
▫ Succinct
▫ Focused
• Most discussion is to explain reasons for findings
• Some discussion to summarise findings – but this can
also appear at end of results section
Discussion and Implications
• General heuristic for findings in discussion
▫
▫
▫
▫
Choose 5-15 key findings that need to be explained
Cluster the key findings and present as summaries
Explain the summaries
Move on to other functions of discussion
(with occasional citing of findings as evidence
where necessary)