Academic writing and the scientific model

Academic writing has been heavily influenced by the notion of being scientific.

The main features of the scientific model are:
*objectivity
*a testable hypothesis
*replicated results
*controlling for variables
*quantitative analysis
*accurate description
*qualitative analysis

Objectivity - Scientists test possible explanations against the available evidence.

A testable hypothesis - A hypothesis cannot be proved true, but it can be proved wrong. If a hypothesis survives many attempts to prove it wrong, increasingly it may be considered reliable and trusted as a theory

Replicated results - For a piece of scientific research to be taken seriously, another researcher needs to have repeated the research with similar results.

Controlling for variables - Scientists need to make sure that 'variables' - all the things that can change, such as the weather, or the time of day, the people involved or the materials used have not influenced the results unexpectedly.

Quantitative analysis - Scientific research relies heavily on quantitative data. It focuses on changes or differences that can be measured using number, time, weight and length.

Accurate description - when writing up research, scientifists describe their methodology, research conditions and results exactly, so that anyone who wishes t replicate their research can set up near-identical conditions.

Qualitative analysis - Scientists use qualitative analysis in the 'Discussion' part of a report, where they make sense of their results and offer possible reasons for why things did not go as expected.


- Stella Cottrell, the study skills handbook