1.7.5 Theory Again, research is conducted in a context of existing ideas, evidence, and thinking. One key skill is the demonstration of cognisance of the theoretical context and of how it shapes your own research, including: understanding key theoretical strands and theoretical concepts in your discipline understanding how theory shapes your research question the ability to contribute something useful to the theoretical debate in
1.7.1 Research methods in context Any established discipline has a tradition of practice. Many disciplines have established methodologies which prescribe the selection, combination and sequencing of the methods and techniques to be employed. Others select methods and techniques less prescriptively and borrow more broadly across domain boundaries. All disciplines require an appropriate application of methods, in order to ensure rigour. Hence, one key skill is the demonstration of an appropriate knowledge and competence
1.1 Thoughts on a PhD Entering students often think of a PhD as a ‘magnum opus’, a brilliant research project culminating in a great work. This is rather a demanding model, and few students win Nobel Prizes as a result of their doctoral studies. More realistically, a PhD is research training leading to a research qualification. The PhD is a passport to a research career. There are other views of a PhD, as well. Getting a PhD can be a ‘rite of passage’, prerequisite to admission into the academic ‘t
1.10 Changing sea-level
Sedimentary rocks reveal how environmental conditions in Britain's geological past were extremely different from those of the present day (in fact ‘Britain’, like the rest of the Earth's geography is transitory when viewed in terms of the very long span of geological time). As well as evidence from sedimentary rocks, recent landforms also indicate that in the more recent geological past (within the Quaternary Period), sea-level was not the same as it is at present. 1.6 The formation of metamorphic rocks Any type of rock can become a metamorphic rock if it is heated to temperatures of several hundred degrees Celsius, and/or if subjected to high pressure (because of the weight of overlying rocks). During metamorphism, the minerals making up the rock become chemically unstable, meaning that their constituent ions are redistributed. The result is that either large crystals grow at the expense of existing smaller ones, or a new set of minerals is formed. Generally speaking, the overall chemical c 1.5.2 Sedimentary processes Sedimentary grains are formed when the rocks at the Earth's surface are slowly broken up physically by exposure to wind and frost, and decomposed (chemically) by rainwater or biological action. These processes are collectively termed weathering. Once a rock has been broken up by weathering, the small rock fragments and individual mineral grains can be eroded from their place of origin by water, wind or glaciers and transported to be deposited elsewhere as roughly horizontal layers of sediment 1.4.4 Classifying igneous rocks To classify (i.e. to name) igneous rocks, geologists use three pieces of information in combination – the grain size and the identity and proportions of the minerals present. The identification of minerals in a rock relies on recognising their particular distinguishing features. Such features include colour, lustre (the way in which light is reflected from the mineral's surface) and shape. The way in which certain minerals break apart along preferred planes, a property known as cleavage, ca 1.4.3 Chemical and mineral composition of igneous rocks As well as varying in grain size (owing to different cooling rates), igneous rocks also vary in chemical composition and hence in the identity and proportions of minerals present. For instance, the common igneous rock granite contains (as part of the strict geological definition of the term ‘granite’) between 10% and 35% by volume of the mineral quartz (chemical composition silicon dioxide – SiO2). On the other hand, the igneous rock gabbro (Author(s): 1.4.1 Igneous rocks in the landscape The rocks that erupt from volcanoes are called extrusive igneous rocks, simply because they are formed by the extrusion of magma on to the Earth's surface. Igneous rocks can also form deep underground, and these are called intrusive igneous rocks, because the magmas were intruded into pre-existing rocks and then slowly cooled. The reason that intrusive igneous rocks are now visible at the surface is that over many millions of years erosion has stripped away the overlying rocks. 4.2 Definitions of ageing The term ‘ageing’ carries a number of different meanings. It encompasses changes that occur at many levels, from the population down to the molecular. Even at a single level, ageing does not represent a single process, but many processes, which may operate independently. Therefore, the challenge of defining ageing is more complex than it might first 3.1.2. After reading this article: The chapter by Teesson et al. (2002) will have presented you with a clearly written initial orientation to addiction. The article introduced addiction at several different levels of explanation in what the authors term a ‘biopsy chosocial model’ (p. 47). Such an integrated model is at the heart of the app 3.1 Addiction article 1 The first selected reading provides a wide ranging review of the theories associated with addiction illustrating how the subject can be investigated at a number of different levels of analysis. The second article explores one particular level further, the pharmacology of drug addiction, and asks why specific drugs are more likely to induce addictive behaviour. Introduction We are used to seeing spectacular astronomical images in the press and on the internet. This unit gives an in-depth introduction to two of the most important instruments used to create these images and explore the science behind them – telescopes and spectographs. This unit is drawn from the preparatory work for the practical residential school at the Observatori Astronomic de Mallorca. The unit image shows a student at work in one of the telescope domes at the Observatori. This 1.6 Conclusion This unit has presented an overview of the ways in which organisms living in temperate habitats are adapted to survive the winter. The unit has shown how a limited set of environmental changes associated with the onset of winter can lead to a diversity of adaptations and therefore a large diversity of species. On the basis of the examples discussed in this unit, we can identify four factors that contribute to the diversity of adaptive strategies for coping with winter. Introduction From the moment that Galileo dropped two cannonballs of different sizes and weights from the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa mankind has been fascinated by the impact of gravity. This unit looks at gravity, its impact on objects and how the energy involved in the movement of objects is dispersed or stored. This unit is from our archive and is an adapted extract from How the universe works (S197) which is no longer taught by The Open University. If you want to study formally with us, yo 3 Where do earthquakes occur? How deep in the Earth do earthquakes occur? Most earthquake foci are within a few tens of kilometres of the surface. Earthquakes less than 70 km deep are classified as shallow-focus. Earthquakes with foci 70–300 km deep are classified as intermediate-focus and those below 300 km are deep-focus (Figure 7). Shallow-focus 1.6.1 Introduction The process of keeping up-to-date in your chosen subject area is useful for your studies and afterwards, for your own personal satisfaction, or perhaps in your career as part of your continuing professional development. There are a great many tools available that make it quite easy to keep yourself up to date. You can set them up so that the information comes to you, rather than you having to go out on the web looking for it. Over the next few pages, you will be experimenting with some 3.1.3 (C) Scientific methods and critical testing Pupils should be taught that science uses the experimental method to test ideas, and, in particular, about certain basic techniques such as the use of controls. It should be made clear that the outcome of a single experiment is rarely sufficient to establish a knowledge claim. Learning outcomes After completing this unit you will have a basic understanding of: how the legal system in the UK works; how laws are made in the UK; some of the key players in UK law enforcement; different ways of taking notes. 6.2 Summary of Part E In Part E you have studied: the nature of pressure groups; their composition; how they operate; examples of successful pressure groups; the strengths and weaknesses of pressure groups.
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