Written communication- Exercise

NGEA01-2015

Ana Soares

Written communication 2015– overview

29/09 13.00 – 17.00 Lecture: Written communication

5/10 10.00 – 16.00 Preparation (assistance in the morning) + lecture ?

6/10 08.00 – 17.00 Project work

7/10 08.00 – 17.00 Project work- submit project plan (including aim)

8/10 08.00 – 13.00 Feedback on project plan and project work (assistance)

8/10 13.00 – 17.00 Project work (assistance)

20/10 09.00 – 12.00 Lecture: Oral communication

21/10 16.30 – 17.00 Project hand-in

23/10 09.00-17.00 Project presentation and feedback

Before the end of course Submit revised report based on the feedback given on the 23/10

Teachers: Ana Soares, Britta Smångs and Ladaea Rylander

Submit hand-ins by email to

ana.soares@nateko.lu.se- office 456

britta.smangs@geobib.lu.se

ladaea.rylander@stu.lu.se

Opponent group

Assignment:

Write an academic report about a biome. The report must include:

• An introduction that starts with a general geographic description

• A specific research question / aim, which is analyzed and discussed in the report

•The work is done in groups of about 3-4 people

•Each group will have an opponent group

Biomes:

Equatorial tropical forests

Subtropical forests

Temperate forests

deciduous and

coniferous

Savannas

Grasslands

Continental deserts

Coastal deserts

Taiga

Tundra

Antartica

Marine biomes - Coral reefs

Marine biomes - Estuaries

Marine biomes - Oceans

Urban areas

Etc.

Comment on all parts of classmate report

- Was the aim well formulated?

- Was the aim reached?

- Is the discussion well structured?

How to plan an academic assay

Topic of

interest

Review

previous

studies

Define aim

Decide on

the

methods

Design

approach

Collect

data

Data

analysis

Data

interpretation Significance

Delivered

latest 7/10

What characterizes an academic assay?

• It has a logical and standard structure

• It is examined by colleagues / teachers and revised one or several times before being published

• The reader is given the possibility of doing his/her own evaluation of the study and its results

• Clarity, simplicity, impartiality

• New knowledge- should be reproducible

What characterizes an academic essay?

It investigates something, what?

The aim

…knowledge contribution = something being said for the first time =

= new knowledge being produced

It tries to get somewhere, to what?

The conclusion

The aim must be achievable!

http://epublishunum.com/2012/06/writing-publishing-science-based-books/

A problem or unknown/open question:

clear, specific, of limited scope

A solution to the problem/answer

to the question

Elements of an academic assay

• I- Title

• II- Abstract

• III- Introduction- Context/background, open question/problem, aim

• IV- Materials and methods- Experimental design, description of the methods used

• V- Results

• VI- Discussion- Interpretation, conclusion, speculation and outlook

• VII- References, supplementary information

Usually written at the end

Most

important

element of the

introduction

Aim

• A scientific problem to be resolved

• The aim must be reached within the report

• Limitations to scope clearly defined

• Learn more about...

• Explore

• ‘To study how’...

• Is there a relationship between x and y?

• Is y affected by x; how?

• Has y experienced a decreasing trend over time? Possible causes?

• Is a certain trend different in two different geographical regions. Why?

Not suitable Good

Aim- examples of poorly formulated aims

The purpose of this paper is to examine the ice melting of the Arctic and to learn more about the mechanisms underlying the increased melting.

The purpose of the report is to present the biome of Antarctica in terms

of geographic spread, climatic conditions, soil types, vegetation and

fauna.

The aim is to highlight the importance of climate change on Antarctica.

How would the unique wildlife of Antarctica be affected by climate

change?

Introduction

• Background; catch the interest of the reader

• Provide context to make the aim understandable

– Why are you doing this? Why is there a problem? Why

should this be studied?

• Explain why the topic is interesting

• Introduce the aim

• Interminable definitions of indefinable terms

• More abbreviations than necessary

•Background texts without clear relevance to the aim

Should not

• Rise the interest of the readers

•Literature references is used to highlight the importance of the topic and to identify a scientific problem

Should

General

Narrower

Specific

Introduction

E.g.:

Nutrient regulation of freshwater plankton productivity is crucial

for the future development of lake ecosystems in face of land use

and climate change. By controlling phytoplankton primary…

Context

For example, studies on bioavailability from different aquatic

systems showed that a highly variable fraction of DOC can be

readily used by bacteria..

Previous

Works

Most studies on nutrient availability conducted in humic-rich

waters have neglected this complexity, focusing on either on

total inputs…

Problem

Based on the synthesis of bioavailable estimates obtained

from different methods…

Basis for

the aim

We hypothesized that bioavailability increases from C to N

and…

Aim

Methods

• Analyses based on own measurements (materials, measurements and

analysis)

• Analysis of quantitative data from other studies (’meta-analysis’)

• Qualitative analysis based on different types of data

– Analysis of previous conclusions

– Analyses of interviews

• ‘We used "View Shed" in ArcGIS to calculate the slope index’..

• RMSE is calculated as...

• RMSE = 2.3

• Literature references are used to justify study design and specific methodology

• It is explained why selected methods represent the best way to resolve the scientific problem and reach the aim

• RMSE (root mean square error), calculated according to (ref), = 2.3

Less good Excellent

Methods- example

• “A detailed explanation of data collection in one of the more

important sources follows: the data was obtained between

1960 and 2000. All of the measurements had been done by

underwater photography using SCUBA and then followed

by image analysis (Crabbe et al., 2002 and Crabbe and

Smith, 2002) and by remote underwater photography using

a video ray explorer remote operated vehicle (ROV)

(Atlantas Marine Ltd…).”

Why is this incorrect?

Results

• Results should speak for themselves

• Should not be a repetition of what it is said in the

tables, figures

• Keep the results short

• Reader should be able to interpret the results

www.eremedia.com

Discussion

• Interpretations of the results

• Position statements (should be avoided) if included must

be justified by facts

• Conflicting data/results should be highlighted and

discussed

• Discussion should be transparent about limitations of the

study

• Draw conclusions

• Free to speculate

Specific

Narrow

General

Title

• The most read part of the work

• Should have the fewest number of words possible but still comprehensible

• Shall not be too short either- e.g.- “Study of bacteria”.

• Should not contain abbreviations, chemical formulas, jargon

• Hanging titles commoly used:

e.g.: ” Cryptic wetlands: integrating hidden wetlands in regression

models of the export of dissolved organic carbon from forested

landscapes”

“First impressions are strong impressions; a

tittle ought therefore to be well studied, and

to give, so far as its permit, a definite and

concise indication of what is to come.”

- T. Clifford Allbutt

accountablescience.com

Abstract

• Miniature of the work

– Background information

– Problem identification

– Attempt to solve the problem- “In this study”, “Here we

show”

– Method (optional; if included should be a very short

description)

– Results and conclusions

– Zoom out, speculation, implications

Abstract poorly formulated e.g.

“This scientific report gives an insight into the marine biome,

with a closer look at coral reefs and their ecosystem. The

main objective of this study was…”

It should contain

background information

instead highlighting the

relevance of this topic.

Writing advice and tips

Well written text

• Correct format and structure

• The purpose / aim is the focus of the title, abstract and all the essay parts

- Redundant passages deleted

• It is concise- brief without being unclear

• It is interesting without being improper

- Sensationalism may lead to loss of academic credibility

Headings

Headings

• Main headings (Introduction, Materials and methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, References)

• Avoid too many levels of heading: 2 is sufficient in most cases

• Headings increase the readability and improve the text structure, but they can also have a negative effect by chopping the text into isolated sections

• Tips: Try deleting all headings. If the text still has a nice flow and the different sections are well linked to each other, then the essay is well structured. Re-insert the headings.

Figures and tables

Every figure, table, equation, appendix, etc. must be cited in the

text paragraphs

• Normally done by using brackets (Fig. 1)

• Alternatively, it is emphasized that, e.g. ’Figure 1 shows…’

Figures and legends

Legend always below figure

Reference

from text

Tables and table texts

Table text always above table

Clarifications can be put below, e.g., explanation of

abbreviations

Reference

from text

Common referencing mistakes

• Do not use URL in the text

• Do not reference wikipedia

Wikipedia is not a scientific reliable source

Nutrient regulation of freshwater plankton productivity is crucial for

the future development of lake ecosystems in face of land use and

climate change (www.naturewebsite.com).

The project- further instructions

General introduction:

Start the introduction with a brief general description of the biome, with regard to:

• geographic distribution

• climatic conditions

• soil type

• vegetation types

• fauna and flora

Specific question/aim:

End the introduction by introducing a specific study aim, where two or more different geographical areas are compared. The comparison can be made with respect to a specific property of the biome, e.g., related to vegetation, wildlife, environmental threats, climate change, human impacts etc.

Possible aims:

Biome: Savannas Aim: How does the African savanna differ from savannas in South America with

respect to the abundance of large animal grazers? What are the causes?

Biome: Tropical forests Aim: How have humans affected the biodiversity of tropical forests in South

and Central America during the past 100 years? What similarities and differences exist between the two regions? Possible causes?

The aim also can be even more specific than the

above examples, for example focusing on a single

species

Start by:

1. Select biome

2. Search literature about the biome

- For general description of biome

- For possible specific questions to address

3. Formulate aim

Write a project plan

1. Definition and short description of biome.

2. Formulate aim using 1-2 sentences. As concise and limited in scope as possible.

3. Select 5 references (e.g., books) that will be the basis of the report

Send to: Ana (ana.soares@nateko.lu.se) and

Britta (britta.smangs@geobib.lu.se)

...on the 7th of Oct 17.00 hours at latest

Structure of the report

• Title

• Abstract

• Key words

• Contents

• Introduction

• Materials and methods

• Results

• Discussion

• Conclusion

• References

Abstract

= a short summary of the study.

Is written as one paragraph, consisting of about 200-250 words. Should contain:

• Indication of aim and scope (not misleading)

• Short information about the method that has been used (e.g., qualitative literature analysis)

• The most important conclusion

Grammatical tense: Past

Introduction

• Get from project plan

• Start with a broad general description of the biome (geographic span, climatic conditions etc.)

• Narrow down and approach the aim

• Formulate the aim

• Method: It is allowed to inform short that this is a literature study, but avoid detailed descriptions of methods

Grammatical tense = Present (not aim ’was’, aim ’is’!!)

Materials and methods

1. Explain how the aim was reached (through literature study). If necessary, develop and clarify aim / study question

2. Describe the scope of the study, i.e., what geographical areas that were targeted, what specific aspects that were covered by the study question etc.

3. Describe how data / information was acquired, e.g. through literature search in a library catalogue using certain keywords. Describe and justify the selection of books and other possible source materials.

4. Something else of importance for reaching the aim?

Grammatical tense = Past. One has performed the search for literature, the data has been collected etc.

Results

• Present information that is relevant to the study question, but make no explicit attempt to answering the question, or interpreting the reported texts

• Strong results should come first • Smallest number of figures possible

Neutral reporting of what the literature showed. Focus on what is relevant to the aim / study question, but draw no conclusions or add own values.

Grammatical tense: Past Example: Andersson et al. (2010) reported…

Discussion

• What processes are important for the aim? • Analyze, how can the study question be answered? • Is there ambiguous information, e.g., sources that are in conflict? • Error? Can the sources be trusted? What are the weaknesses? • Present your own interpretations, but make sure that they are

well justified. • Finally, what could be done to improve the study, e.g. other

analytical methods? Can new research questions for future studies be identified?

• Most important comes first

The information from the previous chapter is used to answer the study question (aim)

Past and present tense interchangeable. Past when the discussion looks back at the results, but present when an interpretation is made.

Conclusion

• Present the main findings, i.e. summarize the most important thing from the discussion. Brief and clear.

Clear answer to research question

Try putting the aim and the discussion in a bigger perspective

NOTE! This is a short chapter. Most often only one paragraph. Avoid repeating the aim other parts of the introduction!

Grammatical tense = Present

Further reading

Day, A. Robert, and Barbara Gastel. 2006. How to Write and Publish a

Scientific Paper. 6th ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Davis,

Martha. 2005.