# # Book _Story_, Not a Study: Writing an Effective Research Paper #note/sourcereview/article | #note/sourcereview/book ## What is the thesis? Academic writing does not have to be bogged down and difficult to understand. ## Am I convinced and why? Yes, ## Summarize the argument # Part 1: The Story ## Meaning Making A great research article is persuasion not reporting. The key focus is the introduction and the discussion not the methods. The story is how the research fits into the bigger scope of the topic. The metaphor is not sharing the study with the world, but instead is joining a conversation at a cocktail party"that you arrive to late and leave early." ## Chapter 2: Problem Gap Hook A key is recognizing that you are joining a conversation with a specific group of readers so your introduction needs to call to them. Avoid the "inverted pyramid" which takes paragraphs to get to the specifics of your problem by starting broad and narrowing. Instead, focus immediately on _your_ readers, and your introduction paragraph can call them to the action of needing to read more, about how your study contributes to the conversation by clearly identifying the problem, what is missing in the conversation, and how your study packs the known gaps. Then, the next few paragraphs don't so much as expand on your P/G/H as provide the evidence for the problem, the gap, and the hook. At the end of the introduction, your readers must agree that your gap both _exists_ and _matters_, these are two separate and equally important jobs for your gap statements. > "research dissemination is a social and rhetorical act" p. 13 ## Chapter 3: Mapping the Gap Your literature should identify what is known about your problem, then what is not known, and characterize the state of the knowledge about your problem. Examples of characterizing include Assumptions, Deficits, Controversies, and Missing pieces (shortcomings). If the gap is in the form of a question, the readers may think this sentence is the research question. ## Chapter 7: Writing a discussion that realizes it's potential The discussion interprets the story created by the characters who enter the stage in the introduction and experience the world in the results section. The author must bounce back and forth between the introduction and the discussion. Does the discussion close the plot lines of the introduction; or does the introduction claim like a politician and the discussion delivers like a, well, politician? If so, the authors risk disappointment. If authors can marry the level of claims and satisfy the characters, the reader can exit the discussion fulfilled and enriched. ### The drama metaphor In the drama metaphor, act 1 which introduces the characters results in act 3 which is where the climax, the drama happens. The discussion is act 3 - do we know who the main character is? - do we have too many characters? In act 3 - all main characters have to be developed (transformed) - Don't kill them off. - Add new characters carefully-ensure they are foreshadowed enough ## Chapter 5: Methods ### [[each idea is a character]]? _Use knowledge claims to plot the storyline_ ![[CleanShot 2024-07-09 at 14.07.53.jpg]] This is a strategy; it is a way to pull yourself up for creating the story arc without writing. ### Strategies: 1. Commit: in the first sentence or two just name your methodology (the philosophy that underpins your work) 2. Justify: present your methodology as the obvious, logical choice 3. Explain: describe what you did and how you did it, consider how to sequence in a way that makes the most sense for the reader 4. Educate: educate as much as necessary for the study design and the journal, have they seen this methodology before? 5. Anticipate: you can't really educate if you can't anticipate. Talk to experienced colleagues, read similar articles, talk to reviewers. 6. Reflect: consider the impact of your perspective as a researcher ## [[hedging and boosting]] - Hedge moving away - Boost moving towards ## Chapter 30: navigating peer review [Chapter 30 navigating peer review](https://todoist.com/app/task/8194249588) ## What is the other side of the argument? What other metaphors might apply to the creation of your work? ## What else do I wonder about? ## Action ## When do I want to stumble across this? ## Source: ## References, Quotes, Ideas Lingard, L., & Watling, C. (2021). _Story, not study: 30 brief lessons to inspire health researchers as writers_. Springer. ```dataview table file.mtime.year + "-" + file.mtime.month + "-" + file.mtime.day as Modified from [[ ]] and !outgoing([[ ]]) sort file.mtime desc ```