What’s a theoretical framework for? How do you effectively present your data in a figure? What’s the secret to a good presentation?As an interdisciplinary student, you delve into theories and research methodsfrom a whole range of disciplines. Academic skills are the tools that you can use to take in, develop, integrate and question knowledge. This guide provides specific instructions, tips and examples to help students develop these skills, both during and after their studies.As academic education focuses on research, the empirical cycle forms a keytheme of the book, including when discussing the following skills:- Searching for, critically reading and analysing scholarly texts- Formulating research questions- Making concepts measurable, qualitatively and quantitatively- Organizing literature and data- Analysing and formulating an argument- Academic writing- Collaborating- Reflecting- Presenting

Koen van der Gaast spent three years working as a lecturer for the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies’ Bachelor’s programme in Future Planet Studies, where he lectured on academic skills, among other things. He is now a PhD candidate at Wageningen University & Research and Aeres University of Applied Sciences, Almere.Laura Koenders, PhD, works at the Bachelorprogramme Psychobiology at the University of Amsterdam. Here she teaches Academical Skills, and different courses around the topics neuropsychology, neuroanatomy and research skills.Ger Post spent five years working at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, including as a lecturer in academic skills for the Bachelor’s programme in Natural and Social Sciences. He now works as an educational specialist at the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Melbourne.

Table of contentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionPart I Orientation and readingChapter 1 Preparatory reading and searchingFamiliarizing yourself with a topicFinding your bearings outside the universityFinding your bearings at universityFinding your bearings between university and societyAn initial literature searchConcepts and theoriesScholarly literatureGrey literatureAcademic literature and 'ordinary' search enginesScholarly search enginesAvailabilityThe libraryDigital search engines and databasesSearch methodsOrdering your search resultsContinuous searchExploratory readingSpeed readingSourcesOther useful sourcesChapter 2 Gathering and organizing key informationOptimizing your study environmentLearning objectivesReading strategiesReading textbooksReading academic articles and booksSystematic readingOrganizing informationSourcesOther useful sourcesChapter 3 Studying thoroughly and criticallySentence-level analysisTypes of argumentationSimple argumentationPlural argumentationCoordinating argumentationSubordinate argumentationImplicit motivationCritically evaluating textsSourcesOther useful sourcesPart 2 Making your research measurableChapter 4 From your topic to your questionTheoretical frameworkFrom theories to concepts and dimensionsThe theoretical framework and interdisciplinary researchThe problem statementSourcesChapter 5 Formulating a good questionCharacteristics of a research questionTypes of questionsSourcesChapter 6 A testable conceptWhy operationalize?From dimensions to indicators and variablesOperationalization and validityOther forms of operationalizationSourcesChapter 7 Making a research instrumentQualitative versus quantitativeWhen qualitative and when quantitative?OperationalizationStructure of the instrumentDetermining your sampleMaking a qualitative research instrumentFormulating interview questionsFrom indicators to topic lists or questionnairesOrder of the questionnairePhrasing interview questionsValidity and reliability of your instrumentAssessment by an ethics committeeSourcesOther useful sourcesPart 3 Doing and writing up researchChapter 8 Research practiceResearch practice: quantitative researchSafeguarding the validity of quantitative researchKeeping a logOrganizing your dataGetting familiar with your dataResearch practice for qualitative research: conducting interviewsBefore the interviewDuring the interviewAfter the interviewAnalysing the interviewSourcesOther useful sourcesChapter 9 The structure of your articleArgumentation structureObjectionsFraming an argument: pitfallsThe structure of a scholarly articleThe introductionThe middle sectionThe literature reviewThe research articleMethodologyResultsPresenting dataFiguresTablesThe discussion and the conclusionValorizationSourcesChapter 10 Finishing your article: academic writing, titles, and abstractsThe title and the abstractWriting clearlyAcademic language useSourcesOther useful sourcesChapter 11 Citing sources and the bibliographyReference management softwareIn-text citationsQuotesParaphrasingCitations in the bibliographyJournalsBooksResearch reportsInternet resourcesPersonal communication and interviewsSourcesOther useful sourcesPart 4 Reflecting and communicatingChapter 12 Preventing fraud and plagiarismChapter 13 Collaboration, feedback, and peer reviewCollaborating: drawing up a team charterEvaluating teamworkGiving and receiving feedbackFeedback on behaviourFeedback on contentPeer reviewReflecting on assumptionsSourcesOther useful sourcesChapter 14 PresentingDefining the theme of your presentationStructure and coherenceTips for a good presentationVisual aidsUsing figures, tables, images, or film clipsPresentation skillsLeading a discussionAsk good questionsCreating a safe atmosphereGiving poster presentationsPoints to bear in mind when designing a posterYour elevator pitchSourcesOther useful sour