CSS 5351 Methods in Graduate Studies

Writing Readable Research analyses scientific writing in English for non-native and native speakers. The Introduction looks at different layers of constraints in scientific writing in English including grammatical and semantic rules, register, style, rhetoric, textual cohesion, social amenities, mode, field and genre. Section I covers the grammatical and sentential structures relevant to scientific genres and those that pose problems for non-native speakers. It explains the function of the relevant tenses, of voice, and conditional clauses and how grammatical and syntactic facets interact with rhetorical choices. Section II looks at problems common to novice writers, whether non-native or native English speakers, including neglect of the paragraph as an organizing unit, superfluous words and phrases, monotonous sentence structure and inappropriateness for the intended readership. Many writers who have been taught academic English still find themselves unable to cope with scientific English and the final section of the book discusses how to analyze various scientific genres, such as journal articles, oral presentations, abstracts, professional letters and grant proposals. This section also covers the usually neglected area of interpersonal relations in the scientific discourse community. How do we handle sensitive issues such as criticizing other researchers and advancing one's own claims?

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.

Students and researchers all write under pressure, and those pressuresmost lamentably, the desire to impress your audience rather than to communicate with themoften lead to pretentious prose, academic posturing, and, not infrequently, writers 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. Beckers 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 doall these mechanisms are a part of the social structure of academic writing. By shrugging off such impedimentsor at the very least, putting them aside for a few hourswe 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.

Gives concrete advice about designing, delivering, and defending presentations, and is written specifically for students and professionals who have little or no experience of giving presentations.