The Craft of Writing in Sociology: Developing the Argument in Undergraduate Essays and Dissertations PDF
Preview The Craft of Writing in Sociology: Developing the Argument in Undergraduate Essays and Dissertations
i THE CRAFT OF WRITING IN SOCIOLOGY ii iii THE CRAFT OF WRITING IN SOCIOLOGY Developing the argument in undergraduate essays and dissertations ANDREW BALMER AND ANNE MURCOTT Manchester University Press iv Copyright © Andrew Balmer and Anne Murcott 2017 The rights of Andrew Balmer and Anne Murcott to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Published by Manchester University Press Altrincham Street, Manchester M1 7JA www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 7849 9270 5 paperback First published 2017 The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any external or third- party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Typeset by Out of House Publishing v CONTENTS Preface and acknowledgements vii Introduction to the book 1 Part I Principles and practices of writing and argumentation 9 1 Reading critically and making notes 11 2 Making an argument 32 3 Beginnings in detail 62 4 Middles in detail 80 5 Endings in detail 98 6 Editing and proof- reading 106 7 Detailed case studies of student examples 111 8 Writing a dissertation 128 Part II Tips and techniques 145 9 Choosing an essay question 147 10 How to decide what to read 149 11 How to get past writer’s block 152 12 Rhetorical questions: should I use them? 154 13 How to cut your essay down to length 156 14 Making use of feedback 158 Part III Spelling, grammar and punctuation 161 15 The basics of spelling, grammar and punctuation 163 16 Common spelling and vocabulary mistakes 188 Appendix: further reading 193 References 196 Index 198 vi vii PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The earliest antecedent for this book dates from 2001, when one of us (Anne Murcott) set up a writing group for PhD students and junior research fellows in the social sciences while holding a visiting position in New Zealand at CSAFE, University of Otago. On returning to the United Kingdom she then set up a similar group in Science & Technology Studies at IGBIS, University of Nottingham. This second group met monthly for close on a decade, attended at one time or another by something like thirty PhD students, of whom the other of us (Andrew Balmer) was one. It is he who devised this book, created its shape and developed it espe- cially for undergraduate students taking courses in sociology. Although our combined experience of teaching, supervision and management runs up to post- doctoral level, we have tailored the book towards under- graduate essays and dissertations in order to provide a solid grounding for developing basic techniques of writing, not simply to help students completing their first degree but also to provide a foundation for what- ever direction they take after graduating. We are well aware that there are many books for students about how to write (and list a selection in the Appendix): advice about writing in general has a long, varied and often opinionated history, including ‘classics’ by Robert Graves, George Orwell and Margaret Atwood in the last hundred years alone. We have aimed this book at a very specific literal and metaphorical gap – the space beside the laptop during the very doing of an essay – in which it may sit ready to be consulted as the actual work of putting an essay together unfolds. We are heavily indebted to fellow members of both original writ- ing groups, but to the Nottingham one in particular for their commit- ment, colleagueship and great good humour – as well as for inventing the informal name of the group which we have impertinently purloined for the title of this book. We are also very grateful to undergraduate nevwgienipirepdf viii PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS students who have given us permission to use extracts from their essays and dissertations to illustrate our discussion (and to whom we have ran- domly referred as ‘she’ or ‘he’ to help conceal their identity). We wish to thank everyone at Manchester University Press who helped us with this book, but especially Tom Dark, our editor, for his support and for extremely helpful discussions at critical stages of the book’s preparation. Thanks are also due to the anonymous reviewers of the manuscript. And we would like to record our appreciation to many colleagues and friends for conversations about writing over as many years, including, in particu- lar, Paul Atkinson, Wendy Bottero, Kate Bulpin, Hugh Campbell, Sara Delamont, Robert Dingwall, David Evans, Ian Jack, Hilly Janes, Lindy Sharpe and David Woodhead. We alone, however, are responsible for errors or misconstructions in the final text. 1 INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK The purpose of this book is to help you improve your writing, whether it is for essays, dissertations or exams. In turn, learning to write well should help you to get the most out of your university education as well as pro- viding you with a set of skills that will stand you in good stead after you graduate. All this should also help you to enjoy writing, or, if you find it difficult and not so enjoyable, at least make it easier. This book is for any student taking an undergraduate course in soci- ology in a UK university, or one based more or less on the UK university system including those in Australasia, Malaysia and the United States.1 It is not just for those completing a degree in sociology, but also for students who are taking only a few or even just one sociology course or related courses. For those whose main studies lie outside of sociology, it will per- haps be especially useful if you are more accustomed to writing in psych- ology or other sciences and are now faced with writing sociologically. Our book aims to be readable and clear, written in as direct a style as possible to discuss matters that can be complex, in as practical a fashion as we can. Time and again we have seen students struggle with some of the basics of writing. Yet such basics are rarely written down and taught in a practical fashion – the reason we have written this book. Indeed, the book is based on much of what we have learned with our students during discussions of their written work. Virtually everything we have included in the book has, at some point, somewhere, turned out to be useful to one or another group of students. We think that clarity of both argument and style are the most import- ant qualities to be found in your writing, not only now while you are still 1 It means that throughout this book we also assume British English spelling and con- ventions for writing, which can vary considerably from those in Australia, the United States and elsewhere where English is a main language.
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