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b) facts, evidence and data
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facts are interesting, relevant, undeniable, little-known; the author drew attention to the fact that…; the evidence we collected may point to (suggest) a conclusion; several pieces of evidence (new evidence) come(s) to light; the obtained empirical data are/is reliable and comprehensive; we ensured that any collected data is/are valid;
C) periods of time
we are involved in a number of ongoing projects; the author is researching contemporary music; the article will be published in the forthcoming issue; there were concurrent events in this region; simultaneous experiments were conducted in both laboratories; in recent times society has gone through a period of considerable change; in recent years; prior to the 1990s; since the late 20th century; for the last decate; nowadays; at the moment; over the next few years; in the near future; in the distant future; temporary; our research is at the initial (intermediate; final) stage; annual/annualy; quarter/quarterly; daily; early; late; permanent; at the same time; successive; eventual;
D) cause and effect
it had a considerable influence on; it accounts for the change in…; it was triggered by…; it is facilitated by…; it stimulates growth of…; it gave rise to…; it contributed to…; a number of benefits can be derived from…; this set off a chain reaction; it had several consequences; it resulted from…; it resulted in…; the reason it for was…; the first event caused the next one; this movement of intellectual thought has had a major impact on a number of academic disciplines;
E) research and study aims
we wanted to see if we could explain the fact that…; our research questioned the notion that…; we carefully restricted our sample to…; we took the deliberate decision (to do smth); our purpose was to test this theory; we had this as a goal which has been achieved; the aim of the study was to establish new understanding of…; the target of extending knowledge bases in these area has been reached; we were hoping to instigate a new type of investigation; the aim was to explore and challenge traditional research methdologies; to further develop…; to contribute to the development of…; we were motivated by N to study…;it was an intentional/deliberate decision to provide …; we were encouraged by N to eatsblish…; our research team wanted to further the understanding of…; the purpose/objective of the project was to explore…;
F) analysis of results
we concluded that the benefits of this method outweigh its drawbacks; the survey provided some useful insight into the problem; the results point to a new trend; on the basis of our data we predicted…; the research is likely to lead to some interesting results; it is undoubtedly true that…; there isn’t much evidence to support the opinion that…; the results revealed shortcomings in…; let us weigh up the benefits and drawbacks of …
G) classification and categorising
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they fall into one of the three categories; this is an essential component of…; it can be described as being at the top of a hierarchy; they are on the bottom level of a hierarchy; the structure of this device is as follows; the lion is one type of large cat; there is an enormous variety (diversity) of living things; we classified them according to their similarities and differences; it consists of…; it is distinct from…; the types of employment are subsumed under the heading of occupation; they can be included under the term…; linguists allocate all languages to a place in the system of language families, based on…;
H) connections
it is associated with…; the word refers to…; it is accompanied by…; taken together, the data suggest(s) that…; it is relative to…; the mutual influence of N and M…; the relationship between N and M…; A corresponds to positive results and D indicates negative results; it is equivalent to…; interaction between A and B is a defining characteristic of …; we studied the interrelated effects of Z on Y; the paper is concerned with the interplay between emotions and logical thinking;
I) similarity and contrast
there is a contrast between fiction and reality; 44% of male subjects responded negatively, similarly, 44% of female subjects said “no”; unlike Europe, African economic growth rates were relatively low; in N’s research the result is positive, whereas in B’s research it is negative; building a network of good friends, rather than maintaining close family ties, helps people live longer; on the one hand, it is a well-known fact, on the other hand, it is not so well-studied;
J) change
there was a gradual change in…; a sudden change in…; there is a marked change in how people perceive antisocial behaviour; there was no perceptual change in…; the exchange rate between the euro and the dollar has fluctuated recently; the method was slightly modified; many cars were converted from oil to gas; the firms transferred their operations to Brazil; the economy recovered after three years of depression; oil supplies are diminishing rapidly.
APPENDIX B
Learn more useful words and expressions.
1. Research methods can be described as:
- experimental study which is done in the highly controlled setting of the laboratory where the researcher manipulates some substances or organisms;
- correlation study the aim of which is to determine the relationship between two or more objects;
- naturalistic (empirical) observation (also known as field study) when the researcher observes and records some behaviour or phenomena; it can be very time-consuming;
- survey on the basis of which the researcher makes inferences from data collected via interviews or questionnaries;
- case study means that the researcher keeps in-depth descriptive records, as an outside observer, of an individual or group.
You may carry out a procedure or an experiment or a pilot study/ preliminary study and use / employ a method or a technique or an approach or any particular type of research methodology. If an instrument, device or apparatus (a piece of apparatus) are used, it should be checked.
2. Research results can be described in terms of proportions, ratios, volume or trend. To present data concisely, you can construct diagrams of different types: pie chart (a circle divided into segments), bar chart, histogram. A flowchart is a diagram which indicates the stages of a process. In an academic article they are usually labelled Fig. (Figure).
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You can use graphs as well. The variables are plotted as points on the graph: on the x (or horizontal) axis and on the y (or vertical) axis. The drawn lines or curves connecting/joining adjacent points can be straignt, crossing or intersecting at different points, run parallel and there may be a peak on the graph. They can be sloping or declining (down curve), rising (up curve).
A table used to present data is a grid with columns and rows of numbers.
Numbers in a group together are called a series or set of numbers. The word “ figure ” often refers to the symbol used for a number (and to pictures or illustrations as well). Graphs help you to estimate a number. Graphs show how numbers increase (rise, grow) or decrease (fall, drop, decline). You can also speak about increase (rise, growth) or decrease (fall, drop, decline) of X% in smth (e.g. a rise of 10% in a number of cars). You can describe growth using the following verbs: double, soar, multiply, appreciate, exceed, and describe decline using the following: to be lower (than), crash (by x%), fell (by), go down (in value).
3. While comparing and contrasting you should remember the following:
- between is used when two different things are being compared (It is a comparison between living and non-living organisms.);
- of is used when you compare different examples of the same thing (He presented a comparison of different approaches to the problem.);
- compare with and compare to are both used with similar meaning; as compared to indicates that the difference between the things is real;
- difference (between) is used when different objects are compared (Differences and similarities between mothers and teachers are analysed.);
- difference in is used when different aspects of one thing are compared (Differences in ethical standards between male and female teachers are investigated.);
- different from is more frequent in UK academic usage, while different to is often found in US English;
- distinction is used when describing two similar things (N’s understanding of the distinction between real and apparent emotion is described in the work.);
- analogies between helps to explain a principle or idea; it is also used to compare things which have similar features (In the focus of the study there were some psycho-physical analogies between speech and music.).
4. While reporting what others say, you may use either verbs (a) or nouns (usually in combination with verbs and/or prepositions) (b):
(a) explain; describe; suggest (that); state; claim, assert, contend, maintain, declare; imply; argue; emphasise, highlight, stress; observe, note, comment, point out; demonstrate, show; mention; pinpoint; advance, put forward, propose; cast doubt on; question; to give a brief overniew of…;
(b) suggestion; statement; claim, assertion, contention; implication; argument; emphasis, stress(on); observation (that); demonstration (of); proof (of): provide an explanation (to/as to how…); give a description (of).
5. You can use the following words and word combinations commenting on other’s views:
completely objective; truly impartial; subjective to some extent; rational/irrational; reactionary, conservative; immature; liberal views of smth…; based on bad judgement or on wrong information; could be viewed as almost contradictory; their views are not compatible; influenced by personal beliefs or opinion; to hold progressive views; to have deep-rooted prejudices against…; to take the view that…; change one’s point of view a little; from this standpoint; the pros and cons of this view are…; from his point of view (But: in my opinion).
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6. There are several fixed expressions which help you in:
a) generalising (on the whole; as a whole; in general; as a rule; for the most part);
b) specifying (with respect to/ in respect of/ with regard to/ as regards N,…; in the case of; in greater detail; as far as N is concerned; with exception of N; in terms of; from the point of view of…; particularly; in particular; especially; specifically);
c) linking your ideas and argumenting your point of view (due to the fact that…; at the same time,…; as opposed to/ rather than; by means of; in the sense that…; be that as it may (= although I accept that this is true),…; for this reason,…; for the purposes of…; in addition to…; with reference to…; I shall refer to…; the arguments I shall put forward are relevant to understanding of…; it is beyond the scope of of this paper; moreover/ furthermore; nevertheless/ nonetheless; apart from; and so on/ and so forth;; despite the fact that…; a further argument in support of N is…;
d) giving examples (we should give/ provide an example to illustrate the facts; there are many striking/ clear/ vivid/ illminating/ telling examples of…; for example/for instance,…; a specific instance of …).
7. Remember, that:
a) e valuation and emphasis can be presented by the following words and word combinations:
comprehensive; fundamental; good-breaking, crucial; important, significant; it is noteworthy that…; it is worth recalling that…; we should recognise/acknowledge that/how…;
b) expressing degrees of certainty may require modal verbs:
it may/may not be better; it can be argued; it would seem/appear that…;there appears/seems to be…; we can presume that…; we can draw the tentative conclusion that…; it is undoubtedly true; the research is likely to lead to…; the research will probably lead to…; there is every likelihood that …; it is evident that…; in the absence of evidence to the contrary we can assume that…;
8. Learn typical paragraph openings of conclusions:
as we have seen,…; to conclude/in conclusion, …; to recapitulate the findings of the present experiments:…; from these comparisons we can draw the following conclusions; I reached the cjnclusion that…; we came to the conclusion that…; to sum up/to summarise/in summary, …; in short, …; to put it briefly/stated briefly, …; to bring the paper to a close, I summarise the main points here: …; we may summarise the findings in a few words:…; the final point to stress is …; I have attempted to review concisely the arguments in favour of….
9. The following words and expressions can help you organise the main points of your writing; they are useful when:
a) working through a list of different things (first, firstly; secondly; thirdly; next; lastly/finally);
b) changing topics or bringing in new points (we now turn to…; let us turn to…; at this point…);
c) referring forward in the text (below; in the next section; later; the following; moving on to…);
d) referring back to some parts of the text or ideas presented earlier (above; in the preceding section; earlier; as we saw, as we have seen in…; we saw/we have seen that…; as noted in…; getting back to, … to return to…);
e) referring to examples, diagrams, pages, figures/illustrations, data, etc. (see…; consider…; take, for example…; as can be seen in…);
f) referring separately to different people (respectively; the former; the latter).
СОДЕРЖАНИЕ
Предисловие………………………………………………..……..2
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Unit I……………………………………………………….………3
Unit II………………………………………………………….…..6
Unit III……………………………………………….……………11
Appendix A…………………………………………….…………16
Appendix B……………………………………………………….19
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