academic-writing

# Academic writing and research methodology Systematic approaches for scholarly writing, research design, and academic communication. ## Research design fundamentals ### Research question development ```markdown ## Crafting a research question ### The FINER criteria - **F**easible: Can you actually do this research? - **I**nteresting: Does it matter to the field? - **N**ovel: Does it add new knowledge? - **E**thical: Can it be done ethically? - **R**elevant: Does it address a real problem? ### Question types | Type | Purpose | Example | |------|---------|---------| | Descriptive | Document phenomena | "What are the characteristics of X?" | | Comparative | Compare groups/conditions | "How does X differ between groups?" | | Correlational | Examine relationships | "Is there a relationship between X and Y?" | | Causal | Establish causation | "Does X cause Y?" | | Exploratory | Generate hypotheses | "What factors might explain X?" | ### Refining your question Start broad → Narrow progressively Draft 1: "How does social media affect politics?" Draft 2: "How does Twitter use affect political polarization?" Draft 3: "How does exposure to partisan Twitter accounts affect political attitude polarization among US adults?" Draft 4: "Does increased exposure to ideologically homogeneous Twitter feeds increase affective polarization among politically engaged US adults aged 18-35?" ``` ### Literature review strategy ```markdown ## Systematic literature se...