PR 2 (LESSON 7) - INTRODUCTION & CARS MODEL

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

“Why the researcher decided to delve further about their chosen topic” (Lobetos,2018)

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

the part of your paper where you inform the reader of the context of the study.

This part is written when you have already conducted a literature review and has a good perception of the topic

part of the paper where you justify the need to conduct a research study about the topic selected by establishing the research gap.

RESEARCH GAP

an under or unexplored area of a topic that requires further exploration.

The gap can be in a form of other variables, conditions, population, methodology, or test subject.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

It answers the following questions:

1. What is already known about the topic?

2. What is not known about the topic?

3. Why do you need to address those gaps?

4. What is the rationale of your study?

DEFICIENCIES MODEL

CRESWELL (2012)

CARS MODEL

Swales and Feak (2013)

TIOC APPROACH

Nuqui (2019)

Establishing a Territory, Establishing a Niche, Occupying a Niche

3 Movements of CARS Model

Creating a Research Space

What does “CARS" stand for?

Move 1. Establishing a Territory

The author sets the context for his or her research, providing necessary background on the topic.

Step 1. Claiming Centrality

The author asks the audience of the paper to accept that the research about to be reported is part of lively, significant, or well-established research area.

Example:

• "Recently there has been a spate of interest in ...

• "Knowledge of X has great importance for …

Step 2. Making Topic Generalizations

The author makes statements about current knowledge, practices, or phenomena in the field.

Example:

• “The properties of X are still not completely

  understood."

• “X is a common finding in patients with ...

Step 3. Reviewing Previous Items of Research

The author relates what has been found on the topic and who found it.

Example:

• “Both Cooper and Fowler (2016) claim that the biographical facts have been misrepresented.

• “Several studies have suggested that ... (Hofstadter, 2013; Koothrappali, 2019).

• “A seems to have a positive long-term correlation with B (Wolowitz, 2017; Rostenkowski, 2020).

INTEGRAL CITATION

citing the author’s name in the sentence

NON-INTEGRAL CITATION

citing the author’s name in parentheses only

Move 2. Establishing a Niche

The author argues that there is an open “niche“ in the existing research, a space that needs to be filled through additional research.

Step 1A. Counter-Claiming

The author refutes or challenges earlier research by making a counter-claim.

Example:

"While Arceta and Lim believe X method to be accurate, a close examination demonstrates their method to be flawed."

Step 1B. Indicating a Gap

The author demonstrates that earlier research does not sufficiently address all existing questions or problems.

Example:

“While existing studies have clearly established X, they have not addressed Y.“

Step 1C. Question-Raising

The author asks questions about previous research, suggesting that additional research needs to be done.

Example:

• "While Robles and Sevilleja have established X, these findings raise a number of questions, including ..."

• “Despite prior observations in X, it remains unclear why...”

Step 1D. Continuing a Tradition

The author presents the research as a useful extension of existing research.

Example:

• "Earlier studies seemed to suggest X. To verify this finding, more work is urgently needed."

• “Consequently, these factors need to be examined in more detail...

Move 3. Occupying a Niche

The author turns the niche established in Move 2 into the research space that they will fill; that is, the author demonstrates how he or she will substantiate the counter-claim made, fill the gap identified, answer the question(s) asked, or continue the research tradition.

Step 1A. Outlining Purposes

The author indicated the main purpose of the current article

Example:

• In this article, I argue…

• The present research tries to clarify…

Step 1B. Announcing Present Research

The author describes the research in the current article.

Example:

“This paper describes three separate studies conducted between March 2018 and January 2019."

Step 2. Announcing Principal Foundings

The author presents the main conclusions of his or her research.

Example:

• "The results of the study suggest …"

• “The findings indicate a need for ...”

• "When we examined X, we discovered ...”

Step 3. Indicating the Structure of the Research Article

The author previews the organization of the article.

Example:

“This paper is structured as follows…“