Research paper reading Assignment
* The objective of this assignment is to introduce students to scientific research conducted in the field of Managerial Accounting that is targeting the UAE business environment as an example.
I have selected for this course the following research paper:
Joshi, P. L. Bremser, W. G. Deshmukh, A. and Kumar, R. (2011). “Diffusion of Management Accounting Practices in Gulf Cooperation Council Countries”. Accounting Perspectives, Vol. 10, No. 1.
Requirement:
Provide a summary of this research paper. Your summary should reflect your understanding of the research paper.
*Instructions & guidelines:
Research articles use a standard format to clearly communicate information about an experiment. A research article usually has seven major sections: Title, Abstract, Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion, and References.
1. Reading the Article
Allow enough time. Before you can write about the research, you have to understand it. This can often take a lot longer than most people realize. Only when you can clearly explain the study in your own words to someone who hasn’t read the article are you ready to write about it.
2. Read for depth, read interactively.
After you have highlighted the main points, read each section several times. As you read, ask yourself these questions:
• How does the design of the study address the research questions?
• How convincing are the results? Are any of the results surprising?
• What does this study contribute toward answering the original question?
• What aspects of the original question remain unanswered?
3. Scan the article
Use your knowledge to find the main points. Briefly look at each section to identify:
• the research question and reason for the study (stated in the Introduction)
• the hypothesis or hypotheses tested (Method)
• the findings (Results, including tables and figures)
• how the findings were interpreted (Discussion)
Underline key sentences or write the key point of each paragraph in the margin. Although the abstract can help you to identify the main points, you cannot rely on it exclusively, because it contains very condensed information. Remember to focus on the parts of the article that are most relevant.
4. Writing the Summary
Like an abstract in a published research article, the purpose of an article summary is to give the reader a brief overview of the study. To write a good summary, identify what information is important and condense that information for your reader. The better you understand a subject, the easier it is to explain it thoroughly and briefly.
5. Edit for completeness and accuracy.
Add information for completeness where necessary. More commonly, if you understand the article, you will need to cut redundant or less important information. Stay focused on the research question, be concise, and avoid generalities.
6. Edit for style.
Write to an intelligent, interested, naive, and slightly lazy audience (e.g., yourself, your classmates). Expect your readers to be interested, but don’t make them struggle to understand you. Include all the important details; don’t assume that they are already understood.
• Eliminate wordiness, including most adverbs (“very”, “clearly”). “The results clearly showed that there was no difference between the groups” can be shortened to “There was no significant difference between the groups”.
• Use specific, concrete language. Use precise language and cite specific examples to support assertions. Avoid vague references (e.g. “this illustrates” should be “this result illustrates”).
• Use scientifically accurate language. For example, you cannot “prove” hypotheses (especially with just one study). You “support” or “fail to find support for” them.
• Rely primarily on paraphrasing, not direct quotes. Direct quotes are seldom used in scientific writing. Instead, paraphrase what you have read. To give due credit for information that you paraphrase, cite the author’s last name and the year of the study (Smith, 1982).
• Re-read what you have written. Ask others to read it to catch things that you’ve missed.
7. Plagiarism.
Plagiarism is always a risk when summarizing someone else’s work. To avoid it:
• Take notes in your own words. Using short notes or summarizing key points in your own words forces you to rewrite the ideas into your own words later.
• If you find yourself sticking closely to the original language and making only minor changes to the wording, then you probably don’t understand the study
