Lecture
Sectioning the text of a research study consists in dividing such a text into constituent parts, graphically separating one part from another, and also using headings, numbering, and so on. Sectioning in a master's thesis reflects the logic of the research and therefore presupposes a clear division of the manuscript into separate, logically subordinated parts.
The simplest unit of sectioning is the paragraph - an indentation to the right at the beginning of the first line of each part of the text. It is most often regarded as a compositional device used to combine a number of sentences that share a common subject of presentation. Paragraphs are made so that thoughts stand out more clearly and their presentation takes on a more finished character. Therefore, correctly dividing the text of a research study into paragraphs substantially eases its reading and comprehension.
The paragraphs of a single section or chapter must be sequentially connected with one another in meaning. Within each paragraph, systematic order and sequence should be maintained in the presentation of facts, observing the internal logic of their presentation, which is largely determined by the nature of the text.
In narrative texts (that is, texts setting out a series of sequential events), the order of presenting facts is most often determined by the chronological sequence of the facts and their connection in meaning with one another. Only pivotal events are given in the text, with account taken of their duration in time and their significance in meaning for revealing the topic as a whole.
In descriptive texts, when a subject or phenomenon is revealed by enumerating its features and properties, it is customary first to give a general description of the fact being described, taken as a whole, and only then a description of its individual parts.
As for dividing the text of the work into larger parts, it should be divided into structural parts with regard to the logical rules for dividing a concept. Let us examine the application of such rules using the example of dividing the chapters of the main part into sections:
- enumerate all the types of the concept being divided. Therefore the sum of the volume of the members of the division must equal the volume of the concept being divided. This means that, in terms of its semantic content, the chapter must correspond exactly to the combined semantic content of the sections belonging to it;
- throughout the whole division the chosen basis of division must remain one and the same and must not be replaced by a different basis. The consequence of this is that, firstly, the division will turn out to be incomplete, and, secondly, the members of the division will partly coincide with one another;
- in meaning the members of the division must exclude one another, and not relate to one another as part to whole;
- the division must be continuous, i.e. in the process of division one must move to the nearest subtypes without skipping over them. The error that arises when this rule of logic is violated is called a "jump in the division";
- the headings of the chapters and sections of a master's thesis must accurately reflect the content of the text belonging to them. They must not curtail or expand the amount of semantic information contained in them.
It is not recommended:
to include in a heading words that reflect general concepts or that do not clarify the meaning of the heading;
to include in a heading words that are highly specialised or local terms;
to include in a heading abbreviated words and acronyms, as well as chemical, mathematical, physical and technical formulae.
Any heading in a scientific text should be as brief as possible, i.e. it should not contain superfluous words. However, excessive brevity is also highly undesirable, since the shorter the heading, the broader it is in content.
Sectioning of the text is often combined with numbering - a numerical (or alphabetical) designation of the sequence in which its constituent parts are arranged.
Possible numbering systems:
the use of different types of symbols - Roman and Arabic numerals, upper- and lower-case letters, combined with paragraph indentation;
the use of only Arabic numerals, arranged in certain combinations.
At present, a purely numerical system of numbering is being introduced into scientific and technical texts, according to which the numbers of the largest parts of a research work (the first degree of division) consist of a single digit, the numbers of the constituent parts (the second degree of division) consist of two digits, the third degree of division consists of three digits, and so on.
Comments