Using the same step-by-step guidance that made Writing Research Papers 11e the definitive research paper guide, this text will enable students in the social science disciplines and in some freshman composition classes to create research papers that advance or defend a theory, offer a review of research methodology, or create a paper from their own empirical research using the APA style. Writing Research Papers in the Social Sciences provides sample papers demonstrating the rules of documentation as well as the writing style for the social sciences while detailing the uses of new computer technologies students are using today.
Students and researchers all write under pressure, and those pressures—most lamentably, the desire to impress your audience rather than to communicate with them—often lead to pretentious prose, academic posturing, and, not infrequently, writer’s block. Sociologist Howard S. Becker has written the classic book on how to conquer these pressures and simply write. First published nearly twenty years ago, Writing for Social Scientists has become a lifesaver for writers in all fields, from beginning students to published authors. Becker’s message is clear: in order to learn how to write, take a deep breath and then begin writing. Revise. Repeat. It is not always an easy process, as Becker wryly relates. Decades of teaching, researching, and writing have given him plenty of material, and Becker neatly exposes the foibles of academia and its “publish or perish” atmosphere. Wordiness, the passive voice, inserting a “the way in which” when a simple “how” will do—all these mechanisms are a part of the social structure of academic writing. By shrugging off such impediments—or at the very least, putting them aside for a few hours—we can reform our work habits and start writing lucidly without worrying about grades, peer approval, or the “literature.” In this new edition, Becker takes account of major changes in the computer tools available to writers today, and also substantially expands his analysis of how academic institutions create problems for them. As competition in academia grows increasingly heated, Writing for Social Scientists will provide solace to a new generation of frazzled, would-be writers.
Ideal for students new to academic writing, Writing in the Social Sciences, Second Edition, is a clear, step-by-step guide to the entire writing process. Students will learn how to select and research a topic, develop and refine their ideas into a comprehensive outline, and convert the outline into a research paper or book report.
This Second Edition of Diana Ridley’s bestselling guide to the literature review outlines practical strategies for reading and note taking, and guides the reader on how to conduct a systematic search of the available literature, and uses cases and examples throughout to demonstrate best practice in writing and presenting the review. New to this edition are examples drawn from a wide range of disciplines, a new chapter on conducting a systematic review, increased coverage of issues of evaluating quality and conducting reviews using online sources and online literature and enhanced guidance in dealing with copyright and permissions issues.
This book is designed to introduce doctoral and graduate students to the process of conducting scientific research in the social sciences, business, education, public health, and related disciplines. It is a one-stop, comprehensive, and compact source for foundational concepts in behavioral research, and can serve as a stand-alone text or as a supplement to research readings in any doctoral seminar or research methods class. This book is currently used as a research text at universities on six continents and will shortly be available in nine different languages.
"Good writing skills are a pathway to academic success and a lifelong asset for students. The social studies disciplines offer excellent opportunities for the development of these skills because social studies subjects require students to present informatiion clearly and accurately, to summarize different perspectives, and to construct persuasive arguments ... This book offers invaluable suggestions that will help social studies teachers in grades 7 through 12 to teach the skills of communication and self-expression that will enable students to achieve their college and career goals and become effective citizens with a voice in American society."--Page 4 of printed paper wrapper.
This book provides a comprehensive review of the current knowledge on writing and publishing scientific research papers and the social contexts. It deals with both English and non-Anglophone science writers, and presents a global perspective and an international focus. The book collects and synthesizes research from a range of disciplines, including applied linguistics, the sociology of science, sociolinguistics, bibliometrics, composition studies, and science education. This multidisciplinary approach helps the reader gain a solid understanding of the subject. Divided into three parts, the book considers the context of scientific papers, the text itself, and the people involved. It explains how the typical sections of scientific papers are structured. Standard English scientific writing style is also compared with science papers written in other languages. The book discusses the strengths and challenges faced by people with different degrees of science writing expertise and the role of journal editors and reviewers.
Even students capable of writing excellent essays still find their first major political science research paper an intimidating experience. Crafting the right research question, finding good sources, properly summarizing them, operationalizing concepts and designing good tests for their hypotheses, presenting and analyzing quantitative as well as qualitative data are all tough-going without a great deal of guidance and encouragement. Writing a Research Paper in Political Science breaks down the research paper into its constituent parts and shows students what they need to do at each stage to successfully complete each component until the paper is finished. Practical summaries, recipes for success, worksheets, exercises, and a series of handy checklists make this a must-have supplement for any writing-intensive political science course.
Modern academia is increasingly competitive yet the writing style of social scientists is routinely poor and continues to deteriorate. Are social science postgraduates being taught to write poorly? What conditions adversely affect the way they write? And which linguistic features contribute towards this bad writing? Michael Billig's witty and entertaining book analyses these questions in a quest to pinpoint exactly what is going wrong with the way social scientists write. Using examples from diverse fields such as linguistics, sociology and experimental social psychology, Billig shows how technical terminology is regularly less precise than simpler language. He demonstrates that there are linguistic problems with the noun-based terminology that social scientists habitually use - 'reification' or 'nominalization' rather than the corresponding verbs 'reify' or 'nominalize'. According to Billig, social scientists not only use their terminology to exaggerate and to conceal, but also to promote themselves and their work.
The definitive research paper guide, Writing Research Papers combines a traditional and practical approach to the research process with the latest information on electronic research and presentation. This market-leading text provides students with step-by-step guidance through the research writing process, from selecting and narrowing a topic to formatting the finished document. Writing Research Papers backs up its instruction with the most complete array of samples of any writing guide of this nature. The text continues its extremely thorough and accurate coverage of citation styles for a wide variety of disciplines. The fourteenth edition maintains Lester's successful approach while bringing new writing and documentation updates to assist the student researcher in keeping pace with electronic sources.
