Dictionary entries

 An abstract is a short, informative summary of the main content of a text.

While the research question says what you want to ask , your aim(s) says why you want to ask that question. The aim of your research states  

• why your research matters
• what your work may be used for (the results)
• what you want to accomplish.

Aims should always be academically motivated, both for yourself and for readers. "Academically motivated" means that the motivation for a researching a particular question should not only be personal, but that you should also be able to argue that your take on the problem is academically relevant (even if it is only relevant for five academics/professionals in the world!). 

Any research may have several aims. You may write an entire thesis without specifying a purpose, but it is always preferable to make one or more aims and purposes explicit, if you can.

A book or collection of selected academic or fictional texts, usually written by several authors.

Many specialised bibliographies are available as databases. They allow you to search articles, books and read summaries of the content. Metabibliographies are bibliographies of bibliographies (a list of bibliographies in, for example, philosophy or South America). Annual reviews are publications summarising a selection of the year's most important publications in your discipline/topic.

A chain search starts with a relevant text (article, book, etc.). You may have been given a key text on your topic by your supervisor, or you may take an article by the theorist you want to use as a starting point. The article has a bibliography. You can search further partly on the author of the text and partly on new search terms you find in the text on your topic. In this way, you can find new texts that relate to your original text, and your literature search forms a chain. Such a search method is available in several databases, e.g. as "search for texts similar to this one" or "related texts".

The part of a library's total holdings of books, journals and other materials that is specialised or historically defined for other reasons.

The purpose of a combined search is to combine several search words, either to expand or narrow down the amount of relevant material in order to improve search results. This may involve using two words that often appear in conjunction, for example “red pepper”, or combinations using so-called Boolean operators like “and, or, not” (“and” is often implied, but check the specific search options). For example: “Democracy and India”: Will provide you with material where both words appear. “Women or gender”: Will provide you with material where either women or gender appears, i.e., texts where only one of the words is present may appear in this search. “International not global”: Will provide you with material where the words “international” and “global” will not appear simultaneously, i.e. not material where both words occur. There are many other ways of conducting a combined search. The technical and concrete ways of carrying out this type of search vary depending on each individual database or search-engine. Read the information provided to find out which symbols and methods to use in a particular database.

Concepts can be big and come from theories, or they can be mor commonplace. We use concepts to classify, analyse, interpret, discuss and design. Laws, executive orders and professional rules may also have the status of concepts in a research paper/project/thesis - because they enable professional analyses, assessments and instructions for action.

All the important terms you use in your text - and especially in the research question - should be defined and/or sourced in the introduction, either just after the research question or where you first mention them - unless one or more definitions of terms take up so much space that it would be better to deal with them in more detail in the text itself.   

Conceptual definitions can be:

• drawn from the texts of your own discipline or neighbouring disciplines
• combined from several existing, recognised definitions
• or defined for your own purposes if suitable conceptual definitions are not readily available in sources.  

It is important to define your terms and use them consistently so that the reader knows the meaning of the significant words in your text.  If in doubt, definitions may be discussed with your supervisor.

Data is material that is the object of study and to which we can refer in the form of observations, data, statements, texts, sources, etc. Data may be your own, collected by yourself, and/or you can find data in other people's texts or other artefacts. If you have answered question 4 about finding examples, consider whether you want to use these examples, possibly just as a starting point or an illustration of the exact problem you have in mind. You should always consider whether data, used qualitatively or quantitively, should be part of your research representative for a category or as exemplary (particularly good illustrative examples).

A system that records and stores information for retrieval. In terms of information retrieval, it can be an online catalogue, a collection of texts such as newspapers, a bibliography of articles, a collection of e-books or a portal. On your university library's website, you will be able to find most of your specialised literature in the library's database. In addition, on the library's website you will find a number of academic databases that may be relevant to search. If you need to search for Danish information, you can, for example, search in:

• Bibliotek.dk: National search on books and articles in Danish newspapers and specialised magazines.
• Disciplinary guide, a collection of links, books, journals, etc. specific to each discipline
• Infomedia.dk: A database of Danish newspapers (libraries pay a license for this, so not all libraries have access to it).
• Forskningsdatabasen.dk and forskningsportal.dk: The Danish Research Database contains published research literature, ongoing research projects and descriptions of research institutions and profiles.

You delimit your task by writing down what is within the scope of what you want to write about and what is outside the scope, i.e. what you do not want to write about.

• Empirical data can be delimited in time, space, persons, phenomena or other.
• Theories, methods and concepts can be delimited by writing which otherwise obvious choices of theories/methods/concepts are not included.

In particular, delimitations should be mentioned and motivated if the reader may have a legitimate expectation that what has been excluded could have had a natural place in the text.

Alphabetically organised list of knowledge, often with an index of words to look up or search further if the encyclopaedia is electronic. An encyclopaedia often has longer articles written by recognised scholars in the field. There are often suggestions for key sources. Encyclopaedias can be printed books, licence-restricted electronic databases or freely available online. Always check whether encyclopaedias are regularly updated or, if they are printed, the year of publication.

The central idea in a text; the centre of gravity.

Especially at the highest levels of education, you are allowed and sometimes expected to write about what needs to be written (new) about in the subject and/or in the programme. In other words, you are looking for gaps in the literature and in the professional practices of the subject. A gap may be, for example a lack of

• description of ...
• documentation for ...
• qualification of ...
• analysis and interpretation of...
• categorisation of ...
• explanation of ...
• suggestions for ...
• assessment of ...
• code of conduct for ...
• design/construction of ...
• trial/testing/use/implementation of ...

A prediction of the outcome of an inquiry (while a thesis is a statement of an initial claim). Hypotheses are mostly used in 'hard' science subjects.

An introduction should include:

• topic – research question, background, context, and possibly a concretising example
• research question
• the aim(s) of, and motivation for the research
• hypotheses, if any
• empirical data, if any
• concepts, theory(ies)
• method(s)
• delimitations
• research methodology.

Not necessarily in this order, and you may want to expand your introduction by addressing other issues, e.g. foreshadowing where the paper will end up - results, designs, etc. Always motivate your choices of data, concepts, theories and methods.

A review of the relevant literature on a chosen issue.

An individual unit of information (e.g., a book, journal, newspaper, sheet music, DVD, datum, etc.). Material is everything that is available to you, whereas a source is the material you actually use in your research paper. See also resource.   

Methodology means a planned methodology to select, collect and/or process (analyse) information or to act, design, construct (to arrive at an answer to a question or a solution to a problem). A methodology often consists of several methods.

Methods within a given academic field are specific tools for systematically undertaking a task, such as collecting, categorising, analysing, interpreting, or evaluating data, and for intervention and action. You often need to employ a number of methods for any one piece of research (for selecting, categorising, calculating, measuring, analysing, evaluating, testing, etc.). Some methods are named and described; some you may have to construct yourself to suit your specific material. Methods are sometimes derived from theories and concept (i.e., the word ‘psychoanalysis' covers both a theory of personality and development, and a corresponding treatment method that is derived directly from the theory and its concepts). Always consider and explain to your reader why you have chosen to draw upon one or more method. You should be able to answer the question: "Why do I use these methods in my research paper?" Always explain every step of your methodology to your reader. The scientific quality of a research paper rests, in large part, on the transparency of method and procedure.

A stand-alone publication, e.g. a book that is not part of a series and deals with a specific subject area or topic.

The largest international newspaper and news database is called Lexis-Nexis.

Non-stop writing is a writing technique you can use to jump-start the writing process and to get and develop ideas. Spend a set amount of time - say 7 minutes - writing as fast as you can without interruptions. If you don't know what to write, write it: "I don't know what to write" - until your ideas about the topic emerge. Don't plan, and don't revise as you draft.

An online library catalogue is a searchable record of all the resources to which the library provides access. A library catalogue records not only physical items that the library lends (books, journals, report series, etc.) but also, to a varying extent, the electronic resources to which the library subscribes (journal, book and article databases, bibliographies and reference works, etc.) and quality-assured freely available resources (e.g. online research publications, such as working papers, open access databases, etc.) Note: Very often it is not possible to search directly at article level in a library's online catalogue. Instead, you must first access the specific database that contains the articles.

Every piece of research has a philosophy of science or philosophy of science approach (both words are used), i.e. the types of knowledge and evidence that are included or created, and the methods by which knowledge is selected, collected, analysed and produced. This is true even though it may not be explicated.

Generally speaking (note that different texts use slightly different words for the same thing):

• A positivist/realistic approach
which is based on the measurably observable and the physical world, often studied quantitatively and in quantities that can be counted, measured, quantified and represented by numbers, graphs, tables, statistics. Methods play a crucial role, but also concepts and theories.

• A (social) constructivist approach
which is based on what is experienced, communicated, often studied qualitatively and in its representations, and therefore often in the form of cases, texts, culture, human utterances. A social constructivist approach is not objective, but co-creative as a researcher and interpreter. Theories and concepts play a crucial role, but also methods.

The approach is important because it frames and creates coherence between the choice of research question, aim(s), data and materials, concepts, theories, methods and methodology.

Studies can combine approaches to science. A combination should be motivated in the introduction of the paper.

(or 'subject guide' and 'gateway') is a resource with the possibility to search by subject, author, etc. and with browsing options where you can click through the portal's categorisation of material (e.g. by becoming more and more specific). A portal is limited to a subject or topic. An example is Portal: archaeology (hokkaipedia.org) which is a portal for archaeology. A portal can be a useful selection and quality filter and can help you find good, hidden resources. Your library will often link to the most relevant portals.

Precise language means using as precise, preferably concrete, words as possible and avoiding linguistic filler and generalisations.

When writing a draft, you do not need to use precise language. But before you send your research question and introduction for feedback or assessment by others, you should check for linguistic accuracy. This is particularly important in the research question and throughout the introduction, because you should not promise more than you can deliver. The writer should manage the reader's expectations.

In the research question and in the introduction, do not use imprecise words and expressions such as:

• "try/attempt to elucidate"
• "what is understood by ..."
• "describe to what extent"
• "some", "certain", "one", "we", "all".

Also, be careful with plural words if you do not want to make a "broad statement" - and have the evidence for it. Write exactly which data and materials, concept(s), theory(ies), method(s) you will use in your research , please include names of theories/theorists, exact number of cases, etc. - even if it is a small, qualitative study.

Preconception means having one or more preconceived notions about your topic or data/cases before you have studied it. You always have preconceptions, and they have consequences for the way you identify the object of your research, and the choice of concepts you use to analyse the object. You may use your own or other’s preconceptions to formulate your research question. You may have to change your preconceptions as a result of your research.

Problems lie wherever students and scholars of a discipline or profession can still do something more than summarise already known facts and established dogmas. A problem is something the discipline (or just a few representatives of it) is not or should not be completely finished with, because it is - an unexplained observation, a tenet that is contested - something not yet analysed, tested, documented (with this systematic approach, in this degree of detail, from this particular angle) - something that puzzles or does not seem quite right - contradictions that can still be discussed - something that can and should be argued for (and against), i.e. all the representatives of the discipline are not already familiar with or agree with the argument - a knowledge gap, data that is missing - something that does not correspond to the common perception - something that needs to be (re)assessed, changed, modified, planned, designed and constructed or have new regulations written.

A description of the broader context of a given research question (there can be many research questions within a research question). The broader context and the problem area in the introduction are narrowed down to the research question(s).

A publication is a published document. The publication can be printed or electronic. So-called 'grey publications' can be working papers and proceedings, as well as conference papers. They are sometimes registered in libraries' online catalogues, sometimes they can be found on the Internet or on the author's institution/website.

Methods to investigate qualities of what is being investigated (as opposed to investigating with quantitative methods, which means investigating what can be counted, measured and weighed). Examples include text-analysing/interpretative methods or interview/observation methods, i.e. in-depth research methods of any kind. As qualitative studies often ask about specific qualities and usually have a rather small empirical data set, the research question must be correspondingly narrow in its enquiry.

Measuring and describing what can be experienced in numbers, quantities and proportions. Access to large amounts of quantitative data allows you to formulate problems of a more general nature.

A reference contains bibliographic information, i.e. name, title, year of publication, edition, place and publisher, and can also be a URL to an Internet page.

The list of references in your own paper should include both the material that you quote and that which you use more indirectly your text. There are different standards for how bibliographies should be written, e.g. whether the title should be italicised, etc. Check the guidelines of your study programme. It is most common to organise the bibliography alphabetically, but you may create subsections of the bibliography according to the role of the material in your paper (primary and secondary literature) or according to the types of material.

The research methodology is the steps you will take in your research, as in this example:

1. First, I will explain the key concepts of the theory.
2. Then I will select my empirical data based on X number of categories from Theory A.
3. Then I will set out my analytical framework, which I draw from theories B, C and D, and then describe my methodology for the analysis.
4. I will then analyse my empirical data.
5. I will then discuss my methodology and the results I have obtained based on the methodology.
6. Finally, I will assess the scope of application of the methodology.

The text types (explanation, analysis, discussion, conclusion, etc.) used in the description of the methodology (also known as the structure of the paper) are highlighted.

A research question is the question(s) you want to research (sometimes formulated as the thesis you want to support, analyse, etc.)

Research questions ask for

• definitions, categories, parts, wholes, patterns
• processes
• history and change: past/present/future
• connections and causes (background, assumptions, contributions)
• impacts (applications, effects, outcomes, results, consequences, perspectives)
• contradictions/breaches/criticism
• syntheses
• discussion and argumentation
• assessments
• options for action
• new designs and constructions.

Below you can read about four factors that characterise a good research question.

The good research question:

1. clearly identifies one overarching problem

The focus of the paper paper and the research question must be clear to the reader from the introduction. For a research question to be good, the problem must be academically relevant, i.e. fall within the subject, and still be able to arouse a sense of wonder, i.e. it must not be completely solved. This can be difficult to determine, so always talk to your supervisors about what they think are academically relevant problems. Find good problems in the subject's literature, empirical evidence, methods and practices - or lack thereof.

If you have several questions in your research question, mark one as overarching the others. Consider where you want to place the main emphasis - although you can have several sub-questions, as long as they come under the same heading. Often a 'how' question is placed at the end, but is in fact the whole purpose and end goal of the survey. So put it at the top and leave the other questions as subordinate supporting questions.

2. signals the most important elements of the research

A good research question signals the main elements of the research using technical terms (names of concepts, methods, etc. used in the discipline) - but briefly. This could be the data and materials, the main concept(s), theory, methods. If you have many theories or methods at stake, they may not all fit in the research question. In this case, it is a good idea to mention the main concept, theory or method and the type of data/materials included.

3. shows use of the subject's knowledge

A good research question you should be able to rewrite as: What can I use the sources, theories and methods for? Not just: What do the sources say? At best, you will be able to demonstrate your knowledge, skills and competences in research papers, projects and theses. Research questions therefore basically ask what, why, how

How:

• Design, construction
• Assessment
• Discussion

Why:

• Interpretation
• Explanation
• Analysis

 What:

• Description
• Summary

Whenever possible, ask the more difficult why and how questions. What questions easily lead to overly descriptive or summarising papers. Only ask what if you can describe something new, not yet described, categorised, etc.

What, why and how build on each other - only from a well-defined description (yours or taken from sources) can you explain, analyse and interpret, only from an understanding of explanations and backgrounds can you assess and propose actions and designs in a professionally sound way. The focus of the research question and the paper paper should be where you can best demonstrate that you can analyse, discuss, assess, evaluate, propose courses of action and designs, etc. That is where your skills may best be demonstrated.

4. is in principle answerable

A research paper/project/thesis is one long argument for its conclusion, and in the conclusion, you should preferably be able to answer the research question – though that may not always be possible. You do not necessarily have to be able to solve the problem, but you should preferably be able to make a meaningful point, perhaps simply about how you think this type of problem can be investigated.

It is also OK to answer that the assumptions or hypotheses of the research question have been refuted by the research. Partial and negative answers are also interesting. If you cannot answer your research question, it is even more important to motivate your research question and describe your methods.

Information science term covering all forms of information and literature. For example, a book, an article database, a portal, a website, a journal, an information specialist, etc.

Article with a literature review ("state-of-the-art") of a topic/phenomenon with the main publications and concepts, findings, discussions and arguments. Wikipedia, encyclopaedia entries and some textbook chapters and journal j articles are review articles. Note the date of publication, as review articles often become outdated quickly.

Search engines are the robots that mechanically collect websites and webpages from all over the world. The biggest one is Google. Google Scholar is a search engine for academic materials. Search engines have different strengths and qualities. Although they are very powerful, they do not include everything. On several library websites you can find qualitative reviews of search engines. Use the search engine's advanced search option to specify your requirements for the search results, e.g. when pages should be last updated, whether you want to search in the title field of the website or in the full text. You can specify whether you want to search within a specific domain, e.g. only .edu (education) or .dk (Denmark) etc.

If you use a search matrix to describe your literature search, it means that it contains a search history with keywords, database names of databases you have searched, etc. You can prepare a search matrix as a preparation before you start your literature search, but it can also be used as documentation for searches in your paper.

A search strategy is a reasoned plan for how you will organise your information search. This can be in relation to each individual search. Here you can choose between or combine different search methods, e.g. systematic search or chain search (i.e. using the bibliography of a source to search from). It can also be in relation to the whole paper. In this case, you should consider information retrieval throughout the entire paper process and use the relevant search methods in the right phases of the paper: Do not carry out thorough, documentary searches until your research question and the elements of the paper are fairly well defined. If necessary, do more open and quirky searches on the web for inspiration.

The material you include in your paper.

Many research papers, projects and theses have this structure:

Standard structure of research papers, projects/theses

• Introduction: with observation of a "problem in the world", research question, presentation and delimitation of the research question, possibly literature section with review of literature in relation to the problem, and the approach of the research paper
• Concepts and theory concepts
• Methods, approaches to solution
• Possibly a philosophy of science underpinning the approach
• Data and materials
• Analysis
• Result(s), interpretations
• Discussion of results and methods
• Conclusion in relation to the research question
• Perspective, relevance for the subject and "the world".

If you design/construct something as part of the research, then the description of this will be placed before the discussion – and the rest of the structure is similar to research papers, projects and theses in general.

Use this structure if it fits your research, otherwise expand your structure with the sections you may need and cut out what is not relevant. There may be more background, more theory and methodology sections, more analyses, more discussions. There is far from always a literature section or theory of science. Ask your supervisor and the study programme about this.

You can also check the articles and good research papers/projects/theses written earlier, in the particular course/at the level you are writing the paper in - what seem to be common structures? Are there any recurring variants? Can you use anything from them, perhaps just for inspiration for individual sections?

Theory is a system of theorems (or assumptions) in a subject area that can describe, explain and possibly predict the phenomena of the field, and that provides a framework for understanding the subject. Sometimes only concepts, which may be derived from theories, are used to answer research questions. In this case, concepts are often taken from theories, defined and used as tools in analyses, discussions, evaluations and designs.

Some of the main kinds of texts - types of material - are:

• Encyclopaedias: provide definitions and summaries of knowledge in articles and literature references.
• Bibliographies: contain lists of publications in a defined area, e.g. a subject, a country, a period.
• Textbooks: may include shorter summary articles, with suggestions for further reading.
• Theses at your research library.
• Scientific texts on concepts, theory and methods. Find them in journal articles, anthologies, monographs.
• Reviews of other (scientific) texts. Find them in newspaper databases, journals and specialised review databases.
• News documents. Find them in national and international newspaper and news databases and media.

Some subject areas require different approaches to information retrieval. Remember to make use of your specialised library.