Writing up

yes, lately ni.. mmg bnyk supervisor suruh buat writing ups..
1. start writing up your chapter.. you've got your pilot study as 1 chapter, and your Experiment 1 as another chapter... and at the same time.. you can already start bit by bit.. to write up your lit chapter...
2. write up as if you're submitting a paper.. yes.. do write up as if... which is really2 good..

i've just completed writing up a conference paper for this CogSci conference.. alhamdullillah, i've submitted the paper, last saturday..

it was not a great success to me.. i don't feel that good about it.. i tried my best to write.. according to what i thought was best, but it wasn't good enough for SV. But, he never gave up in asking me to correct and modify as we go along..

towards the end of it, i nearly gave up. It seems like, i couldn't really find the best way to write it.. i kept on repeating my same mistake... like..
1. explaining lit review too general...
2. i'm just quoting researcher's findings, but i did not critically explained them..
3. i've always been to general on everything.
4. i've got to be more careful with the choice of words...
5. my explanations are vague..

SV said that, I've got to be more:
1. PRECISE
2. CONCISE, &
3. CLEAR
on all things that I want to explain. Make the sentence short, but gives the exact meaning.

I've got to also always think of what reader my think... so again, he would remind me of:
1. refer again to the flower's book - on Problem Solving Strategies for Writing.
- A very good book in guiding how to best write.. Issue tree, economically editing, etc...

so, i guess that's about it, that I can share with you.. its my first time writing a paper for a conference, and I'm really looking forward to it..

A motivation for myself.. PhD is a process of learning.. writing academically is not easily obtained.. everybody learns it.. and through time and practices, I will get to it, like SV does... So, just believe in yourself and keep more practising!!!

Well done for now...

writing an abstract

WRITING AN ABSTRACT

When answering a call for papers a number of factors need to be kept in mind to ensure that
your abstract has a good chance of being accepted.
•
Ensure that your ideas are well thought out and follow a logical, coherent flow:
state the issue to be discussed
give a brief background to the issue
brief description of what you are doing about it
implications/outcomes: why is what you’ve done important?
•
Ensure that the abstract relates to the conference theme:
in a ‘real’ and not contrived way: if it doesn’t fit then don’t submit
an interesting and catchy title helps:
• but make sure it’s not too ‘clever’ or obscure
Ensure that practical aspects of the abstract comply with requirements:
it meets or is under the specified word length
is typed in the specified font type, size
spacing and setting out are correct
if no guidelines are given then a standard format is usually:
• 200-250 words
• Times 12pt font
• 1.5 line spacing and centred on the page
•
Limit amount of references cited in abstract:
use only if essential to support your argument
detailed references can be covered in the resulting presentation/paper
•
Look at past abstracts/conference papers to pick up the tone and style of that particular
organisation’s conferences
•
Run your abstract past someone familiar with both the topic you wish to present and the
conference style: such as a university lecturer, work colleague, member of professional
society, someone who has presented before at the conference
•
Submit on or before the due date and in the required way:
electronically, via e-mail, is usually preferred
ensure computer compatibility of documents (especially in converting Macintosh
to IBM formats)
saving in ‘Rich Text Format’ in Word is better (*.rtf)
not all are able to access documents in html formats easily – stick to established
word processing programs such as Word
•
Ensure you include your name, title, organisation and contact details, including phone,
fax, street address and e-mail
•
Finally, remember that your abstract serves two purposes:
to interest and intrigue the committee so they will select it
to introduce/outline your topic for the conference handbook – so it needs to stand
alone as a record of your presentation
Websites of recent conferences with examples of well-written abstracts can be found at:
http://comedu.canberra.edu.au/conference/arece/Conference/2002/TopicList.html
The Association for Australian Research in Early Childhood Education, 2002 Conference
http://www.aare.edu.au/index.htm
Australian Association for Research in Education, 2001 Conference
http://www.archimuse.com/conferences/SPEAKERS_LIST.HTML
Museums and the Web International Conference: Abstracts and papers online from
conferences held since 1997
Lynda Kelly, Head, Australian Museum Audience Research Centre, 1 February, 2002


source: http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache%3AE9B-wGuVWUkJ%3Aceca.icom.museum%2F_dbase_upl%2Fwritinganabstract.pdf+writing+abstract+for+conference&hl=en&gl=my&pli=1

Good tips for good looking CHARTS

http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/try-these-tips-for-great-looking-charts/

another poster competition - nak! nak!

http://www.graduatejunction.com/posters

this link is good too.. for reporting experiments

http://www.languages.ait.ac.th/el21meth.htm

Writing an Experiment Report

-taken from: http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~port/teach/541/expt.report.html-

L541, Introduction to Phonetics
R. Port, February 23, 2003

Writing an experiment report is a very stylized genre of writing. It should be as efficiently written as possible and should provide each item of information just where readers will expect it to be. Nothing redundant. The paper should contain 6 sections: a short Abstract, an Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusions. The Bibliography, Tables, Figures and typically come at the end (though the Tables and Figures can also be inserted within the text).

ABSTRACT:

Always include an abstract for ANY paper (in my opinion). Write it as one paragraph, about 200 words or less. This is a concise summary of the entire experiment. Include the rationale, method, results, and significance in highly abbreviated form (but using full sentences). Look at some published journal abstracts or Acoustical Society Meeting abstracts to get the idea of how to write one.

INTRODUCTION:

Give background rationale for the experiment. Why were you motivated to do this experiment? Or more accurately, given what you actually found, why MIGHT you have wanted to do this experiment? Your report, in other words, should not be biographical or historical. Experiments in phonetics are often exploratory; we often are not testing a specific hypothesis. And, in any case, readers really don't care what you THOUGHT you might find but did not. The paper should tell a story about what the data actually show. Summarize results of earlier research that are necessary to account for the conduct of the experiment (as relevant to the interesting aspects of your results) and help the reader to able to have some expectations about what the experiment will show (whether right or wrong).

Pay attention to your use of verb tenses in the text. It is easy (but confusing to readers) to slip back and forth between `The subject read the words at two speaking rates' and later `We measure the duration of the vowels by ...'. Avoid this.

The last paragraph before the Methods should sketch in readable style the basic logic of the experimental design to come. Eg, ``Thus, in the following experiment, Ss were asked to read words with both voicing values in position X at two speaking rates in order to see whether rate has an effect on the ratio of the vowel duration to consonant duration. We expected to find no difference in ratio due to speaking rate.'' (Or whatever.)

METHODS:

There are 3 logical parts to the methods: the Independent Variables (input variables, the things you controlled: place of artic, word length, speaking rate, etc or whatever), the Task performed by the subjects, and the Dependent Variables. You have a task (eg, reading these phrases in a some way) for which certain values of the IVs are set (eg, +/-voice, +/- front, final stops at two speaking rates, etc.). Then you measure the DVs (eg, vowel durations, F0 contours, whatever). Finally you look for ways in which the DVs are structured by (influenced by) the IVs. This section should be tight and business-like in style.

Of course, you need to tell your readers about at least the following:

• your word lists; number of repetitions; total number of tokens,
• characteristics of your subjects (sex, native language, age range, etc.; and the instructions you gave them),
• how the recordings were made, including major equipment items,
• analysis of the recordings; the measurement procedures; the software employed. Describe any special problems in measurement that arose and your solution to them,
• describe the statistics you performed, if any.

RESULTS:

Systematically go through the relevant aspects of your data. Present tables and graphs of the DVs. The organization of these paragraphs will probably be in terms of the IVs. For example, "The change in value of voicing affects both vowel duration and consonant closure duration," rather than "The vowel duration is affected by speaking rate, vowel identity and voicing".)

Describe the important features of the data in the text. Lead the reader through the tables and figures (eg, "As can be seen in the left side of Figure 1,..."). Devise data presentation techniques that make the real meaning of the data as clear as possible. Be sure to label graphs and figures clearly. Organization of paragraphs would normally be in terms of the independent variables.

DISCUSSION:

1) Organization of paragraphs (subsections) may often be in terms of independent variables (i.e. the factors varied in the experimental design).

2) Compare your results to previous similar experiments. To what extent do your results resemble those found before?

3) What new discoveries have you found? What is their significance to specific and more general issues in the area?

CONCLUSIONS:

Review and summarize very briefly what was done in this experiment and what you found in the results. State in general terms the most important discovery in the experiment. You may also want to suggest follow-up experiments.

Notes on Experimental Writing Style

1) Avoid first person pronouns no matter how awkward it may seem. "I asked the Ss to..." => "The Ss were asked to...".

2) Paper is cheap! It is easier to spread out your text and figures and use many separate pages.

3) Be as pithy as possible. Learn to use standard verbal formulas to abbreviate descriptions of methods, statistics, etc. Never be concerned that your paper is too short. It can only be too long. Say everything you have to say and no more. If you want to stretch out your paper, do it in the Discussion-- keep the Methods and Results tight, systematic and predictable.

4) Make a careful outline that you update as you write. It's generally easiest to write the Methods first, then Results (starting a new page), then sketch out the Discussion (starting a new page), and finally create an easily read and descriptive title. Then write the Introduction last.

5) When completed, the order of parts should be: Abstract, Text, References, Tables (on a separate pages unless very small), Figures (each on a separate page unless very small and labeled at the bottom). All tables and figures need a legend (on the page or listed on a separate page). Staple on diagonal in upper left hand corner. No fancy covers or plastic folders! Typed, of course, and EVERYTHING DOUBLE SPACED.

6) Use plenty of Figures! Be creative with figures to facilitate the reader's understanding.

But most of all HAVE FUN.

i need to start writing everything down

everything was like a big mess...

it was a big embarassment, when i met my SV yesterday... data was all over the place..

i was soooo disorganized.. and that was how i felt like.. i'm in a mess.. i'm sorry SV.. but that was truely how i feel...

i'm lost.. in numbers.. hahahahahah....

and his biggest advise.. is for me to start writing up.. write everything.. this pilot study especially.. from there this is what i can see:

1. things i haven't done/cover...
2. what i have done actually
3. the steps by steps of what I have covered so far... so that its more organized...

its not that this is bad.. but.. when your data is all over the place.. you just can't see things..

so.. com'on.. i just have to start doing it.. had started 1/3 of it already.. but stuck in between because of the same reason.. so.. i'm gonna follow what SV said... write up!!!