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Academic text structure

Today's Lessons:

1. What is an academic text

2. Determine text structure of academic texts

3. Explain components of 3-part essay structure and IMRaD structure

Overview:

- Academic texts require full concentration and comprehension to understand key ideas, information, themes, arguments

- They are like "heavy main courses" that need to be slowly digested

Examples of Academic Texts:

- Thesis, dissertations

- Book reviews, research articles, scholarly journals

Thesis/Dissertation:

- Document submitted at end of bachelor's, master's, PhD program

- Summarizes candidate's research

- Major requirement for graduation

Research Paper:

- Uses outside sources to support thesis or argument

- Written in all disciplines

- Synthesizes external info with own ideas

Literary Analysis:

- Examines, evaluates, argues about a literary work

- Goes beyond summarization

- Focuses on specific characteristics, themes, motifs

General Features of Academic Texts:

- Require close reading and comprehension

- Objective, formal, technical language

- Based on facts and evidence

- Written by experts in their fields

Before Reading Academic Texts:

- Know your goals and purpose

- Ask: Why am I reading this? What info do I need? What do I want to learn?

Purposes of Reading Academic Texts:

- Understand existing ideas

- Support a writing assignment

- Gain more information

- Identify gaps/problems in existing research

- Connect new ideas to existing ones

Structure of Academic Texts:

- Formal, objective(impersonal), technical language

- Includes credible, cited sources

- Clear structure and logical flow

Two Common Structures:

1. 3-Part Essay Structure

2. IMRaD Structure

3-Part Essay Structure:

- Introduction, Body, Conclusion

- Introduction and conclusion shorter than body

- Each may be several pages for longer texts

Introduction:

- Tells reader the topic, purpose, structure

- 10-20% of total length

- Most general information, core of the introduction, most specific information

Body:

- Develops and elaborates on topic

- Definitions, explanations, examples, evidence

- Largest part of essay

Conclusion:

- Mirror image of introduction

- Summarizes scope and structure

- Confirms topic, relates topic to context

- Most specific to most general information

IMRaD Structure:

- Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion

Introduction:

- Background of topic

- Problem statement

- Overview of argument

Methodology:

- Data collection and analysis procedures

- Research design, sampling, data types

- Design - detailed description of quantitative or qualitative data

- Sampling - technique for selecting and number of respondents

- Data - types, sources, measurement scales

- Collection - detailed process and methods

- Presentation - how data are presented, analyzed, and interpreted

Results and Discussion:

- Key findings and interpretation

- Summary of collected data