HUS 250: Seminar in Human Services

Most scholarly research articles follow a specific format with the following sections. These sections will always be in this order in a research article:

• Abstract – A quick summary of the entire article.
• Introduction – The purpose/hypothesis of the study is stated, and previous research relating to the current experiment is reviewed. (“What We Already Know, and What We Want to Find Out”)
• Methodology – A very precise accounting how the study was carried out - who were the subjects, under what conditions were they tested, etc. (“What We Did”)
• Results – The data from the study. Often presented with dense mathematical formulas, and with charts, graphs, or other visual representations. (“Our Numbers”)
• Discussion – A narrative review of the data and whether it proved or disproved the original thesis. (“What We Found Out and Why We Think It’s Important”)
• Conclusion – Usually re-states the results in more straightforward language and discusses future directions for research. (“What We Still Don’t Know”)
• Bibliography – The other research the authors/researchers consulted to understand the issue and design their study.

Everyone is familiar with Oreo cookies – dry crumbly cookies around a delicious middle.

Scholarly articles are structured in the reverse of an Oreo, meaning that the “good stuff” is on the outside: the Abstract, Introduction, the Discussion, and the Conclusion. These sections are usually in simpler, more direct language, and speak clearly to the purpose of the study, what the results were, and what the implications of the findings might be.

The “dry stuff” is on the inside of the article – the Methodology and the Results. A key point of the scientific method is that results must be able to be repeated to be considered valid, so the Methodology section shows exactly how the study might be reproduced, but sheds little light on the “big picture” (unless you’re actually going to replicate the experiment).

The statistical analyses in the Results are important, but is just the math verifying the significance of the results.

SO - Read the Introduction, Discussion and Conclusion first. Skip the middle sections (Methodology and Results) until you have a handle on the purpose and findings of the study. Then go back and re-read the article with these sections. Now that you know what the researchers were trying to find out, the data, charts, and graphs will make more sense.