In addition to the titles of academic journals and articles, it is possible to determine which field of science an article belongs to from its content, the language used, and the focus of the study. For example, an article from the humanities explores people’s relationships of communication, satisfaction, and beliefs (Willoughby et al. 1631). These parameters are quite abstract and relate more to the field of human perception than to precise measurements. The article from the field of social sciences already uses the study of correlations, describing the relationship between phenomena and their influence on each other (Geist 1).
Additionally, the researchers use more different graphs and numbers and focus on social and economic contexts. An article from the field of natural sciences no longer uses statistical data but the study of various phenomena through the construction of systems and models. For example, Schacht and Kramer consider the human mating system through the lens of its influence on evolution (2). Thus, these articles use a more experimental design with application to the global development of the human species.
Within the framework of the differences in articles that relate to various fields of science, a number of features can be distinguished by which a scientific area can be identified. First of all, the humanities pay more attention to the perception of a particular phenomenon and use surveys of participants for research. The social sciences are characterized by the search for correlations between phenomena and the social context, as well as the identification of statistical patterns. Finally, for the natural sciences, an experimental study is important that can describe one or another phenomenon of nature or humans.
Articles also differ in organizational structure depending on the field of science to which they belong. Thus, an article from the humanities field contains background information, a description of the research methodology, including the measurement procedure, presents the results, as well as a discussion. The social science article contains background information, data and methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion. Notably, the social science article clearly lists the data that will be used to find correlates. At the same time, in an article that refers to the humanities, various characteristics are used that are identified through various survey points.
The article from the natural sciences is a literary review, so its structure reflects the description of key concepts related to the influence of monogamy on the evolution of the human species. Compared to other papers presented, this paper focuses solely on the biological factors that shape the behavior of an entire species. The structure of the article reflects its focus and describes correlates such as concealed ovulation, testis size, sexual dimorphism, and others.
Looking more closely at one of the articles, important writing techniques can be used in other papers. In particular, Willoughby et al. use their research and its results to test existing views and models of marital centrality. The authors use existing theoretical knowledge as a framework to shape their own research. This technique allows them to make their paper more evidence-based while also offering significant correlates that already exist for research and consideration. This aspect offers an interesting technique that can be used to write research papers. First of all, it helps in the effective use of existing information in the field to form a new body of knowledge.
I could borrow this strategy into my own writing as it will allow me to create more professional academic papers. This technique allows you to build a consistent structure of the study. Within this structure, the authors first present the existing knowledge and later present the gaps that can be identified in it. After that, the authors propose their own research, which could provide results to fill the existing gaps in this area. In my opinion, this technique offers consistent guidelines for writing a quality academic paper that I can use in the future.
The main difference between the three articles is the purpose of their writing, which is determined by the scientific field. For example, the purpose of a humanitarian article is to explore “links between marital centrality and commitment, communication, and relationship satisfaction… at the individual level and couple level” (Willoughby et al. 1634). The social sciences consider how “macroeconomic circumstances, gender relations, and policy regimes shape heterosexual marriage rates and timing, and how these mechanisms may have changed over time” (Geist 2). The natural science article describes mating patterns found in the human species (Schacht and Kramer 1-2). Thus, these articles are intended to consider marriage at various levels of its functioning.
In particular, the humanities focus more on the relationship and emotional aspects of marriage among individuals. The social sciences view marriage in the context of social and economic change, emphasizing it as part of the structure of society. Finally, the natural sciences consider the role of marriage as a biological, behavioral tool that shapes the specific characteristics of the human species. Thus, the three articles look at marriage from very different perspectives at the individual, social, and species levels. Each of the articles offers a certain view on the importance of this construct and phenomenon in various spheres of human life and society. However, they also define marriage and its goals differently depending on the context of the study.
The citation styles in an article from the humanities and sciences are similar and offer citations to the author of the work and the year of its publication. The social science article uses footnotes, most of which are located in the background information section. The format of the articles is also similar and offers a division into sections as well as subsections that form the overall structure of the article. Undoubtedly, since an article from the field of natural sciences is in the nature of a literature review, the structure and format in it are different because it does not contain a research part. At the same time, in this article, one can find the largest number of references to previous studies than in other papers.
The formats of humanities research and social science research are very similar and contain the same elements. At the same time, due to the nature of the article, the format of research from the field of natural sciences is significantly different and corresponds to the style of the review. The language used in the article also varies because it reflects the different focuses of the research. In particular, different technical terminology is used depending on the field of study, which is also explained in detail in the text. The humanitarian article uses a focus on relationships, satisfactions, and beliefs; the article on asocial sciences focuses on social and economic correlates; an article from the natural sciences uses biological terms. These aspects give an idea of ​​what results in the authors are pursuing and what conclusions they can provide.
Works Cited
Geist, Claudia. “Marriage Formation in Context: Four Decades in Comparative Perspective.” Social Sciences, vol. 6, no. 1, 2017, pp. 1-16.
Schacht, Ryan, and Karen L. Kramer. “Are We Monogamous? A Review of the Evolution of Pair-Bonding in Humans and Its Contemporary Variation Cross-Culturally.” Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 7, 2019, pp. 1-10.
Willoughby, Brian J., et al. “What Does Marriage Mean to Us? Marital Centrality among Newlywed Couples.” Journal of Family Issues, vol. 42, no. 7, 2020, pp. 1631-1654.