Sunday 19 June 2016

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD RESEARCH PAPER

Controlled

Another very important and basic characteristic of a research paper is that it should have to be controlled or measured. Everything that you add in a research paper is preplanned and cannot happen just by chance. The first step in conducting a research is choosing a research topic, from that step till the end, writing the research paper the researcher should keep control over the research study. He should measure the consequences of each step that he has planned to take prior to taking it.

Example

A researcher is conducting a research on the effect of permanent press finishes on hte durability characteristics of fabrics. In this research the researcher should accurately measure the effectof permanent press finishes and there should not be any other finishes on the fabric.

Accurate

Accuracy is important because without accuracy the research paper cannot be valid and generalizable. In every step of the research the researcher has to check the accuracy. When the researcher is reviewing literature he should write down the references along with the literature review so that when writing those reviews he can accurately write the reference of each review. While testing the hypothesis the researcher should write down the results of the tests accurately so that there is no error. In research the researcher should leave no chances of error by himself. He should ensure the accuracy of his research to 100 percent.

Example

Suppose a researcher is conducting a research on the impact of physical disabilities in children on the peer group acceptance. The researcher is using interview as a tool of data collection the researcher should record the responses of the interviewees accurately and he should not invest bias in any way.

Clear

A research paper should have to be free of ambiguities and it should have great clarity. Clarity is one of the main essences of research and without clarity the research paper is useless.

Example

A researcher should be cautious about the clarity of the research. The researcher should first develop a clear research question or research problem and once the research problem is clear and understandable the researcher can conduct the research without hurdles. Suppose the researcher makes the research problem that how media influences child development, in this research question the researcher needs to clarify which development, social, mental, physical or motor. The researcher cannot undertake the study unless he brings clarity to the research problem.

Concise

As a researcher you do not need to add a lot to the research paper to make it unique or interesting rather you should add only relevant and original content. The readers will be able to understand a concise research more easily, there should not be unnecessary details in the research.

Example

The researcher can write details and lots of explanations but these details and explanations should be of value to the research the researcher should not add unnecessary details in the research. The research paper is more concise in nature than dissertations and thesis.

Valid

Validity is the most important concern in writing and conducting a research. The actual strength of the research paper is its validity. A valid research is applicable to various situations in general or it can be applied to any specific situation, people or society.

Example

The constructs you are using, to measure attitudes, behavior or other phenomenon, whether they really measure what you want to measure or they measure something else.

Verifiable

The data the researcher adds in the research paper should have to be verifiable and provable. The researcher should be able to demonstrate the research paper and there should not be any loopholes in the information.

Example

The researcher should know from where the data has been taken and how it has been analyzed. Suppose another researcher is trying to repeat similar study to make it more valid he should be able to get information from the previous research, if previous research will be invalid or unverifiable the new research will also get effected. Research is an ongoing process and not only research helps in the general development of the humanity but it more specifically is used by the new researchers to generate more information.

Sequential

The research should have to be conducted and written in a logical manner. The researcher should follow a sequence so that he cannot get troubled in the end as to how to compile this research. It is better if you start writing the research paper as you are conducting it.

Example

You cannot write the analysis before writing about the data collection and data processing. You have to follow a procedure and sequence.

Precise

Preciseness means that the research paper should have completeness and it should contain detailed investigation of the research topic.

Example

The research should contain exact answers to the research questions. It is not possible that the researcher formulates a specific research question about women injustice in underdeveloped countries but answers the question about more general topic like gender biases.

Original

The research paper should contain only original content and copy work should be completely avoided. You can add literature from other sources in various forms like in the form of literature review but you should never compromise on the originality of the research paper.

Example

Suppose a researcher is conducting a research on the impact of financial resources in family on the personality development of children. The researcher has decided to take black negroes population and he cannot get the required number of sample, in this case, he cannot use other people’s findings to justify his research. He has to use truly original data that has been collected from truly representative sample.

Coherent

Coherence is necessary because it makes the research paper a complete and one unit. Every part of the research paper should be so linked that it makes a whole.

Example

The researcher should stick to one theme and should not wander from one topic to another.

Academic style of writing

Writing a research paper is the last step of the research and writing requires rigorousness. The researcher should follow an academic style of writing and any ostentatiousness in writing should be avoided. The language of the research paper should have to be simple and easy to understand.

Example

A research paper, thesis or dissertation should have decency and there should have to be least ornamentation. The purpose of the research is to bring into light facts and figures. The researcher should avoid the use of double baralled sentences, complex language or unnecessary details. The research should have to be concise and precise in nature.

Generalizable

The research paper findings should be generalizable and the findings should be applicable to the society in one way or other. Sometimes the purpose of the research is to develop new research tools, techniques or data collection instruments. Such research may not be useful for the society in general but in the long run researchers will be bale to use these tools or techniques to conduct more researches.

Example

The researcher is conducting a study on the life of transgender class in the society. He has to collect data from different people who belong to this class, the researcher should understand that he cannot generalize his findings untill he has selected an unbiased and truly representative sample. He cannot select a sample from one area of the population rather he should select sample from every area of the population to make it representative of the whole population.
By Kingalu Avin
BAPRM 42697

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