earticle

영어

This paper attempts to explicate the countability preference of the noun research in English
research article introductions. The study examines the noun’s distribution in the research article
introduction and combination with complementary prepositions to see what characteristics are
involved in the preference of the singular form. The study concludes that the preference of
research in the singular over researches in the plural can be explained by abstractness and/or
non-boundedness. Research can be understood as more conceptually abstract or unbounded
compared to study, one of other research denoting words. Language users’ conceptions towards
the word research affect its countability preference, even though it is grammatically acceptable
in the singular or plural.