D4909 – Introduction to Academic Writing in Sports Science Seminar 4 Homework Tasks a) Write or create a title for your own research project - Write down or create 1 or more titles for your own PhD work / academic article. - Discuss your title with the group, be prepared to offer and receive feedback on your title. b) Prepare a scientific abstract on your own research - Predict and create your results and conclusions if you don’t already have them. - Maximum of 250 words in the IMRAD format as above. - Be prepared to submit the written abstract next seminar, it will form part of the course assessment. **Also be prepared to present your abstract next seminar to the group. Unit 4 Results, Data and Plagiarism 1. Plagiarism: What is Plagiarism? What are some examples? * Discuss with the group * Work in pairs: match the types of plagiarism with their descriptions: a. Verbatim plagiarism b. Plagiarism of ideas c. Loose paraphrasing d. Plagiarism from alternate sources e. Self-plagiarism f. Duplicate publication 1. Paraphrasing someone else’s work with only slight changes, effectively maintaining the other author’s logic while mentioning most or all of the same ideas. Note that the flow of an argument is indeed an original idea. 2. Recycling your own previously published text. 3. Copying text word-for-word from someone else’s work. If content from several sources is duplicated, this form of plagiarism is known as mosaic or patchwork. 4. Submitting the same paper to different journals without telling the editors. 5. Mentioning someone else’s unique idea, whether in the form of a theory, an interpretation, data, a method, an opinion, or new terminology, without citing your source, even if explained in your own words. 6. Failing to cite the source of publicly available knowledge that is not in the scholarly literature. Similar to journal articles, sources such as books, webpages, blogs, lectures, and personal communication (including descriptions of unpublished ideas, with permission) should be referenced if they contributed unique information to your manuscript. (adapted from http://www.aje.com/en/arc/editing-tip-defining-plagiarism/) * Its not necessarily important to remember what the different types of plagiarism are called, just that it exists in different forms which you should consistently consider when producing your own research material. * You need to be very careful not to use the ideas of others without giving them the appropriate credit. * Anything that is not credited to others is assumed to be the work of the author. 2. Paraphrasing * Read and discuss with the class group What does it mean to paraphrase? Examples: 1. A reference to the author with a reporting verb such as indicate, claim, etc. Ex. Stafford concludes that a golfer´s familiarity with a course is not always a psychological advantage. 2. A change in word form (i.e. part of speech, such as verb to noun). Ex. The rate of crime rises (verb) in inverse proportion to the standard of living. → A rise (noun) in the level of crime follows a fall in living standards. 3. A change in the structure of sentences. Ex. Exercise performance is impaired when an individual is dehydrated. → Dehydration can result in impaired exercise performance. 2.1. Words and phrases that you don´t change There are two types of word or phrase that you should repeat in your paraphrase, even if synonyms exist, because you don´t need to demonstrate that you know what they mean and using them won´t leave you open to charges of plagiarism. Normally these words are single nouns, or nouns in pairs. They are: A) Conventional words or phrases, e.g. passport, pension, festival, processed foods, residential area, etc. B) Specialised words or phrases, e.g. business plan, director, arthritis, endurance, synonym, etc. Note: In some cases, whether or not you repeat a word will be a matter of personal judgement. * With the group: Circle the word(s) that you do not need to paraphrase: a) Systolic blood pressure response to exercise has been shown in some studies to predict the development of hypertension in men. b) Emotional distress in women during pregnancy has been shown by Edwards (2017) to increase the risk of adverse outcomes for women and newborns. c) Many studies have shown that teachers are positive about integrating children whose disabilities are not likely to require extra time or attention from the teacher. * Now rewrite the above sentences using your own words so that the meaning of the sentence doesn’t change: a) Systolic blood pressure response to exercise has been shown in some studies to predict the development of hypertension in men. d) Emotional distress in women during pregnancy has been shown by Edwards (2017) to increase the risk of adverse outcomes for women and newborns. e) Many studies have shown that teachers are positive about integrating children whose disabilities are not likely to require extra time or attention from the teacher. 3. Data and statistics Do you think the correct use of data and statistics are relevant to academic research? Why are statistics used? Why are they important? * Discuss with the class group. * Read and discuss the examples below with the group – appropriate use of statistics? - We hear a prediction that life expectancy will reach 150 years in the next century, based on a simple extrapolation from increases over the past 100 years. - In 1999, Sally Clark, a young British lawyer, was tried, convicted, and given a life sentence for murdering her two baby sons. Her first child died in 1996, aged 11 weeks, and her second died in 1998, aged 8 weeks. The verdict depended on the paediatrician Sir Roy Meadow in his role as expert witness for the prosecution. He claimed that the chance of two children dying from cot death was 1 in 73 million. He obtained this figure by multiplying together the chance for the two deaths separately. 3.1. What is data? * Read and complete the below text with a partner a. to date b. represent c. collected d. interpret e. draw f. reference g. valid Data are the raw material on which the discipline of statistics is built as well as the raw material from which individual statistics themselves are calculated. These data are typically numbers. However, data are more than merely numbers. To be useful, the numbers must be associated with some type of (1) ________. For example, we need to know what the measurements are measurements of, and just what has been counted. To produce valid and accurate results when we (2) _________ our statistical analysis, we also need to know something about how the values have been (3) _________ . Did everyone we asked give answers to a questionnaire, or did only some people answer? If only some answered, do they properly (4) ____________ the population of people we wish to make a statement about, or is the sample distorted in some way? We also need to know if a measuring instrument is (5)___________ and whether the data are up (6) _____ ________ . There is an infinite number of such questions which could be asked, and we need to be alert for any which could influence the conclusions we (7) ___________ . 4. Measures of central tendency Measures of central tendency are numbers that describe what is average or typical of the set of data. These measures include the mean, median, mode and standard deviation. * Discuss with the class group Match the definitions with the type of average: mean mode median a) It is the value such that half the numbers in the data set are larger and half are smaller (the mid-point of the data set / distribution). b) It is the value taken most frequently in a sample (the category with the largest number of observations). c) It is the value found by adding all the numbers up and dividing by how many there are (the sum of the values / the number of observations). 4.1. Which of the statistics would you choose when analysing and discussing? * Discuss with the class group The average salary earned by employees in the health department of the UK? The most common age for people to retire from professional sports? To examine attitudes towards training and success between the top performing 50% of athletes in a professional sports team compared to the bottom 50%. Crowd attendances at the home ground of a sports team across a season? The score that was most achieved the most times by competitors during a national archery competition, and the average score across all rounds of the competition? Which of the statistics would be suitable when presenting the number of children per family? The finishing time that was achieved by the top 50% of runners completing an ultra-marathon? 4.2. Measures of dispersion * In pairs, read and complete the text with the phrases below: a) a very ´representative´ value of the set b) from individual values in a set of numbers c) of the general size of the values in the data d) than the mean and median e) can be misleading Averages, such as the mean and the median, provide single numerical summaries of collections of numerical values. They are useful because they give an indication (1)… . However, single summary values (2) … . In particular, single values might deviate substantially (3) … . To illustrate, suppose that we have a set of a million and one numbers, taking the values 0,1,2,3,4,…, 1,000,000. Both the mean and the median of this set of values are 500,000. But, it is readily apparent that this is not (4) … . At the extremes, one value in the set is half a million larger and one value is half a million smaller (5) … . 4.3. Standard deviation and the range * Complete the gaps in the text below with correct use of article a, the or zero article : Measures of dispersion discuss _____ spread of data around _____ mean or other measures of central tendency. _____ most commonly reported measure is the standard deviation, which indicates _____ extent of scores deviating from _____ mean. So two sets of sample data may have the same mean, but potentially very _____ different results in terms of their standard deviations. The researchers then become aware that the measures from _____ sample with the larger standard deviation are likely to differ from _____ mean score compared to the set with the smaller standard deviation – _____ sample will be more spread out. _____ further measure of dispersion is known as _____ range. The range simply is _____ difference between the highest and lowest values in _____ data set, and is used less commonly than _____ standard deviation. The range is useful however, to describe outliers – values that are _____ very different to _____ majority of _____ other results in a data set, that create _____ skewing affect on _____ data. An outlier can raise or lower _____ mean score for example, which can be misleading when _____ interpreting the final results of _____ sample. 5. Reporting Verbs A common way of referring to the original author in your paraphrase is to use his or her name with a reporting verb. * What do the below reporting verbs mean? * Provide a synonym or definition and use it in context: eg: reveal – to show or uncover something; from his work, the author has revealed more information about…. identify: indicate: deny: evaluate: define: state: accept: claim: classify: contest: 5.1. * Choose the best verb to use in these examples. Circle the correct answer: a) Pennycook doubts / criticizes the organisers for the delays in providing first aid. b) Markham has concluded / identified the poor performance of some schools as a key factor in youth unemployment. c) The authors of the report demonstrate / evaluate that health and safety standards have risen in this institution. d) As Rumisek states / classifies in the introduction to her book, the design of a hospital can have a positive effect on the health of its patients. e) Heller and Golding have believed / argued that the concept of the relative age effect needs to be revisited. Final Assignment * Prepare a written text of 800 - 1000 words on a topic that is most relevant for you and your research work. The type of text can be anything you would find useful to have feedback on and could include: a research proposal, scientific article or a section of one (eg introduction and literature review, discussion and conclusions, abstract plus another section...etc) section of a thesis, etc. Try and practice the concepts learned during this course where possible. * Deadline for completion: 15th December. Please email to Alex Floyd by this date. * Please make sure if you have missed any seminars to send me your completed seminar notes / homework tasks as soon as possible.