Resolving your research project

Academic Conventions are like an institutional framework for your work.They structure and standardise and they aspire to academic honesty. At this level you are expected to be able to:

• Demonstrate a critical knowledge of practice
• Apply theory to practice
• Analyse relevant material
• Evaluate theory and evidence within the context of study
• Reflect – critiquing and critically reflecting on your learning and using this to improve practice.

...Deep Learning Approach

• Independent engagement with material
• Critical and thoughtful about idea and information 
• Relates ideas to own previous experience and knowledge 
• Sees the big picture 
• Relates evidence to conclusions
• Examines logic of arguments
• Interested in wider reading and thinking
• Ongoing preparation and refelection

Academic writing is formal and follows some standard conventions. Each academic discipline has its own specialist vocabulary which you will be expected to learn and use in your own writing.The substance of academic writing must be based on solid evidence and logical analysis, and presented as a concise, accurate argument. Academic writing can allow you to present your argument and analysis accurately and concisely.

Don'ts

• Don’t use unnecessary words or waffle. Get straight to the point. Make every word count, aim for precision.
• If there is any uncertainty about a particular point, use cautious language (such as ‘may’, ‘might’, ‘could’, ‘potentially’).
• Unless you are a confident writer, it is best to avoid over- long sentences and to aim for a mixture of long and short sentences for variation and rhythm. 
• Avoid repeating the same words
• Avoid abbreviations and contractions
• Avoid slang words and phrases 
• Avoid conversational terms
• Avoid vague terms

First person sentences use the pronouns ‘I’ and ‘we’. For example:

Consideration has been given to...

The suggestion here is that...
It has been observed...

Preliminaries

Title / Acknowledgements / Contents / List pf Illustrations

Introduction- The abstract / Statement of the problem / Methodological approach

Main body- Review of the literature / logically developed argument /Chapters / results of investigation / Case Study

Conclusion- Discussion and conclusion / Summary of conclusions

Extras – Bibliography / Appendices