Dictionary of Useful Research Phrases

(AUTHOR UNKNOWN)

Phrase
Actual Meaning
"It has long been known ..." "I didn't look up the original reference."
"It is clear that ..." "Ad-hoc (just trust me on this, OK!!??)."
"It can be shown that ..." "I saw someone proved it once, but I'd lost my notes."
"A definite trend is evident ..." "These data are practically meaningless."
"Of great theoretical and practical importance ..." "I need this to graduate."
"While it has not been possible to provide definite answers to these questions ..." "This was an unsuccessful experiment, but I still hope to get it published."
"Three of the samples were chosen for detailed study ..." "The others made no sense."
"Typical results are shown ..." "The best results are shown."
"Similar research has been done by ..." "I've cited all the reviewers on the committee to make sure my paper gets accepted."
"It is believed that ..." "I think."
"It is generally believed that ..." "Two other guys think so, too."
"It is clear that much additional work will be required before a complete insight of the phenomenon is possible ..." "I don't understand it."
"Correct within an order of magnitude ..." "Wrong."
"It is hoped that this study will stimulate more work in this field ..." "This is a lousy paper, but so are the others in this crummy field."
"The data was analyzed for correctness ..." "I threw out the results I didn't like."
"Thanks are due to Joe Blotz for assistance with the experimental work and to George Frink for the valuable discussions ..." "Blotz did the work, and Frink explained to me what it meant."
"A careful anaylsis of obtainable data ..." "Three pages of notes were obliterated when I knocked over a glass of beer."
"An emperical study was performed ..." "I did a little work at the bar."
"The study involved 250 subjects ..." "250 undergraduates received extra credit for being guinea pigs."
"A statisitically oriented projection of the findings ..." "Wild guess."
"For completeness we now briefly summarize the background of ..." "This is utterly irrelevant information, but without it my thesis won't even make 40 pages."
"Future work ..." "For those who want to follow the fool."
"A highly significant area for exploratory study ..." "A totally useless topic suggested by my committee."

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