Comparing Education and Medicine Research Articles

According to the American Psychological Association (APA) (2010), Research Articles (RAs) are documents undertaken by researchers which are divided into different sections: Title, Abstracts, Acknowledgements, Introduction, Literature Review, Methods, Results, Discussions, Recommendations, References and Appendixes. The purpose of the present study is to analyze and compare different sections of two articles in the education and medicine fields.

According to Swales and Feak (1994), researchers write their introductions using organizational patterns which contain moves or cycles. Introductions are composed of three moves which go from the general topic to a particular situation, i.e., creating a research paper, establishing a niche and occupying it. Regarding the introduction of both RAs, the three moves are present as part of the organizational patterns.

On the one hand, Sun and Chang (2010) refer to blogs as one of the best received applications in the Web 2.0 era which have changed the different uses of internet. In other words, they refer to what has been done showing that the research in this subject is important; considering this Move 1.    

 On the other hand, Aaby et al. (2009) refer to the impact of a vaccine on mortality which is proportional to the vaccine’s efficacy and the contributions of the target disease to overall mortality. All in all, they might show relevance for the study and introduce research in the area; considering this Move 1.

Both articles may establish a niche and indicate the gap that has been found in the area, in that way, they are referring to Move 2. Sun and Chang (2010) argue that the use of first personal pronouns which represents visible affirmation of one’s role in their written discourse- between writers and L2 (Language 2) Hong Kong undergraduate novice writers, it was found a clear avoidance of first personal pronouns among L2 (Language 2)  writers when making arguments or claims.

Aaby et al. (2009) claim that “Though some studies have documented that PPD (tuberculin purified protein derivative or Mantoux test) and scar reactions get larger with revaccination, others have found no effect of revaccination on protection against pulmonary tuberculosis but found that it might improve protection against leprosy” (p.2). To sum up, in both articles researchers present their motivation for the study, indicate the gap that has been found in the area, raise questions about the situation and expand previous knowledge.

Both articles state the nature of the present papers and outline the purposes; in that way, they are referring to Move 3.  Sun and Chang (2010) show how useful is to keep blogs through the process of collaborative dialogues for learning about academic writing as well as academic identities and construction of authorship, whereas Aaby et al. (2009) make emphasis on  whether revaccination with BCG is associated with a reduction in childhood mortality through a randomized trial.

As regards the analysis of the methods sections, Sun and Chang (2010) include participants, procedures and data analysis subsections. These three subsections are typed at the left margin and the mostly used tense is past passive voice. A large part of the data collected through descriptive statistics consists mainly of qualitative evidence. Table 1 illustrates the language used by the participants in their blogs in the procedures subsection (Sun & Chang, 2010, p.47).

 Aaby et al. (2009) introduce participants subsection and intervention and main outcome measure as subtitles at the start of the section. The methods section is divided into participants, materials and procedures subsections and into different subtitles such as explorative and statistical analyses. The subtitles are typed at the left margin and the mostly used tense is past passive voice, but it is possible to find present passive. The data collected is illustrated through hazard ratios for mortality. Tables and figures showing mortality curves and rates are also illustrated (Aaby et al., 2009, pp 3-6).

All in all, a comparison between both study researchers based on the education and medicine fields is established in which the three moves could be well described in the present paper. Considering the analysis of the methods sections, participants, materials and procedures might be well analyzed in each of the study researchers.

This research paper may attract readers´attention because it establishes the main points between two different articles which make emphasis on different fields. It seems that on the one hand, Sun and Chang (2010) through their Research Article (RA) demonstrate the usefulness of collaborative dialogues on blogs for learners to become EFL academic writers. On the other hand, Aaby et al. (2009) analyze how profitable is the effect of revaccination with BCG in early childhood on mortality.

References

American Psychological Association (2010). APA formatting and style guide. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01.

Aaby,P., Lisse, I., Ravn, H., Rodrigues, A., Roth, A., Stabell Ben, C., Whittle, H., & Yazdanbakhsh, M. (2009). Effect of revaccination with BCG in early childhood on mortality: Randomized trial in Guinea- Bissau. Retrieved June 2012, from http://bmj2010;340:c671

Chang, Y. & Sun, Y. (2012). Language Learning & Technology: Blogging to Learn:

Becoming EFL Academic Writers Through Collaborative Dialogues, vol. 16, nº 1.

Retrieved June 2012, from http://llt.msu.edu/issues/february2012/sunchang.pdf

Sun, Y., & Chang, Y. (2010). When technology speaks language: An evaluation of the use of course management systems in content-specific contexts. ReCALL, 22 (3), 332–355.

Swales, J. M., & Feak, C. B. (1994). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. Ann Harbor, MI: The University if Michigan Press.

The Importance of Abstracts in the Academic Writing

An abstract is considered a formal summary which transmits clear, accurate and concise information. The abstract is typed in a separate page and inserted between the title and the first page of a paper. Hubbuch (1996) defines abstracts “as brief summaries of the major points made by an author in a book or article” (p.126). The aim of the present study is to analyze and compare different abstracts of different articles from medicine and education fields.

Abstracts are divided into different sections: Introduction/background or Study design/objective, Materials and Methods, Results and Conclusions. According to Swales and Feak (1994), abstracts can be classified as the one included at the beginning of a paper and conferences abstracts. There are other types of abstracts: informative, indicative, unstructured or structured (Swales & Feak, 1994; Swales, 1990).

On the one hand, in the articles based on the medicine field, Gotzsche, Jorgensen and Zahl (2009) and Austin et al. (2009) introduce informative abstracts since they describe what the researchers did and provide readers with the main findings based on heavy data. Unstructured abstracts are also introduced because they consist of one long, unbroken paragraph.

On the other hand, in the articles based upon the education field, Rammal (2006) and King (2002) present indicative abstracts which describe what the researchers intend to do and indicate what kind of research has been done. Structured abstracts are also presented which contain bolded or italicized headings.

According to the American Psychological Association (APA) (2008), there are five levels of headings which organize hierarchy the presentation of the information in a document to orient the reader. The heading structure is divided into sections; each one follows a top –down progression from the highest level of heading in order to outline a paper.

Gotzsche, Jorgensen and Zahl (2009) present the Results and the Discussion sections with three subheadings whereas Austin et al. (2009) introduce two subheadings in the Methods and Discussions sections. Rammal (2006) divides one of the sections into four subheadings whereas King (2002) divides a section into two subheadings.

Broadly speaking, the four abstracts analysed in the present paper may be brief and accurate and they might contain specific data on their specialized field, that is to say, medicine and education. They are the most important paragraphs in each journal and they are written in scientific prose which is used in academic documents. 

In the articles based upon the medicine field, the primary audience might be any reader in the field, since the abstracts include heavy data and describe what researchers did. In fact, Gotzsche, Jorgensen and Zahl (2009) describe what researchers did in order to determine breast cancer mortality in organised mammography screening in Denmark whereas Austin et al. (2009) describe what researchers did in order to determine the association of non-invasive cardiac stress testing before elective major non-cardiac surgery. 

In the articles based upon the education field, the primary audience might be conference reviewers since the abstracts do not include specific results and describe what the researchers intend to do. To put it another way, Rammal (2006) intends to provide teachers of English as Foreign Language (EFL) with teaching methods which may be implemented in the classroom whereas King (2002) ) intends to provide teachers of English as Foreign Language (EFL) with pedagogical options dealing with the use of DVD feature films in the classroom.

All in all, the four abstracts do not include evaluative language since summary writers should avoid temptation, i.e., they should not include personal subject language which evaluates the sources. They are objective since personal opinions are not included and the authors’ main ideas are reported. As Reid (1994) states “The function of the conclusion is for the summary writer to restate the original conclusions found in the article.”

References

American Psychological Association (2008). Publication Manual (5^th ed.). Washington, DC: British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.

Austin, P. C., Beattie, W. S., Elliot, R. F., Hux, J. E., Laupacis, A., & Wijeysundera, D. N. (2009). Non-invasive cardiac stress testing before elective major non-cardiac surgery: population based cohort study.

Retrieved June 2012, from http://bmj2010;340:b5526

Gotzsche, P. C., Jorgensen, K, J., & Zahl, P. H. (2009). Breast cancer mortality in organised mammography screening in Denmark: comparative study.

Retrieved June 2012, from http://bmj2010;340:c1241

Hubbuch, S. M. (1996). Writing research papers across the curriculum. (4th ed.). Harcourt Brace: Fort Worth, TX.

King, J. (2002). Using DVD feature films in the EFL classroom. The weekly column. [Abstract]. Retrieved June 2011, from http://www.eltnewsletter.com/back/February2002/art882002.htm

Ramal, S. (2006). Video in the EFL classroom. Retrieved June 2011, from http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/video-in-efl-classrooms.html

Reid, J. M. (1994). The process of paragraph writing (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents.

Swales, J.M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. (Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Swales, J.M., & Feak, C.B. (1994). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. Ann Harbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.