Writing the

Research Findings
(Body) &
Integrating Sources
 Learning Outcomes

1. Establish understanding of paragraph development (topic

sentence, supporting details, and closing)
2. Synthesize multiple sources into one coherent paragraph by
applying correct APA referencing.
 Example

Proposal writing skills are essential for all NGO

professionals. In fact, Summers (2022) stated that
“without the writing skills necessary to secure
government funding, aid workers may as well give up
the idea of helping anyone and just go home” (p.
83). He said that because while many people
expressed interest in helping the refugees, nobody
knew how to get the funds needed to do so. In this
case, the NGOs did, in fact, run out of money, and
all volunteers were sent back to their home countries,
which caused crisis to develop in the refugee camps.
 Example

Proposal writing skills are essential for all NGO

professionals. In fact, Summers (2022) stated that
“without the writing skills necessary to secure
government funding, aid workers may as well give
up the idea of helping anyone and just go home” (p.
83). He said that because while many people
expressed interest in helping the refugees, nobody
knew how to get the funds needed to do so. In this
case, the NGOs did, in fact, run out of money, and all
volunteers were sent back to their home countries,
which caused crisis to develop in the refugee camps.
 Verbs for Introducing
Quotations
• In APA, use the past tense to describe other people’s
work
• Avoid using said. Instead, use academic words to
introduce the source information.
• Give source’s concepts/background: described, explained,
stated
• Give source’s argument: argued, asserted, suggested,
claimed
• Give source’s results: reported, showed, found, indicated,
demonstrated
 APA Quotation Format—under 40 words

• Author’s name, year, and page number immediately following

quotation
• Because genres are “abstract, socially recognized ways of using
language” (Hyland, 2003, p. 21) the types of genres that language
learners need to be taught will vary by culture.
• Author’s name in the sentence immediately followed by year
• Page number immediately following quotation
• Hyland (2003) explained that genres are “abstract, socially recognized
ways of using language” (p. 354).
Omitting the quotation marks is PLAGIARISM (even if you
include the citation)
 APA Quotation Format—40 words or more

• Start on a new
line

• No quotation
marks

• ½ in. indent

• Double space
entire quotation

• Citation at end
after last
punctuation
Explain the Quotation

• Explain the quotation by saying:

• What you think the quotation means
• Why it is important
• How it is relevant to the point you are making
 Explain the Quotation—
Examples
• Basically, Tyson argued that…“…”

• In other words, Boskin believed that…“…”

• In making this statement, Gee indicated that…“…”

• Young and Song’s point is that…“…”

 Integrating Quotations into your own
sentences

• Quotations can be full sentences or shorter phrases.

• Integrate quotations into your own sentence structure.
• As Kern and Schultz (2005) indicated, “[b]ecause literacies
are social practices, they are critically linked to social
identities” (p. 383).
• Genres are “abstract, socially recognized ways of using
language” (Hyland, 2003, p. 21).
• According to Kozol (2000), “savage inequalities” (p. 12)
exist throughout our educational system.
 Modifying Quotations

The following table gives you a few of the most common rules for
modifying the words of authors in a direct quote:

Making a change Correct convention

Leaving out some words (because you

Use an ellipsis signal (three dots ... ).
may not need all of the words in the
Leave a space either side of the 3 dots
middle of the quote)

Changing the capitalisation of a letter Use square brackets [ ] around the letter

Adding words to the quote (without Use square brackets [ ] around the
changing the meaning) added words
Modifying Quotations

[S]tudents include four quotations where one would do. This can give the impression
that you don’t have enough to say and are using quotations to take up space [a
[S]tudents include
common strategy four students].
for some quotations where
Also, the one
excessive usewould do.may
of quotes... This
be
can give the impression that you don’t have enough to say
taken to indicate that you don’t understand the position well enough to explain it in
and are
your ownusing
wordsquotations to take
(Dartmouth, 2008, p.11). up space [a common
strategy for some students]. Also, the excessive use of
quotes... may be taken to indicate that you don’t
Shows some words have been
understand the position wellleftenough to explain
out of the original text. it in your own
words (Dartmouth, 2008, p.11).
Shows a capital letter has been
added to the original text.
Shows a comment has been
added to the original text.
Sample Sandwich Quotation

Kimmel (1990) claimed that “[s]ocioeconomic

status, ethnic origin, intelligence, gender, and race
tend to operate in complex . . . ways to limit the
range of occupations open to an individual" (p.
293). In other words, many genetic and social
factors contribute to the job opportunities
available to people today.
Direct Quotations

Don't do this!
• Don't DUMP information into your paragraph. Blend the words
of the author with your own words.

• Don't use TOO MANY direct quotes in your writing (e.g. 2-3
long quotes and 4-5 short quotes is enough in a 2000 word
essay). The lecturers prefer to see paraphrasing - writing
quotes in your own words).

• Don't change a couple of words from a direct quote and

think that it is a paraphrase - either use the exact words or
change the words of the author significantly so that it is a
correct paraphrase.
 The Academic Word List (AWL)

 The AWL is a list of words which appear with

high frequency in English-language academic
texts.
 The list was compiled by Averil Coxhead at the
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
 The list contains 570 word families and is divided
into 10sublists. Sublist 1 consists of the 60 most
common words in the AWL.
 Paraphrasing

To paraphrase is to rewrite something 'in your own words'.

• Lecturers like to see you using paraphrasing in your
writing because it demonstrates what you know
and understand about their subject (because it is in
your own words).

• Most of your academic reading texts are made up

of paraphrases. Any information in a paragraph that
does not have quotation marks and is referenced is
either a paraphrase or a summary.
Paraphrasing

Students often experience difficulties writing acceptable paraphrases. In

their studies of student essay writing problems, Brown and Smith (2006)
observe that the most common paraphrasing error made by students was
that they only changed a few of the writer’s words. They also noted that this
practice was a particular problem with internet users who copied and
pasted information from web sites. Even if this paraphrased text is
referenced, it is not an acceptable practice as the words and sentences are
also almost the same as the original text (Johnson & Jackson, 2006).
Therefore students who lack mastery in paraphrasing may experience
problems with avoiding plagiarism. (106 words)
 Paraphrasing
For ALL paraphrases:

• Keep the meaning the same as the original

writing
• Change most of the words except for
technical terms
• Restructure the sentence patterns

• Blend with the sentence (use reporting

words)
• Use strong/weak author to acknowledge the
source
• Reference the source/s of information
 Acceptable Paraphrases

• Original: Depression affects 22 percent of Americans aged eighteen

and older (one in five adults) every year, making it one of the most
common medical conditions in the United States. It affects young and
old, and is twice as common in women as in men.

Two paraphrases: Which is acceptable?

1. According to Balch (2006), over one-fifth of the adult American
population suffers from depression. In terms of at-risk populations,
gender appears to be a more significant factor than age; in fact,
women are twice as likely to suffer from depression as men.

2. According to Balch (2006), depression impacts 22 percent of

Americans (aged 18+) annually, making it one of the most widespread
medical problems in America. The disease reaches people of every
age, and is two times as common in women as in men.
 Acceptable Paraphrases

• Original: Nutritional deficiencies resulting from malabsorption

may weaken the immune system, in turn prolonging the time
required for the inflammation and ulcers to heal.
• Two paraphrases: Which is acceptable?
1. Deficiencies in nutrition caused by malabsorption may make the
immune system weaker, which makes the required time longer for the
inflammation and ulcers to heal (Balch, 2006).
2. Stomach problems such as inflammation and ulcers may have difficulty
healing when the stomach is unable to absorb nutrients properly
(Balch, 2006).
 Summarizing
Summaries of material may be used to give an overview of an
author’s work.
• Because they are very brief outlines of arguments made, they
are very useful when you want to indicate the support given for
and/or against some position you are taking in your argument.

• In your writing you may make a summary from:

• one or more paragraphs
• an entire article, chapter or complete work
• a combination of readings with similar ideas

• You can get an idea from your reading as to whether an author

has used a direct quote, paraphrase or summary to support
their argument.
Summarizing
 Summarizing
For ALL summaries:

• Keep the meaning and degree of certainty

the same as the original writing
• Put the main idea and key points into your
own words
• Expect that length of your summary will be
very short compared to the original writing
• Blend with the sentence (use reporting words)

• Use strong/weak author to acknowledge the

source
• Reference the source/s of information
Summarizing

Don't do this!

• Don't sacrifice CLARITY (clear writing) by clogging your

writing up with too many details. You need to get to the
essence of what the writer has to say in as few words as
possible.

• Don't do a one-off summary. You need to have several tries

at a good summary. Keep checking against the original to
ensure that you have maintained the message and
captured the surety of the writer (how committed the writer
is to their opinion).
Integrating
Sources