Literature Review Slide is Uploaded!

Putra LMS is kind enough to allow me upload Literature Review slide for week 6 lecture (tomorrow). Those who are interested, please download from Putra LMS.

Although several attempts were made to upload Research Objective and Problem Statement slide since last week until today, no signs of success is observed. Although my side appeared uploaded, the file doesn't show in main page, therefore not possible for anyone to download.

Frustration over technology stuff is especially painful when one is doing research. Make sure you keep a back up copy of all your soft copy journals, chapter write-ups and references. You wouldn't know when the computer disaster will hit you!

Mid Term Result

Mid Term Exam Result is released! Many of you must be very eager to see if your hard work paid off!

The answer is YES, your hard work paid off!

About 66% scored 80 marks and above, indicates that

1. Students in the class are hardworking, responsible and smart
2. The questions are too simple

Which interpretation best reflect the scenario? Whatever the interpretation is, I am proud of you. Well done everyone, keep up the good job!

BRM Tutorial class; to attend or not to attend?

Your ability to perform SPSS analysis for BRM SPSS ANALYSIS REPORT assignment and later on your PROJECT PAPER chapter four, is dependent on the attention you pay in tutorial class.

SPSS  is a very useful software for you to understand and interpret your data set. It is quite costly to take similar SPSS workshop conducted by private tutor. You wouldn't want to miss classes now and have to hire private tutor or consultant to help you in your project paper data analysis!

On top of that, once you grasp some SPSS skills, you will be able to understand and check result interpretation reported in journal articles, reading articles will then become more interesting. If you are able to pick up flaws in the article's result interpretation, you can justify a replication research (which will be conducted by you) is needed  to verify the flawed findings!

Putra LMS hiccup

Putra LMS is not publishing the file I have uploaded. Apparently, the system is not able to handle growing number of users. Plan B: The slide file is now forwarded to Desmond, those wanting the copy, please get it from Desmond.

Problem statement, Research Objectives and Hypotheses

Chapter 6 of Business Research Method textbook provides us with problem identification from industry or business organization perspectives used in Applied Research type. Academic research that belongs to Basic Research category identifies research problem following a very different approach. Thus, a different set of slides will be given to students to guide them on techniques to write Problem statement, Research Objectives and Hypotheses  in Project Paper research Proposal. The slide file is now uploaded in Putra LMS. See you in class and thanks for being patience!

Self-editing

Self-editing makes a BIG difference to the final version of our write-ups! 

I was marking individual assignments by students last Friday. As I was reading them, I was mentally classifying them into two categories; self-edited versus not self-edited. For those students who have self-edited their write-ups, reading their work is a PLEASURE :) For those who have not self-edited, reading their work is a TORTURE, as I kept picking up typo-mistakes like two words stick together, mispell some words, glaring grammar mistakes etc. When distracted by unnecessary glaring mistakes due to lack of "editing" effort, I could hardly enjoy the content. So ladies and gentlemen, be good to your lecturers by having a few rounds of self-editing (or get friends to proof-read) before submitting written assignments, good for your grade!

Before researchers/lecturers submit their work for publication, they perform at least 20 times of self-editing. And this is followed by a few rounds of "editing" according to Reviewers' comments, then only the near-perfect piece of work is allowed to appear on academic journals.

So you are not alone, lecturers do self-editing and peer proof reading too! It is a required process for any written work to look good as we tend to overlook our own mistakes the first time we read it :) We only able to pick up typo mistakes on second or third readings! On fourth reading, we are able to re-structure our ideas to make the flow more interesting! On fifth reading, we check on overall format and references!

Writing is a skill, everyone can master it given the effort and training!

Phrases

Phrases you can use in writing academic paper:

• It is widely accepted within the literature of …. That
• There is no known research in Malaysia that looks at….
• It is generally believed that….
• The paper presented here is based in part on an earlier study concerning…..
• The project paper suggests that …… has potential in the …. Context
• While ….. is unlikely to be the only factor influencing …… it seems to outweigh ….
• While a great deal of research has examined the factors that ……the impact …. has on …… remains unclear.
• There are at least two areas within the context of… requires further investigation..
• Thus, the issue on….in…. deserve more attention.
• There were a couple of notable limitations in our study that could be addressed in

future studies. First… Second…..

• It has been argued that...
• Despite the importance of…
• In this context, we expect that…
• The purpose of the study is threefold. First, … Second … Third…..
• It is clear that much additional work will be required before a complete understanding of ……. occurs...
• While this study makes a number of contributions, it also has a number of limitations ….
• As with all empirical research, there are a number of limitations.
• In the area of … a review of empirical literature suggested … affects …….
• Literature on…. seems to suggest that…..However, there are alternative views by…. that…
• It is now becoming apparent that …… is significantly more important than ……
• Empirical research conducted by…..provides support to the contention….

• There are three definitions given in the literature concerning the concept of ……
• The study is intended to close the gap in the literature on….
• The research was significant for several reasons. First, it extended….
• Research into …… have focused on …..Limited attention has been given to….
• To date, little attempt has been made to study the effect of …..on…

Asking for a favor

These are the tips/sample sentences you can use when you are asking for a favor via email or conversation:

1. Sorry to bother you Mr/Ms/Dr, but could you possibly have 5 minute?
2. If Mr/Ms/Dr don't mind, can Mr/Ms/Dr please take a look at my CV when you are free?
3. I'd be grateful if Mr/Ms/Dr could... 
4. I was wondering if I could ask Mr/Ms/Dr to do me a favor...
5. If Mr/Ms/Dr don't mind, can I have Mr/Ms/Dr's decision by Tuesday as.......