When nothing seems simple

 In the despair and overwhelm of depression  - someone says to you "It's quite simple" - trust me, it doesn't feel simple. Each task looks bigger than it is... especially starting new work

TOP TIP # 11 - Secondary Sources when Referencing

When you want to reference something that someone else has cited, it is called a secondary reference.  This is how you go about referencing secondary sources:

 

1. We always reference the source that we are looking at. 
2. So if I'm reading an article by author Smith 2020 and in the article, Smith cited John from 2018, it is Smith that must be referenced in the Bibliography. 
3. In the in-text citation you indicate that Smith 2020 referenced John, 2018 as follows: (Jones, 2018 as cited by Smith, 2020)

One guideline is that you should aim for most of your sources to be primary sources.  In other words, always go to find the original author (original source). Avoid having too many secondary sources.  It is always best practice to go back to the orginal source.

TOP TIP # 10 - "The title is tentative"

For the first part of this semester we have been focusing on the title of your research topics, considering a phenomenon to be studied, a population group to study, an industry or type of business, a geographical area and whether the study is qualitative or quantitative.  In other words, we've been thinking about a lot of key parts to the study you will propose to do. 

However, remember that especially the early stages of research (that you are busy with at the moment) are iterative, meaning that you need to go through cycles of considering the title, the background, the problem, the key questions, the objectives and the rationale. It is possible that some of the key elements you decided in your title will change when you go through these iterations... so this is a reminder that your title is tentative. In other words, you need to keep coming back to the title to see if it is still an accurate reflection of your project. 

TOP TIP # 9 - Paradigms in context of INRS

You have just been introduced to three paradigms, interpretevism, positivism and critical realist.  The first step is to understand what paradigms are and how they influence the research study... so in your assignment topic, if you're doing a quantitative study, then you will be using the positivist paradigm. If you are doing qualitative you will be using interpretevist paradigm. If you are using mixed methods (which we don't recommend) you would be using a critical realist paradigm. 

For the summative assessment question you are given three articles to analyse and de-construct, reading them to understand the various methodological decisions that were made. Each article is a different paradigm (of the three given above). You will need to read the article and look for clues that indicate each paradigm. There is one of each paradigm from the three articles 

TOP TIP # 8 - Writing in your own sentences

I realised recently that as teachers, when we say "Write in your own words", what we really mean is "Write in your own sentences".  

Writing in your own sentences means understanding the main points of the text, but being able to move the text away and then formulate your own sentences to explain what was said. If you keep the original text open in front of you and try to write it differently, it will be very difficult. 

Try to follow these steps:

1. Understand what is said in the source
2. Make bullet point phrases about the main points (not full sentences) 
3. Move the original text away
4. Use the bullet pointed phrases to formulate your own way of saying things 

Another helpful tip - especially if you still have the text open in front of you, is to start the sentence from a different place than what the author started it. This is very possible for longer sentences, or for a a few sentences together or even a paragraph. 

Top Tip #7 - When you can (OR can't) use "Et Al" as a referencing short-cut

When doing academic writing, students quickly learn the short-cuts.  Let's face it, we all like short-cuts.  They make our work more streamlined and are helpful in simplifying work.  The only problem with short-cuts is when they are not used correctly.  One such short-cut is often used incorrectly, namely the use of "Et al" when referencing.  Et Al means (and others) and is used after the first authors name to indicate that there are also other authors.  

"Et Al" can only be used when there are three or more authors to a source and it cannot be used in the Bibliography.  Details of ALL authors need to be in the Bibiliography

In the text of your document, the very first time you use this source, you also cannot use Et Al.  For the first instance of an in-text citation, ALL the authors must be included, no matter how many authors there are.  Only after this can Et Al be used in your in-text citations. 

 

Top Tip # 6 - Will you let the Data do the Talking?

Are you coming to the research with your own agenda? Are you coming to the research to 'prove' your point of view? If you are, you are on dangerous ground. Your research has to stand up to scrutiny of an academic community. They want to know what you have done and how you have done it - and what interpretation you have made. If you came to the study with a set 'agenda' to show your point of view and you were not prepared to consider the opposite of what you found, you will not be able to prove the integrity and quality of your study. 

You have to let the data do the talking. You have to know what your study can and can't do and you need to be ready for the data to show you the exact opposite of what you think you will find.