如何清楚寫出論文中的研究問題和假設

Quick Takeaways:

et al.' means 'and others'.
Use 'et al.' to cite works with three or more authors.
The presentation (et al., et al., or rarely et al) depends on the style guide or journal guidelines

The English language has a rich history of borrowing words from other languages, especially from Latin. Latin abbreviations such as ‘a.m.’, ‘p.m.’ and ‘CV’ have become part of our everyday vocabulary. Such abbreviations are also frequently used in academic writing, from the ‘Ph.D.’ in the affiliation section to the ‘i.e.’, ‘e.g.’, ‘et al.’, and ‘QED’ in the rest of the paper.

This guide explains when and how to correctly use ‘et al.’ in a research paper.

In this guide:

1)Meaning of ‘et al.’
2)When and how to use ‘et al.’
- a)Table: Correct use of ‘et al.’ by style guide
- b)Unusual scenarios

在之前的幾篇網誌中的，我們已經討論過如何撰寫您的論文引言 (Introduction) 和文獻探討 (Literature Review)，以及如何闡釋您的研究的目的和理據。

因應您所在的專業學科，您或許有需要在撰寫論文主體前先寫出您的研究問題或/及假設。但是，很多時候您都不需要同時提出兩者，除非您的研究有多於一個由同一研究問題延伸出來的假設。

不要誤會，我們絕對不是說您來到這一步才去想您的研究問題或假設。
緊記：您應該要在執行甚至設計您的研究前就已經想好您的研究問題或假設。

我們接下來會談一談您可以如何清楚陳述研究問題或假設。

什麼是研究問題？

研究問題是指您想要透過研究去解答的問題，並能明確指出您的研究的目的。它亦可以引導及聚焦您的研究。

舉個例子:
如果您的研究的目的是要評估一種新開發用於治療焦慮症的療法的療效，您的研究問題就可能會像:

“Is intervention A effective for treating people with anxiety?”

什麼是假設？

上面提到的研究問題需要轉化成一個可被測試的假設。假設是一個可以對您預期會發生的事情作出預測的陳述，而不是以問題形式出現。它被稱作對定向型或對立假設（或稱備擇假設，Alternative Hypothesis），通常以H₁作為縮寫。

繼續上面的研究問題例上，其假設可以寫成:

“Participants who receive intervention A will show a significant reduction in scores on the Anxiety Scale from baseline to 6-week follow up.”

而如果您的研究有應用對照組，假設就可以寫成:

“Participants who receive intervention A will score significantly lower on the Anxiety Scale than participants in the wait-list control group.”

緊記，您的假設需要具有明確性。

回到上面的例子，如果您的假設只是 “Participants who receive the intervention will be less anxious”, 這是不夠明確的，因為它並不可以說出您是如何知道焦慮症得到緩和及 “less” 不能表示減輕的程度。

檢定您的假設

當您檢定您的假設時，其實是在檢定虛無假設(或稱零假設，Null Hypothesis)。它是用來預測您要測試的變量沒有帶出任何差異。

一些期刊會希望您陳述通常被縮寫作H₀的虛無假設，或同時陳述虛無及對立假設。

對應之前提到的例子的虛無假設為:

“Participants who receive intervention A will show no difference in anxiety scores from baseline to 6-week follow-up.”

“Participants who receive intervention A will show no difference in anxiety scores from participants in the wait-list control group.”

一些當您要在論文中寫出多個假設，或同時陳述虛無和對立假設時要注意的小地方

I. 使用盡量相似的關鍵短語和術語去陳述您文中的每一個假設。如果想使用變化的關鍵短語和術語去美化措辭，很多時反而會引起讀者的困惑。

II. 嘗試安排各變量出現在的次序，以使自變項 (Independent Variable) 在句子中都出現在應變項 (Dependent Variable) 之前。該順序反映了效果的假設方向，因此比相反的順序來得更清晰。

留意以下的例子:

QUICK ASIDE

Wondering why some abbreviations such as ‘et al.’ and ‘e.g.’ use periods, whereas others such as CV and AD don’t? Periods are typically used if the abbreviations include lowercase or mixed-case letters. They’re usually not used with abbreviations containing only uppercase letters.

Unusual Scenarios

Our latest online workshop built on the success of face-to-face workshops we developed specifically for local universities. Over 30 faculty members joined the session, presented by our Chief Operating Officer, Mr Nick Case, to learn from our case studies on editing research proposals.

The response to our workshop, which included a constructive and insightful Q&A session, was very positive.Drawing on our extensive experience working with hundreds of Hong Kong researchers targeting the GRF and ECS every year, we used examples of poor and subsequently improved proposals to show the attendees how they can make their applications stand out. The response to our workshop, which included a constructive and insightful Q&A session, was very positive.Drawing on our extensive experience working with hundreds of Hong Kong researchers targeting the GRF and ECS every year, we used examples of poor and subsequently improved proposals to show the attendees how they can make their applications stand out. The response to our workshop, which included a constructive and insightful Q&A session, was very positive.Drawing on our extensive experience working with hundreds of Hong Kong researchers targeting the GRF and ECS every year, we used examples of poor and subsequently improved proposals to show the attendees how they can make their applications stand out.

QUICK ASIDE

Author Resources

Check out AsiaEdit’s professional research grant proposal editing service.
Read more about our training services covering all aspects of academic writing tailored for local institutions.

More resources on research grant proposal writing: On-demand Webinars
Preparing an effective research proposal – Your guide to successful funding application
Preparing an effective research proposal – Your guide to successful funding application (Part 2)

作者背景

Dr Rachel Baron

聯合總編及執行編輯 (社會科學)

Rachel於2001年剛在 University of Exeter 取得博士學位的同時以自由編輯的身份首次加入我們。在擔任博士後研究人員數年之後，她專注於大學教授心理學，並於2010年回到AsiaEdit，並專注於學術編輯專業。她於2018年升任助理總編輯，並於2020年繼而成為我們的聯合主編。由於無法完全離開學術界，她還在意大利的一所英語大學教授心理學。