R23: Matching features: researchers and their findings

In matching features, you match statements to a list of options, usually people. For example: "Match each finding to the researcher who made it." The options can also be places, dates, companies or theories. The good news is that names are easy to scan for. The challenge is reading carefully around each name.

Why this matters

Matching features often appears in Passage 2 or 3, where several experts are quoted. Students lose marks by matching the right idea to the wrong person, often because of words like he, she or the latter. A clear method fixes this.

How it's set up

Match each statement with the correct researcher, A, B or C.

• A Dr Ahmed
• B Professor Lin
• C Dr Walsh

Statements:

• 1. Sleep improves memory in older adults.
• 2. Most studies on sleep have used too few participants.

Key facts:

• The statements don't follow passage order.
• One researcher may match several statements. Read the instructions.
• Some researchers may not be used.

The method

1. Highlight every name in the passage first. Names are easy to scan because they start with capital letters. On screen, use the highlight tool.
2. Read around each name. Read the sentence with the name, and the sentence after it. That's usually where their idea is.
3. Summarise each person's idea in a few words. For example: Ahmed: older people, memory.
4. Match the statements. Statements are paraphrased, so match meaning, not words.

Watch out for pronouns

Often the name appears once, and then the writer uses she, he, they or the latter. The idea might be two sentences after the name.

"Professor Lin's team studied 2,000 volunteers. She found that people who slept less than six hours made more errors at work."

She means Professor Lin. The finding belongs to her, even though her name isn't in the same sentence.

A worked example

Dr Ahmed tested people over 65 and found that a good night's sleep improved their ability to remember new words. However, Dr Walsh is cautious about such findings. He points out that most sleep studies, including this one, involve fewer than 50 people, which makes the results less reliable. Professor Lin's team, by contrast, studied 2,000 volunteers. She found that people who slept less than six hours made more errors at work.

Match:

1. Sleep improves memory in older adults.
2. Most studies on sleep have used too few participants.
3. Lack of sleep affects job performance.

Notice the paraphrases: people over 65 became older adults; fewer than 50 people became too few participants; errors at work became job performance.

Honest note

Sometimes two experts say similar things. The difference is often small, like one says "may" and the other says "definitely". Read carefully when ideas look alike.

Your task today

Take a passage with several experts. Before answering, write one line summarising each expert's idea.