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Eine Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Verlage
Böhlau Verlag · Wien · Köln · Weimar

Verlag Barbara Budrich · Opladen · Toronto
facultas.wuv · Wien
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Uni Tipps
herausgegeben von Helga Esselborn-Krumbiegel
In der Reihe sind bisher erschienen:

H. Esselborn-Krumbiegel: Richtig wissenschaftlich schreiben

M. Herrmann u.a.: Schlüsselkompetenz Argumentation

A. Limburg/S. Otten: Schreiben in den
Wirtschaftswissenschaften
C. Mix: Schreiben im Jurastudium
E. Püschel: Selbstmanagement und Zeitplanung
K. Schindler: Klausur, Protokoll, Essay
J. Theuerkauf: Schreiben im Ingenieurstudium
E. Müller: Schreiben in Naturwissenschaften
und Medizin
U. Lange: Fachtexte lesen – verstehen – wieder-
geben
Die Autorin:
Felicitas Macgilchrist, Dr. phil., Kultur- und Erziehungswissenschaftlerin, ist Forschungsgruppenlei-
terin am Georg-Eckert-Institut – Leibniz Institut für internationale Schulbuchforschung, Braun-
schweig. Seit 15 Jahren unterrichtet sie Englisch und war in Großbritannien, Russland, Vietnam,
Österreich und Deutschland tätig. Heute hat sie in diesem Feld den Schwerpunkt wissenschaftliches
Schreiben für Promovenden und Habilitierende.
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Contents
1 Introduction to Academic Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.1 Genre awareness: Conventions, contexts and creativity . . . . . . 7
1.2 Academic collectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3 How to use this book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2 General writing conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2.1 Key structures: Writing with paragraphs and topic sentences 13

2.2 Key directions: Using signposts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.3 Key persons: Writing “I”, “we” or in passive voice . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.4 Key actions: More verbs, less nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.5 Key genders: Using gender-inclusive language . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.6 Key sources: Citing other research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3 Abstracts: Summarizing your study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

3.1 OHE: Observe – hypothesize – experiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

3.2 Abstracts: The five-finger pattern in science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.3 Abstracts: Five-finger patterns in the humanities . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.4 The language of opening sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.5 The language of aims and objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.6 The language of methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3.7 The language of findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.8 The language of conclusions and implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.9 An exsample from the field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4 Introductions: Beginning your paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

4.1 The general ‘moves’ of academic Introductions . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
4.2 The specific ‘steps’ of academic Introductions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.3 Establishing and occupying a niche . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.4 Writing hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
5 Empirical research papers: Presenting empirical research . . . . 67

5.1 IMRAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
5.2 Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
5.3 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5.4 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
5.5 Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
6 Contents
6 Theoretical, interpretative and analytical writing . . . . . . . . . . . 87

6.1 Developing an argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
6.2 Selecting relevant information from sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
6.3 Establishing your position I: Finding an authorial ‘voice’ . . . . . 89
6.4 Establishing your position II: Engaging with sources . . . . . . . . 93
6.5 Presenting your argument in a coherent manner . . . . . . . . . . . 102
6.6 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
7 Posters: Visualising your abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
7.1 The purpose of posters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

7.2 Attractive, compelling and professional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
7.3 How much information? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
7.4 Titling your poster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
7.5 Including images, diagrams and graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
7.6 Using clear language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
8 Research proposals: Making plans for future studies . . . . . . . . 131

8.1 A basic model structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
8.2 Stating objectives and research question(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

8.3 Stating potential significance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
8.4 Research design and methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
8.5 Expected results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
8.6 Research limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
8.7 References, timetable and appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
8.8 Common pitfalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
9 Diverse genres: Lab reports, short essays, thought papers
and case reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
9.1 Lab reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
9.2 Short essays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
9.3 Thought papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
9.4 Case reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
10 Further resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
10.1 Continuing alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
10.2 Continuing in groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
10.3 Academic vocabulary online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
10.4 Further online resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
1 Introduction
1.1 Genre awareness: Conventions, contexts and creativity
1.2 Academic collectives
1.3 How to use this book
Whether spending a semester abroad, writing assignments for seminar

courses, working on your final Bachelor, Masters or PhD dissertation or

composing a journal article, more and more students and scholars are
writing academic work in English. This book has two aims. First, it provides
authentic examples and practical advice to support speakers of ‘English as
an additional language’ (EAL) to write a range of text genres, such as ab-
stracts, empirical research papers, lab reports, essays and thought papers.
This includes discussing ‘typically German’ sentences and ways of avoid-

ing these formulations. Each chapter includes writing exercises, useful
phrases and rhetorical strategies to help you become more proficient.

Second, the book aims to show you how to become a ‘genre analyst’
yourself. Each discipline, sub-discipline or field has its own ways of writing
and communicating: that is part of what helps to identify individual disci-
plines or research communities. This makes it impossible for a little book
such as this one to introduce all the language relevant to each field. Instead,
the book offers you opportunities to develop an analytical gaze. It aims to
equip you with tools to analyse the conventions (and the spaces for creativ-
ity) in texts written by your fellow students, your supervisors and others in
the academic collective you are entering. Once you have this ‘genre aware-
ness’, you can analyze whichever new genres you meet in your student,
professional and personal lives.
1.1 Genre awareness: Conventions, contexts and creativity
As the above paragraph indicates, the approach in this book is based on

theories of genre, especially on what is called genre awareness. Unlike
an everyday understanding of ‘genre’, in which the concept simply refers
to a classification or to a form of text (e.g. documentary, thriller, roman-
tic comedy), recent genre theories have developed a more interactive
definition. Genre is about ‘doing’ communication; it is about action and
process; it is about ways of relating to each other in specific contexts.
8 Introduction | 1
When I refer to genre, I mean a kind of purposeful interaction, and a

typified kind of action which happens in recurring situations. If you think
of an end of semester party, you will use different genres to describe the
evening to a good friend who missed the party, to your boss, or to your
friends on Facebook. In each situation, you are ‘doing’ a different kind
of communicating in a different context, and you are developing a differ-
ent kind of relationship with your listeners/readers. If you think of a book
you have just read, you will describe it differently in a thought paper writ-
ten for your lecturer, in the Introduction to a research paper (Hausarbeit),
to your friend during a coffee break, or in an email to a colleague or fellow

student.
Several websites and books aim to help you acquire certain academic
genres, such as the academic essay or research paper. They provide models
to apply in your own assignments or publications. The danger of working
with models is that it can lead to formulaic copying, and the flexibility and
creativity of writing can be lost. Also, these models are often not very good.
Try this: compare a model you find online to an example of student writing
with an excellent grade. In many cases, you will find that the student paper
does not do what the model recommends. By aiming for genre awareness
instead of genre acquisition, I hope to help you see the connections be-
tween forms and actions, between forms and contexts, and between forms
and social relations. This means understanding that genres do constrain
your actions, but also that they make choices and variation possible.
Each chapter includes several different samples of a particular genre,
such as the lab report. Working with samples rather than models enables
me to include some diversity within each genre. We will explore the con-
ventions of the genre, and will also look at the choices available to go beyond
apparently tight constraints. As you become more proficient in writing
academic English, you should feel increasingly confident in creatively
bending typical genre conventions.
1.2 Academic collectives
Doing academic work is about participating in a network of people, institu-

tions and objects. You will read articles and books, encounter prominent
individuals and organizations, and/or conduct experiments with particular
methods and materials. As you write, you yourself (whether as student or
as researcher) become part of the collective which makes up your discipline
or your field of study. These academic collectives, or communities, are
1.3 | How to use this book 9
relatively stable but they are also always changing, growing or shifting
sideways. Some are large, such as sociology or life sciences, and others are
much smaller, such as cosmochemistry or medieval Scots poetry. Some
are very hierarchical, and police their borders, whereas others are more
anarchic with fuzzy boundaries. As you enter the collective, you become
aware of its history, its current debates and central concepts, and you de-
velop your own position on these issues. Developing an awareness of
genre is also about becoming aware of the politics of your communities:
How to present empirical research, arguments and theories in a style and
manner which is generally thought of as appropriate to specific academic

collectives? And how far can you interrupt these conventions?
This book presents samples of published or widely available texts, and
analyses the language used in these texts, i.e. in these academic collectives.
My aim, as noted above, is to enable you to turn this analytical gaze onto
further texts. Very often, for instance, university departments will offer
several samples of a particular genre which students are expected to write.

One route to academic success is to analyze these samples in order to
identify which actions are being done by the text, which contexts and cul-
tures are being linked, and which social relations (e.g. between author and
reader) are being enacted. This in turn should help you to write confi-
dently and participate actively in your chosen (academic or professional)
collective.
1.3 How to use this book
The book is designed so that readers can begin at the beginning, or can
drop in to any chapter which meets their immediate needs. I recommend
starting with Chapter 2, which outlines general writing conventions,
relevant to all genres, and Chapter 3, which presents the Observe-Hypoth-
esize-Experiment (OHE) model. The OHE model is a method of reading
which enables you to become expert in analyzing how texts in your own
research collective are structured. This kind of genre analysis helps you
to write excellent class assignments, BA/MA/PhD dissertations and pub-
lications.
After that, it makes sense to turn to the chapter which deals with the
genre you are most interested in. Perhaps you will jump straight to a
section in the middle of a chapter. If you need help on, for instance, writ-
ing the caption for an image, you can go directly to Section 5.5. Three
chapters describe genres which are relevant across all disciplines: Ab-
10 Introduction | 1
stracts (Chapter 3), Introductions (Chapter 4), conference posters (Chap-

ter 7) and research proposals (Chapter 8). Empirical research papers
(Chapter 5) and lab reports (Chapter 9) are especially relevant for the life
sciences, physical sciences (including physics, chemistry, mathematics,
earth and space science, etc.), technology and engineering. Theoretical,
interpretative and analytical writing (Chapter 6), short essays, and thought
papers (Chapter 9) are particularly relevant for the arts, humanities and
social sciences. Case reports are a genre common to business studies and
medicine (Chapter 9).
Each chapter also includes some general tips and comments, so it can
be worth browsing through all the chapters. Chapter 10 collects further
resources to help you continue alone, including websites offering useful
advice on academic writing.
Samples in the book are from published articles, material available on
the internet, and texts written by students in workshops and courses that
I have held over the last 15 years. Since some of these extracts are from
unfamiliar disciplines und use highly technical language, don’t expect to
understand them all! I believe a lot can be learned about genre even when
some of the content words are not clear. You can still unpack the actions
that a text is doing, the core formulations which help to get its message
across, and whether you enjoy the flow of the text. Scientific writing should,
after all, also be enjoyable.
Overall, in this book, I suggest that one crucial factor in academic writ-
ing is reading-for-genre. It is essential to allocate a specific amount of
time to browsing through relevant journals or dissertations to get a feel-
ing for how the specific subject area, research field or academic collective
structures its texts. In this way, you get a feeling for which elements of
academic work are most important for people in these fields. Engaging
with those elements which the examiner’s or reviewer’s field considers
important is one step to getting excellent grades and/or excellent publica-
tions.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the following students,
colleagues and friends for their crucial contributions: Maria Silvana Bruni,
Carol Duncan, Helga Esselborn, Ronny Frank, Kathrin Hagemann, May-
lien Heuer, Eva-Maria Holzgreve, Ulrike Juda, Simon Ostermann, Helena
Wöhl Coelho, Vera Zellmer and Verena Ziegler. And most especially Mar-
co Frank and James Macgilchrist.
1.3 | How to use this book 11
Take-home message from Chapter 1

• This book aims to give you the tools to be able to write successfully in
your chosen academic field(s)
• It deals with genre awareness, not genre acquisition
• Genre is social action, is embedded in context, and enacts social rela-
tions
• Genre awareness means understanding conventions and choice
• Working with samples helps to identify constraints and find space for
creativity
• Successful academic writing means participating in research com-
munities and academic collectives
2 General writing conventions
2.1 Key structures: Writing with paragraphs and topic sentences
2.2 Key directions: Using signposts
2.3 Key persons: Writing “I”, “we” or in passive voice
2.4 Key actions: More verbs, less nouns
2.5 Key genders: Using gender-inclusive language
2.6 Key sources: Citing other research
This chapter outlines some general conventions shared by English aca-

demic writing across the disciplines, from engineering to cultural studies;
linguistics to biochemistry. Some of these suggestions are relevant to all
languages; some are specific to English. Some may remind you of what
you already know; others may be new. I want to stress that these are not
rules to be followed strictly, but patterns that can be observed.
Before turning to the conventions, it is worth thinking about writing

strategies. Writing researchers have identified up to twelve different writ-
ing strategies. Some people like to plan their text first, make bullet point
lists of the structure and then begin to write. Others make mind maps or
draw sketches of their ideas and then start to write. Yet others begin to
write immediately, formulating their ideas as they write. This last group
of writers tends to write a lot, then delete a lot, and then write a lot again.
All of these ways of writing are legitimate. It’s important to enjoy writing,
so experiment with different strategies that might work for you. Some of
the suggestions in this chapter are for the stage of writing after you have
put your ideas onto paper, and after the main flow of your text is clear.
Other suggestions are useful from the planning stage.
2.1 Key structures: Writing with paragraphs and topic sentences
If we leave the content of academic texts aside for now, what do these texts
look like? They appear in chunks. This is something you will recognize
from writing in your ‘first’ language or languages. Sometimes, however,
when people write in an additional language like English, they forget to
chunk their writing into paragraphs. The simple rule here is: one central
idea, one paragraph. When you move to the next central idea, you need to
start a new paragraph.
14 General writing conventions | 2
A good way to check if you have more than one central idea in each para-
graph is to print out your text with a wide margin on the right side, and to
write one word (or a short phrase) to summarize the central idea in the
paragraph. If you can’t do that, then you know you have too many ideas in
that paragraph. Try to rewrite it using more (and shorter) paragraphs.
Tip
One idea = one paragraph!
When you chunk your writing into paragraphs, also look carefully at the
first sentence of each paragraph. The first sentence is also called a ‘topic
sentence’. It mentions the topic of the paragraph (the central idea). Look
at this paragraph you are reading at the moment. The first sentence men-
tions chunking writing into paragraphs and it highlights the importance
of the first sentence of such a paragraph-chunk. This shows the reader what
the paragraph is going to be about; what I am saying about the issue. Basi-
cally, if you are in a hurry, you should be able to understand the gist (i.e.
the main idea) of an entire text by reading only the first sentence of every
paragraph.
Exercise
Look at Extract [1]. Is the first sentence a topic sentence? If so, what words
help you to identify it as a topic sentence? What do you think the author
is going to say about the topic? (See References for details of all sample
texts used.)
[1] As Gergen (1995, 29-38) explains, the social construction model has several
implications for educational practice. First, a social construction model of teach-
ing and learning involves a diffusion of authority to avoid the idea that knowledge
rests with a particular individual (the teacher). Instead the teacher is a facilita-
tor or manager of resources and creates a space within which students can
contribute to the shaping of the subject matter. Second, as the process of social
exchange is the mechanism through which knowledge and meaning is created,
the role of the teacher is to facilitate social relationships and interactions that
allow for collaborative learning. Third, the function of the teacher is to create
contexts within which knowledge can be given meaning in terms of its practical
usage by persons, professionals, organisations or communities.
2.2 | Key directions 15
Comment
The first sentence names the topic of the paragraph. It mentions ‘the social
construction model’ and it mentions ‘several implications for educational
practice’. If you only read this topic sentence, you can assume that the
paragraph will refer to the social construction model and that it will tell
you something about implications of this model for educational practice.
If you continue reading, you discover three implications identified by the
author.
Occasionally, the first sentence in a paragraph summarises the previous

paragraph and the second sentence is the topic sentence.
Tip
Write the first sentence of most paragraphs as a topic sentence.
2.2 Key directions: Using signposts
When you walk to a new building, or drive to a new town, it is helpful to

have signposts telling you which way to go. Similarly, when you read an
article or a book, signposts can help to make it easier to see in which direc-
tion the text is going. Three kinds of signposts are quite common in aca-
demic writing. First, headings and sub-headings are signposts, telling the
reader what they are going to meet in this section. In the section you are
reading, the sub-heading raises the reader’s expectation that they will find
out something about directions and signposts – and, given the kind of book
this is, the reader will probably expect there to be a link to academic writ-
ing. Second, a host of individual words can be used as signposts such as
‘however’, ‘similarly’ or ‘furthermore’ (see Sections 4.3 and 6.5.2). Third,
longer texts sometimes include summary sentences to remind the reader
of where they have been and/or where they are going, e.g. the final sentence
of a chapter: It is to the task of language development that we turn in the next
chapter.
Using signposts is about careful balance. Imagine driving down a street
and seeing a signpost at every lamppost. It would be difficult to concentrate
on the road. Similarly, too many signposts can distract the reader from the
content of your text.
Exercise
Look at Extracts [2], [3] and [4]. One of them is the published version. Two
have been amended. Which one do you think was published?
[2] Anthropology has provided a related yet distinct corpus of ethnographic work
on media production. Some of this research has been carried out with indigenous
communities and other marginalized groups, often in terms of self-definition and
activism via the use of video cameras. Others have moved more into the realm
of the cultural industries.

[3] Anthropology has provided a related yet distinct corpus of ethnographic work
on media production. In keeping with anthropological tradition, some of this
research has been carried out with indigenous communities and other marginal-
ized groups, often in terms of self-definition and activism via the use of video
cameras. Others, however, have moved more into the realm of the cultural in-
dustries.
[4] Indeed, anthropology has provided a related yet distinct corpus of ethno-
graphic work on media production. Overall, in keeping with anthropological
tradition, some of this research has been carried out with indigenous communi-
ties and other marginalized groups. Moreover, this was often in terms of self-
definition and activism via the use of video cameras. Others, however, have
moved more into the realm of the cultural industries.
Comment
Extract [2] was published. It uses ‘however’ once. It links the second sen-
tence explicitly to the first, by picking up the notion of ‘anthropology’ from
the first sentence and repeating it in the phrase ‘In keeping with anthro-
pological tradition’. The first extract uses no signposts. Some readers and
writers prefer this bare style. The third extract uses a signpost in each
sentence. For many readers this overloads the text.
Notice the elegant way the author picks up a key word from the first sen-
tence (anthropology) and uses it in a slightly different way in the second
sentence (anthropological tradition). He also uses this research in the second
sentence to refer back to an element in the first sentence (a related yet dis-
tinct corpus of ethnographic work on media production). These back-reference
strategies work up the coherence of the text and help it to flow well.
2.3 | Key persons 17
Tip
Use signposts to guide the reader through your text – but use
them in moderation.
2.3 Key persons: Writing ‘I’, ‘we’ or the passive voice
Forty years ago, the majority of academic writing was written in the passive
voice (e.g. ‘has become apparent’, ‘was conducted’). Academic legitimacy
relied on the idea that scientific findings and knowledge was objective, and
emerged independently of the people who did the research. Occasionally,
scholars would use ‘we’ to refer to themselves, even though they were writ-
ing alone. The ‘I’ was to be avoided at all costs.
Since then there has been a major shift in how science, and the produc-
tion of scientific knowledge, is understood. The sociology of scientific
knowledge, for instance, has shown in detailed empirical work how knowl-
edge results from the practices of scientists and the technologies used in
science. Although this does not lessen the importance of specific findings,
it has led to heated controversies about the meaning of ‘objectivity’. It has
also led to a different style of writing in some fields. Increasing numbers
of academic disciplines now use the first person ‘I’ or ‘we’ to describe their
research. In my experience, students and scientists who have English as an
additional language tend to be uncomfortable with this, since they have
learnt in language lessons that they should use the passive voice. Have a
look yourself. You will find the ‘I’ or ‘we’ in all the leading scientific journals.
Exercise
Look at Extracts [5] and [6] from a recent volume of Nature. What kind of
relationship is created between the author and the reader, and between
the author and the experimental procedure?
[5] To initiate analysis of the mechanism by which Pcdhgs mediate self-avoid-

ance, we next asked whether they act cell-autonomously. We selectively removed
Pcdhg genes from SACs using a ChAT-Cre line.
[6] To illustrate the connectivity of the hydrogen-bonded network in the intersti-
tial regions between the stacks, Hirshfeld surface analysis was used to measure
the distribution of close contact interactions.
Comment
In Extract [5] the scientists present themselves (we) as part of the experi-
mental procedure. In [6], the people are backgrounded (was used). Most
published articles in the natural sciences today use a mix of both ‘we’ and
the passive voice. The ‘we’ refers to the group of authors. It is very rare to
find contemporary texts which are written only in the passive voice. In ad-
dition to the epistemological issues mentioned above, the ‘we’ and active
voice makes a text more dynamic. The passive voice can make a text seem
slower (see Chapter 3).
In social science and humanities texts with only one author, it can seem
unusual to write the plural ‘we’. The passive voice is, however, also very
rare. Instead, authors write ‘I’ or formulate a sentence in the active voice
with a noun as the actor, e.g. This chapter aims to review the DSSC-device.
The author could also have written: In this chapter, I aim to review the DSSC-
device. If you are writing alone, sometimes it can seem there is too much
‘I’ in a text, and making ‘the book’, ‘the chapter’ or ‘the findings’ the actor
in a sentence can be an elegant way of avoiding both the passive and over-
use of the first person.
Tip
Observe how the articles in your field use ‘I’, ‘we’ and the passive
voice. If your field has authors who publish alone (rather than
in groups), observe where they use the ‘I’ and where they make
‘the book’ or ‘the chapter’ an actor in their sentences.
2.4 Key actions: More verbs, less nouns
One major difference between English and other languages is the use of
verbs and nouns. Whereas German, for instance, tends to use more nouns,
English tends to use more verbs.
Exercise
Compare the two following sections from the Prague manifesto on Espe-
ranto. What do you notice?
2.5 | Key genders 19
[7] [Wir] ermuntern jede Organisation und jeden einzelnen, sich unseren Be-
strebungen anzuschließen.
[8] [We] call on all organizations and individuals to join us in working for these goals.
Comment
In German, Extract[7] calls for organizations and individuals to join un-
seren Bestrebungen (noun). In English, [8] calls for them to join us in work-
ing for these goals (verb first).
Of course, specialist vocabulary is always necessary in academic work, and

these words tend to be nouns. They function as short-cuts, making com-
munication more efficient within an academic collective. However, assign-
ments which use highly technical language can benefit from using verbs
rather than nouns if there is a choice. This makes texts more dynamic (see
especially Chapter 5).

Tip
When you read, notice how the text uses nouns and verbs. If you
feel you are getting stuck when you are writing, think about
whether you can use a verb instead of a noun.
One common way of signalling action in English academic writing is to

start a sentence with a gerund (‘-ing’) and a subject, e.g. Starting a sentence
with a gerund is a different story. (start+ing + a sentence). This style is like
beginning a sentence running: it makes the text dynamic. Or, as a colleague
teacher once told me: ‘starting with -ing is sexy’. As with all style sugges-
tions, don’t overdo it!
2.5 Key genders: Using gender-inclusive language
In German it can be difficult to construct a sentence which does not clear-

ly suggest one gender or the other. It is still quite common to find a footnote
near the start of German texts which says something like: to make the text
easier to read, the masculine pronoun will be used to refer to both/all
genders. This is absolutely unacceptable in English today. Luckily it is also
unnecessary, since English has a very simple way of avoiding writing ‘he’
or ‘she’ when referring to people in general: use the plural.

Gender-inclusive language
Fireman A firefighter
Chairman A chairperson / chair
Steward/stewardess A flight attendant
Mankind A humanity
He A s/he; he or she; they
There are various online guides to reducing gender bias. The publication
manual of the American Psychological Association has sections on reduc-

ing bias by gender, sexual orientation, racial and ethnic identity, disabilities
and age. The Guardian style guide suggests:
Use humankind or humanity rather than mankind, a word that, as one of our
readers points out, “alienates half the population from their own history”. Nev-
er say “his” to cover men and women: use “his or her”, or a different construction;
in sentences such as “a teacher who beats his/her pupils is not fit to do the job”,
there is usually a way round the problem – in this case, “teachers who beat their
pupils are ... “
One option is the ‘singular they’ e.g. A resident assistant is responsible for
establishing a safe, welcoming living environment for their residents. Although
it is common in spoken English, some observers criticize this form as
grammatically inaccurate. Others (myself included) find it a convenient
solution, which also includes trans, intersex and genderqueer communi-
ties. It also has a long tradition in written English. Austen, Byron, Chaucer,
Shakespeare, Swift and Thackeray, among others, have all used the singu-
lar they, e.g. in Thackarey’s Vanity Fair, published in the nineteenth cen-
tury, we read: ‘A person can’t help their birth’, Rosalind replied with great
liberality.
2.6 Key sources: Citing other research
Academic writing invariably draws on previous research: ideas build on

other ideas. Later chapters will return to issues of summarizing and criti-
quing the research literature. Here, I only want to mention formatting and
style. Journals always specify how the in-text referencing and bibliography
should be formatted. Some university departments stipulate which refer-
ence style you should use in your assignments. If your department or
professor does not provide a style guideline, you have two options. Either
2.6 | Key sources 21
ask your professors which they prefer or select one of the leading style
manuals and stick to it, e.g. APA (American Psychological Association),
Chicago, Harvard or MLA (Modern Language Association). They are all
freely available online (see https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/
pdf/20110928111055_949.pdf for a summary). The most important thing
is to be consistent. If you pick one style, use it throughout your text.

• Remember to chunk your writing into paragraphs
• Make the first or second sentence of each paragraph a topic sentence
• Use signposts to show the direction of your argument, but use them
sparingly
• Avoid using only the passive voice
• Observe how your research field uses the ‘I’, the ‘we’ and the passive
voice
• Use verbs rather than nouns to emphasise action and to make a dy-
namic text
• Use gender-inclusive language throughout your writing
• Cite in a consistent style
3 Abstracts: Summarizing your study
3.1 OHE: Observe – hypothesize – experiment
3.2 Abstracts: The five-finger pattern in science
3.3 Abstracts: Five-finger patterns in the humanities
3.4 The language of opening sentences
3.5 The language of aims and objectives
3.6 The language of methods
3.7 The language of findings

3.8 The language of conclusions and implications
3.9 An example from the field
In this chapter, I present the Observe – Hypothesize – Experiment (OHE)

model which will guide you through the following chapters. This approach
has two main aims: First, to present sample texts which illustrate formula-
tions and ways of structuring an Abstract which you can import into your
own writing. Being able to summarize your research (and the work of oth-
ers) in a concise way is one of the most important things you will learn as
a student or emerging scientist and scholar. All dissertations (Bachelor,
Masters and PhD) require an Abstract. This chapter will show you how to
summarize the key elements and also how to signal why your work is in-
novative and important.
Second, the OHE model aims to demonstrate one way of reading-for-
genre (rather than the reading-for-content that you are probably accus-
tomed to). This should enable you to analyze texts from your own research
field when you are preparing to write assignments or dissertations. In this
chapter, you will observe, hypothesize and experiment with the language
of Abstracts, i.e. the brief summary of a research article or book which is
placed at the beginning of the text and which orients the reader to the
central issues and the main argument or findings. Sections 3.1 to 3.3 deal
with Abstracts in general, and Sections 3.4 to 3.8 focus on particular aspects
of writing Abstracts.
3.1 OHE: Observe – Hypothesize – Experiment
The OHE approach to language learning is similar to a common approach

to empirical research (see Fig. 1). First, observe the language in question,
24 Abstracts: Summarizing your study | 3
examining it critically. This means looking at e.g. the length of sentences,

whether a text uses more verbs or nouns, more first person or passive voice,
and (importantly) what action each sentence or phrase is doing. We’ll re-
turn to this idea of action below. Second, hypothesize about how the lan-
guage works in this example. And third, experiment with using the language
in your own contexts, e.g. creating texts in this genre. It may be tempting
to just do the first and second steps when you read this book, since no-one
is checking or giving feedback on your experiments. But I strongly recom-
mend experimenting with the genres. Only by experimenting will you see
what works and doesn’t work for your own writing. After experimenting,
it can be useful to return to the samples and observe and hypothesize again.
observe
experiment hypothesize
Fig. 1 The Observe – Hypothesize – Experiment cycle
Tip
Use the OHE method regularly when you are reading (e.g. 5
minutes a day, or 15 minutes a week).
3.2 Abstracts: The five-finger pattern in science
The Abstract functions as a short summary. Although it is placed at the

beginning of a written text, it is usually the last thing which is written.
Nevertheless, it is a good place to start a book like this, since it has a simple
logic, it is necessary across all academic disciplines, and it is the genre in
academic life which is read most widely. This section examines Abstracts
3.2 | The five-finger pattern in science 25
in the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. Section

3.3 discusses Abstracts in the arts and humanities.
Exercise
Look at Extract [1], an Abstract published in Science. The Abstract de-
scribes research by astronomers about a comet which plunged into the
solar atmosphere in 2011 and survived its flight through a region of the
Sun which spacecraft have never visited. Don’t worry about understand-
ing all of the technical language. Observe the structure of the text. What
do you notice? Hypothesize about the function each sentence or phrase
serves. What does it ‘do’?
[1] On 15 and 16 December 2011, Sun-grazing comet C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) passed

deep within the solar corona, effectively probing a region that has never been
visited by spacecraft. Imaged from multiple perspectives, extreme ultraviolet

observations of Lovejoy’s tail showed substantial changes in direction, intensity,
magnitude, and persistence. To understand this unique signature, we combined

a state-of-the-art magnetohydrodynamic model of the solar corona and a model
for the motion of emitting cometary tail ions in an embedded plasma. The ob-
served tail motions reveal the inhomogeneous magnetic field of the solar corona.
We show how these motions constrain field and plasma properties along the
trajectory, and how they can be used to meaningfully distinguish between two
classes of magnetic field models.
Comment
The five sentences summarize the entire empirical process. Extract [1]
begins with general topic issues, becomes very specific about the focus,
research interest and methods, and then becomes more general again in
the final sentence. In this sense, it has an hourglass shape going from
broad to specific to broad again (see Fig. 2)
1. Sentence 1 introduces the topic (Sun-grazing comet and the solar atmos-
phere) and highlights the novelty of this issue (probing a region that has
never been visited by spacecraft).
2. Sentence 2 focuses more closely on some aspects of the event which
are relevant to this paper (multiple images; extreme ultraviolet observa-
tions; substantial changes in direction, intensity, magnitude, and persist-
ence).
Comment
3. The first part of sentence 3 states the research interest explicitly (To
understand this unique signature).
4. The second part of sentence 3 outlines the method (we combined a
state-of-the-art magnetohydrodynamic model of the solar corona and a
model for the motion of emitting cometary tail ions in an embedded plasma)
5. Sentence 4 summarizes the key finding (The observed tail notions reveal
…).
6. Sentence 5 identifies broader conclusions resulting from the specific

findings (We show how …) and further implications of the research (and
how they can be used to …).
Fig. 2: The hourglass shape of many Abstracts
The astronomy Abstract (Extract 1) demonstrates a ‘five-finger’ pattern. For

any empirical assignments you are doing, you should be able to summarize
your research on the five fingers of one hand (see Fig. 3).
The five-finger pattern (Sciences)

1. Thumb: Topic and background. What topic does the paper deal
with? What is the point of departure for your research? Why are you
studying this now? This can be an event like Lovejoy’s movement,
or it can be an academic debate, or a problem with current research,
or any other relevant background.
2. Index finger: Focus: What is your research question? What are you
studying precisely?
3. Middle finger: Method: What did you do? For theoretical papers,
this can also be Theory: Which concepts did you use?
4. Ring finger: Key findings: What did you discover?
5. Little finger (pinkie): Conclusions or implications: What do these
findings mean? What broader issues do they speak to?
3.2 | The five-finger pattern in science 27
Fig. 3: An Abstract on your hand

The five-finger pattern can also be used to summarize papers or book you
read.
Tip
Experiment with the five-finger structure of Abstracts. Think of

an assignment you have written recently. Summarize it in five
sentences, one for each finger of your hand. Think of a book you
have read recently. Summarize it in the same way.
The second kind of observing in the OHE approach to academic writing is

to look more closely at the language. Remember, however, only to focus
on the language after you have analyzed what the text is doing. It can be
tempting to look at the language first, but this means overlooking more
important interactional features.
Exercise
Look again at Extract [1]. What do you notice about the language used?
Observe the length of the sentences. Observe the use of passive voice
and ‘we’. Look at connecting words. Look at words which ‘turn up the
volume’ of the importance of the research. Hypothesize about how the
language is working here. What kind of relation is it setting up between
authors and readers? What kind of academic collective?
In my experience, student writers with German as a first language like to

write in a lyrical way. One of the first things to notice about most scien-
tific writing is that it is not at all lyrical.
Comment
Extract [1] has a lot of very technical words (magnetohydrodynamic, solar
corona, cometary tail ions, embedded plasma, etc.). In between these words,
however, the language is simple, and the logic is straightforward: On this
date, this happened. This showed that. To understand this, we combined this
and that. The results reveal this. We show how these things happen and we
show how they can be used to do this other thing.
All sentences are active. It does not use the passive voice. It uses ‘we’, and
makes objects and findings into grammatical subjects (e.g. extreme ultra-
violet observations of Lovejoy’s tail showed ...; observed tail motions reveal...).
Four words turn up the volume: ‘never’ (a region that has never been visited
by spacecraft), ‘substantial’ (observations of Lovejoy’s tail showed substantial
changes in), ‘unique’ (to understand this unique signature), and ‘meaning-
fully’ (how they can be used to meaningfully distinguish between two classes).
In each of these cases, these words point out why the research is novel,
exciting and important.

The only connecting word used is ‘and’. This, together with the active
sentences, gives me the impression of fast and efficient work.
I learnt in school never to start a sentence with ‘and’. If you look carefully,
you will see that sentences in academic writing do sometimes start with
‘and’. But be careful, don’t use it too much: overuse looks unprofessional.
No Abstract is perfect. Different readers will have different opinions about
this Abstract, and whether it works well or not. Overall, I feel that it is
sharply focused. It addresses me as a non-specialist, telling me why this
research is important and novel. It tells me what the scientists did, and about
the key findings and conclusions. I – as a non-astronomer – am not sure
what these conclusions mean, but the streamlined style of writing positions
the authors as competent, efficient scientists who can draw broad conclu-
sions from specific methods and observations. And I quite like the way that
the Abstract (together with the Science journal) positions me as part of a
broad scientific collective of readers who are broadly interested in science.
This Abstract does two things which student writers in German-speak-
ing countries often neglect: First, its sentence structure is simple and
straightforward. Only if you are very sure of your language skills should
you attempt to use poetic language in scientific writing. Second, it states
explicitly why the project is interesting and innovative. Imagine deleting
the words ‘substantial’, ‘unique’ and ‘meaningfully’, and the phrase ‘ef-
fectively probing a region that has never been visited by spacecraft’. The Abstract
3.3 | Five-finger patterns in the humanities 29
would make perfect sense but it would sound quite boring. It would not
be clear to readers who are not specialists in this field what is important
about the event, and what is novel about the research and the findings.
Tip
‘Turn up the volume’ and signal why your research is interesting
and important. You already know why it is, but remember to tell
your readers.
Abstracts vary widely. Those in the life sciences are often long and detailed.
This scientific collective includes not only research scientists, but also in-
dustrial or medical scientists, thus many readers only read the Abstracts.
All the vital information needs to be included in the abstract. Although
these Abstracts are much longer than five sentences, they nevertheless tend
to be structured around the five finger model. Each finger gets two or three
sentences, rather than one! Other Abstracts are very short. Extract [2], in
the Gold Bulletin, for instance, has only 52 words.

[2] Colloidal nanoparticles find application in chemistry, biology, and life science.
We report an alternative preparation method for thiol-capped gold colloids by
leaching of premade particles on a support. Via this method, monodispersed
particles in the size of 2 to 2.5 nm can be obtained whereas the occurrence of
bigger particles is restricted.
Extract [2] still more or less follows the hourglass shape (see Fig. 2 above),
and includes three of the five fingers (topic/background, methods and
findings). Sentence 1 works up the importance of the study (relevant to
three research fields). Sentences 2 and 3 summarize methods and central
findings. This Abstract was published in a very specialized journal, and
indeed, I don’t feel like it speaks to me as a non-specialist. It is aimed at
the much smaller academic collective of mining and metallurgy engineers/
researchers.
3.3 Abstracts: Five-finger patterns in the humanities
This section applies the OHE method to texts in the arts and humanities.
Since these fields engage with concepts, arguments or close readings rath-
er than following conventional empirical methods, there is more flexibil-
ity in how Abstracts are structured.
Exercise
Look at Extract [3] from the European Journal of Social Theory. It relates
the work of Frantz Fanon, a leading postcolonial thinker, to theory and
research on cosmopolitanism. Observe the structure of the abstract.
What do you notice? Does it fit the hourglass shape (from broad to spe-
cific and back to broad) that Fig. 2 illustrates? How does it compare to
the structure of Extract [1]? Hypothesize about the function each sentence
or phrase serves. What does it ‘do’?
[3] While early theory and research on cosmopolitanism have been criticized for
their European focus, a number of works have incorporated non-Eurocentric
perspectives. This article contributes to this literature by examining the colonial
production of cosmopolitan orientations as evidenced in the writings of Frantz
Fanon. Colonialism has been treated as a deviation in the historical sociology of
cosmopolitanism, but Fanon helps disclose how colonialism has also contributed
to a particular form of cosmopolitanism that has been overlooked in existing
theory and research: postcolonial cosmopolitanism. This form of cosmopolitan-

ism, forged from the spaces of colonialism’s contradictions, emphasizes global
citizenship and humanism but strives to remember rather than repress the his-
tory of modern empire. It seeks to negate colonialism’s contradictions and thus
realize the ideals which Europe had initially pronounced but which it failed to
institute.
Again, there is no need to be an expert on colonialism or cosmopolitanism
to observe, hypothesize and experiment with the way this Abstract has been
written.
Comment
Extract [3] also has five sentences which summarize the article. How-
ever, the summary is less about the empirical process (methods – find-
ings – conclusions) and more about the arguments which the author
presents. It follows an hourglass pattern: It begins broadly with the
general issues (cosmopolitanism, European focus, non-Eurocentric perspec-
tives), narrows in on Fanon’s writing, and then speaks to more general
issues again (global citizenship, humanism, history of modern empire, ide-
als). What action does each sentence or chunk do?
3.3 | Five-finger patterns in the humanities 31
1. Sentence 1 introduces the topic (theory and research on cosmopolitan-

ism), highlights a problem (criticized for their European focus), and de-
scribes novel approaches (incorporated non-Eurocentric perspectives).
2. Sentence 2 states the aim of this paper (contributes to this literature
[which adds a non-Eurocentric perspective]) and describes how this aim
will be achieved (by examining the […] writings of Frantz Fanon).
3. Sentence 3 describes how a central term has been treated in the aca-
demic literature (Colonialism has been treated as), and identifies a novel
concept which this paper will deal with (postcolonial cosmopolitanism).

4. Sentence 4 elaborates on this novel concept (This form […] emphasizes
[…] but strives), connecting it to broader global issues (colonialism’s con-
tradictions; global citizenship and humanism; history of modern empire).
5. Sentence 5 looks to the future potential of this concept (It seeks to […]
and thus […]), again connecting it to broader global issues (colonialism’s
contradictions; ideals which Europe had initially pronounced but which it
failed to institute).
There are several ways this can be translated onto the five finger pattern
discussed in Section 3.2 above, e.g.
The five-finger pattern (Humanities)

Either: Or:
1. Thumb: Topic 1. Thumb: Problem
2. Index finger: Problem 2. Index finger: Aims
3. Middle finger: Aims 3. Middle finger: Novel concept
4. Ring finger: Novel concept 4. Ring finger: Elaboration
5. Pinkie: Potential 5. Pinkie: Relevance
The main point of summarizing an article, assignment or book on five

fingers is to focus on a small number of central ideas/issues that you want
your readers to take home. If they only remember five things about this
text, what will those five things be?
Tip
Summarize the topic, problem, aim, novelty and relevance of
your assignment or your dissertation in five sentences. That’s
your Abstract.
If your work is empirical, the method needs to be one of the five issues,
as it is in the Lovejoy comet Abstract (Extract 1). If your work is argumen-
tative, then you may need to elaborate on one of the central concepts that
you discuss, as the Abstract on postcolonial cosmopolitanism (Extract 3)
does.
Exercise
Look again at Extract [3]. Which words and phrases signal that this re-
search is important and interesting?
Some articles indicate their novelty more subtly than others.
Comment
Extract [3] is quite subtle. It includes the following strategies:
1. It suggests that it is part of a small number of emerging papers which

are including new perspectives (a number of works have incorporated
non-Eurocentric perspectives).
2. It distances itself from previous work three times (While early theory and
research on cosmopolitanism have been criticized for their European focus;
Colonialism has been treated as; contributed to a particular form of cosmo-
politanism that has been overlooked). Notice how the grammar works
here: ‘have been’ and ‘has been’ indicate that this is a practice which
has happened in the past and is still happening now. This subtly em-
phasizes that this paper is bringing something new, something which
has been overlooked until today.
3. It links a specific concept (postcolonial cosmopolitanism) to very broad
global issues with key words such as global citizenship, humanism, em-
pire and ideals. These words signal the broad social relevance of this
particular paper.
When observing the way a genre works, ask yourself: Do I like this? Does
it work for me? Does it persuade me that this piece of writing is novel,
interesting and/or important? Does the Abstract make me want to read the
text? Would I like to write like this? Can I use these writing strategies? How
much can I stretch the pattern, given the institution in which I am writing
and the (empirical/theoretical/political) goals that I have?
The following Abstract (Extract 4) was written by James Clifford, one of
the most prominent cultural anthropologists, and refers to the controver-
3.4 | The language of opening sentences 33
sial edited book from the 1980s Writing Culture, the Poetics and Politics of
Ethnography:
[4] An experiment in “self-historicizing,” this personal essay article looks back
on Writing Culture after 25 years. It asks how these years can be narrated his-
torically. It locates the book with reference to postwar experiences of decoloniza-
tion and globalization, and specifically in a transitional moment between the
radical 1960s and the neoliberal 1990s.
This very short Abstract introduces its method (self-historicizing), its topic
(Writing Culture) and its focus (historically narrating the 25 years following
the publication of the book). It links its specific focus to broader social issues
(decolonization, globalization, radical 1960s, neoliberal 1990s). It is written in
very punchy, short sentences. It positions readers as already knowing what
Writing Culture is, and thus excludes those who don’t. Since it was published
in the journal Cultural Anthropology, however, it can assume that its readers
are part of a relatively large collective of anthropologists who know the book.
3.4 The language of opening sentences
Student writers have often told me that the first sentence of Abstracts (and
Introductions: see Chapter 4) is the most challenging. How to describe the
topic and background in a concise way and yet also signal the importance
and novelty of this issue? Sticking with the OHE method, one question to
ask is: how does your particular academic collective communicate its ideas?
How much variation is there in the field? Then other academic collectives
can be observed, to experiment with different ways of presenting results
and arguments. The following overview includes sample first lines from a
range of published abstracts.

First lines from mathematics, history, medicine and political science

Abstracts
Strategy 1: Signal the significance of the issue
• We are in a race against time to eradicate the global scourge of under-
nutrition.
• The Terracotta Army of the First Emperor of China is one of the most
emblematic archaeological sites in the world.
• This article explores the career of Janet Taylor, one of the leading
navigation experts of the early Victorian period.
• Foreign exchange option, as a financial derivative, plays an important

role in the financial market.
• Survivors of sexual violence have high rates of depression, anxiety,
and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Strategy 2: Signal a gap in knowledge

• Whether rapid lowering of elevated blood pressure would improve
the outcome in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage is not
known.
• Does naming and shaming states affect respect for human rights in
those states?
Strategy 3: Signal the novelty of this paper

• We introduce a new concept of solution to the KPZ equation which
is shown to extend the classical Cole-Hopf solution.
• I develop a statistical method to measure the ideology of candidates

and political action committees (PACs) using contribution data.
Strategy 4: Critique the opponents

• Liberal apologists for the free market commonly claim for it the virtue
of promoting toleration by eroding – through financial penalties –
economically irrelevant ‘discrimination’.
• Arguments that infer the inevitable decline of European socialist
and social democratic parties from the changing class structures of
advanced capitalist societies have two major flaws.
Strategy 5: Identify the topic

• In this article differential transform method (DTM) is considered to
solve quadratic Riccati differential equation.
• We consider Thurston maps, i.e., branched covering maps f:S2 A S2
that are post-critically finite.
Observing the list, and hypothesizing about patterns, we can see that some
samples collected here (mathematics) identify their topic without turning
up the volume of importance: they consider particular approaches. Other
samples (political science) tend to take an oppositional stance, pointing to
major flaws or common claims made by others in the field. Other papers
subtly signal the novelty of their papers (introduce, develop) or point to a gap
in the knowledge explicitly (is not known) or implicitly by raising a question.
3.5 | The language of aims and objectives 35
A large group of papers, however, turns up the volume of their first lines
by signalling the significance of their issue. They use phrases of unique-
ness (one of the leading, one of the most), phrases of urgency (race against
time, global scourge), or individual adjectives (high rates, important role).
Exercise
If you have written Abstracts in the past, select one and read the first line.
Rewrite it three times using three different strategies outlined above.
If you have not yet written an Abstract during your degree, here is an al-
ternative exercise! This should be useful in preparation for your Bachelor,
Masters or PhD dissertation, which will need an Abstract.
Exercise
Find a leading journal that is relevant for an assignment you are writing.
The Abstracts are usually freely available online. Look at the first lines of
all the Abstracts in the most recent issue. Do you see a pattern? (Remem-
ber, it is only a pattern, not a rigid rule.)
3.5 The language of aims and objectives
Almost all Abstracts, in all the disciplines, include a sentence or phrase

about the aims and objectives of the study. This orients the reader to the
content of the paper. It also allows the reader to check whether the paper
does what the Abstract promises, i.e. what the authors say they hope to
achieve.
Exercise
Look at Extracts [5] to [10] from Abstracts in law and neurosciences. How
do they formulate their aims and objectives? Can you group them into
different strategies (see Section 3.4 for strategies used in opening lines)?
[5] Here I survey progress in the field of theta rhythms research.

[6] Here, we show that human ESCs and iPSCs can be converted into func-
tional iN cells with nearly 100% yield and purity in less than 2 weeks by forced
expression of a single transcription factor.
[7] This study examined the relationships between amygdala volume and inter-
nalizing symptoms in teenaged chronic marijuana users.
[8] This Article sets forth the concept of ‘victimization’ – the idea that the mor-
al status of a wrongful act turns in part on the degree to which the wrong’s vic-
tim is vulnerable or innocent and the wrongdoer preys upon that vulnerability
or innocence.
[9] I argue that Inspectors General (IGs), little-noticed oversight institu-
tions within federal agencies, are now playing a significant role in monitoring
national security practices curtailing individual rights.
[10] Incorporating recently uncovered sources and new interpretations, this Ar-
ticle aims to significantly revise our understanding of Founding-era attitudes
toward federal commandeering of state officers.
Once again, there is no one single solution to the task above. You have
observed and hypothesized, and will have grouped Extracts [5] to [10] in
some logical way. Although your grouping may be different from mine,
the important goal was to think about what the language is doing. If you
do that, you will be able to experiment with strategies for writing the aims
in your own Abstract.
Comment
Here is one possible grouping:
• Extract [5]: State what you are doing (Here I survey).
• Extract [7]: State what you did (This study examined).
• Extracts [6], [8] and [9]: State your main argument/finding (Here, we
show that; This Article sets forth the concept of; I argue that).
• Extract [10]: State method and then move to aim (Incorporating recently
uncovered sources and new interpretations, this Article aims to significantly
revise).
Note that Extracts [5], [6], [8], [9] and [10] are in the present tense. Extract
[7] is in the past tense. It could also have been written as: This study aims
to examine the relationships between amygdala volume and ... Extracts [6],
[8] and [9] did not include a separate sentence with the aims. Instead, aims
were presented together with the results/concept/argument. [10] uses an
-ing phrase to include the methods in the first part of the sentence before
adding a comma and then the aims (Incorporating recently uncovered sourc-
es and new interpretations, this Article aims to). Starting a sentence with a
gerund (-ing) is like beginning a sentence running: it signals action and
makes the text dynamic.
3.5 | The language of aims and objectives 37
Notice that Extracts [5], [6] and [9] are in the first person (I survey; I argue;
we show), whereas Extracts [7], [8] and [10] make the study or article the
actor. And notice that law journals tend to capitalize Article (and Essay,
etc.). These are among the patterns you will observe if you spend time
reading-for-genre in your chosen academic fields.
Extracts [11] to [13] from Abstracts in media studies illustrate three strategies
for presenting methods and aims in one chunk, e.g.:
[11] Drawing on the field theories of both Pierre Bourdieu and the Manchester
School of political anthropology, this study challenges the unquestioned pre-
dominance of ‘network’ and ‘community’ as the two key sociation concepts in
contemporary Internet studies.
[12] This study employs a Random Digit Dialing survey (N = 476) of a large
Midwestern community to examine the role mainstream and alternative media

play in influencing both traditional political participation and protest forms of
participation.
[13] By reconsidering an earlier case study, and reviewing relevant literature, this
paper illustrates how humour can fulfil several functions in media production.
➔ [11] Drawing on + theories/research + comma + this study + verb

(Drawing on X, this study challenges Y) (Also common: Based on X, this
study challenges Y)
➔ [12] This study + verb + to verb (This study employs X to examine Y)
➔ [13] By + verb+ing + comma + this paper + verb (By reconsidering X, and
reviewing Y, this paper illustrates Z)
What is ‘it’ and what is ‘it’ doing?

This article aims to

This book analyses
This chapter argues
This essay challenges
This investigation considers
This paper demonstrates
This report examines
This research explores
This review illustrates

This study inquires into
This survey investigates
reviews
sets out to
shows
suggests
surveys
3.6 The language of methods
Looking back at the sample Abstracts discussed above, we can see several
ways of describing the methods of a study in only a few words (see Chapter
5 for more detail on how to write up the Methods section in the main body
of an assignment or dissertation). One simple strategy is to write a short

sentence beginning with ‘This study’ or ‘We’ and describe the methods of
data gathering and/or data analysis using the past tense. More often, how-
ever, methods are introduced together with the study’s objectives or find-
ings. Notice that some abstracts mention only data collection methods,
others mention only data analysis methods. In these cases, the Abstract
includes the methods which the authors consider to be the most relevant.
Yet other Abstracts mention both kinds of methods.
Introducing methods in Abstracts

(1) Method only: Passive voice + past simple tense
• A questionnaire, semi-structured interview, document analysis, and
open ended questions were used as data collection tools.
• Registered voters in a medium-size city were randomly assigned to a
laboratory or a field experiment involving newspaper stimuli.
(2) Method only: This study/We/Participants + past simple tense
• Ten nonobese older women (age: 66.7 ± 1.5 yr, mean ± SE) completed
two 2-stage hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp procedures [insulin
infusion rate stage 1: 10 mU/m2 body surface area (BSA) per min;
stage 2: 50 mU/m2 BSA per min] in conjunction with stable isotope-
labeled glucose and palmitate tracer infusions.
• We conducted a systematic review in Medline (restricted to English
and German literature published between 2000 and 2011) and
3.6 | The language of methods 39
Google books (with no restrictions). We applied qualitative text

analysis and normative analysis to categorise the spectrum of ethi-
cal issues in clinical dementia care.
(3) Objective with method: To + aim + comma + we/this study +
present simple tense
• To fill this gap in the literature, I consider three accounts of this dis-
tinction— the “agent-based,” the “recipient-based,” and the “mixed”
view—and argue that they are all unsatisfactory.
• To achieve this, we systematically extend and adapt techniques that

have been successfully applied on ground robots.
(4) Method with objective/findings: We/This study + past/present
simple tense + infinitive
• The authors conducted in-depth interviews with 113 rural adolescents
to describe how youth conceptualize risk and how risk is communi-
cated in the rural environment.

• Here we use satellite laser altimetry and a global elevation model to
show widespread glacier wastage in the eastern, central and south-

western parts of the HKKH during 2003-08.
(5) Method with findings: -ing + method + comma + we/this study +
past/present simple tense
• Using a mouse model of dysregulated fear, we found altered expres-
sion within the amygdala of the Oprl1 gene (opioid receptor–like 1),
which encodes the amygdala nociceptin (NOP)/orphanin FQ recep-
tor (NOP-R). Systemic and central amygdala infusion of SR-8993, a
new highly selective NOP-R agonist, impaired fear memory con-
solidation.
• Drawing on high and low culture, Kant, Lacan, jokes and contempo-
rary cinema, this celebrated academic turned philosophical icon dis-
cusses the inherent violence of globalisation, capitalism, fundamen-
talism and language.
(6) Method with findings: Method + past simple tense
• Exome sequencing of two large ALS families showed different muta-
tions within the PFNI gene.
• Experimental elevation of actual and perceived density induced higher
maternal glucocorticoid levels.
Notice that, although variations are possible, the most common tense for
presenting methods is the past simple tense (completed, conducted, were used).
Tip
Experiment with different strategies for presenting methods.
3.7 The language of findings

The previous section showed how to present findings in the Abstract by

introducing them directly with the methods. Findings can, of course, also
be introduced separately. Remember, in the Abstract you are only sum-
marizing the central or most important findings. In the Results or Discus-
sion, you will go into much more detail (see Chapters 5, 6 and 9). If there
is only one finding your reader should remember, what is it? That is the
aspect which you include in your Abstract. Results can be presented in the
present or past tense.
Presenting results and findings

We – confirm(ed)
Our results demonstrate(d)
The findings detect(ed)
These central findings find/found
This study identify/identified
research illustrate(d)
indicate(d)
induce(d)
prove(d)*
refute(d)
reveal(ed)
show(ed)
show(ed) clearly
suggest(ed)
* Be very wary of using ‘prove’ in your writing. ‘Prove’ indicates 100% cer-
tainty. In most disciplines, it is not possible to prove anything, you can only
‘suggest’ or ‘indicate’ findings.
3.8 | The language of conclusions and implications 41
As with all word lists provided in this book, this overview can only indicate
the kind of language used in authentic academic writing. Look at journals
and books in your subject to see how this language is used in context. Are
you writing an assignment in mathematics, which is one of the only disci-
plines to use the word ‘prove’ (e.g. We prove the (generalized) coherence
conjecture of Pappas and Rapoport proposed in [PR1].)? Or in philosophy,
where the ‘finding’ is basically the argument, followed perhaps by a state-
ment of the author’s position (e.g. Such assumptions, I argue, are mistaken.
While it is not always good to be right, it is always bad to be wrong.). Are you
presenting very specific results, as in the biosciences (see Section 3.6

above)? Or is social theory, where arguments are linked to broad social
issues (see Section 3.3 above), more relevant for your assignment?
Tip
Bookmark your favourite journals – most Abstracts are available

online. Spend 15 minutes a week (or 5 minutes a day) browsing
through the articles. Write down key phrases for presenting re-
sults/findings in the Abstracts.
3.8 The language of conclusions and implications
The final sentence of an Abstract is almost as important as the first sen-

tence. What is the overall take-home message of your Abstract?
Exercise
Look at Extracts [14] to [19], the final sentences from sociology and pathol-
ogy Abstracts. Observe how they present their final statement. Look at
present or past tense, at passive voice and active subjects, at generalising
words, at cautious words, and at the verbs used. Hypothesize about how
language is working in each case. Which ones do you think work well?
(Remember, you are reading them out of context!)
[14] Implications of the findings for societal responses to terror attacks, the lit-
erature on attitudes toward immigrants, and survey research are discussed.
[15] Our findings modernize and renew theoretical tools for understanding teach-
er and student interactions and the effects on achievement outcomes.
[16] The paper suggests some elements central to a reworked class analysis that
benefits from the power of Bourdieu’s ideas while retaining a perspective on the
fundamentals of class relations in capitalism.
[17] Altogether, this suggests that optimal therapeutic inhibition may require
combinations of drugs that target both bone and soft tissue-specific survival
pathways.
[18] Our findings suggest that HER1 497K and HER2 655V polymorphisms are
potential risk factor for development of breast cancer.
[19] The proposed system, if validated, may be useful in identifying which patients
might potentially benefit from adjuvant therapy.
Comment
Extracts [14] to [19] use both active and passive. The subject is sometimes
the first person and sometimes an object (e.g. the paper; our findings; the
proposed system). All sentences link the specific findings to more general
issues (e.g. attitudes toward immigrants; achievement outcomes; breast can-

cer). Some sentences are more cautious than others (e.g. suggests; may
require; may be useful). The verbs linking the technical language are fairly
simple (e.g. discuss; suggest; renew).
In each case, the Abstracts link the specific research they have conducted
to broader issues. Readers are invited to see connections between spe-
cific findings and general (important) topics. Some make this link more
tentatively than others.
It is important to identify the broad implications of your findings, but it is

also important to be cautious, and to avoid overstating your case (see also
Section 6.4.4).

Being cautious

Modal verbs Adverbs Phrases

can perhaps X appears to … (do Y)
could possibly X indicates that …
may potentially X suggests that …
might It seems that …
should It is likely that …
would It is unlikely that …
It is possible that …
3.9 | An example from the field 43
Overall, most disciplines are today quite tentative in pointing to potential

implications of their results. Claims need to be supported by evidence. The
level of certainty must match the kind of evidence you have provided.
Tip
Look in your favourite journals. Notice the level of certainty or
caution that the Abstracts use.
3.9 An example from the field
Exercise
Extract [20] was written by a doctoral student reporting on his research
on Spot Instances, a pricing model offered by Amazon which enables
users to bid for instances. Amazon claims that Spot Instances can sig-
nificantly lower computing costs for some tasks. Observe the structure
and language of this Abstract. What works well? What could be improved?
[20] In this paper we analyze the current available price models from Cloud
providers to identify possibilities to execute scientific workflow applications as
cheap as possible in a reliable way. First we analyze the Spot Instances offered
by Amazon EC2 for their price behavior characteristics to identify their usabil-
ity. Second we investigate the optimal price bidding strategy to maximize the
reliability of this resource type. Finally we extend a workflow scheduling algo-
rithm to support this new resource type for dynamic workflow scheduling. We
will show using simulation, that the possible savings by using Spot Instances can
be 64% compared to regular instances. The resulting risk of termination of in-
stances can be minimized using smart bidding strategies resulting in a resource
availability of 99.9% and by monitoring the current price levels in a worst case
the spendings are not exceeding the previews level.
Comment
• What works well for me: Extract [20] includes all the relevant informa-
tion, is wonderfully clear, short and concise, signposts its structure (first,
second, finally) and uses a simple sentence structure.
• The Abstract presents the method at the very beginning. It could begin
with more general issues to lead readers toward the specific method.
Comment
• It does not explain why Amazon EC2 is the focus of this analysis.
• The reasons for their three empirical steps are hidden in the second half
of the sentences.
• It uses the future tense (will show) for something which happened in
the past.
• There is a comma before ‘that’. English almost never places a comma
before ‘that’.
• The final sentence is not clear. It includes too many different ideas.
Here is the student’s revised version of the same Abstract.

[21] In this paper, we identify possibilities to execute scientific workflow applica-
tions as cheaply and reliably as possible. Our market analysis showed that the
only provider with flexible pricing is Amazon EC2’s Spot Instances. First, to
identify the usability of Spot Instances, we analyzed their price behavior char-
acteristics. Second, to maximize the reliability of this resource type, we investi-
gated the optimal price bidding strategy. Finally, to support this new resource
type for dynamic workflow scheduling, we extended the workflow scheduling
algorithm. Simulations demonstrated that Spot Instances can save up to 64%
of costs compared to regular instances. The associated unreliability, i.e. risk of
termination of instances, can be minimized using smart bidding strategies. These
strategies lead to a resource availability of 99.9%. By monitoring the current
price levels, even in the worst case, costs do not exceed the previous level.
Notice the more concise first sentence in Extract [21] which clearly states
the general issues (scientific workflow applications: cheaply; reliably). Notice
the additional sentence near the start which explains why Amazon EC2 is
the focus. Notice how the method sentences have been inverted: first the
goal and then the specific method. Notice how the ideas in the final sen-
tence have been separated into shorter sentences.
Tip
Remember to KISS! (Keep It Short and Simple.)
The following chapters provide more strategies and useful phrases on

many of the issues which this chapter has touched.
3.9 | An example from the field 45

• Observe the language of Abstracts.
• Hypothesize about how the language works in those Abstracts.
• Experiment with writing using the strategies you see in the journal
abstracts.
• Summarize your assignment in one sentence for each finger of one
hand (e.g. topic – focus – method – findings – conclusions).
• Summarize articles of books that you read on five fingers.
• Structure your Abstracts as an hourglass: general-specific-general

• Formulate catchy, dynamic opening sentences.
• Remember to tell your readers why this research is important and
novel.
• Use the level of caution or certainty that your evidence supports.
• KISS (Keep It Short and Simple)!
4 Introductions: Beginning your paper
4.1 The general ‘moves’ of academic Introductions
4.2 The specific ‘steps’ of academic Introductions
4.3 Establishing and occupying a niche
4.4 Writing hypotheses
What do you read when you are scanning the literature to get an overview
for a new seminar topic, or trying to find out about new developments? Busy
students and academics often read only the Abstract, Introductions and
Conclusions. Often, only those readers who plan to conduct a similar study,
who question the findings or who are grading the assignments will read the
Methods and Results in detail. Also, in any kind of academic writing – from
short essays and case reports to longer Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD dis-
sertations – the Introduction is the part of the text where you have the most
space to show readers why this particular topic is important and interesting.
The structure and style of Introductions is very similar across the disciplines.
This chapter is thus devoted specifically to this genre. Later chapters look at
the remaining sections of writing up research in, for instance, assignments
and Bachelor or Masters dissertations based on empirical research (Chapter 5)
or theoretical, interpretive and analytical assignments and dissertations (Chap-
ter 6). Again, as in Chapter 3, each section below invites you to ‘observe’ the
language used in authentic texts, ‘hypothesize’ about how the language works,
and ‘experiment’ with using the language in your own assignments.
4.1 The general ‘moves’ of academic Introductions
Linguists analysing the introductory sections of empirical and theoretical

papers and dissertations have identified a typical ‘shape’ and typical ‘moves’
(actions) in these texts.
Exercise
Read Extract [1], the very short Introduction to a short article in the Journal
of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Where is the most general informa-
tion? Where is the most specific information? (As in previous chapters,
don’t worry about the technical language.)
48 Introductions: Beginning your paper | 4
[1] Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, relapsing, inflammatory skin disease.

A considerable body of evidence has shown that TH2 cells that produce IL-4 and
IL-13 play a central role in the pathogenesis of AD, although TH1 cells that pro-
duce IFN-a also contribute to the chronic phase of AD.1 Recently, IL-22 was
shown to be upregulated in AD.2, 3 In AD, IL-22 is thought to be primarily se-
creted by TH22 cells that do not coproduce IL-17, IL-4, or IFN-a, suggesting that
TH2 and TH22 cells are the major T-cell subsets in AD.2, 3 The aim of this study
was to further characterize IL-22–producing T cells found in the circulation of
patients with AD.
Comment
The most general information is in the first sentence. It names the main
disease being investigated (atopic dermatitis [AD]) and it describes this
disease in quite general terms (a chronic, relapsing, inflammatory skin dis-
ease). Skin disease is the overarching category to which this research paper
contributes new knowledge. The most specific information is in the final

sentence which states the aim of this study. It aims to further characterize
specific cells (IL-22-producing T cells) found in a specific location (in the

circulation of patients with AD).
This shift from general to specific is found in almost all Introductions. It

can be sketched as an inverted triangle, with the broadest, most general
information at the top, and the most focussed, specific information at the
bottom (see Fig. 4).
Fig. 4 Introductions: from general to specific
Alongside this general ‘shape’ of Introductions, linguists have identified

three general ‘moves’ made in most Introductions.
4.1 | The general ‘moves’ of academic Introductions 49
Exercise
Read Extract [2]. The Introduction on atopic dermatitis has been divided
into three chunks. Can you describe the action which the first chunk is
doing? And the second? And the third?
[2] 1. Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, relapsing, inflammatory skin disease.

A considerable body of evidence has shown that TH2 cells that produce IL-4
and IL-13 play a central role in the pathogenesis of AD, although TH1 cells
that produce IFN-a also contribute to the chronic phase of AD.1 Recently,
IL-22 was shown to be upregulated in AD.2, 3
2. In AD, IL-22 is thought to be primarily secreted by TH22 cells that do not
coproduce IL-17, IL-4, or IFN-a, suggesting that TH2 and TH22 cells are the
major T-cell subsets in AD.2, 3
3. The aim of this study was to further characterize IL-22–producing T cells
found in the circulation of patients with AD. (Teraki, Sakurai & Izaki 2013).
Comment
Chunk 1 presents the core issues (atopic dermatitis and the role of T-cells).
It presents what is already known about that issue (A considerable body of
evidence has shown that…; was shown to be…).
Chunk 2 presents some inconclusive knowledge in this region (is thought
to be; suggesting).
Chunk 3 states the aim of this study: to add to this as yet inconclusive
knowledge.
These three chunks have been described as the three central ‘moves’ in
research paper Introductions.
➔ Move 1: Establishing a territory
➔ Move 2: Establishing a niche
➔ Move 3: Occupying the niche
The ‘territory’ of the example above is skin disease, more specifically

atopic dermatitis, and more specifically again, the role of T cells in atopic
dermatitis. The authors identify a niche by describing what is thought and
has been suggested about IL-22 and TH22 cells. Note the difference between
the statements in Move 1 and Move 2.
➔ In Move 1 the verb is show (A considerable body of evidence has shown

that … was shown to be). Show indicates that this is accepted and shared
knowledge. There is no open question.
➔ By using thought to be and suggesting in Move 2, the authors subtly
establish a niche of the not-yet-known. There is some doubt here.
Finally, in Move 3, the authors occupy this niche by stating very explic-
itly what they will do in regard to IL-22, T cells and atopic dermatitis (to
further characterize IL-22–producing T cells found in the circulation of patients
with AD).
Exercise
Read Extract [3], from the Introduction to an article in the Journal of
Computer-Mediated Communication. Can you identify the three moves
(establishing a territory, establishing a niche, occupying the niche) here?

[3] Mobile phones are without question the most common form of electronically
mediated communication in the world. We have adopted the mobile phone as a
safety link, and we have adopted it to facilitate coordination in the family and
at work. Textile weavers in Nigeria (Jagun, Heeks, & Whalley, 2008) fishers in
India (Jensen, 2007), and lovers in Mozambique (Archambault, 2011) have all
adopted the mobile phone for their various purposes. Teens in the US, as well as
many other countries, use the mobile phone to send and receive an endless
number of texts on all the large and small events of their lives (Lenhart, et al.,
2010). Given these diverse uses, it is a fertile area of research. Understanding
how we use the mobile phone helps to understand the functioning of society.
The ability to do research on mobile telephony (or for that matter any form of
mediated communication) however is based on the ability to use valid data. In
many cases research on the mobile phone relies on questionnaires. In the ques-
tionnaires, respondents are often asked to estimate the frequency or the duration
of their mobile phone use either in summary form or during a specific time pe-
riod. Alternatively respondents can be asked to use a diary or some other device
to quantify their use. These methods are nearly the same methods used to collect
data on internet and social media use.
There are clearly problems with these approaches. It is difficult for people to re-
member or to characterize their use. In addition there may be different motiva-
tions to over- or underreport mobile phone use. For people who see use as a
marker of their popularity, there will be the impulse to pad the numbers. The
4.1 | The general ‘moves’ of academic Introductions 51
opposite is true for people with a more sober relationship to technology and who
feel the device is not so central to their lives but who nonetheless have one. We
are interested to get a handle on the reliability of this information. In this paper
we compare self-report measures of mobile phone voice and SMS (Short Message
System; known as “texting” or “text message”) use with server log data to evalu-
ate the criterion validity of self-report measures. We further conduct an explora-
tory analysis to examine the extent to which demographic characteristics are
associated with under- and overreporting in self-report measures. Our analysis
has two main implications. First, given that many influential studies of mobile
communication rely on self-report measures of mobile phone use, our evaluation

of these measures has strong implications for the field of mobile research as well
as studies on other forms of mediated communication that rely on similar meth-
ods. Second, given that most research involving self-report measures also collects
demographic data, our exploratory analysis of the demographic characteristics
associated with under- and overreporting of mobile phone usage informs existing
and future research about the types of respondents that are likely to contribute
to the decreased validity of self-report measures.
Comment
• Move 1: Paragraph 1 establishes the territory. It states the core research
topic (mobile phones). It claims that this is a very important topic (the
most common form of electronically mediated communication in the world;
Understanding how we use the mobile phone helps to understand the func-
tioning of society.). And it also briefly reviews previous research (Nigeria
[ Jagun, Heeks, & Whalley, 2008] … India [ Jensen, 2007], … Mozambique
[Archambault, 2011] … Teens in the US… [Lenhart, et al., 2010]).
• Move 2: Paragraph 2 and the first four sentences in paragraph 3 estab-
lish a niche by identifying a problem with the previous research on
mobile telephony. First, very subtly with the word however (The ability to
do research on mobile telephony (or for that matter any form of mediated
communication) however…). Then, by questioning the validity of this
previous research more explicitly (There are clearly problems with these
approaches.).
• Move 3: The rest of paragraph 3 occupies this niche by outlining the
purpose of the present research (We are interested to...), the focus of the
present research (In this paper we…), and two implications (Our analysis
has two main implications.).
Note that these three paragraphs are only the beginning of the Introduc-
tion. Before the methods section, there are two further sections to the In-
troduction, each with its own subheading (Self-Report Measures in Mobile
Communication Studies, and Examining Self-Report Measures of Mobile
Phone Use). These two sections elaborate on relevant previous research and
problems. They thus extend Moves 2 and 3, establishing and occupying
their niche more firmly. Extract [3] thus operates like an Introduction to
the Introduction.
Tip
If you need more space to establish your niche (as social science
research often does), consider writing an Introduction to your
Introduction! In this way, you present the very important Move
3 early in your paper or thesis. Readers can see how you occupy
the niche more quickly than if you only identify the specific focus
of the paper after a lengthy review of the previous research.
4.2 The specific ‘steps’ of academic Introductions
The ‘moves’ in Section 4.1 are quite general. What is happening within
each of these moves? If you look again at Extract [3] and my comments, you
will recognize some of the more specific ‘steps’ which have been identified
in research paper Introductions (Swales 1990).
Moves and steps in research paper Introductions

Move 1: Establishing a territory

Step 1.1 Claiming centrality
Step 1.2 Making topic generalizations
Step 1.3 Reviewing previous research
Move 2: Establishing a niche

Step 2.1a Counter-claiming, or
Step 2.1b Indicating a gap, or
Step 2.1c Question-raising, or
Step 2.1d Continuing a tradition
4.3 | Establishing and occupying a niche 53
Move 3 Occupying the niche

Step 3.1a Outlining purpose, or
Step 3.1b Announcing present research
Step 3.2 Announcing principle findings
Step 3.3 Indicating research article structure
Notice that in Move 2, writers tend to choose one of the four steps: counter-
claiming or indicating a gap or question-raising or continuing a tradition.
Different research fields include some steps more frequently than other
steps. Sometimes it is common in a particular field to present the moves
and steps in a different order, or to go back and forth among them (e.g.
Step 1.1 – Step 1.2 – Step 2.1c – Step 1.3 – Step 2.1c – Step 1.3 – Step 3.1a).
Look at published papers in your field to see which choreography of moves
and steps your particular scientific community prefers.
Tip
Whether you are writing your first extended assignment (Hausar-

beit) at university, your final Masters dissertation or an article
for an international journal, it is useful to orient to the estab-
lished practices in your field. Remember, you can also always be
creative with these conventional practices!
4.3 Establishing and occupying a niche
The two sample Introductions above include useful language for marking
most of the steps. Remember: readers have a lot of texts to read, so it is a
good idea to ‘flag’ – or ‘signpost’ – clearly which action you are doing in
each step of your writing. Additional sample phrases in the table are also
from published research literature. In each case, the phrases in italics can
be used to write about other topics. Pay attention to the details of each
formulation, e.g. the comma in Given these diverse uses, it is…
Language of Introductions: Move 1 Establishing a territory

Sample formulations
Step 1.1 Mobile phones are without question the most common
Claiming form of electronically mediated communication in the
centrality world. […] Given these diverse uses, it is a fertile area of
research. Understanding how we use the mobile phone
helps to understand the functioning of society.
Vascular patterning is critical for organ function.
Genetic studies indicate that protein homeostasis is a

major contributor to metazoan longevity.
Globalization is rapidly transforming traditional (i.e. pro-
fessional) news journalism.
The sociological study of cosmopolitanism is well under-
way. But it is heading in different directions. On the one

hand, … On the other hand,…
Excessive nutrient loading of water bodies is a leading

cause of water pollution worldwide, and controlling nutri-
ent levels in watersheds is a primary objective of most
environmental policy.
Pyrrolysine, the twenty-second amino acid found to be
encoded in the natural genetic code, is necessary for all of
the human pathways by which methane is formed from
methylamines. […]
Step 1.2 Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, relapsing, inflamma-
Making topic tory skin disease.
generaliza- In an adaptive immune response, naive T cells proliferate
tions during infection and generate long-lived memory cells
that undergo secondary expansion after a repeat encoun-
ter with the same pathogen.
Step 1.3 Textile weavers in Nigeria (Jagun, Heeks, & Whalley, 2008)
Reviewing fishers in India (Jensen, 2007), and lovers in Mozam-
previous bique (Archambault, 2011) have all adopted the mobile
research phone for their various purposes.
A considerable body of evidence has shown that TH2 cells
that produce IL-4 and IL-13 play a central role in the
pathogenesis of AD, although TH1 cells that produce
IFN-a also contribute to the chronic phase of AD.1 Re-

cently, IL-22 was shown to be upregulated in AD.2, 3
As a number of researchers have found, whether in writing
groups (e.g., Gere, 1994; Heller, 1997), co-authoring part-
nerships (Day & Eodice, 2001; Ede & Lunsford, 1990), feed-
back groups (Caswell, 2007; Whitney, 2008), or writing
conferences (Denny, 2010; Gillespie, Hughes, & Kail, 2007),
writers who meet together over time report developing not
only their writing skills and confidence but also their rela-
tionships with others and connections in the community.
Move 1, establishing a territory, shows why your project is important. You
know why it is interesting, but your readers do not (yet). Make sure you
show readers why it is a fascinating and vital issue. Notice that Extract [1]
above does not use any special words to claim centrality. But it does make
topic generalizations which simultaneously highlight the importance of

this topic for health (e.g. chronic, relapsing). Making topic generalizations
often means writing a descriptive sentence in the present simple tense (A

is a B; In X, Y proliferate and generate and undergo).
Notice also the very efficient way the sample sentences review the previ-
ous literature. In only one sentence, the mobile phone article references
three previous publications relevant to this field. At the same time, the
same sentence claims (further) centrality for the research topic. The final
sample on writing also brings previous research on various aspects of her
core issue together into one sentence.
Exercise
One alternative way of beginning texts has become established in the arts
and humanities. Read the following opening lines from three extended
essays. What does the first sentence in each extract do?
[4] “We provide a place where [injecting drug users] can have their human rights.
It is the most moral thing we can do.” This is how a staff worker of a harm re-
duction center in St. Petersburg, Russia, described to me the services offered at
the center one afternoon in the autumn of 2006. By this point Russia had one
of the fastest-growing HIV rates in the world, a phenomenon overwhelmingly
driven by the sharing of contaminated needles by injecting drug users. As a result,
since the late-1990s Russia and the former Soviet Union have been a priority
area for international harm reduction organizations that initiate on-the-ground
harm reduction centers and mobile buses.
[5] An eerie event took place on the evening of November 7 1942, when, in his
special train rolling through Thuringia, Hitler was discussing the day’s major
news with several aides in the dining car; since allied air raids had damaged the
tracks, the train frequently slowed its passage [...183 words omitted] How, then,
can we penetrate this barrier and reach out to the Real Other?
[6] When I woke up in my hotel room in Montreal on November 18, 2011, to
finish preparing the lecture I was to deliver later that day at the American An-
thropological Association annual conference, I was surprised to discover on my
computer a recent accumulation – due to the transatlantic time difference – of
electronic messages requesting that I urgently contact journalists from several

French national television and radio stations to give an interview for the evening
news in response to a statement made by the minister of the interior. [...1114 words
omitted] I take this personal anecdote as a point of departure to reflect on the
significance of ethnography for contemporary societies, contemplating in par-
ticular the question of its relation to its publics.
Comment
Extracts [4], [5] and [6] begin with specific situations. [4] opens with an
individual quote from an interview partner, [5] with an anecdote about
Hitler, and [6] with a personal account of email interview requests. Each
of these begins with a slow, specific narrative. The narrative operates as a
‘hook’ or a ‘peg’ to draw readers into the main focus of the text, and to
work up to the central argument. In [4] the third sentence is more like a
standard Introduction, using key words to state the centrality of the topic
(fastest-growing; overwhelmingly; a priority area), and naming the central
focus (international harm reduction organizations that initiate on-the-ground
harm reduction centers and mobile buses).
In [5] the anecdote continues for 183 more words. Only then does this
philosophical essays raise the central question which it discusses in the
rest of the essay (How, then, can we penetrate this barrier and reach out to
the Real Other?). In [6], the personal narrative continues for a further 1114
words (four pages) before the author explicitly states his aim for this essay
(to reflect on the significance of ethnography for contemporary societies, con-
templating in particular the question of its relation to its publics).
Overall, Introductions across the disciplines tend to follow the general

moves and specific steps outlined in this chapter. One popular way to es-
tablish a territory in theoretical, interpretive and analytical texts, however,
which differs from Steps 1.1 and 1.2, is to begin with a specific personal
story which relates to the research focus and research literature, with a
comment from an interview partner or fieldnotes, or with a relevant anec-
dote. This draws readers into the narrative. These authors allow themselves
more time to unfold their story and central argument. Texts usually con-
tinue with Step 1.2 and Moves 2 and 3.
Language of Introductions: Move 2 Establishing a niche

Sample formulations
Step 2.1a In this paper, I will argue that Lukács‘s position is in-
Counter- adequate because he fails to recognize the way in which
claiming, or the modes of literary representation themselves are
subject to aesthetic and historical transformation.
My suspicion is that some educational theorists have

taken up the notion of power/knowledge as yet an-
other tool in their theoretical armoury, and that in the

process they understand it in terms of sovereign
power; my belief is that this involves a misunderstand-
ing of what Foucault intends in his use of the term,
and that this may frustrate the shift in philosophical
practice that he intends to bring about.
Step 2.1b In AD, IL-22 is thought to be primarily secreted by
Indicating TH22 cells that do not coproduce IL-17, IL-4, or
a gap, or IFN-a, suggesting that TH2 and TH22 cells are the
major T-cell subsets in AD.2, 3
We do not yet have good explanations in the literature
accounting for the power of talk about, around, and
for writing to facilitate personal and social transfor-
mations for writers and their communities.
Step 2.1c The ability to do research on mobile telephony (or
Question- for that matter any form of mediated communica-
raising, or tion) however is based on the ability to use valid data.
[…] There are clearly problems with these approaches.
[…] There are three main reasons to question the
validity of self-report measures regarding mobile

phone use: cognitive burden, social desirability, and
conceptual validity.
Step 2.1d Research has been carried out about the adoption of
Continuing participatory and interactive elements in online
a tradition newsrooms (Boczkowski, 2004a, 2004b; Örnebring,
2008; Thurman, 2008), but this is one of the first arti-
cles to examine a major broadcast organization.
As noted above, any one of the steps is sufficient to establish a niche and
justify the need for this particular article. Some papers will indicate a gap
in the research literature. This can be done in a very subtle way, as in Extract
[1] discussed above. Or it can be more explicit, with phrases such as We do
not yet have good explanations…, We still lack … or There is still a lack of ….
Question-raising can also be done in a subtle way (however) or more explic-

itly, (to question the validity of). In the final sample above, the review of
previous literature (Step 1.3) merges with the statement that this paper
continues a tradition, extending the research on the adoption of participatory
and interactive elements into a new area (but this is one of the first articles to
examine ...).
Exercise
Spend 15 minutes scanning recent papers on a topic of your choice (open
access articles are available on www.doaj.org). How do the papers estab-
lish their niche? Observe which verbs, nouns or phrases could be relevant
for your topic.
Counter-claiming is one of the most complex ways of establishing a niche.

You must first outline what current research assumes or argues. Then you
can contest this current knowledge (inadequate; fails to recognize; involves a
misunderstanding). This step is more common in humanities essays than
empirical projects.
Language of Introductions: Move 3 Occupyiing the niche

Sample formulations
Step 3.1a The aim of this study was to further characterize IL-
Outlining 22–producing T cells found in the circulation of pa-
purpose, or tients with AD.
The purpose of this paper is to understand Michel
Foucault’s notion of power/knowledge and to in-
quire into the ways this notion has been adopted in

educational theory.
Step 3.1b These stories allow me to explore that social and cul-
Announcing tural space of Ann Stoler’s ‘tense and tender ties’ on
present the frontier of empire, where sexual and affective
research transgressions of the taxonomies of race and power
were enacted in the eighteenth and nineteenth cen-

turies.
Step 3.2 We use a mouse model of cytomegalovirus infection

Announcing to show that, like T cells, NK cells bearing the virus-
principle specific Ly49H receptor proliferate 100-fold in the
findings spleen and 1,000-fold in the liver after infection.
Step 3.3 In this spirit, we will begin by looking back at the
Indicating changing ways Dewey’s ideas have been incorpo-
research article rated into educational theory and discourse over the
structure past 80 years. Then we will look briefly at two key
themes relating to developmental change which re-
flect recent revisions in conceptions of development.
Finally, we will turn to Dewey’s own writing to try to
address these current challenges.
To occupy the niche, a more focused formulation is required. What are you
going to do in this particular paper? This usually appears towards the end
of the Introduction, after the scene has been set, and previous research re-
viewed. Sometimes, papers explicitly state their purpose (The aim of this study
was to; The purpose of this paper is to). Notice that past and present tense are
used in these sample phrases. Sometimes, an overview of the present re-
search is given (These stories allow me to explore) which hints at the paper’s
core argument (transgressions … were enacted). Notice the verb explore here:
This is an excellent word for announcing an open-ended (qualitative) inquiry
in the social sciences or humanities. German has no equivalent. Principle
findings can be announced in the Introduction. In the sample above, the
sentence begins with the method (We use a mouse model…), and moves on to
show the key results. This information is generally slightly longer or more
detailed than the principle findings announced in the abstract.
Finally, social science articles often indicate the research article structure.
This is often done in a very simple style: First, … Second,… Finally,… or In
Section 1, we… In Section 2, we… Section 3 discusses… Note who the actor is: In
the sample above it is ‘we’ (We will begin by looking at; Then we will look
briefly at; Finally, we will turn to). It can also be the paper, the study, the research
or Section 1, e.g. First, this paper will…. Then it will. Notice the punctuation:
A comma follows first, second, and finally. No comma follows then. Notice
also parallel rhythm: Write either first, second, third or firstly, secondly, thirdly.
Exercise
Write a mini one-page Introduction to an assignment you are working on
at the moment. Use the moves, steps and sample texts in this chapter to
help.
4.4 Writing hypotheses
If you are working in a research community which uses hypotheses to

guide its research, you will include these in your Introduction. The hypoth-
eses will be formulated at an early stage in your project, before you gather
data, and long before you begin to write up your findings. A hypothesis is
the testable prediction which guides your research design. It is a tentative
statement which proposes a possible explanation for how two or more
variables are related to each other.
Exercise
Look at Extract [7] on ‘NOTA voting’ (i.e. when voters can select a box
labelled ‘Not Any of The Above’ [NOTA] on their ballot sheets). How are
the hypotheses formulated? Which chunks could remain the same if you
write a hypothesis on your topic using the same formulation?
4.4 | Writing hypotheses 61
[7] Hypothesis 1: If NOTA voting is indicative of protest voting, then it will in-
crease when there are fewer candidates competing for an office or a candidate
runs unopposed.
Hypothesis 2: If NOTA voting is indicative of protest voting normally soaked up
by minor (“protest”) parties, then there will be a negative relationship between
the appearance of minor party candidates on the ballot and NOTA voting.
Hypothesis 3: If NOTA voting is indicative of protest voting, then it will increase
in elections for more salient offices.
Comment
These very precise and specific hypotheses use an if/then structure. Hy-
potheses 1 and 3 use a simple if/then structure: the same ‘agent’ (i.e. the
something that does something, e.g. NOTA voting – it) appears on both
sides of the comma:
• If [someone/something] [does something] [comma] then [he/she/it/

they] will [do something else]
Hypothesis 2 includes ‘there will be’ after the comma to mark a different
agent (here: negative relationship)
• If [someone/something] [does something] [comma] then there will be
[something else]
A further alternative is:

➔ If [someone/something] [does something] [comma] then [someone or
something else] will [do something else]
We can, for instance, rephrase Hypothesis 2 above:

If NOTA voting is indicative of protest voting normally soaked up by minor
(“protest”) parties, then a negative relationship will be identified between the
appearance of minor party candidates on the ballot and NOTA voting.
In this example, the first agent is NOTA voting, and the second agent after
the comma is a negative relationship.
Using the if/then structure will ensure that you write a clear, specific and
testable hypothesis. However, many published articles formulate their hy-
potheses quite differently.
Exercise
What do you notice about the structure and the language used to present
the hypotheses in Extracts [8] and [9]?
[8] In order to have a reliable picture of this animal’s genetic variability, we

analyse nuclear and mitochondrial markers and the allelic size variation of a
set of ten microsatellite loci in 301 samples from ten populations: nine from
Central Italy and one from Lake Balaton, Hungary. On the basis of current
knowledge on small crustaceans, rotifers and bryozoans in inland waters, our

main hypotheses for the genetic structure of the sponge are: i) low genetic vari-
ability is expected in each water body; ii) genetic differences between ponds are
expected to be strong and not related to geographic distances at the local scale in
Central Italy; iii) comparing Italy and Hungary, a high degree of exchange and
genetic overlap between these populations is expected. Moreover, low overall
variability in mitochondrial sequences is expected in sponges (Duran et al.,2004;

Dailianis et al.,2011). Thus, the main scenario expected would encompass a lack
of clear spatial patterns, but a strong local genetic structure with differences be-
tween nearby water bodies equal to or higher than those between distant water
bodies.
[9] Working from a body of research that shows that education systems reflect
global patterns and universal principles, over and above distinctive national
histories (Meyer and Ramirez 2000; Ramirez and Meyer 2002), we expect to
observe the following changes in Holocaust education:
Proposition 1 To the extent that the Holocaust has become a central symbol of
world society, we expect the following changes in education as world society ex-
pands:
1a. Textbooks will increasingly mention the Holocaust over time.
1b. Mentions of the Holocaust will increasingly appear in a range of countries
around the world.
1c. The Holocaust will be increasingly framed in terms of universal human rights.
Comment
Extracts [8] and [9] share the same basic structure:
1) Summarize the previous research (which in both cases has been dis-
cussed at length above) broadly (On the basis of current knowledge on...;
Working from a body of research that shows that…)
2) Introduce the main variable or variables (the genetic structure of the

sponge; Holocaust education and world society)
3) Write several hypotheses which link further variables (our main hypoth-
eses for … are; we expect to observe the following changes in …)
Neither is written as if/then statements. [9]’s propositions, however, follow
the same structure as if/then clauses. Instead of ‘if’, the text uses ‘To the
extent that’. They can easily be rewritten, e.g.,
1) If the Holocaust has become a central symbol of world society, then textbooks
will increasingly mention the Holocaust over time.
2) If the Holocaust has become a central symbol of world society, then mentions
of the Holocaust will increasingly appear in a range of countries around the
world.
3) If the Holocaust has become a central symbol of world society, then the
Holocaust will be increasingly framed in terms of universal human rights.
Extract [8] is a more observational study. Thus its predictions are more
tentative. It identifies four general hypotheses which do not use an if/then
structure. It first describes its main variable (the genetic structure of the
sponge), and then its ‘expectations’ which include further specific variables,
each of which is testable using the measuring instruments of this particu-
lar field (X is expected in each water body). The paper aims to map the ge-
netic structure of this sponge. The four hypotheses describe specific ex-
pected outcomes within this mapping.
The hypotheses in Extract [8] could be rewritten more efficiently, e.g.
On the basis of current knowledge on small crustaceans, rotifers and bryozoans

in inland waters, our main hypotheses for the genetic structure of the sponge are
as follows. We expect: i) low genetic variability in each water body; ii) strong
genetic differences between ponds, not related to geographic distances at the local
scale in Central Italy; iii) a high degree of exchange and genetic overlap between
the populations in Italy and Hungary; and iv) low overall variability in mito-
chondrial sequences in sponges.
Here, We expect introduces all four expectations. This avoids repeating the
phrase is expected four times.
Notice the key words used to express the hypotheses in the samples
below. Across the research literature, you will find hypothesis (noun), hy-
pothesize (verb) and expect (verb).
Introducing hypotheses

(an) hypothesis Our hypothesis is that if service S2 depends on
service S1, a delay d1 in service S1 should result in a
similar delay d2 ⬇ d1 in service S2.
Our hypothesis was that older adults who use

Spanish were more likely to have undiagnosed
hypertension.
(to) hypothesize We hypothesize that specific tidal wetland areas
may either export or import particulate organic
carbon on an annual basis depending upon several

geophysical factors…
First, we hypothesized that game-self-ideal-self

convergence would be linked to high levels of
intrinsic motivation…
(to) expect Given the plausible biological and social
mechanisms, we expect that sex ratios during
sexual maturity might have a significant effect
on long-term human survival and that the
supernumerary sex should be disadvantaged.
We expected that players would find games
inherently enjoyable to the extent that the games
fostered the convergence of players’ ideal-self and
game-self characteristics...
The phrase ‘Given the…’ followed by a comma and ‘we expect’ is a common
way of introducing hypotheses.
Notice that these sample sentences use past and present tense. You can
use both, but make sure your text is consistent: use either the present sim-
ple tense (in this sentence or section) or the past simple tense, not both
together. Notice also that some samples use ‘will’, others ‘may, ‘should’ and
‘would’.
Tip
When writing hypotheses, check your grammar books on how
to write ‘conditional’ sentences!
If in doubt, write an if/then sentence. But more importantly, be sure that

your hypothesis clearly names the main variables involved in your study.
These variables can, if necessary, be defined in more detail in the methods
section.

• The Introduction is one of the most-read parts of a paper across the
disciplines.
• Shape your Introduction from general to more specific information.
• Most Introductions follow three moves: First, they establish a terri-

tory. Second, they establish a niche. Finally, they occupy the niche.
• Browse articles in your research community to observe how they tend

to choreograph their moves in the Introduction.
• Claim centrality: Show your readers why this particular research is
important, timely and interesting.
• Introductions to theoretical, interpretative and analytical writing may
begin with a personal narrative, individual’s comment or specific an-
ecdote.
• If your review of previous research is very long, write a short Introduc-
tion to your Introduction.
• Write testable, measurable hypotheses (consider using an if/then
structure).
5 Empirical research papers
5.1 IMRAD
5.2 Methods
5.3 Results
5.4 Discussion
5.5 Figures
The empirical research paper is one of the most common texts for under-
graduates and academics across the social sciences, life sciences, physical
sciences (including physics, chemistry, mathematics, earth and space sci-
ence, etc.), technology and engineering fields. This kind of paper presents
the findings of empirical research resulting from, for instance, experimen-
tal, survey, qualitative or ethnographic approaches. In each case, there is

some form of empirical data gathering and analysis. The most conven-
tional form of presenting such research is the IMRAD format. Chapter 6

explores the extended essay, a more flexible format which is predominant
in the arts and humanities, and is useful for theoretical, interpretative and
analytical assignments in all disciplines. Chapter 9 looks at lab reports,
which describe single experiments and also tend to follow the IMRAD
format.
5.1 IMRAD
The simple and clear IMRAD format is welcomed in undergraduate cours-

es, in Bachelor, Masters and PhD dissertations, and in leading interna-
tional journals.
➔ Introduction: Why? What makes this research important? Why do the
issues or the findings matter? What was the aim of the study? What
were the research question(s) and/or hypotheses? What previous re-
search has already been conducted in this area?
➔ Methods: How? Which materials/informants/clinical groups/etc.
were involved in the study? Which methods were used to gather data
and which were used to analyse the data?
➔ Results: What? What is the answer to the research questions? Which
specific data was generated? Were the hypotheses supported?
➔ And
68 Empirical research papers | 5
➔ Discussion: So what? What do the results mean? How can they be

interpreted? What conclusions can be drawn? To which broader issues
are the specific findings relevant? What implications arise for future
research, theory, policy or practice?
The previous chapter dealt with the Introduction. This chapter takes you
through the remaining three sections: Methods, Results and Discussion.
An additional section deals with the captions for visual Figures such as
maps, tables and graphs. For many scholars, Figures represent the core
aspect of presenting empirical methods and results. Again, as in previous

chapters, each section invites you to ‘observe’ the language used in authen-
tic texts, ‘hypothesize’ about how the language works, and ‘experiment’
with using the language in your own research paper.
Tip
Start writing your paper by creating Figures and writing the cap-
tions. Second, describe the Figures. Third, write the rest of the
Methods, Results and Discussion sections. Write the Introduc-
tion and Title last!
5.2 Methods
The Methods section of a research paper or report describes (i) what you
did and (ii) which materials, instruments or subjects helped you do it.
Often this section is called ‘Materials and Methods’ or ‘Participants and
Methods’ to draw attention to these two aspects.
5.2.1 Methods: Chunks, structure and grammar
Methods give a clear, precise and concise description of the experimental

design, the procedure and the data analysis. In student writing, it demon-
strates that you have thought carefully and systematically about the proce-
dure (what you did), and that you understand the importance of reliability
in scientific work. In published writing, it enables other researchers to
replicate the study to check the validity of the findings. In both cases, the
reader can check what you did against your conclusions to assess the valid-
ity of your generalizations.
5.2 | Methods 69
Exercise
Read Extract [1], the Methods section from the paper on atopic dermati-
tis (AD) in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology which we met
in Chapter 4. The sentences have been numbered from (1) to (11). Which
aspect of the Methods does each sentence describe? What do you notice
about the language?
[1] (1) Thirteen patients (mean age, 32 years) with severe chronic AD, which was
diagnosed according to the criteria of Hanifin and Rajika,4 were enrolled in this
study with their informed consent. (2) The objective SCORAD (SCORing AD)
index without subjective signs ranged from 62.6 to 82.8 (mean, 75.1). (3) Serum
IgE levels ranged from 406 to 141,060 U/L (mean, 20,304 U/L), and absolute
eosinophil counts ranged from 445 to 4,600/μL (mean, 1,888/μL). (4) Ten
patients with psoriasis and 9 healthy subjects served as controls. (5) Psoriasis
area and severity index score of patients with psoriasis ranged from 10.2 to 40.4
(mean, 23.3). (6) This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Saitama
Medical Center. (7) Flow-cytometric assessments of T-cell intracellular cytokine

production were done as described previously.5 (8) Briefly, peripheral blood T
cells were stimulated for 4 hours in RPMI medium containing phorbol 12-myr-
istate 13-acetate, ionomycin,and Brefeldin A, followed by staining for intracel-
lular cytokines. (9) The results were expressed as mean ± SEM. (10) Statistical
analyses were performed by using the Mann-Whitney U test and Pearson cor-
relation coefficient analysis. (11) Probability (P) values of less than .05 were
considered significant.
Comment
Extract [1] consists of the three common moves in Methods sections. Move
1 (sentences 1-6) describes the participants and materials, including refer-
ences to ethics (informed consent; Ethics Committee). Move 2 (sentences
7-8), describes the data-collection procedure. Move 3 (sentences 9-11),
describes the data-analysis procedure.
Notice the nouns to describe the human participants: patients, subjects.
Notice the verbs for describing their participation: were enrolled..., served
as controls. Notice the grammar: simple past tense (ranged from, served)
and passive voice (was diagnosed, were enrolled, was approved by, were done,
were stimulated, were expressed, were performed, were considered). The sen-
tences are relatively short and simple.
Extract [1] uses the passive voice. Increasingly, researchers also describe
methods with ‘we’ (e.g. As subjects learned about the candidates, we collected
data on the information subjects accessed for each candidate,...).
Exercise
Select three articles on a topic of your choice and read the Methods. For
each article, ask: Does it include the three moves (participants/materials,
data-collection, data-analysis)? Does it name specific characteristics/
substances/tests? Does it use the simple past tense? Does it use the
passive voice? Does it use ‘we’? Does it use short, simple sentences?
What verbs does it use? Do you think the description of the methods
works well?
You will notice that Methods sections almost always use the simple past
tense, and that the sentences are often very short and concise.
A danger of Methods sections is that they include too many details.
Which aspects do you really need to tell the readers? Do you need to tell
them all the details of a fairly common procedure? No, you can assume
they understand the main steps or concepts.
One way to save space is to refer to previous literature which provides
further details (see also Extract [1]).
Referring to methods descriptions elsewhere

• A full description of recruitment and screening procedures has been
reported previously.1,15,16 Briefly, participants were recruited from …
• Criteria for MCI at baseline were based on published consensus guide-
lines.19 In brief, participants were defined as having MCI if they had…
• A further point worthy of note is that, as a long-term participant of
the goth scene myself, I have a status as an insider researcher with
respect to the group, a subject on which I have reflected at length
elsewhere (Hodkinson 2005).
• First, using a method based on the polymerase chain reaction-restric-
tion fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) approach (Gigliarel-
li et al.,2008), we confirmed taxonomic identification of all the sam-
ples, in order to …
• Accordingly, we employ the Lau and Redlawsk (2001, 2006) dynamic
process tracing approach, which creates an ever-changing environ-
ment that mimics the flow of information throughout a campaign.
5.2 | Methods 71
5.2.2 Methods: Fast and slow descriptions
There are two main styles of writing in Methods sections: ‘fast’ or ‘com-
pressed’ descriptions and ‘slow’ or ‘expanded’ descriptions. Both are used
across all the disciplines. However, the former (‘compressed’) are more
common in the sciences, technology and engineering, and the latter (‘ex-
panded’) are more common in the social sciences.
Fast descriptions focus on means and explanations. Why was something
done? Which means were used to achieve which end?
Means-focused (fast) descriptions of procedure

‘to’ + verb We used cookie and IP filtering to prevent duplicate
(infinitive) participation.
To determine whether coding was stable over time,
a subset of the items for 20 articles was recoded
(5 randomly chosen articles from each of the four

reviewed journals).
More specifically, to find what services depend on

a given service S1, we delay the first packet of each
connection destined to service S1.
To characterize the allosteric interaction between
LY2119620 and iperoxo, we performed radioligand
binding and cellular functional assays at the
wild-type human M2 muscarinic receptor stably
expressed in a CHO FlpIn cell line.
‘for’ + -ing A coding form was developed for assessing
frequencies of a number of test-evaluative practices.
The same HapMap data was used for estimating
allele frequencies in Europeans.
‘for’ + noun For vertex-wise group analyses, uncorrected SUVR
phrase images were sampled halfway between the pial and
white surface, transformed to the average cortical
surface, and smoothed with a surfaced-based
Gaussian 5-mm FWHM kernel.
For the first round of selection, counter-selection
was performed against the `2 receptor to remove
yeast clones that bind nonspecifically to membrane
proteins or to secondary staining reagents.
‘in order to’ + In order to evaluate and minimise genotyping errors,

verb (infinitive) and to characterise allelic dropout or misprinting, all
the experiments were replicated as suggested for non
destructive samples (Hoffman and Amos, 2005).
After filtering, a single base was sampled at each site
for each individual in order to avoid introducing bias
due to differences in sequencing depth.
Slow (expanded) descriptions focus on chronology and reporting informa-

tion. What was done first, what followed? Which information about each
step do the readers need to know? In the following overview, notice how
commas are used, or not used, in each phrase.
Chronology-focused (slow) descriptions of procedure

Simple Data were collected principally in the form of interviews

recounting with young people aged 16–22 years in two rural

towns in north and central Victoria.
Researchers approached the local Football and Netball
Club (FNC) president by telephone, outlining the na-
ture and scope of the research and invited the club
to participate.
‘First’ ... ‘Next’ We first examined the relationship between the sex
... ‘Then’ ... ratio and survival using a longitudinal data set of a
‘Finally’ .... cohort of high school graduates from a single state.
Next subjects placed two candidates – the one origi-
nally preferred and the one originally most disliked
in the first poll – on several issues.
Then, only for samples unambiguously confirmed as
E. fluviatilis, we proceeded with the genetic charac-
terisation of rDNA, mtDNA and microsatellites.
Finally, subjects completed a “cued recall” task where
they indicated whether they recognized having ac-
cessed each piece of information that they did in fact
access.
5.3 | Results 73
‘After’ + ‘-ing’ After playing each game, participants responded to

‘After’ + noun measures of game-self characteristics, motivation to
phrase play video games, and affect.
After completion of behavioral testing, the animals
were sacrificed.
‘Following’ + Following the series of injections, all animals were housed
noun phrase and fed under standard conditions until 8 weeks of age.
Group K was anesthetized with 70 mg/kg intraperito-

neal (ip) ketamine. Group K+R received 0.5 mg/kg
Ro 20-1724 (Sigma, USA) ip 30 minutes following the
ketamine.
‘Given’ + noun Given the much smaller sample here than in the Medi-
phrase care sample described below, and the consequent reduc-
‘Given’ + ‘that’ tion in statistical power, we first estimated a model

with a linear term for the sex ratio.
Given that many of the articles reviewed employed

more than one measure, we coded the test-evaluative
practices separately for each measure.
Phrases showing the chronology or the sequence of steps are like ‘sign-
posts’ showing which direction the study went. A further useful signpost-
ing element is sub-headings.
Tip
If you are presenting a large amount of information in ‘Materials
and Methods’, add sub-headings to keep the structure uncluttered.
5.3 Results
Like the Methods, the Results section is concise, straightforward and ef-
ficient. Your central challenge is deciding what to omit. Most guides to
writing Results describe this section as objectively presenting the key results
of an empirical study without interpretation. Of course, since Results do not
present raw data, they always already include interpretation. However,
Results are formulated as neutrally as possible, and stay close to the data.
The Discussion (see below) presents your interpretation more explicitly.
5.3.1 Results: Reporting and highlighting results
The first task when writing the Results is to select which of your observa-
tions (raw data) count as your ‘key results’ for this particular assignment,
with this particular research question (in the Introduction) and for these par-
ticular hypotheses. This means selecting which results to identify, and then
which of these results you want to highlight as particularly important.
Reporting results

• Using FDG PET, differences in regional hypometabolism between

carriers and noncarriers were significant (FDR corrected, P < 0.01)
10 y before the onset of symptoms in the precuneus/posterior cin-
gulate and lateral parietal cortex (Fig. 1B).
• Two models that tested direct relations between positive affect and
convergence, b = 0.29, t(415) = 6.65, p < .001, d= 0.65, and between
negative affect and convergence, b = –0.10, t(415) = –2.97, p < .05, d

= 0.20, showed that convergence accounted for significant between-
game variation in affect.

• Number of ‘friends’ varied, ranging from 100 to 900 with an average
of 400–500 mutually confirmed contacts.
• Of the 1,211 measures coded, 49 (4.0%) appeared in EPM, 146 (12.1%)
in PA, 178 (14.7%) in JPA, and 838 (68.7%) in PAID.
• Results from this model also showed that participants found play more
inherently motivating insofar as it brought them closer to their
ideal-self characteristics, b = 0.30, t(414) = 5.95, p < .001, d = 0.58.
The first three examples above refer to ‘significance’. In these three cases,
‘significant’ refers to a technical/statistical value (P < 0.01, p < .001, p <
.05), and is not used in its everyday/informal sense, where it simply means
‘important’.
Highlighting results which you find especially important or interesting
is, however, also a task of the Results section.
Highlighting particular results

• Unexpectedly, we found that MCs ⬃25 y from their EAO had statisti-
cally significantly higher levels of glucose uptake than NCs.
• However, there were two notable exceptions to this general pattern:
…
5.3 | Results 75
• The most striking initial finding is that our subjects did not report very

many memories.
• Particularly relevant for this section was the concept of the ‘council
of workers’ and soldiers’ deputies’.
Notice that most of these sample Results use the past simple tense.
Exercise
Experiment reporting the results of your current empirical study: Write a

short paragraph which reports the main results and highlights one aspect
as particularly striking or unexpected.
5.3.2 Results: Beginning with the visual material

One way of writing your Results is to begin by compiling the Tables and
Figures, where ‘Figure’ refers to any other kind of visual material. Ask
yourself what you want to show the readers. Put them in an order that
makes sense to you. Then write the captions (see 5.5 below). Then write
the main text.
Three ways of referring to Tables and Figures are prevalent in empirical
research papers.
Referring to Tables, Figures and other visual elements

Function Sample sentence
Grammatical Table 1 summarizes both article- and measure-level
agency demographic information.
Table 1 reports the mean number of memories our
subjects listed.
Figure 2 graphs the hazard ratios of death against the
population-weighted mean of the sex ratio in each
sextile.
As a location As can be seen in Table 2, the measure-level results are
generally consistent with this pattern of findings.
We portray these results graphically in Figure 1.
As shown in Fig 1, we found increased percentages of

IL-4– and IL-13–producing CD4+ T cells and reduced
percentages of IFN-a-producing CD4+ and CD8+ T
cells in the circulation of patients with AD compared
with T cells from patients with psoriasis and healthy
subjects, which was consistent with our previous
report.
In parentheses We estimate that there were 96 million apparent den-
gue infections globally in 2010 (Table 1).

The greatest glucose hypometabolism was found in
the inferior parietal and supra-marginal cortices
(Fig. 3C and Fig. S3).
Moreover, as Native Americans are closer to Han
Chinese than to Papuans (Fig. 3c), Native American-

related gene flow into the ancestors of MA-1 is ex-
pected to result in MA-1 also being closer to Han

Chinese than to Papuans.
Of these three ways, placing the reference to Figures and Tables in paren-
theses is the most frequent.
5.4 Discussion
Students often report that the Discussion is one of the most challenging
parts of an IMRAD empirical paper to write. In the Discussion you inter-
pret your specific results in light of (i) your own research questions and/
or hypotheses, and (ii) other available results. Here, you make your main
argument (see also Chapter 6 for useful language for presenting an argu-
ment).
Tip
Avoid simply repeating the Introduction, where you already pre-
sented your questions/hypotheses and the other relevant re-
search.
5.4 | Discussion 77
5.4.1 Discussion: Four important moves
Just as the other sections, Discussions can be split into several moves.
Exercise
Read Extract [2], from a paper reporting on the Ginkgo Evaluation of
Memory (GEM) study, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled
clinical trial which aimed to determine whether taking the herbal product
Ginko biloba slows cognitive decline in older adults. Can you identify any
‘moves’? What is each sentence of this Discussion doing?
[2] This study examined whether a twice-daily 120-mg dose of G biloba affected
the rate of cognitive change over time in older adults. We found no evidence for
an effect of G biloba on global cognitive change and no evidence of effect on
specific cognitive domains of memory, visual-spatial construction, language,
attention and psychomotor speed, and executive functions. We found also no

evidence for differences in treatment effects by age, sex, race, education, APOE*E4
allele status, or baseline cognitive status (MCI vs normal cognition).

The observation of no significant effect modification by baseline cognitive status
suggests that G biloba affected neither subtle preclinical cognitive changes associ-
ated with dementia prodrome nor cognitive changes associated with normal
aging. [...]
The present results are consistent with smaller trials. Solomon et al32 reported
that in a 6-week, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial among 219 older
adults, G biloba (120-mg daily dose) did not facilitate performance on standard
neuropsychological tests of memory, attention, or language. A feasibility trial by
Dodge et al33 randomized 118 older adults (mean age, 87 years) to 240 mg/d of
G biloba vs placebo and reported no difference in episodic memory decline during
an average follow-up of 3.5 years in an intention-to-treat analysis. However, the
statistical significance of the treatment effect was borderline (P = .05).
Comment
One way to analyse this Discussion is to identify four moves:
• Restate the research question, hypothesis or objective (This study exam-
ined ...).
• Summarize the central results (We found no evidence for...)
• Make a (tentative) interpretation (The observation of X suggests...)
• Link these findings to other available research (The present results are
consistent with...; However, the statistical significance of the treatment
effect was borderline...).
These four moves help to create a conversation (a ‘discussion’!) between

your paper’s findings and other available findings.
Useful phrases for opening lines in Discussion sections

• This work is the first research testing the population genetics within a
spatially explicit framework in a fresh-water sponge. The main results
of our survey of genetic diversity in E. fluviatilis are: ...
• Video games are an increasingly popular medium for entertainment
(McGonigal, 2011), yet the features that make these games so allur-
ing have been understudied. In the research reported here, we investi-
gated how the potential of video games to put players in touch with
ideal aspects of themselves is associated with the games’ motiva-
tional appeal and emotional impact.
• Previous studies have shown that ketamine exposure in the immature
brain can lead to cognitive dysfunction [1-5]. However, these studies

are primarily concerned with short-term function, and long-term stud-
ies in children are rare.

• The value of applying Haraway’s (1991) cyborg theory lies in its ability
to signal the unpacking and re-ordering of the relationships between
young people, Facebook and their everyday lives.
• We used the sex ratio at sexual maturity as an indicator of mate avail-
ability and assessed a novel hypothesis regarding the possible relation-
ship between this early-life condition and long-term mortality in
humans. Specifically, we suggested that an imbalanced sex ratio may
affect positions in the marriage market, marriage formation, and
stress in the mate-finding process that might in turn result in unfa-
vorable long-term health outcomes and reduce longevity.
Notice that each of the sample opening lines makes one of the four moves
noted above. Clearly, not all begin their Discussion with Move 1.
5.4.2 Discussion: Restating, summarizing, interpreting and linking
This section presents sample phrases from published research literature

for restating your research question or hypothesis, for restating your cen-
tral findings, for making cautious interpretations of these results, and for
making connections to other relevant research findings. See also Chapter
6 for useful language for persuading your readers that your interpretation
is valid and robust.
5.4 | Discussion 79
Useful phrases for restating research question/hypothesis

• In the research reported here, we investigated how ...
• This study aimed to …
• The study made a close examination of …
• We used X as an indicator of Y and assessed a novel hypothesis
regarding ...
• The specific research questions we addressed in this paper were:
(1) … and (2) …
• Consistent with the hypothesis predicted for ...

• The structures presented here offer insights into ...
• In regard to X, the findings presented above have revealed …
Notice that the sample phrases mainly use the past simple tense to restate
the research question or hypothesis. However, one uses the present simple
(offer insights into) and one the present perfect (have revealed). Variations
are possible, although the past simple is the most common.
Useful phrases for summarizing central results

• There is evidence that ... In particular, ...
• We found clear effects of...
• It is interesting to note that we found very few…
• Overall, X shows a slight…
• Findings at both X and Y levels of analysis indicated that…
• Further, we found evidence for…
• This study confirmed that…
• In group A, X was significantly…
• Taken together, X, Y and Z affect…
• At the same time, we also find evidence suggesting that…
• We found no evidence for...
Often a sentence which summarizes a main result is directly followed by

a few sentences interpreting this result. This may include a few sentences
linking the result and interpretation to the available published research.
Then a further main result is summarized, followed by a few interpretative
sentences, perhaps linking the findings to other research. These three
moves are repeated in sequence for each main result.
Useful phrases for making interpretations

• Results indicate that...
• This result suggests that…
• The present study also indicates that...
• This analysis accounts for...
• We also identified Xs that seem to...
• Why some X are resistant to Y is unclear. One possibility is that…
• Xs are most likely to have led to…
• The structure of X definitively establishes Y and shows that...

• In group A, X was significantly prolonged, suggesting that…
• One potential explanation for this discrepancy is that… A second
possibility is that…
• It appears, therefore, that…
• A final point to consider is...
Notice that the interpretations are mainly in the present tense. Notice also
the cautious language used (indicates, suggest, seem to possibility, most likely,
appears). See Sections 3.8 and 6.4.4 for more on cautious language.
Useful phrases for linking to other research

• The findings of this study thus support previous studies showing…
• Consistent with previous related research, there is evidence that...
• Furthermore, as predicted by X, ...
• This study confirmed that...
• Interestingly, X in this study also corroborates the result reported
by Y, in which Z was recorded.
• Previous studies have shown that... However, these studies are
primarily concerned with...
• Although much of the literature has focused on...
• Our estimates of X are more than three times higher than the WHO
predicted figure...
• It is now recognized that…9 However, it remains unclear whether…
• In contrast to the findings of others (e.g., X 2004; Y 1996; Z 1998)
that…, we found the opposite pattern to be the case.
5.5 | Figures 81
Further moves in Discussions are, for instance:

➔ Reflecting on the limitations of the present study
➔ Stating the broader social, political, ethical, medical, etc. implications
of these findings.
➔ Suggesting further (follow-up) research which is now necessary.
Exercise
Choose an article or a dissertation that is relevant to your current assign-
ment. First, try to identify the moves discussed above. Can you identify
any further moves? Next, highlight phrases in the article/dissertation to
add to the lists for each of the four moves presented above. Finally, com-
pile further lists for limitations, implications, further research and any
other moves relevant in your field.
And now, write your Discussion, experimenting with these different moves
and language chunks!
5.5 Figures
Recently, leading journals have begun to prioritize visual elements. On the

Nature website, for instance, articles are presented with Title, Abstract and
then an “At a glance” section consisting of a set of images for users to click
through. The images consist of the Figures and Tables from the article plus
the first line of the caption. To read the whole caption, users have to login
or purchase the article.
These Figures and Tables operate as ‘teasers’. They draw users’ attention
and they hint at the main findings. But users have to pay to read the words.
This shows how important the caption (still) is when trying to understand
visual information.
In this section we will analyse two Figures from an article titled The
global distribution and burden of dengue (printed in colour in Nature).
Exercise
Look at Fig. 5 which appears near the start of the paper. Read the caption
in Extract [3]. What do you notice about the formulations? What is the
Figure’s function in the research paper?
200
Infections (millions) 150
100
50
0
1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Year
Fig. 5 Global estimates of total dengue infections
[3] Comparison of previous estimates of total global dengue infections in indi-

viduals of all ages, 1985–2010. Black triangle, ref. 5; dark blue triangle, ref. 15;
green triangle, ref. 17; orange triangle, ref. 16; light blue triangle, ref. 30; pink
triangle, ref. 10; red triangle, apparent infections from this study. Estimates are
aligned to the year of estimate and, if not stated, aligned to the publication date.
Red shading marks the credible interval of our current estimate, for comparison.
Error bars from ref. 10 and ref. 16 replicated the confidence intervals provided in
these publications.
Comment
Sentence 1 in Extract [3] is a topic sentence, summarizing the Figure’s
function, i.e. what it is doing here: It is presenting a Comparison of previous
estimates of ... This sentence includes the key words (estimates; total global
dengue infections) and the key parameters (all ages; 1985-2010). Sentence 2
links specific visual elements to specific research studies (ref. 5; ref. 15,
etc.), including this study. Sentence 3 describes how the Figure was created,
answering the question of why these triangles are placed in these years.
Sentences 4 and 5 describe the function of further visual elements (red
shading marks; error bars).
5.5 | Figures 83
Key words indicating the purpose of Fig. 5 are ‘previous estimates of’ and
‘ref’. This Figure appears in the paper’s Introduction. Fig. 5 visualizes Move
1 of the Introduction, establishing a territory, in particular Step 1.3, review-
ing previous research (see Chapter 4). It also occupies the niche (Move 3)
by announcing principle findings (Step 3.2). The visualization effectively
contrasts the present findings with previous research.
Notice that the captions included above and below use a mix of full sen-
tences and shorter, telegraphic style. Space is at a premium in captions.

Delete all unnecessary words.
Exercise
Look at Fig. 6 (p. 84). Read the caption in Extract [4]. What do you notice
about the formulations? What is this Figure’s function in the research paper?
[4] a, National and subnational evidence consensus on complete absence (green)

through to complete presence (red) of dengue4. b, Probability of dengue occur-
rence at 5 km × 5 km spatial resolution of the mean predicted map (area under
the receiver operator curve of 0.81 (±0.02 s.d., n = 336)) from 336 boosted regres-
sion tree models. Areas with a high probability of dengue occurrence are shown
in red and areas with a low probability in green. c, Cartogram of the annual
number of infections for all ages as a proportion of national or subnational
(China) geographical area.
Comment
The three maps are labelled a, b, and c. Each has a simple legend with very
few words, including a descriptive title which also describes the map
(Evidence consensus; Probability of occurrence; Annual infections). The cap-
tion is structured from a to b to c. It repeats or rephrases the three map
titles, and gives further information about the meaning of each visual ele-
ment. In a and b the information is linked explicitly to the relevant visual
element (green; red). b and c provide information about the analytical pa-
rameters which led to the creation of the images (5 km ' 5 km spatial resolu-
tion; as a proportion of national or subnational (China) geographical area),
including statistical details in parentheses ((±0.02 s.d., n = 336)). c gives
the image a specific name which is used in the main text (cartogram).
Evidence
consensus
Complete absence
Good
Moderate
Poor
Indeterminable
Poor
Moderate
Good
Complete presence
b
Probability
of occurrence
1
Annual infections
0
<150,000
150,000–275,000
275,000–500,000
0.5–1 million
1–1.5 million
1.5–2.75 million
2.75–7.5 million
7.5–32.5 million
Fig. 6 Global evidence consensus, risk and burden of dengue in 2010.
5.5 | Figures 85
These three images visualize the study’s central findings. They are referred
to several times in the main body of the article.
As noted above, several sentences throughout the main body of text refer
to the three Figures (Fig 2a, Fig 2b, Fig 2c). They are referred to both above
the Figures and below. They are used to illustrate the Research Design,
Results and Discussion.
In each case, the same key words are used in the Figure, in the caption
and in the main text (e.g. evidence consensus; probability of occurrence). This
makes it easy for the reader to quickly relate the information in the main
text to the image and the caption.
Tip
Use consistent vocabulary. Don’t worry about being repetitive!
Be clear which element you are referring to.

A lot more could be said about writing empirical research papers. Many
books are devoted entirely to this kind of assignment or publication (see
Further Resources in Chapter 10 for some recommended print and online
resources). Beware, however, of resources which present guidelines and
conventions as definitive ‘rules’. Very often the way that a research com-
munity (including your professor or lecturer) actually writes in ‘real-life’
communication is very different from the models provided online or in
books. I encourage you to regularly select interesting ‘real-life’ texts and do
a little genre analysis on them, as modelled in the Exercises in this chapter.
Then experiment in your writing using the language chunks and the organ-
izing principles which you observe in these texts and which you think work
well.

• Try structuring your text using the IMRAD format
• Consider creating the Figures first, then writing the captions, then the
Results and then the rest of your text.
• Write all sections clearly and concisely. Use short sentences.
• Avoid overuse of metaphors and lyrical language.
• Mix fast, compressed and slow, expanded descriptions in your Meth-
ods.
• Don’t call the Methods section ‘Methodology’. Methodology is the

philosophical study of methods.
• If relevant, chunk your Methods section into Materials/Participants,
Data-collection and Data-analysis.
• Remind your readers of your research questions and/or hypothesis in
the Results and in the Discussion.
• Be as neutral as possible in the Results.

• Include four moves in your Discussion: restate your research question,
summarize your key results, interpret these results and link to avail-
able research.
• Use the same words to refer to the elements visualized in the Figure
that you use in the caption and the main text.
6 Theoretical, interpretative and analytical
writing
6.1 Developing an argument
6.2 Selecting relevant information from sources
6.3 Establishing your position I: Finding an authorial ‘voice’
6.4 Establishing your position II: Engaging with sources
6.5 Presenting your argument in a coherent manner

6.6 Conclusions
This chapter explores theoretical, interpretative and analytical writing. It

deals with most writing in the arts and humanities, with analytical assign-
ments in social sciences and with theoretical work in the life sciences,
physical sciences, technology and engineering. This chapter should also
help with the Discussion section of empirical research assignments across

the sciences.
The most common genre of theoretical, interpretative and analytical
writing that undergraduate and postgraduate students write is the extend-
ed essay. ‘Extended’ means the essay is longer than the five-paragraph es-
says written in school (for more on short essays, see Chapter 9). The style
of writing which this chapter discusses is also highly relevant for theoreti-
cal, interpretative and analytical BA, MA and PhD dissertations.
The crucial point to remember when writing your extended essay or dis-
sertation is the purpose of this piece of writing: what are you ‘doing’ with
this essay/dissertation? Your core task in any kind of theoretical, interpre-
tative and analytical writing across the disciplines is to develop an argument.
The quality of your writing – and your grades – will depend on how con-
vincingly you develop your argument.
But what is an ‘argument’? And how to ‘convincingly’ develop one? Recent
research suggests that many students are not quite sure what ‘argument’
means in a university context. They don’t know that they are expected to
develop an argument in their writing, and they don’t know how to develop
an argument. This is partly because the kind of (simple) argumentation
taught in schools is very different to the (complex) argumentation required
at university. It is also partly because students are almost never told that the
key to successful university essay writing is developing an argument.
88 Theoretical, interpretative and analytical writing | 6
In this chapter, we explore different ways of developing an argument in

theoretical, interpretative and analytical writing, how to position yourself
towards the available published scholarship, and key elements in structur-
ing, formulating and concluding such assignments.
6.1 Developing an argument
So, what does ‘developing an argument’ mean at university level? The first
response to this question is that it depends on your discipline. Each re-
search community has its own specific expectations. The second response
is that across the disciplines, argumentation tends to have three compo-
nents (see Fig. 7).
Main aim: Developing an argument

Selecting and using Establishing your Presenting your

relevant information own position position in a
from sources coherent manner
• Identifying which • Comparing/ Formal elements:

sources are contrasting
• Structure
relevant evidence/ideas
• Signposting
• Evaluating from sources
• Style, register
which/how • Finding support
for your position
• Referencing
evidence/ideas
can be used
(being critical)
Fig. 7 Essay writing framework (Wingate 2013)
As the bold text in Fig. 7 illustrates, establishing your own position is the core
step in the overall goal of developing an argument in this kind of writing. To
develop your position, you select relevant information from published
writing relevant to your issue. This means first identifying which source
6.3 | Finding an authorial ‘voice’ 89
texts are relevant, and then evaluating which evidence and ideas you will
use from these texts. You will compare and contrast ideas from a range of
source texts and identify which of these ideas support your position and
which ideas you want to challenge. Finally, you need to pay attention to
formal elements such as organizing the structure of your text, clearly sign-
posting what your text is going to do, finding an appropriate style, and
citing your source texts accurately in the text and in the references.
Tip
Ask yourself ‘Who do I want to convince about what?’ The an-

swer will help you formulate your argument.
6.2 Selecting relevant information from sources

This book is not the place to go into details about how to do literature re-
search, use databases or become an expert in your field. The more you read,
however, the easier it is to identify which information is relevant and which

is irrelevant for your question. If you have to create a focus for your paper
yourself, the more you read, the easier it is to find gaps or controversies in
the field – or positions which you disagree with – that are worth exploring
in an assignment.
Tip
Try the five-finger approach (see Chapter 3) to summarize and
critically evaluate the texts you read.
6.3 Establishing your position I: Finding an authorial ‘voice’
When you write, even if you are in your first semester, you are writing as
an expert in an academic debate among experts. Some positions have al-
ready been published. Your task it so enter into a conversation with these
positions. This takes some confidence! You have to critically assess the
thinking of renowned professors. Student writing can run into three prob-
lems here.
Typical difficulties establishing a position

Too much ‘me’ The text describes personal experiences and opin-
ions without reference to the research literature.
(Sometimes this was expected at school.)
Not enough The text summarizes other authors’ views but does
‘me’ not make own claims. (This is seen at university as
insufficient critical thinking.)
Plagiarism The text presents arguments as original work when

they are actually taken from another source. (This
might happen by accident if you do not take careful
notes, but it is still plagiarism and means the text will
fail and the writer will be penalized.)
The rest of this section explores how published texts establish their position
and their ‘authorial voice’ as they develop their argument.
Exercise
Read Extracts [1] to [3], from three Introductions. How do the authors
introduce their arguments? Which style works best for you? Remember,
the Extracts here are very specialized texts – you don’t need to understand
all the words!
[1] This essay engages with the concept of the uncanny in Italy–Japan relations
by considering them as configured by the broader hegemony of modern Occiden-
talism.6 […] This essay argues that it is the founding ambivalence of modern
Japan and Italy as both orientalising and orientalised nation-states that has to
be repressed to guarantee the reproduction of Occidentalism, something that
periodically resurfaces, haunting the reassuring unity of ‘the West’, ‘the East’,
‘Italy’ and ‘Japan’.
[2] I take this personal anecdote as a point of departure to reflect on the signifi-
cance of ethnography for contemporary societies, contemplating in particular the
question of its relation to its publics. [...] Rather than entering the dispute over
the definition and legitimacy of a public social science, be it sociology or anthro-
pology, I want to explore some of the problems that emerge from the encounter
between ethnography and its publics.
6.3 | Finding an authorial ‘voice’ 91
[3] To this end, this article aims to propose a new understanding of postfeminism
which can be used to analyse contemporary cultural products. It seeks to argue
that postfeminism is best thought of as a sensibility that characterizes increasing
numbers of films, television shows, advertisements and other media products.
Comment
Extracts [1] to [3] all begin with a one-sentence summary of the general
topic (the concept of the uncanny ...; the significance of ethnography for con-
temporary societies...; new understanding of postfeminism...) and particular

focus (...Occidentalism; ...relation to its publics; ...contemporary cultural prod-
ucts). Each of these topic/focus sentences is introduced with an explora-
tory verb (engages with; to reflect on; aims to propose). These verbs demon-
strate that the authors are contributing respectfully to an ongoing
conversation; they signal an openness to debate rather than an attempt to
resolve (or shut down) a debate.

The second sentence of each Extract states the argument more precisely,
introduced by useful phrases:

• Extract [1]: This essay argues that ...
• Extract [2]: I want to explore...
• Extract [3]: It seeks to argue that...
Each of these Extracts has a different voice. Notice that none uses the pas-
sive voice (e.g. ‘It will be argued that...’) which is also possible although
quite rare in the humanities.
➔ [1] is a strong voice, expressing a clear position. It engages with a par-
ticular concept and it argues that a particular process is underway.
➔ [2] uses the first person. The author acknowledges that there is a debate
about definitions (thus demonstrating that he is aware of the debates
related to his topic and focus), and explicitly says he would rather ex-
plore a different aspect.
➔ [3] is more tentative. The article aims to propose... and seeks to argue that.
A few lines later the author writes that the article ‘hopes to demonstrate
the utility of the notion of postfeminism as a sensibility, and to contribute
to the task of unpacking postfeminist media culture’. She could write more
briefly this article proposes, It argues that, and It demonstrates that. Add-
ing ‘aims to’, ‘seeks to’ and ‘hopes to’ signals either insecurity or a lot of
respect for the ongoing debate.
When should you use a stronger voice and when a more tentative voice? It
depends, firstly, on your personal style. Simply: which do you prefer? Sec-
ondly, it depends on the context: Are you making a controversial claim
which contests your lecturer or leading figures in your field? Perhaps it is
better to be more tentative. Third, it depends on your evidence. If you have
strong evidence you can use a stronger voice; if your evidence is still pro-
visional, but you feel you have an argument to make, you may prefer to
adopt a more tentative voice.
Useful phrases for introducing the main argument

This essay argue(s) that ...
This article claim(s) that ... Stronger voice
This paper demonstrate(s) ...
We propose(s) ...
I suggest(s) ...
want(s) to explore ...

seek(s) to argue that ...
aim(s) to propose ... More tentative voice
hope(s) to demonstrate ...
Extracts [1] to [3] appear near the beginning of the paper. It is crucial to state
your main argument in the Introduction. Usually, you can express your
argument in one sentence. Perhaps you will precede your argument, as
these Extracts do, with a sentence on the general topic and particular focus.
Tip
Clearly state your main argument (sometimes called a ‘thesis
statement’) in your Introduction.
Remember that you may not know what your main argument is before you
begin to write. Writing can be a wonderful way of thinking. However, re-
member to rewrite your paper after you have identified your argument.
6.4 | Engaging with sources 93
Tip
Use writing as a tool for thinking: Develop your argument as you
write. (And then redraft to summarize your core argument near
the start and to make your text more coherent!)
6.4 Establishing your position II: Engaging with sources
In the main body of your paper, you develop your argument by engaging
with ‘sources’. Since student writers often report having particular diffi-
culty phrasing their own position with respect to the research literature,
this section deals with how to write up your ‘conversation’ with published
research. We will look at five aspects of developing an argument in this
way.
6.4.1 Evaluation: Appraising with individual words

Some individual words have a positive or negative evaluative meaning.

Using these words subtly creates your argumentative position.
Exercise
Read Extracts [4] to [7]. Which use positive evaluative vocabulary and
which use negative? Underline the evaluative words.
[4] Ethnography is particularly relevant in the understudied regions of society,

but can be significant also in spaces saturated by consensual meanings.
[5] There was inconclusive evidence from two studies (Marshall et al., 2003;
Plotnikoff et al., 2005) regarding the effectiveness of health messages delivered by
e-mail.
[6] The following passage from Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks (1929-35) stands out
for its pioneering questioning of the very concept of ‘the West’ as an epistemo-
logical category, as well as for the interesting suggestion that Japanese self-Ori-
entalism is a consequence of modern Eurocentric hegemony.
[7] However, the lack of systematic data that disaggregates expenditure or con-
sumption by gender means that such broad statements are often based on ques-
tionable assumptions.
Comment
Extracts [4] and [6] use positive evaluative language (relevant, significant,
stands out, pioneering, interesting). Extracts [5] and [7] use negative evalua-
tive language (inconclusive, the lack of, questionable).
Many words and phrases carry positive or negative evaluative meanings.

These words can be used at any stage in your argument, including in your
description of the research literature.
Useful words for positive and negative evaluation

Positive evaluation Negative evaluation
exemplary, extensive, fruitful, im- inadequate, inconclusive, insig-
portant, impressive, interesting, nificant, insubstantial, insuffi-
necessary, pioneering, pivotal, rel- cient, lack, lacking, limitations,

evant, signal, significant, stands questionable, poor, slight, weak,
out, striking, strong unproductive
6.4.2 Attribution: Making claims more and less subjective
To develop your argument you will make claims which support your over-
all thesis. These claims can de phrased in more or less subjective ways.
Exercise
Read Extracts [8] and [9]. Which example seems more subjective? Which
seem less subjective? Underline the words which give you that impres-
sion. What is this language doing which creates the impression of a more
or less subjective argument?
[8] There is now a considerable body of evidence on the relative income levels,
household structures and work patterns of male versus female-headed households.
There is some evidence of a link between female headship and poverty, but the
relationship is by no means straightforward and there are considerable meth-
odological and conceptual difficulties surrounding studies of this issue.
[9] In Butler’s interpretation of Foucault’s concept of critique, she identifies its two
main tasks: one is the examination of the constitution of the system of order; the
other is the exploration of the contingent moments of its discontinuities. I believe
that it is right to see these two tasks as what it is that enables ‘powerful subjects’.
Comment
Extract [8] presents the claim in a less subjective manner than [9]. In [8]
the language used attributes the claim to outside sources, where ‘evidence’
refers to previous empirical studies (There is now a considerable body of
evidence on…; There is some evidence of a link between…; there are consider-
able methodological and conceptual difficulties surrounding studies of this is-
sue). Although [9] also relies on external sources (Butler’s interpretation of
Foucault’s concept of critique), the actual claim is attributed to the author
himself (I believe that it is right to…).
When should you use more subjective attributions and when less subjec-
tive? This will depend on your particular academic collective. Some re-
search communities are more explicit in positioning claims as the author’s
own claims. It seems disingenuous to use ‘There is / there are’ phrases in
these fields. Other research communities feel it is too personal to use

phrases such as ‘I believe’.
Useful phrases for attributing claims

I believe that...
I think that ...
More subjective I try to show that ...
I will argue that ...
Previous research indicates ... (e.g. Donninger 2009;
Harbringer 2008; van Pelt 2012)
Previous studies have reported that … (e.g. Fair-
clough 1989; van Dijk 1990)
A considerable body of evidence suggests … (e.g.
Smith 2014; Amin & Ibrahim 2010; Zelizer 2009)
Many social theorists have argued that ... (e.g. An-
germüller 2009; Nonhoff 2013; Reisigl 2011).
There is a consensus among historians that ... (e.g.
Karim 2003, Lässig 1999, Hobsbawm 1989).
Chen (2006: 380) argues that …
Less subjective Magrid (2012: 32) and Thompson (2014: 169) have
shown through extensive experiments that…
Preliminary work on … was undertaken by Iman
Ghazalla (1998), demonstrating that ...
Often, more subjective attributions are made in Introductions and Conclu-

sions. In the main body of the essay, less subjective attributions are used.
Exercise
Re-read one article or chapter you have recently read in preparation for
an assignment. Highlight the phrases used to attribute claims on the first
three pages. Are they more or less subjective? Can you see a pattern?
6.4.3 Endorsement: Supporting or not supporting sources’ claims
When you introduce other writers’ findings and claims, you need to choose
a verb. These verbs subtly indicate whether you support or do not support
their claims.
Exercise
Look at the overview of verbs below. What assumptions underlie each
group of verbs? The assumption tells us why some verbs support a claim
whereas others are neutral or critical of the claim being presented.
The following overview categorizes verbs into three groups: supporting a

claim, neutral, and critical of a claim.
Verbs for supporting or not supporting claims

Support Smith found that …
Smith showed that …
Smith demonstrated that …
Smith points out that …
Smith reminds us that …
watching violence on
Smith affirms that …
television has a signifi-
Neutral Smith states that … cant impact on chil-
Smith argues that … dren’s emotional
Smith suggests that … stability in peer group
interaction.
No support Smith claims that …
Smith maintains that …
Smith asserts that …
Smith alleges that …
Smith insists that …
Each group of verbs includes an assumption about what is ‘true’. Smith can
only find, show, demonstrate, etc. something which already exists, i.e. which
is an accurate claim. The verbs grouped under ‘no support’ imply that Smith
is making her position against others who deny this claim. As a reader, I
expect the writer who uses this type of phrase to criticize Smith’s claim. Very
few verbs are neutral. After introducing a claim with state, argue or suggest
the author can either critique or support the claim.
Tip
Remember that the verb ‘to claim’ and the noun ‘claim’ imply
that you do not support the statement being made! Often, Ger-
man speakers assume that these words are neutral.
6.4.4 Modality: Expressing certainty and uncertainty

Rarely in theoretical, interpretative and analytical writing are writers 100%

sure of the validity of their claims. To avoid over-stating your case, and to
remain respectful towards other approaches and arguments, you can use
what is called modality to open a space for alternative arguments (see also
Section 3.8).
Exercise
Look at Extracts [10] to [15]. Underline the words with which the writers
show their certainty or leave a space open for other arguments.
[10] Systematic reviews are usually limited to designs deemed to be quantita-

tively robust such as randomized control trials (RCTs).
[11] In the same way, conflating gender and poverty issues may not assist the
poverty alleviation efforts, in that it could lead to confusion in targeting since
‘not all women are poor and not all the poor are women’ (Kabeer, 1994).
[12] Clearly, there are ways in which that history is distinctive to India (and to
Nehru himself), and certainly India, scientifically speaking, emerged from em-
pire in a more privileged and powerful position than most ex-colonies.
[13] We began to write our way into knowing, using writing as a method of in-
quiry (Richardson, 2000) to explore what exactly may have transpired, what
openings we may have found.
[14] Therefore, these unconscious symbolic systems must be the smallest unit and
final aim of social analysis.
[15] Perhaps this is the reason why the relationship between Jacqueline and Hi-
lary du Pre strikes us as so scandalous.
Comment
Extracts [12] and [14] are most certain about their arguments (clearly, cer-
tainly, must). Extract [10] also leaves very little space for alternatives (usu-
ally). Extracts [11], [13] and [15] leave more space for the potential validity
of alternative arguments (may not, could, may, perhaps).
The verbs and adverbs in Extracts [10] to [15] can be entered on a scale from
most to least certain. Beware when using words of certainty: are you really
sure you can make such a strong claim? If there is only one single excep-
tion, then an assignment with the word ‘always’ is easy to criticize.

Verbs and adverbs for expressing un/certainty

Verbs Adverbs
to be (is, are, will be) always
Most certain must certainly
should usually
would probably
could possibly/perhaps/maybe
Least certain may/might
6.4.5 Concessions: Acknowledging alternative arguments
Making concessions (i.e. apparently yielding or conceding to another’s

argument) can be a very powerful way of acknowledging arguments which
contradict your own argument, but in a way which tames these alternatives.
By embedding the other views in your own argument, your argument re-
mains the more powerful. One way of thinking about concessions is to
imagine the questions a critical reader would ask you. Since you will have
critical readers, and they are very likely to think of these questions, it is best
to acknowledge the critique in your assignment. In this way, you counter
the critique before your reader can even make it. This is an important step
on the way to good grades.
Exercise
Read Extracts [16] to [18]. Does the alternative view come before or after
the author’s own position? Why do you think this structure is effective?
Which key words flag that a concession is being made?
[16] Although Foucault examines many disciplinary technologies in Discipline

and Punish (Foucault, 1991a/1975), his account does not survey the discursive
field within a totalising horizon of repression. Instead, the discursive field be-
comes a space for opening, a space of dispersal and of transformation.

[17] However, in spite of the balanced position claimed in CDA, it is also true
that the micro-analysis of interaction is often not accompanied by a detailed
analysis of the practical activity in which the production of discourse is embed-
ded, that is by the micro-analysis of the institutions and their performance.
[18] While cultural critics damned the movie for the vulgar ‘Americanization’
of the Holocaust (see Hansen, 1996; Loshitzky, 1997), a large public was in-
creasingly sensitized to the evils of genocide and the moral responsibility not to
stand by and witness the murder of innocent civilians.
Comment
In each extract, the authors first acknowledge an alternative perspective
(that Foucault has sometimes been read as survey[ing] the discursive field
within a totalising horizon of repression; that CDA claims a balanced position;
that cultural critics damned the movie). They then present their own argu-
ment (that the discursive field becomes a space for opening; that CDA does
not include micro-analysis of the institutions and their performance; that the
public was increasingly sensitized to the evils of genocide and the moral respon-
sibility).
English texts tend to move from ‘old’ to ‘new’ information. This means it
can be more powerful to begin with the alternative view, working towards
the view you want your reader to take more seriously. In this way, you
present the alternative as an ‘old’ idea, and your argument – in the second
part of the sentence – as the ‘new’ and more convincing proposal.
Key words: Although, instead, in spite of, while.
The following overview includes phrases which are particularly useful for
making concessions. Look carefully at the punctuation and grammar be-
fore and after the central chunk. Sometimes a comma is necessary, some-
times a noun or noun phrase must follow.
Useful words and phrases for making concessions

It could be argued that But such an Nehru’s contribution—or the
Nehru adopted a sci- argument extent to which his views and
entific agenda that underplays those of others like Saha were,
was Saha’s and Bose’s at the time, congruent.16
well before it became
his own.
It is certainly true that However, in this paper I am going to
current developments limit myself to the link I ob-
in Discourse Analysis serve between the fact that so-
rely on reflexivity in cial actors reflexively monitor
many different ways. what they do/say, and some

Firstly,... Secondly, ... developments in DA.
This would address even the intervention may be affect-

the concern that though ing some change in a popula-
tion, it is only as a replacement
activity and other aspects of
daily physical activity may de-
crease to compensate.
Although this brief outline cannot en-
compass all possible disputes
and tensions that arise across
each relationship, it does help
to illuminate these particular
categories of conflict within
the global football field in ways
that may be transferred to ex-
plore oppositions within other
global fields.
Despite significant discursive and na-
tional variations, mercantilism
tended to feature strong agri-
cultural and industrial bases, a
growing population, sea power

and a regulatory state (cf. Mag-
nusson 1995: 4–12).
While we recognize the diversity of
constituents within every cat-
egory of stakeholder, we argue
here that these different insti-
tutions and agencies are each
strongly associated with a cor-

responding set of specific col-
lective interests, ideologies,
and social, political and eco-
nomic policies.
This section has presented five strategies for engaging with the research
literature in your field: evaluation (using positively or negatively loaded
words), attribution (making claims more or less subjective), endorsement

(giving support to sources’ claims or taking support away from sources’
claims), modality (expressing degrees of certainty or uncertainty), and
making concessions (acknowledging other arguments as valid and the
contesting them).
Exercise
You now have two tasks. First, take five coloured pens. Find an article in
your field (browse the open access journals on www.doaj.org). Go to a
section in the middle of the article. Highlight all the examples of evalua-
tion in one colour, attribution in a second colour, endorsement in a third,
modality in a fourth, and concessions in a fifth colour. Observe what the
text does. How does it engage with the sources? Does it use one of the
strategies more often? Do you think the text develops its argument con-
vincingly?
Second, think of an assignment you are now working on. Write one para-
graph for the middle section of your text, using some of the suggested
words and phrases from the five strategies. Read the section. Do you
think it develops its argument convincingly?
6.5 Presenting your argument in a coherent manner
You may be sure that you have the best and most convincing argument
possible. To win over your readers, however, you need to present your
position tightly and coherently. Three elements are important here: First,
the structure of your text as a whole. Second, the individual sections, sen-
tences and clauses. Third, your citation and reference style.
6.5.1 Structure
How should theoretical, interpretative and analytical texts be structured?

There can be no simple guidelines for the complex extended essays which
students and academics write. Ursula Wingate, the creator of the essay
writing guide above (Fig. 7) suggests that:
The structure of the essay should reflect how you developed your position. In the
main body, discuss different viewpoints (compare, contrast), and explain why
you are taking your position. In the conclusion, briefly summarise the previous
discussion and state your position clearly again.

Identify sub-arguments which are parts of your overall argument. In addi-
tion to an Introduction and Conclusion, structure the main body of your
paper according to these sub-arguments (see Fig. 8).
Discuss evidence
Sub-argument 1 Discuss evidence
Discuss evidence
Discuss evidence
Main argument Sub-argument 2 Discuss evidence
Discuss evidence
Discuss evidence
Sub-argument 3 Discuss evidence
Discuss evidence
Fig. 8 Possible structure for the main body of an extended essay

6.5 | Presenting your argument in a coherent manner 103
Use sub-headings for each sub-argument to make the structure clear.

Briefly summarize each section before moving onto the next. Remember
to make links between each section.
Tip
Print out your paper. In the margin, summarize in one or two
words the one idea which each paragraph is about. If you can’t
summarize the paragraph like this, think about splitting the
paragraph into several shorter paragraphs.
6.5.2 Signposting
One crucial way of creating cohesion in your text is, as Chapter 2 has sug-
gested, to clearly ‘signpost’ the direction your argument is taking. This
section deals with some of the most essential signposts when developing
a complex argument.
Useful signposting words and phrases

Function Examples
Giving The World Cup also exemplifies our conception of
examples ‘transnationalism’.
It did so by pursuing a dual strategy centering the
Holocaust as an integral part of national history (see
for instance the decade-long debate regarding the
memorial in Berlin), and simultaneously decentering
it by turning the Holocaust into a European event
(e.g. see the arguments for German participation in
Kosovo and the Stockholm Forum).
One illustration is provided by the UEFA/City of Bar-
celona seminar in 2010 on hosting successful foot-
ball events.
During a lecture to a university anthropology depart-
ment in the United States, I gave the following example.
Giving reasons There are numerous reasons why the particularization

of the Holocaust among the Jewish elite contributed
to the universalization of the Holocaust among
Americans as a whole. To begin with,…
I focus on Ball’s work because it exemplifies a prevail-
ing mode of taking Foucault’s idea of power/knowl-
edge into account.
During my fieldwork, I patrolled with officers, but their
policing unfairly affected a certain citizenry, which is

why I consider myself to be indebted to both groups,
although in different ways and with an unequal weight.
Some writers have understood this as a backlash
(Faludi 1992; Whelehan 2000; Williamson 2003) but
one could argue that it is more complex than this,

precisely because of its tendency to entangle feminist
and anti-feminist discourses.

Indicating When putting my work into words, the difficulty was
result or therefore to remain loyal to both sides.
consequences
As a result, the analysis is not always framed in the
institutional context, and analysts often do not con-
sider internal reasons, and internal views. As a con-
sequence, our analysis could be seen as an imposi-
tion, and not as a revelation.
Thus, if we consider this process more carefully, we
realise that the questions involved are certainly not
trivial.
Hence, he criticises current policy on the grounds
that ‘it changes the possibilities we have for thinking
“otherwise”’ (ibid.).
Recapping a Besides the linguistic turn, I also want to emphasise
previous point the role played by reflexivity in the configuration of
and moving on this field.
to a new point
Having begun my essay with a personal anecdote con-
(in the first
cerning Claude Guéant, I will end it with another one
sentence of a
regarding his successor.
new paragraph)
6.5 | Presenting your argument in a coherent manner 105
Intimately related to the stress upon personal choice

is the new emphasis on self-surveillance, self-moni-
toring and self-discipline in postfeminist media cul-
ture.
If Claude Lévi-Strauss’s structuralism provides the pro-
totype of an ‘objectivist’ and ‘scientistic’ version of
mentalism in cultural theory, then Alfred Schütz’s so-
cial phenomenology, as it is developed in Der sinnhafte
Aufbau der sozialen Welt (1991[1932]) can be regarded

as the prototype of a mentalist ‘subjectivism’.
To show links and relations among aspects of your text, a whole range of
further signposts are useful. Beware not to overuse these signposts!
Further useful signposting words and phrases

Function Examples
Listing First, ... Second, ... Third,...
Firstly, ... Secondly, ... Thirdly,...
Not only, ... but also...
Also, …
In addition, ...
Furthermore, …
Moreover, ...
Emphasising Most importantly, ...
This is especially important in ...
This is particularly important in ...
The crucial point is ...
The key to X is ...
First and foremost, ...
Returning to an As I noted above, ...
earlier point As Section 3 discusses, ...
As outlined above, ...
In the above discussion ...
As we have already seen, ...
As has been noted previously, ...
Comparing However, ...

and contrasting Nevertheless, ...
Conversely, ...
Instead, ...
On the one hand, ... On the other hand, ...
X, ... while Y ...
Reformulating In other words, ...
In this sense, ...
To put it simply, ...

That is, ...
..., i.e., ...
In essence, ...
Note, there are no English adjectives or nouns which correspond to the

eminently useful German ‘obengenannte’ or ‘Obengenannte’. Although

legal documents do use ‘aforementioned’, it is more common in academ-
ic writing to use a verb phrase as noted in the table above.
Exercise
Take a journal article or chapter which you have recently read. Go to a
section in the middle of the argument. Highlight the signposting words
and phrases. Notice the frequency of the signposts: there are probably
enough but not too many. Do the signposts fulfil the functions listed in
the two overviews above? Do they fulfil other functions? If so, which
other functions? Extend the lists above with examples from your own
field.
6.5.3 Citing and Referencing
It is very important to start citing and making accurate References from

the very first paper you write at university. Often, lecturers don’t give feed-
back on how to deal with this issue. Yet they expect Bachelor and Masters
dissertations to be perfect. Usually, you will lose grades if you have flaws
in this technical aspect of your final dissertation.
Each field has its specific conventions. Ask your lecturers to recommend
a format you should follow. If they don’t, then choose one of the most
common, such as MLA, APA or Chicago. Purdue University’s Online Writ-
6.6 | Conclusions 107
ing Lab has produced a very useful overview comparing the three styles
(https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20110928111055_949.pdf).
6.6 Conclusions
In Chapter 4 the ‘shape’ of an Introduction was described as an inverted

triangle: The first lines present the most general (broad) information, argu-
ments and/or statements. The focus gradually narrows, with the last few
lines of the Introduction zooming in on the specific focus of the particular
paper. Perhaps you can imagine what shape I will suggest for the Conclu-
sion of an assignment.
Exercise
Read Extract [16] which is the entire Conclusion from the article on Ne-
hruvian science mentioned above. Thinking in terms of general and spe-

cific focus, what ‘shape’ would you give this Conclusion?
[16] Nehruvian science has been presented here as a problem not just in the his-
tory of Indian science but of postcolonial science more generally. Clearly, there
are ways in which that history is distinctive to India (and to Nehru himself),
and certainly India, scientifically speaking, emerged from empire in a more
privileged and powerful position than most ex-colonies. But the case of India and
Nehruvian science highlights wider characteristics in the postcolonial history of
science—the strategic importance of postcolonial subjectivity for regaining a
sense of local ownership over science; the attempt, intellectually and institution-
ally, to wrest science in the non-West from the legacies of Western hegemony; the
centrality of science in the programmatic of socioeconomic change; the moral
authority and political leverage of science in an age of competition between the
great powers. Perhaps the core element in the postcolonial condition remains the
dilemma as to how to fashion a science that is both local and universal, and this
conundrum remains at the heart of much current debate about what science and
the history of science mean to, and for, the non-West. Nehruvian science offers
one means of trying to establish how that dilemma was articulated and how
attempts were made, intellectually and materially, to resolve it.
Comment
One possible shape is a triangle – the right way up (see Fig. 9). The first
sentence is the most specific (the narrow tip). It begins with Nehruvian
science (the approach to science associated with one single person), then
Indian science (one country) and postcolonial science more generally (a
broader political/geographic space). The next sentences elaborate on the
contribution of the article for thinking about postcolonial science. Towards
the end, one issue in particular is highlighted. It is flagged as particularly
important (Perhaps the core element... remains) and tied into the broadest
issue yet mentioned (what science and the history of science mean to, and
for, the non-West). Again, this issue is flagged as particularly important (at
the heart). The concluding sentence links up the specific ideas (Nehruvian
science) with this general issue (that dilemma), thus foregrounding the
importance of this particular paper.
Fig. 9 The shape of Conclusions: from specific to general
Most Conclusions in published articles and books have this shape.
Exercise
Look at the Conclusions of the last three assignments you have written.
Do they also have this shape?
Further elements sometimes included in Conclusions are implications for

practice, the limitations of this study, or recommendations for further
research. These elements are less common in arts and humanities than
they are in social sciences, life sciences, physical sciences, technology and
engineering.
Useful phrases for Conclusions

Summarizing In this paper, I have explored the emergence of dis-
content (the course as a new object of knowledge, and the cor-
first sentence of relative development of particular concepts of dis-
Conclusions) course, and of new analytical practices, aims, and
tools.
Ethnography matters for contemporary societies:
such is the argument of this essay.
In this article I have given one example of this fantasy

of progress practiced by the human rights industry
and the repetition of differential sameness it enacts.
It seems that the pretense theorist faces a number of
problems from the non-philosophical literature.
Restating aims This article has attempted to outline the elements of a

and objectives postfeminist sensibility against a backdrop in which

(the first ‘postfeminism’ is routinely invoked but rarely ex-
sentence of plored or specified.
Conclusions)
In this paper, we have attempted to join Jardine (1997)
when he said, “(l)et’s reclaim the word. This is re-
search” (p. 165, emphasis added); we have endeav-
ored to (re)vision data.
Signposting To conclude here, we consider some of the future issues
sentences and tensions that are set to surface within the global
football field, and explore some of the arising policy
options and opportunities.
In this vein, it is appropriate to comment briefly on the
form that some of this might take. In particular, two
comments seem worth making.
In conclusion, this article highlights two key points about
the sensibility sketched here: its intimate relation to
feminism and to neoliberalism.
Implications/ This view of discourse as a social practice has signifi-

recommen- cant theoretical implications: firstly, the understanding
dations of discourse as a social practice presupposes the
implicit/explicit presence of an agent (Speaker) who
performs these practices; and, secondly, it places so-
cial practices as the main focus of interest for DA.
Practice theory should develop more philosophical
perseverance and at the same time not give up its
embeddedness in empirical social and cultural anal-

ysis.
Calls for further Further exploration of this intimate relationship is ur-
research gently needed to illuminate both postfeminist media
culture and contemporary neoliberal social relations.
Final sentences Cosmopolitan memories thus provide a new epistemo-

flagging the logical vantage point, one that questions the ‘meth-
paper’s impor- odological nationalism’ that still prevails in much of

tance the social sciences.
Yet, however modest, this contribution still matters.
While this question may not be new, considering the
current state of global politics as well as much an-
thropological resignation that human rights “is the
best we have,” this question should be urgent.
At the current time, our best science suggests that pre-
tense theories of mathematics are false.
This chapter has explored extended essays and other forms of theoretical,
interpretive and analytical writing. Although these are most common in
the arts and humanities, aspects of this chapter should also be useful for
any disciplines where students and academics have to develop an argu-
ment. Developing a written argument which engages assertively and re-
spectfully with well-known scholars is a skill which can only be developed
by writing.

• The central objective of theoretical, interpretative and analytical writ-
ing is to develop an argument.
• Argumentation generally has three components: (i) using sources, (ii)
establishing your own position, and (iii) presenting your position co-
herently.
• When you develop an argument, you enter into conversation with
published research.
• Clearly state your main argument (thesis statement) in the Introduc-

tion.
• Topic sentences are crucial!
• Five key strategies for engaging with the research literature are: evalu-
ation, attribution, endorsement, modality and concession.
• Making concessions to alternative views is a powerful way of develop-
ing your own argument.

• In your Conclusion, begin with the most specific and end with the
broadest issues.
7 Posters: Visualising your Abstract
7.1 The purpose of posters
7.2 Attractive, compelling and professional
7.3 How much information?
7.4 Titling your poster
7.5 Including images, diagrams and graphs
7.6 Using clear language
This chapter uses the OHE (Observe – Hypothesize – Experiment) method

introduced in Chapter 3 to explore the design and structure of academic
posters. Increasing numbers of students, PhD researchers and more ad-
vanced scholars across the disciplines are using posters to present their
empirical and theoretical projects. International research conferences of-

ten explicitly invite undergraduate students to participate in poster ses-
sions. Since posters focus the ideas in a visually attractive way, they can be
a powerful tool for generating interest and discussion. A good poster can
make a strong impact.
7.1 The purpose of posters
What purpose do posters have, i.e. what is your poster doing? And what
are you doing with your poster? According to Elliott Moreton at the Uni-
versity of North Carolina, posters have three aims (http://www.unc.
edu/~moreton/Materials/Posters.pdf):
1. To illustrate your explanation to the hearer when you are there.
2. To explain your work to the reader when you are not there.
3. To make people want to read your paper, i.e. find out more.
Sometimes you will be standing next to your poster as people walk past.
They have the chance to ask you questions. You have the chance to explain
the project to them and to point out relevant parts of your poster. At other
times, you will not be present. People will walk by, and if the poster attracts
their attention, they will look at it more closely. If they like what they hear
or read, they may want to find out more about your project. Make sure you
have copies of the full text (whether this is class project report, your Bach-
elor dissertation or an article for publication) available to hand out.
114 Posters: Visualising your Abstract | 7
Even if you are designing a poster for assessment in a particular class,

design it for the broader audience you could be reaching, not only your
lecturer.
Tip
Remember to think about your audience. Is it a lay audience at
a Science Open Day at your university? Scientists at a confer-
ence? Or young people at a ‘children’s university’? Design your
poster to appeal to the specific audience.
In his advice on designing posters, Colin Purrington recommends that if

you keep the text to a minimum, people will be able to read the complete
poster in just five minutes (http://colinpurrington.com/tips/academic/
posterdesign#dosanddonts).
Tip
An effective academic poster is clear, concise and visually attractive.
7.2 Attractive, compelling and professional
The Symposium of Undergraduate Research in Progress (SURP) at Stan-

ford University selects its award winning posters based on the following
three criteria:
➔ visually exciting design
➔ intellectually compelling content
➔ overall excellent communication with a general audience
If a poster does not look good, its message will not draw the attention of
viewers, no matter how interesting and intellectually compelling it is.
Exercise
Although you will not always be read to the content in the following small
reproductions, identify which design and layout features work well in the
following four sample academic posters (Figs 10 to 13).
and Predictive Toxicology conference

7.2 | Attractive, compelling and professional
Fig. 10 Poster 1 by Hui Ting Chng and colleagues won the Poster Award at the 2013 ADME
115
Fig. 11 Poster 2 by Thodoris Georgiou won the Undergraduate Poster Award at the 2010
ACM SIGMOD Conference
Fig. 12 Poster 3 by the undergraduate Dustin James Hutchinson and co-students at the 2013
Georgia Southern University College of Engineering and Information Technology (CEIT)
Research Symposium
7.2 | Attractive, compelling and professional 117
Fig. 13 Poster 4 by Jacqueline Fairley and colleagues at the 2007 National Science Founda-
tion Engineering Education Program Awardees Conference
Comment
Sample Posters 1 and 4 (Figs. 10 and 13) have clear sections, marked off
with colour and boxes. Both have very short conclusion boxes, suggesting
a clear focus. Poster 2 (Fig. 11) is very eye-catching with non-horizontal
visual elements, text boxes and stickies. It uses numbers to orient the
reader to the order of its story. Poster 3 (Fig. 12) uses white space around
its words and images, and marks off the individual sections with simple
lines. This makes the text easy to read. It uses pictures to illustrate the
relevant elements. Posters 1 and 2 have very little written text. All four post-
ers use a variety of pictures, graphs and diagrams. Poster 2 has a big, clear
title. Posters 1, 3 and 4 have big, clear section headings. Although the
colours are not reproduced above, Poster 2 has a blue background, the
colour associated with rationality and science; and yellow stickies to high-
light particular information. Poster 1 highlights its research question and
key conclusion in bright yellow.
The four sample posters have very different layouts. Each layout, however,
is clear and helps the audience to discover what is novel and interesting
about the project. Thinking about clarity opens the door to many different
ways of laying out the issues and findings. Some posters are quite con-
servative, others are more playful. Think about what suits you, what suits
your audience, and what suits your particular project.
Some design tips

• Use visuals instead of words wherever possible

• Find a clear, clean design – avoid overloading the poster with infor-
mation or colour
• Include white space to help readers find important information
• Use column format to help orient readers to your story
• Or number individual elements to orient readers to your story
• Make your text at least 24 point (title at least 85)

• Left-justify text – it is easier on the eye
Posters are one of the most multi-modal academic genres around today.
They show how important colour and other visual elements are in contem-
porary successful academic ‘writing’. It is worth investing the time it takes
to produce professional-looking posters such as the samples above.
7.3 How much information?
Irrespective of design features, the most important aspect of a poster is the

content. For your poster to make a lasting impression the content must be
strong. The visual and verbal text must draw attention to key findings, and
why these findings are interesting and relevant. After completing a project,
you will have lots of information, results and ideas you would love to
present in your poster. What should you do with all this information?
Exercise
Look at Fig. 10 (Poster 1) again in more detail. It presents quite a lot of
information. How does it draw attention to its one central message?
(Don’t worry about the specialist technical language.)
7.3 | How much information? 119
Looking at the section headings of Poster 1, you might recall the ‘five fin-
gers’ which were presented in Chapter 3 as a way of structuring abstracts:
Background, Research Question / Objectives, Methodology, Results and Discus-
sion, Conclusion. (This poster was originally presented in colour in A0, and
has been reduced here to one page. The focus here is on design and layout.
To see the colours and read the content in more detail, see the PDF avail-
able online: http://www.technologynetworks.com/media/PDFs/HuiT-
ingChng_ADMET_Spain_Apr2013.pdf [accessed June 2014])
Comment
In a rounded box in the top right, the poster highlights one single research
question. In a rounded box in the lower right corner it presents one single
conclusion. These two boxes are the same (yellow) colour, and the same
(large) font in bold. By repeating this design feature, the poster draws the
reader’s attention to two elements which belong together and frame the
research. The focus of the research is highlighted, and readers should take
away one clear message.
Look again at the poster’s research question. It uses highly technical lan-
guage, but the structure is basically a simple question. It asks ‘How is [X]
compared to [Y]?’ The conclusion is a similarly simple formulation: ‘The
study underscores the importance of [X].’ You do not need complex language
to present strong findings. Simple structures make your message easier to
remember.
Basically, a poster is the visual presentation of your Abstract, with one
section for each of the five or six points. This format helps to present the
project’s core findings or issues clearly. It also means that you do not need
to include an Abstract on your poster. You may be required to submit an
Abstract to the conference in advance. This is to help select presentations,
and it may be included in a Book of Abstracts. The poster, however, is the
‘translation’ of the verbal/written Abstract into a clearly structured, visu-
ally designed ‘Abstract’.
Tip
Remember: It’s the content that counts! Which one idea do you
want your readers to remember? Get that key idea clear first.
Then design your poster around it.
Always remember the tip from Chapter 2: KISS – Keep It Short and Sim-
ple. Keep the information to a minimum and keep the words to a mini-
mum. Hui Ting Chng’s poster uses less than 600 words in total. Cornell
Center for Materials Research recommend limiting your poster to 250
words (http://www.cns.cornell.edu/documents/ScientificPosters.pdf)!
7.4 Titling your poster
Probably the first aspect of your poster which will attract attention is the title.
Exercise
Look at the four titles from the posters introduced above (Fig. 14). What
do you notice about the wording of each title?
Characterization of the drug disposition transcript

profile of hepatocyte-like cells derived from human
fetal liver multipotent progenitor cells and human

amniotic epithelial cells
Extracting Topics of Debate between Users on Web Discussion Boards
Research on Kistler High Temperature Piezoelectric Pressure Sensor

Implementation in the Combustion Chamber of a Triple Swirl Diesel Engine
Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering/Science

Program at the Georgia Institute of Technology
Fig. 14 Sample poster titles

Comment
You will have noticed that each title has quite a different style! Each title
highlights the most interesting issues in the research (e.g. drug disposition
transcript profile, topics of debate), and each mentions the core ‘site’ (e.g.
human fetal liver multipotent progenitor cells and human amniotic epithelial
cells, web discussion boards).
• Poster 1 has a very long title with highly technical words. It is structured
like a sentence. It begins with a noun (characterization of the ...) where
a verb would have been shorter and more active (characterizing the ...).
It avoids acronyms.
7.4 | Titling your poster 121
• Poster 2 is much shorter. It begins with an active verb (extracting) and

mentions the key words describing the research (topics of debate, users,
web discussion boards).
• Poster 3 consists of a number of noun phrases, with no verb. It begins
with its general purpose (Research on) and its specific technical focus
(Kistler high temperature piezoelectric pressure sensor implementation, i.e.
the implementation of this particular sensor), followed by the specific
‘site’ (in the combustion chamber of a triple swirl diesel engine).
• Poster 4 also has no verb. It links the key items in the project (summer
undergraduate research and engineering/science program) and its location
(Georgia Institute of Technology) but does not state its purpose.
For each title, ask yourself what you personally think works well and what
does not work well. Which elements would you like to adopt and adapt for
your own poster? What would you like to avoid? Can you use verbs instead
of noun phrases? What works for your field of research? Research in the
life sciences, for instance, generally needs far longer titles to make sense
to the community than research in IT or sociology.
Exercise
Look again at the four titles in Fig. 14. What do you notice about the
layout and formatting of each title?
Remember that these posters were printed in A0 (841 x 1189mm) or A1

(594 x 841mm) size.
Comment
Poster 1 uses ‘sentence case’, i.e. it is formatted like a sentence, with the
first letter of the first word capitalized and the rest small case. Posters 2,
3 and 4 adopt US-American ‘title case’, with the first letter of most words
capitalized – only the connecting words (at, on, between, to, etc.) are small
case. Poster 1 is across four lines; Poster 2 needs only one line; Posters 3
and 4 are on two lines. None of the posters uses ‘all caps’ (i.e. all capital
letters) for its title. All four titles use a sans-serif font like Calibri or Ariel,
rather than a serif font like Times New Roman.
Each of the titles adopts some of the strategies usually recommended to

academics designing a poster. But at the same time, each avoids or neglects
some of the recommendations. Here are some recommendations which
are currently circulating on the web, in books and in courses on scientific/
academic writing.
Titling your poster

• Keep your title short. Titles should be no more than one or two lines
long. Never go onto a third line.

• Make your title catchy.
• Use sentence case rather than title case or all caps. Sentence case
is easier to read quickly.
• Avoid all caps. This is like shouting at your audience, and it is more
difficult to read than sentence case.
• Make your title very large. Use at least 85 point font. Someone stand-
ing 5m away should be able to read the title clearly.
• Use a sans-serif font such as Calibri. This is easier to read from a

distance. Use a serif font such as Times for the main body of your
text. It is easier to read smaller text in serif font.
• Use your title to highlight the most interesting issue, the methodo-
logical approach, and the location/target group.
• Begin with an ‘-ing’ verb to make the title more active.
Remember to always assess which of the tips work for your current project,
your academic community and the specific audience of this particular
poster. Notice that award-winning posters, such as the ones included above,
do not follow all of these recommendations. And remember, it’s the con-
tent that counts!
7.5 Including images, diagrams and graphs
Visual presentation of core information is vital for an effective poster.

When designing your poster, think about which aspects can be presented
in which visual format. The award-winning poster by Hui Ting Chng and
colleagues, for instance, uses only a few keywords, and no sentences, in its
methodology section.
7.5 | Including images, diagrams and graphs 123
Exercise
Look at Fig. 15. Do you think this methodology section works? If so, why?
If not, why not?
METHODOLOGY
Data analysis
6 cell types Total RNA isolation cDNA synthesis qRT-PCR Dissociation curve analysis
(RNeasy Mini Kit) (iScript cDNA (Bio-Rad CFX96) Agarose gel
synthesis kit) electrophoresis
Fig. 15 A highly visual methodology section
Comment
The methodology section is eye-catching and brief. It clearly shows the

order of steps in the method with red arrows. Each image is annotated
with key words and acronyms. For those who understand the field, it
clearly shows which steps were taken. For a more general audience, the
words and acronyms would not be clear.
The authors of this poster have decided that their scientific conference
audience understands enough about the field and the general methodol-
ogy to understand these acronyms and images.
Exercise
Look at the following section from one of the posters introduced above.
What is the purpose of the graph? How does the graph relate to the text
around it?
Statement of
Need
The number of
under-represented minorities in
engineering graduate programs is
disproportionate when compared to
that of their White male counterparts.
Approaches and methods to address
these issue are needed.
Graduate Engineering Enrollment 2004
Percentage
American Black Hispanic White

Indian/Native
Ethnicity
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, Division of Science

Resources Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and
Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, 2004.
Fig. 16 Graph to illustrate statement of need
Comment
The graph appears in a section titled Statement of Need. Its purpose is to
illustrate the initial problem to which the research project responds. In this
case, the problem is the under-representation of minorities in graduate
engineering programmes. The graph is embedded in written text in four
ways. First, the graph labels the axes and has a title. Second, a short text
above the graph verbalizes the problem. Third, the section has a heading
with links the written text and the graph. Finally, small text below the graph
identifies the source of the data, including the date.
Labelling the graphs and other images in your poster helps your audience
to quickly orient to the important information.
Exercise
Look at the way labels are used in Fig. 17, a section from the poster on
web discussion boards. What do you notice? What do you think works
well and what does not work so well?
7.5 | Including images, diagrams and graphs 125
Fig. 17 Using labels in scientific posters

Comment
Here, the labels are designed to look like paper stickies (or ‘post-it’ notes)
that you stick to book pages or desks to highlight particular aspects. They
curve at the corners to suggest that they are stuck to the poster. Note that
this poster was designed with a blue background, white diagrams, grey
text boxes, and yellow stickies. The design feature of post-it notes here
draws attention to the brief definitions of key concepts which are either
used in the main text (direct reply, post distance, time distance) or which are
illustrated by an image (typical forum post). The post-it notes help to clar-
ify what the research was about.
Notice how the language used in the labels is very simple. Two of the labels
in Fig. 17 have short simple sentences in the present tense (A typical forum
post shows the…). Two of the labels use colons to formulate the definition
in a shorter way, avoiding verbs completely (Post distance: The distance in
nodes between two connected posts.)
Tip
Orient your audience to key visual information with simple
labels!
7.6 Using clear language
One tip which I mention in every chapter is to use clear language. In a

poster, this is perhaps even more important than in most other genres of
academic writing across the disciplines. Remember that you are trying to
attract an audience of people who are perhaps only on their way to get a
coffee in a coffee break, or who are waiting for colleagues. As noted above,
the title plays a vital role in attracting attention to your project. The title
also indicates whether the poster as a whole will be enjoyable to read (and
worth delaying the coffee to look at), or whether it will be hard work but
worth it because, for instance, the topic is so relevant to the individual
coffee-drinker’s own research.
Possibly the most important section after the title is the introductory
section, usually located in the top left corner of the poster.
Exercise
Look at Figs. 18 and 19 below. Each appears in the top left corner of the
poster. What is the purpose of this section? What do you notice about
the language used in these samples? (Don’t worry about the technical
language. Look instead at the structure of the text, at verbs and nouns,
at sentences, bullet points, tenses, number of words, etc.)
Fig. 18 Language in the top left poster corner: Problem definition

7.6 | Using clear language 127
BACKGROUND
Hepatocytes in drug metabolism testing
Primary human Hepatoma/ Hepatocyte-like cells (HLC)

hepatocytes immortalized derived from stem cells
(PHH) cell lines (SCs)
Source 8Limited 9Unlimited 9Many different SC sources
9Unlimited
Variability 8High inter- 9Relatively stable 8Dependent on SC source –
individual variability remains to be explored

Metabolic 9Gold standard 8Poor1 8Limited information
profile 8Dependent on SC source –
remains to be explored
Fig. 19 Language in the top left poster corner: Background

Comment
Fig. 18 and Fig. 19 both aim to define the problem which makes the re-
search necessary, i.e. the point of departure or background of the research.
They show why the project matters. Both samples label this explicitly with
one or two words in a heading (Problem Definition, Background). Fig. 18
uses one noun-phrase and sentence for the problem definition and one
noun-phrase and sentence for the approach/method (a noun-phrase in
the box and a sentence beside the images). Fig. 19 uses no full sentences.
It provides a sub-heading and illustrates the problem in a table. Blue ticks
(;) mark what is already adequate or suitable, red crosses (:) mark what
is inadequate or limited. In this way, it highlights six current problems.
Looking more closely at the sentence defining the problem in Fig. 18, we
can identify a simple sentence structure: Extraction of the topics users discuss
about: Given the small size of posts and the casual style of the language used, it
is hard to indicate topics from the information of a post solely.
The main sentence is introduced by a noun phrase. This briefly states
the issue: Extraction of the topics users discuss (the word about is not actu-
ally necessary here). It could also be phrased as an -ing phrase (Extracting
the topics users discuss). To make it shorter, a noun could replace the verb
‘discuss’, e.g. Extracting users’ discussion topics, or, even shorter: Extracting
discussion topics.
The second part of the text is a sentence describing why this issue (extract-
ing discussion topics) is a problem. The actual problem is in the second
part of the sentence (hard to indicate topics from the information of a post
solely). This is preceded by two reasons why this is a problem (the small size
of posts and the casual style of the language used).
The problem is thus presented in a simple structure:
➔ Given [these reasons] (comma) it is hard to [do what we want to do].
Looking more closely at the table in Fig. 19, we can identify words which
clearly position the current state of knowledge as problematic or insuffi-

cient: limited, poor, dependent on, and remains to be explored. These simple
words, accompanied by the clear red visual crosses, suggest that the current
research will deal with these problems. Visual design such as this is par-
ticularly good for complex problems with many elements.
A third poster (Research on Kistler... Pressure Sensor) does not state the
problem separately. Instead in the top left corner, it states its purpose:
Purpose:
To be able to test engine performance at
known pressures. The goal of this
project is determine at what pressure
the Engine will run at the greatest
efficiency.
Fig. 20 Language in the top left poster corner: Purpose
An audience which reads this box labelled ‘Purpose’, and which assumes
that research projects generally react to a problem or a specific lack of
knowledge, will do the intellectual work to identify the problem. The pres-
sure at which this engine will run most efficiently is apparently not yet
known.
Sometimes it is not necessary to explicitly state the problem, if it can be
conveyed in this subtle way, or if your focus is a technical or a ‘best practice’
issue, as it is in Poster 3 (Fig. 20). Generally, however, defining the problem
explicitly, as in Figs. 18 and 19, helps your audience to identify the problem
more quickly and with less cognitive work. This, in turn, makes your
poster a more enjoyable experience.
7.6 | Using clear language 129
Introducing your poster

• Explicitly state the problem to which your project reacts.
• Use a simple section heading: one or two words are sufficient.
• Use simple sub-headings.
• If possible, visualise the problem.
• If possible, use phrases rather than full sentences.
• Focus on specific issues.
• Give reasons why this issue is a problem.
Similar recommendations are relevant for the other sections of academic

posters. Since your poster is a visual presentation of your Abstract, these
sections generally overlap with the Abstract. Even posters with a very crea-
tive and unconventional design such as the sample poster on web discus-
sion boards (Figs 11, 17 and 18) basically include similar sections of infor-
mation. Refer to Chapters 3, 4 and 6 for typical phrases for describing

Methods, Results, Discussions and Conclusions, but remember the follow-
ing.
Tip
Keep the written text short! Use bullet points and phrases in-
stead of grammatically correct sentences.
Finally, remember to include your contact information on the poster. Your

name and institute should appear at the top near the title. Your name, email
and address go at the bottom, small but large enough to read from a dis-
tance. Consider including a small photo so that people can find you to ask
questions about the poster.

• Focus on one salient point.
• Your poster doesn’t need an abstract: your poster is an (illustrated)
abstract.
• Posters show what you did, how you did it, and what you learned.
• Include a problem definition, to show why your research matters.
• Make the conclusion clear.
• Design a simple layout – with lots of white space – which is easy to
follow.
• Only include essential words in the title.
• Use active voice.
• Use phrases and bullet points rather than sentences.
• Visualise visualise visualise!
8 Research proposals: Making plans for
future studies
8.1 A basic model structure
8.2 Stating objectives and research question(s)
8.3 Stating potential significance
8.4 Research design and methods
8.5 Expected results

8.6 Research limitations
8.7 References, timetable and appendices
8.8 Common pitfalls
This chapter focuses on writing research proposals. Very similar strategies

apply for writing research proposals for Bachelor, Masters or PhD disserta-
tions, and also for funding agencies. The main difference is the length of
your proposal, and the depth of reading which is expected. A research
proposal is an outline of the project you want to conduct. It generally an-
swers at least four questions.
1. What do you want to know? (What is the research question?)
2. Why should this research be done? (Why is this question original and/
or significant? How does this project add to, develop or challenge exist-
ing literature about the issues?)
3. What will you do to explore this question? (Methodology, data-collection,
data-analysis)
4. What do you expect to find and/or develop?
Occasionally, research proposals provide a response to one further question:
5. Why are you the right person to do this research?
Research proposals can be short (five paragraphs) or long (20 pages).

Check with your department. Some departments provide a ‘style guide’ with
information on the expected length, title page details, and referencing format
(APA, Chicago, MLA, etc.). Some also provide detailed guidelines stating
which sections to include in your proposal. Other departments don’t offer
any advice, leaving you free to decide on the length and structure yourself.
132 Research proposals: Making plans for future studies | 8
Tip
Before you start to write your proposal, read, read and read some
more. Talk to friends and co-students. Look out of the window and
think. What is missing from our understanding of the issue? Boil
your reading, talking and thinking down to a set of focused and
related questions. When these are clear in your mind (or in your
writing journal) you can write a first draft of your proposal in a day.
This chapter assumes that you have done the reading, talking and thinking
necessary and have found a good idea. The chapter aims to help you present
that good idea in a way which gets you the supervisor (or the funding) you
want for the research you want to do.
8.1 A basic model structure

Remember, as I have said in previous chapters, each (sub-)discipline or

research collective has slightly different conventions in their writing. Look

at the sample proposals in this chapter and also the samples from across
the disciplines listed in Chapter 10. If you can, ask tutors or co-students
for previously successful proposals in your field or department. Analyse
the genre, i.e. the way the authors have formulated their focus.
Shorter proposals are almost always preferable to longer ones. The point
is to show that you know the research field, know the literature, can point
to gaps or problems, and have focused all this into one or two key questions.
Key word: focused! The danger of longer proposals is, as Matthew Mc-
Granaghan of the University of Hawaii says, that you may get lost in a
lengthy literature review which indicates ‘that you have read a lot of things
but not yet boiled it down to a set of prioritized linked questions’.
A short (two-page) proposal would include one paragraph each on the
main steps of the empirical process. A longer proposal can add more detail
to each section, in particular the literature review and methods.
1. Introduction: Includes topic area; literature review giving the broad intel-
lectual and historical background to your research question; problems,
gaps, inconsistencies, open questions; objective and aims; focused re-
search question(s); significance, potential novel contribution to knowledge
2. Optional: Definitions / Terminology
3. Methods: Includes research design, data-collection, data-analysis
4. Expected results and potential significance and implications
8.2 | Stating objectives and research question(s) 133
5. Timeline
6. References
Note that proposals with a long literature review may begin with a separate
Introduction. The Introduction states the topic area, the objectives/aims,
the research question(s) and potential significance. The next section criti-
cally reviews the existing literature. Then the research questions are re-
stated or reformulated. You may also consider adding a section on ‘research
limitations’ (see below).
You may have to write your proposal before you have done very much
reading, e.g. for your Bachelor dissertation. In this case, proposals tend to
review the texts which the author has read, and they include in the timeline
a timeslot for an ‘in-depth review of the literature’.
Tip
For empirical projects, devote at least 50% of your text to re-

search design: What are you going to do? How are you going to
do it? Where will you do it? What resources (people, instru-

ments, software) will you need? When will you do what? Be as
concrete and specific as possible.
For more on writing the Abstract, see Chapter 3. For more on writing the
Introduction, see Chapter 4. For more on writing in an IMRAD style for
empirical research proposals, see Chapter 5. For more on developing an
argument, especially in the literature review section, see Chapter 6. The
rest of this chapter will focus on ways of orienting the language in your
proposal to the future.
8.2 Stating objectives and research question(s)
There are two major ways to introduce your objectives and/or research
questions.
Exercise
Read Extracts [1] and [2], which form the opening sections of two research
proposals. How does each introduce the research focus? What key lan-
guage do you notice? Which style would you prefer for your own research
proposal?
[1] Many researchers agree that gender role socialization begins at the time of an
infant’s birth (Haugh, Hoffman, & Cowan, 1980; Honig, 1983). Most parents
are extremely interested in learning whether their newborn infant is a boy or a
girl, and intentionally or not, this knowledge elicits in them a set of expectations
about sex role appropriate traits (Rubin, Provenzano, & Luria, 1974). Empiri-
cal research suggests that [...]
Although many studies have examined sex stereotyping of infants by adults,
particularly parents, very few studies have examined children’s or adolescents’
sex-typing of infants (Haugh et al., 1980; Vogel, Lake, Evans, & Karraker, 1991).
Stern and Karraker (1989) reviewed available studies of sex-biased perceptions

of infants who were labeled either male or female, and concluded that adults’
perceptions often are not influenced by knowledge of an infant’s sex; however,
young children were found to rate infants in a sex-stereotyped fashion much more
frequently than were adults. None of the studies included in the review examined
sex stereotyping of infants by older children and adolescents. One question mo-
tivating this study, therefore, is how sex-stereotyped perceptions of infants change

during the early adolescent period, particularly junior high (middle school) age.
[2] The main objective of this research is to set up an experiment using methods
that have been recently developed in order to observe the particle nature of light
and the nature of photon entanglement (photon correlation).
Comment
Extract [1] opens with topic generalizations embedded in the existing re-
search literature. It then uses classic concession language to point to gaps
in the literature (Although many studies have examined X very few studies
have examined Y; None of the studies included in the review examined Y). It
then directly and simply links this to its own question (One question moti-
vating this study, therefore, is ...).
Extract [2] immediately opens the proposal with the objective (The main
objective of this research is ... ). It uses key topic generalizing words (particle
nature of light; photon entanglement; photon correlation).
Notice that the language in both extracts is simple and clear. Both use the
active voice, avoiding the passive form. The ‘study’ and the ‘research’ are
the active agents. You may also consider writing in the first person (‘I’ if
you are writing alone or ‘we’ if you are writing as a group).
8.2 | Stating objectives and research question(s) 135
Useful phrases for stating research objectives and questions

• In this thesis, I will analyze selected works of three major female writ-
ers of the 20th century—Willa Cather, Edith Wharton, and Virginia
Woolf—which thematize and are set against the background of
World War I:...
• The chief questions I will investigate are: Why have female writers been
excluded from the WWI canon? What ...
• By examining the perspectives of teachers and school administrators
on suspension, this study aims to provide answers to some of the ques-

tions implied by previous research that ask why suspension continues
to be used when there appears to be little evidence of its efficacy.
• The initial investigation of my thesis will be to determine whether this
orthodox critical view offers an adequate and appropriate assess-
ment of Hassam’s work.
• The goal of the current research is to establish a reliable and valid

instrument that will systematically assess generic workplace skills
that have been identified as essential for today’s labour market.

• The purpose of this present study is to systematically examine the effects
of gender of adolescents and infants’ perceived gender, and their
interaction, on adolescents’ ratings toward the infant.
• The proposed research will examine the cognitive, metacognitive, and
motivational aspects of self-regulated learning in the use of Informa-
tion and Communication Technology (ICT). There will be a particular
emphasis on how the use of ICT facilitates learners within coopera-
tive and collaborative learning contexts. […] A further goal will be to
examine the links between self-regulated learning and academic mo-
tivation, metacognition, learning strategies and self-efficacy.
• The study will address three major research questions: (1) … (2) … (3)
These sample proposals use much of the same language presented in

Chapter 4, but are consistently oriented to the future. Notice that some
phrases use the future tense and some the present (the goal is to...; a further
goal will be to...). Since the words ‘goals’, ‘aims’, ‘purpose’ and ‘objectives’
already imply the future, you can use either tense. With verbs such as
‘analyze’, ‘investigate’ and ‘examine’, you should use the future (will ana-
lyze; will investigate; will be to determine; will examine).
Tip
Some proposals include a section ‘Summary and integration’ at
the end of the literature review, before they state their objectives.
This brings together those themes from the literature review
which the author has identified as particularly relevant for the
proposed study. Consider using a bullet point list, introduced by
sentences such as Previous research on X has been limited. Three
major themes have emerged in this review.
8.3 Stating potential significance
A crucial step in formulating a novel and feasible study is to discuss the

potential significance of this planned research. This shows that you have
thought through your focus, your methods and your possible findings, and
that you are able to embed your study in a broader intellectual, political
and/or theoretical context.
Useful phrases for stating potential significance

Will + verb The outcomes of the research will not only further un-
derstanding of the impact of ICT investments in mod-
ern education institutions, but will also provide a set
of instruments that can be used to measure stu-
dents’ self-regulation in ICT-rich contexts.
This thesis, therefore, will be an opportunity to examine
the responses of three major women writers to the
historic event of their time, which eclipsed an equally
compelling social phenomenon, the rise of the “New
Woman.”
At the conclusion, the physics department will have
a very modern experiment to add to the modern and
quantum physics classes.
Practical implications of the results for parenting will
also be considered.
Future-oriented In addition, the research collected at the end of the
verb phrases ten weeks can be added to the national and interna-
tional discussions of photon entanglement.
8.4 | Research design and methods 137
The study outcomes are anticipated to make a signifi-

cant contribution to the context field of education by
providing a rigorous evaluation of the impact of mul-
tisensory strategies on key learning outcomes in
early childhood education settings.
It + verb + that It is envisaged that the validated instrument will have
+ will applications in a diverse cross-section of industries
and have potential for use both for recruitment and
for staff development purposes.
Notice the useful noun phrases for orienting to the future used in the
sample texts in the overview above, such as potential for use, opportunity to
examine and practical [or: theoretical or political] implications.
Exercise
This exercise is called ‘free writing’: Spend 10 minutes formulating your

goals/objectives and the potential significance of your proposed project.
Take a blank piece of paper, or open a new document. Write the time at
the top of the page. Begin to write. Keep writing for 10 minutes. After
exactly 10 minutes, stop. If you can’t think of what to write, write ‘I can’t
think what to write, I’ve run out of things to write’, etc. But keep writing.
After a minute or so, you will think of something more interesting to write!
Often, writers feel that they are finished after seven or eight minutes. Keep
writing. In my experience with students in workshops, very many are
surprised by the novel and useful insights about their project’s potential
significance which they think of in the final two minutes.
8.4 Research design and methods
For empirical research proposals this is perhaps the most important sec-
tion (or these sections: see Chapter 5 on splitting this section into Partici-
pants, Materials, Data collection, Data analysis, etc.). In the US National
Institute of Health’s (NIH) analysis of the reasons for rejection of over 700
research proposals, they discovered that almost 40% were rejected because
they had not clearly planned and/or stated their approach to the problem.
A clear and detailed methods section shows that you have seriously
thought about the specific research issues and designed a project which
can be successfully completed in the time available, and with the people
and resources available.
In Delphine Shaw’s proposal for an educational research project, 8 of
the 20 pages of text (excluding references) describe the methods. Some
useful phrases from her proposal are included in the following overview.
Useful phrases for empirical methods section

Section heading Useful phrases
or sub-heading
Research design The major aim of the study will be to compare the in-
tervention described above to one in which only the
auditory and visual modalities are used, as is more
typical in formal schooling contexts. To address this
aim, a multiple baseline across participants design
(Howard and Sharp, 1983) will be used.

In the study, A will be established by observing B over a

C-week period. First, D will be established across all E
classes in the study. During this period, none of the
classes will participate in F. Individual testing will be
undertaken. G will be evaluated to determine H.
To provide a pictorial representation of the experimental
design, a diagram with hypothetical data for the four
engagement measures is shown in Figure 1.
Pre-Intervention Prior to the collection of any baseline data, all chil-
Measures dren will be assessed using four basic measures. (1) …
(2) …
Ongoing Throughout both the baseline period and the period
Monitoring of X of the intervention, J will be taken. From these, a ran-
dom sample of K will be chosen to evaluate L. Key di-
mensions used to develop the final behaviour rating
scale will include: (1)... (2)...
Ongoing To assess whether the intervention results in M, all pu-
Monitoring of Y pils will undertake N once per week.
8.4 | Research design and methods 139
Notice that similar language is used to that discussed in Section 5.2 on

Methods in empirical research papers. But the orientation in proposals is
consistently to the future. Notice the temporal words which show pre-
cisely what will happen when (e.g. prior to, throughout, once per week).
Notice that the first heading is general (research design), and the follow-
ing sub-headings are specific to this particular study, which includes pre-
intervention measures and ongoing monitoring of X and Y. You would include
sub-headings specific to your proposed project.
Exercise
Read Extract [3] from a Masters proposal in the field of Art History at
Harvard University entitled ‘Inferiority and Alienation in Childe Hassam’s
“New York Window” Paintings’. As it is a humanities proposal, the meth-
ods section is far shorter than the educational research above. What do
you notice about this section? What does it ‘do’? Notice how each sen-
tence is linked to the previous sentence. Do you think the section works
well?
[3] The basis of my refutation of the orthodox assessment of Hassam’s window

paintings is the fundamental incompatibility of that interpretation with the im-
ages of women presented by the paintings. Thus, the paintings themselves will be
the primary source material for my study. My interpretive strategy is grounded
in a semiotic analysis of these images decontextualized from contemporaneous
social conditions or aesthetic imperatives, an approach employed extensively by
Mieke Bal.37 My application of this approach is based on Althusser’s contention
that all systems of signification, and the products of those systems, are inher-
ently ideological in nature: semiotic analysis provides the necessary analytical
apparatus for decoding the latent representations of the ideological constructs
that are implicit in Hassam’s work.38
Comment
This concise paragraph is the entire section on methods in this excellent
proposal. Extract [3] moves from the main goal of the study to the primary
source materials, the interpretive strategy and the basis for adopting this
interpretive strategy. It references the key thinkers upon which the methods
will be based (Bal, Althusser). Footnotes give the full references.
Sentence 1 states the goal of the project (my refutation of the orthodox as-
sessment of Hassam’s window paintings) and the grounds for this goal (The
basis of ... is the fundamental incompatibility of that interpretation with the
images...). Sentence 2 links with Thus and clearly states the primary source
material. Sentence 3 links to the previous sentence with these images and
clearly states the interpretive strategy. It refers to the authority of an estab-
lished figure (Bal) that has extensively employed this approach. Sentence 4
elaborates on this choice, linking to the previous sentence with this ap-
proach and by repeating and reformulating key words (e.g. systems of signi-
fication, semiotic analysis, analytical apparatus). It also links back explicitly

to the paintings (Hassam’s work).
In each field of research, from the physical sciences to the arts, proposals
list the materials and/or participants with which they will work, as well as
key methods of data gathering and/or interpretation. Historians, for in-

stance, generally list the archives they will visit, and which sources they
will use in each location.
8.5 Expected results
A wide range of phrases can be used to describe the findings which you
expect. Notice in the following overview how the texts link their specific
expected results to (i) the research questions they raised, (ii) their overall
goals and objectives and/or (iii) key words signalling the significance of
their proposed research.
Useful phrases for describing expected results

• My anticipated conclusion is that each artist in her own way used the
war between nations to examine the nature of war between the
sexes, a war which endorses gender polarization with direct conse-
quences for both women and men.
• Consistent with the findings of Haugh et al. (1980) and the studies
reviewed here, it is expected that the act of labeling infants with gen-
der-typed first names will elicit responses of learned attributes as-
sociated with gender-category labels.
• The prediction is that if adolescents are given minimal information
about an infant, adolescents will use sex-related cues (i.e., name of
8.6 | Research limitations 141
infant) to make evaluations about the infant. The second hypothesis

is that males and females will rate the perceived infant differently
regardless of the name assigned to the infant.
• The current study will therefore be the first to develop and validate an
instrument that will systematically assess individual performance on
these dimensions.
Notice how much research you have to do before you can write your pro-
posal!
8.6 Research limitations
A short discussion of the limitations of your proposed research can sig-

nificantly strengthen your proposal. It shows that you have thought about
potential critiques of your approach. No study which is to be completed

within a specific time frame can cover every relevant aspect. Thus, it can
be advantageous to show that you are aware of the ways in which your study
is not perfect.
Exercise
Read Extract [4]. This short paragraph is the complete section under the
heading ‘Research limitations’ for a proposal for a Masters dissertation.
Observe the language used to structure the section. Hypothesize about
how the writer justifies her decisions.
[4] The major limitation of this thesis is the necessity of restricting the number
of works selected for this investigation. There are many additional stories written
during the war years which all three writers left behind, and these might also
have been included. In order to examine an individual work more closely, I have
elected to focus on those where the war functions as either a central theme or an
important backdrop. A second limitation is the need to restrict the number of
female authors represented. Any attempt to argue for the inclusion of female-
authored texts in the war canon places one in the happy predicament of discov-
ering too many worthy candidates. Finally, my research has uncovered few full
critical studies of the selected Edith Wharton short stories as well as of her short
novel The Marne.
Comment
The text lists three limitations, flagging the first as the most important (The
major limitation of this thesis is; A second limitation is; Finally,). Notice that
the writer externalises the responsibility for the first two limitations: it is
‘necessary’ to restrict the number of works and authors (the necessity of
restricting; the need to restrict). Also, she plans to draw on secondary litera-
ture in her analysis, but there are few full critical studies of one of the au-
thors, so she will have less literature to draw on than she would like. She
explains her decision (In order to examine ..., I have elected to focus on...).
You will probably get feedback on your research proposal. A section on

limitations can be a useful starting point for a discussion with your super-
visor on alternative ways of dealing with the limitations.
8.7 References, timetable and appendices

As with all academic writing, you must have a systematic citation and ref-
erencing style. If your university does not stipulate which to use, choose
one of the most common ones, such as APA, MLA or Chicago. Use it ac-
curately and consistently.
Are attachments required? Always check the requirements. Some insti-
tutions require you to attach a short curriculum vitae, providing informa-
tion about your experience and qualifications. Include this in the Appendix.
The timeline is a crucial aspect. It may only be five lines long. Or it may
be a complex diagram with overlapping sections in different colours to il-
lustrate simultaneous work or a research group. Perhaps the most impor-
tant aspect is to be conservative and ambitious! Everything will take longer
than you expect. Plan time for trials, modifications, re-runs and redrafting.
The following table shows a sample timeline for a Masters dissertation
in the US. Notice the conservative estimations, and the time the author has
planned for revisions. Notice also the US American style of writing the date
(month-day-comma-year). The UK style is 4 February 2014 (day-month-
year). Note that neither inserts a dot after the day (4.) or writes 4th.
Tentative Schedule
Initial submission of proposal: February 4, 2014
Proposal returned for revision: March 4, 2014
Submission of proposal for final revisions: June 1, 2014
Proposal accepted: August 1, 2014
8.7 | References, timetable and appendices 143
Thesis director assigned: September 10, 2014

First draft completed: November 10, 2014
Thesis director returns corrected first draft: November 30, 2014
Revised draft completed: January 24, 2015
Thesis director returns revised draft: February 10, 2015
Final text submitted to thesis director and
research advisor: April 1, 2015
Bound copy approved: May, 15 2015
Graduation: June 2015
Fig. 21 shows a more complex timeline for a proposed PhD dissertation in

Australia. The time available has been divided into five phases. For each
phase, individual goals have been identified and major tasks with comple-
tion dates assigned to each goal.
Attachment A: Timeplan for the proposed research

Phase Goal Major Task/s Completion
Date
I. Preparation Review relevant literature and identify existing validated June 2005
Development instruments.
and validation Development Develop pilot instruments for Reasoning and planning; July 2005
of “Conceptual/ Work Creativity; Problem Solving; and Adaptability.
Thinking Pilot Data Administer pilot instruments to small sample (n = 30). August 2005
Skills” module Collection
Data Conduct internal consistencies and concurrent validity checks; September 2005
Analysis/ analyse comments to identify potential problem items.
Instrument
Validation
Module Refine the module in light of pilot study. October 2005
Refinement
II. Preparation Review relevant literature and identify existing validated December 2005
Development instruments.
and validation Development Develop pilot instruments based on the outcomes from the January 2006
of “People- Work preparation stage to assess Communication; Assertiveness,
Related Skills” Leadership; and Teamwork.
module Pilot Data Administer pilot instruments to small sample (n = 30). February 2006
Collection
Data Conduct internal consistencies and concurrent validity checks; March 2006
Instrument
Validation
Module Refine the module in light of pilot study. April 2006
Refinement
III. Preparation Review relevant literature and identify existing validated June 2006
Development instruments to assess “self-esteem” and “values”.
and validation Development Use the E-Prime © software to construct the lexical decision August 2006
of “Personal Work priming task.
Skills and Pilot Data Administer pilot instruments to small sample (n = 30). September 2006
Attributes” Collection
module Data Conduct internal consistencies and concurrent validity checks; October 2006
Instrument
Validation
Module Refine the module in light of pilot study. November 2006
Refinement
IV. Preparation Final instrument will be established on the basis of the pilot data February 2007
Implementation analysis. A computer programmer will be hired to develop an
of test battery appropriate protocol for presenting the battery.
to industry and Large-Scale The instrument will then be completed by a large sample of May 2007
final validation Data employees drawn from Retail, Business Services, and Education
Collection industries. One-hundred employees from each industry type will
participate in this phase of the research (total sample n = 300). A
small subsample (n = 20 per industry) of participants will also be
invited to complete the instrument again within 8 weeks of
completing the initial instrument.
Analysis and The data collected will be analysed in several ways to examine August 2007
Refinement the properties of the instrument:
of Instrument 1) Traditional reliability estimates
2) Confirmatory factor analysis
3) Item characteristics (Rasch analysis)

4) Multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs)
5) Profile analysis via multidimensional scaling
Final review of literature and writing of dissertation December 2007
Fig. 21 Timeplan for PhD research proposal Boaks (2005)

8.8 Common pitfalls

Paul T. P. Wong, from Trinity Western University in Canada, lists 12 com-

mon mistakes in student proposal writing.
1. Failure to provide the proper context to frame the research question.
2. Failure to delimit the boundary conditions for your research.
3. Failure to cite landmark studies.
4. Failure to accurately present the theoretical and empirical contribu-
tions by other researchers.
5. Failure to stay focused on the research question.
6. Failure to develop a coherent and persuasive argument for the pro-
posed research.
7. Too much detail on minor issues, but not enough detail on major is-
sues.
8. Too much rambling – going ‘all over the map’ without a clear sense of
direction. (The best proposals move forward with ease and grace like
a seamless river.)
9. Too many citation lapses and incorrect references.
10. Too long or too short.
11. Failing to follow the APA style.
12. Slopping writing.
8.8 | Common pitfalls 145
We could summarize and rephrase these pitfalls in three key tips for pro-
posal writing.
Tip
Read: Explore your topic in depth so that you can identify land-
mark studies, key figures, previous research and a significant
context.
Stay focused: Direct everything you write to your research ques-
tion and the major issues.

Proof-read: Cut the clutter, tighten up wordy sentences, check
your punctuation, and make sure your citations and references
are accurate.
The major challenge for many student writers is to stay focused. Do write
a lot when you are preparing your proposal. Have friends and co-students
read and comment on your ideas. Be prepared to delete and reshuffle. If
you write fast (rather than focusing on getting it ‘right’), then it is less
painful to delete when you have a new and better idea.

• Make sure your proposal answers four key questions: What do you
want to know? Why is this important? What will you do? What do you
expect?
• Find a clear and simple structure
• State your objectives clearly and simply
• Orient your writing to the future
• Clearly state the significance of your proposed research (political,
practical, theoretical, empirical)
• For empirical projects: Use half of the space you have (excluding refer-
ences) to describe your methods
• Anticipate your findings, conclusions or the instruments you will de-
vise
• Consider the limitations to your proposed project, and justify the deci-
sions you have made
• Design a detailed and conservative schedule for the phases of your
project
• Double-check for accuracy (sentences, spelling, References)
9 Diverse genres: Lab reports, thought
papers, short essays, reviews
9.1 Lab reports
9.2 Short essays
9.3 Thought papers
9.4 Case reports
In today’s Bachelor and Masters degrees, a range of further genres are of-
fered for credit. In science, technology and engineering, laboratory reports
are a key genre (see 9.1). In the arts, humanities and social sciences, short
essays (see 9.2) are often required, and ‘thought papers’, which are very
common in the United States and are also known as ‘reaction essays’ or
‘response papers’ (see 9.3), are becoming increasingly common. Case re-
ports or case studies (9.4), particularly relevant for business and medical
degrees, are the final genre to be included here. Much of the language that
you will need for these four genres has been covered in earlier chapters.
This chapter will refer you to the relevant sections in this book, and will
focus explicitly on the features and phrases that are specific to lab reports,
short essays, thought papers and case reports.
9.1 Lab reports
A laboratory report is a much reduced version of the empirical research

paper (see Chapter 5). It is generally based on one experiment, and has three
main functions: (1) It provides a record of the experiments and raw data. (2)
It provides enough information for a reader to reproduce the experiment.
(3) It presents an analysis of the data with discussion and conclusions.
Overview: Lab reports

Purpose To explain what you did, what you found, and what
your results mean
To demonstrate understanding of the concepts be-
hind the data
Readers Fellow students aiming to replicate your experiment,
lab instructor
148 Diverse genres | 9
Tone Clear, objective, simple, step by step

Language Past simple tense, passive voice, first person plural
(we/our)
Structure IMRAD
9.1.1 Elements of lab reports
Most science, technology and engineering departments issue their stu-

dents with explicit guidelines on how to write a lab report. Always check
these guidelines before you write your report.
Lab reports generally include the same ‘IMRAD’ elements as empirical
research papers (see Chapter 5):
1. Introduction
2. Methods / Experimental Procedure

3. Results / Data
4. And
5. Discussion
Often, a final paragraph is included under the heading ‘Conclusion’. Lab
report Introductions and Conclusions generally consist of only one para-
graph each. Some departments issue students with ‘data sheets’ to record
the data. These data sheets are then submitted with the lab report. One
element in almost every lab report is a table presenting data. Remember
to include column headings (including the appropriate units, e.g. km, g,
cm, N) and a title.
Useful phrases for referring to tables in lab reports

• Table Three below lists possible unknowns and the melting and boil-
ing points for these compounds found in the Chemical Handbook.2
• Our measurements confirmed that the amplitude of oscillation, with-
in experimental uncertainty, did not affect period (Table 3).
• Table 1 summarizes the sampling details.
• In Table 3, the experimental and theoretical results are summarized.
• As can be seen from our water data, the experimental values for the
melting and boiling points of water differed from the theoretical values
by +0.15 °C and +1.1 °C, respectively.
9.1 | Lab reports 149
9.1.2 Key language features of lab reports
This section looks at samples from the main sections of a typical lab report.
Exercise
Read Extract [1], the entire Introduction of a sample lab report written in
a thermal fluids course at Virginia Tech, USA. What do you notice about
the language used? How does this relate to the purpose of a lab report?
Which chunks could you draw on for your writing?
[1] This report discusses an experiment to study the relationship of temperature

and pressure of an ideal gas (air) that was heated in a closed container. Because
the ideal gas was in a closed container, its volume remained constant. The objec-
tive of the experiment is to test whether the ideal equation of state holds. In the
equation,
pV = mRT,
where p is the pressure the gas, V is the volume, m is the mass, R is a constant,
and T is temperature. This report presents the procedures for the experiment, the
experiment‘s results, and an analysis of those results.
Comment
The Introduction has only five sentences (under 100 words). It says what
the report will do (This report discusses) and what its objective is (The objec-
tive of the experiment is to). It presents the equation to be tested (In the
equation, pV = mRT) and defines the variables (where p is…). It outlines the
sections of the lab report (This report presents). The language is very simple
and straight to the point. The text uses the active voice but not the first
person. The Introduction ‘introduces’ what the student did, and it demon-
strates that she understood the concepts involved.
Extract [1] uses two central language chunks which appear in many lab
reports: one uses the word ‘report’, the other uses the word ‘experiment’.
Useful phrases for lab report Introductions

Report Experiment
This report discusses... The objective of the experiment is
This report presents... to test...
The report provides... The purpose of the experiment was
The report demonstrates... to determine…
The report focuses on... The goal of the experiment was to
measure …
... the procedures for the experi-

ment...
... the experiment’s results...
Lab reports are also occasionally written in the first person plural (e.g. In
this experiment we will first calibrate…; Following this, we will measure... we

report the vibrational frequency...).
German-speaking students tend to overuse ‘of’ (e.g. the results of the

experiment). It is often more dynamic to use the genitive ‘s’ instead (e.g.
the experiment’s results). Notice that Extract [1] uses both forms.
Tip
Remember to use the ‘genitive s’ (e.g. ‘the experiment’s results’).
Like the Introduction, the Experimental Procedure section of a lab report

is very short. Since the procedure is in the lab manual, and all students in
the class are doing the same experiment, students do not rewrite all the
details. One paragraph (under 100 words) is generally sufficient, including
a clear reference to the appropriate pages of the lab manual. Anything
longer is too much (time-wasting!) information.
Exercise
Read Extract [2], the entire Experimental Procedure section of a sample lab
report in Chemistry, Santa Monica College in California. What are the key
differences between this paragraph and the instructions in the lab manual?
Which language chunks can you imagine using in your lab report?
[2] As described in the lab manual,3 ice was placed in a beaker and warmed until
approximately 50% had melted. The temperature of the ice/water mixture was
9.1 | Lab reports 151
then measured with a thermometer. This was followed by a similar measurement

of our solid unknown. In part II, water was heated until boiling and the tempera-
ture of the liquid/gas mixture measured with a thermometer. This was followed by
a similar measurement using our unknown compound. To get the best results pos-
sible, the procedure in the manual was modified by repeating each trial three times.
Comment
Notice that Extract [2] refers to the lab manual. The manual is listed in the
Bibliography. Three key differences:

1. Lab manuals give instructions in the imperative (e.g. 1. Record the baro-
metric pressure. 2. Measure about 10 g of ice using the chemical balance and
place it into a 100 ml beaker.). Experimental Procedure sections use the
past tense and passive voice.
2. Lab manuals give detailed instructions (about 10 g of ice using the chem-
ical balance; a 100 ml beaker). Experimental Procedure sections are more

general (ice was placed in a beaker).
3. Lab manuals give instructions in a numbered list. Experimental Proce-

dure sections use full sentences and paragraphs.
The key language feature of this section is the passive voice in the past tense.
Useful verbs for Experimental Procedures

• X was analysed (using)
• X was assumed (to be)

• X was calculated (as a function of)
• X was calibrated
• X was collected
• X was conducted
• X was heated
• X was measured
• X was modified
• X was placed (in)
• X was repeated (once / twice / three times)
• X was sealed and stored
• X was transferred
• X was used
• X was warmed
The Results and Discussion section of lab reports is the most important
section of your lab report. This is where you present and analyse the data.
See the language suggestions in Sections 5.3 and 5.4.
Conclusion sections of lab reports are again very brief (under 100 words).
Exercise
Look at Extract [3], a one-sentence Conclusion. What functions does the
Conclusion fulfill? What are the key words?
[3] From a comparison of the results of the experimental calculations with the
normal value for percent acetic acid in vinegar, it can be concluded that the
percentage of acetic acid in the sample used in this experiment was about 4.982%.
Comment
The first part of Extract [3] summarizes the goal of the experiment. Key
words: From a comparison of X with Y. The second part presents the overall
conclusion. Key words: it can be concluded that... was about...
A final section of lab reports is the References section. As a sign of precise

scientific work, it is important to include full and accurate references (see
Section 2.6).
9.2 Short essays
Short essays (approximately 1000 – 3000 words) are increasingly required

in Bachelor degrees, either as examination tasks or take-home assign-
ments. For examinations, you generally have 45 minutes to select one
question from three or four essay prompts, and to plan and write your es-
say. For take-home assignments, you may have a few weeks or even a se-
mester to research, plan and write your essay. Take-home assignments
may be submitted to the individual lecturer. Alternatively, students may
be required to upload their short essays as blog posts or to other online
portals, thus making them available to a wider audience.
9.2 | Short essays 153
Overview: Short essays

Purpose To critically engage with a specific issue or problem
To present a clear argument, backed up with evi-
dence, explanations and examples
Readers Fellow students, academic community
Tone Formal, reasoned, ‘objective’
Language Mixed tenses, occasionally first person
Structure Introduction-Body-Conclusion, no subheadings,

each paragraph has one clear single focus, topic sen-
tences
9.2.1 Elements of short essays

Short essays generally have three basic elements:

➔ Introduction: Introduces key concepts, outlines background and im-

portance of the topic, and states the purpose of the essay. (You say what
you are going to say.)
➔ Body: Presents the main argument or story. Provides explanations,
evidence and examples to back up author’s position. (You say it.)
➔ Conclusion: Pulls threads of the argument or narrative together. States
the consequences and implications of this line of reasoning. (You say
what you’ve said.)
The whole essay revolves around your thesis statement: what is the main
argument you want to make? Thesis statements can be explicitly intro-
duced (I intend; This essay will), or they can simply be clearly stated (The
green revolution has two types of effects). The following table includes exam-
ples of both approaches.
Useful phrases for thesis statements in short essays

• From this point of view, I intend this essay to establish a comparison

between Gaskell’s ‘fallen woman’ in Mary Barton and the way in
which Thomas Hardy frames his central female character in Tess of
the D’Urbervilles.
• In this essay, a broad range of texts will be used to examine the ways in

which the mass media construct and reinforce social stereotypes
around gender, ethnicity and age, as well as how the media shape
one’s imagination though direct images.
• The green revolution has two types of effects on Indian economy,
namely, (a) economic effects and (b) sociological effects.
• The further back in history we travel, the simpler it is to make a case
that the history we know of, the sources that have survived, is ‘an
account of the powerful by the powerful’.
• However, in providing (and acting as a tool for the provision of)

these services in a modern context, ethical and moral questions can
be brought up regarding autonomy, the promotion of specific inter-
ests and profiting from services, as well as a host of other ethical
dilemmas. This essay will highlight the key ethical questions brought
up when reviewing the NHS’s variable roles in modern society.
• However it comes at a cost; children who have this treatment not

only suffer short term side effects but also experience life-changing
hormonal and neurological consequences. This essay focuses on

three of the most common radiotherapy induced endocrine pathol-
ogies.
The final two examples above are from prize-winning essays. Note that
they use a similar structure. And both use the strategy of making conces-
sions (see Section 6.4.5):
1. They both begin their essays by pointing out the benefits of an issue (the
NHS and radiotherapy).
2. Then both point to challenges (However…)
3. Then they explicitly state the specific focus of their essay.
Tip
Search online for ‘prize-winning college essay’ or ‘undergradu-
ate essay prize’ in your discipline. Analyse the winning essays:
look at the structure and highlight useful phrases. Consider
entering the competition!
9.2.2 Key language features of short essays
Although short essays are more compact than extended essays, the lan-
guage required is similar (see Chapter 6, especially Sections 6.3 to 6.6).
This section focuses on two particularities of the short essay: (i) personal
Introductions (see also Section 4.3), and (ii) the art of the quotation.
Exercise
Read Extract [4], the opening paragraph of Nicholas Handler’s winning
essay, ‘The Posteverything Generation’, in the New York Times essay

competition. Does the text have a clear thesis statement? What do you
think Handler’s main argument is? Which words indicate that this is his
position? Highlight any phrases or language chunks which you like.
[4] I never expected to gain any new insight into the nature of my generation, or
the changing landscape of American colleges, in Lit Theory. Lit Theory is sup-
posed to be the class where you sit at the back of the room with every other jaded
sophomore wearing skinny jeans, thick-framed glasses, an ironic tee-shirt and
over-sized retro headphones, just waiting for lecture to be over so you can light
up a Turkish Gold and walk to lunch while listening to Wilco. That’s pretty
much the way I spent the course, too: through structuralism, formalism, gender
theory, and post-colonialism, I was far too busy shuffling through my iPod to see
what the patriarchal world order of capitalist oppression had to do with Ethan
Frome. But when we began to study postmodernism, something struck a chord
with me and made me sit up and look anew at the seemingly blasé college-aged
literati of which I was so self-consciously one.
Comment
Although almost every guide to essays says you must include a clear thesis
statement in your Introduction, this prize-winning essay does not. Only in
its final two paragraphs does it include clear statements of the author’s
position (e.g. We wear the defunct masks of protest and moral outrage, but
the real energy in campus activism is […] in the rapidly developing ability to
communicate ideas and frustration in chatrooms instead of on the streets, and
channel them into nationwide projects striving earnestly for moderate and
peaceful change).
Extract [4] works with a ‘concession’ structure (see Section 6.4.5): The first
three sentences indicate the uselessness of Lit Theory (Literature Theory).
It concedes to the popular position that contemporary theory-laden univer-
sity courses are creating an apolitical generation. However, the simple word
but in the final sentence turns this around: The strong and evocative phras-
es something struck a chord with me and made me sit up and look anew at
indicate that the author is pro-postmodernism. The word seemingly suggests
that his core argument will be that these college students are not as blasé
as they ‘seem’. This is a very subtle way of introducing the main thesis.
Language: The text balances informal language (where you sit at the back
of the room…; over-sized retro headphones, just waiting for lecture to be over
so you can light up…; That’s pretty much…; I was far too busy shuffling through
my iPod ; blasé college-aged literati ) with highly specialist intellectual vo-
cabulary (structuralism, formalism, gender theory, and post-colonialism; the
patriarchal world order of capitalist oppression).
One key to successful essay writing may be precisely this careful balance of
informal and formal language. This is the style of the ‘public intellectual’.
Tip
Read short essays by public intellectuals such as Christopher
Hitchens, George Orwell, Susan Sonntag or Slavoj Žižek. Or
browse the London or New York Review of Books. Do a little gen-
re analysis of selected essays, noting useful language chunks.
Observe how they formulate their core argument.
A second feature unique to short essays is a particular use of quotations.

All essays must engage with quotations. Extended essays include both
short and long quotations. Short essays tend to include only short quota-
tions. Why?
Exercise
Read Extract [5], from a student short essay. Observe the use of quota-
tions. What comes before? What follows? How does the length of the
quotation relate to the length of the preceding and subsequent text?
Hypothesize about this relationship: why is it important?
[5] The first time we are introduced to the ‘fallen woman’ character – Esther – in
Mary Barton is on learning of her disappearance. John Barton and George
Wilson, two mill workers in the industrial town of Manchester, are discussing
the last time they saw her.
‘”Say’s I, Esther, I see what you’ll end up at with your artificials ... stopping out
when honest women are in their beds, you’ll be a streetwalker, Esther ... don’t
you go to think I’ll have you darken my door.”’ (1998: 6). John Barton’s lan-
guage creates an immediate comparison between Esther and an ‘honest’ woman;
she exists either in one paradigm or the other. This also becomes evident in
Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles: upon being told of Tess’s rape, Angel states,
‘”You were one person: now you are another.”’ (1998: 228). Ingham (1993: 82)
writes that this is an erasure of Tess’s identity, which Hardy has replaced with
a deceitful ‘Magdalen’ figure.
Comment
The extract includes two quotes. Both are embedded in the following
structure:
1. Establish the quotation
2. Use the quotation (and cite appropriately)
3. Explain the quotation
The quotation is shorter than the establishing and explaining sentences
together. The quotation operates here as evidence. The preceding and
subsequent texts operate as the argument. Since the point of the essay is
your argument, it generally takes up more space than the evidence.
Especially in exam essay writing, using one or two quotations well – i.e.
embedded in an establish-use-explain structure – can significantly improve
the quality of an essay.
Tip
Read Chapter 6 – and do the exercises! – to identify useful phras-
es for short essays.
9.3 Thought papers
Thought papers (also called: response papers, response essays, reaction

papers) are short papers, generally between 500 and 1500 words, which
communicate your personal understanding of the issues discussed in class
and/or your personal reflections on the assigned class readings. In weekly
seminar courses in the arts, humanities and social sciences, lecturers may
request a short thought paper on the assigned reading every week.
Overview: Thought papers

Purpose To reflect on your thinking about a specific text or
classroom discussion
To share your understanding of, and perhaps to raise
questions about, central concepts, values or belief
systems which you identify as relevant to the text or
discussion
Readers Yourself, lecturer interested in your thoughts and

reactions
Tone Informal, conversational, personal, reflective
Language Mixed tenses, first person (“I”)
Structure Identifiable paragraphs but relatively unstructured
9.3.1 Elements of thought papers
One basic element of thought papers is that they do not have clearly defined
sections! A thought paper is a free-flowing conversation with the assigned
reading or reflection on the class discussion. Generally, however, strong
thought papers include at least two elements:
1. What is my reading of the author’s main argument (or: my interpretation
of the author’s understanding of key concepts, meanings, theories, val-
ues, etc.)?
2. What is my personal response/reaction/position towards this argument
or these concepts, meanings, theories, values, etc?
Thought papers integrate theories with personal experience or personal
meanings. Some lecturers also expect a third element:
9.3 | Thought papers 159
3. What broader meanings do I take from my engagement with this text

or this classroom discussion? How has reading and reflecting on this
text affected my personal lived experience?
The core feature of these three elements is the personalisation of your

response. The following table includes some first sentences from student
thought papers. Notice that some begin with a personal reaction (in the
first person or with an evaluation like excellent), some with a personal an-
ecdote, and some more formally with a theoretical concept.
Useful phrases for beginning thought papers

• Of all of the common assumptions that we discussed in class, I think
one of the most common is the idea that a children’s text should in
some way teach the reader something.
• The fairy tale Snow-white and Rose-red, by the Grimm brothers, is an

excellent example of a conservative, adult-centered text.
• As a little girl, I pretended I was Belle from Beauty and the Beast.
• Intertextuality (Bakhtin, 1981, Kristeva, 1980) is the decontextualiza-
tion and recontextualization of symbols or discursive elements.
• With her ethnography about the interaction and the discourse which
is taking place between participants of the virtual platform BlueSky,
Lori Kendall provides another example of how ethnography can be
written and which deeper questions ethnographies can raise.
• First part: Introduction to the topic from a personal perspective – re-
minds me of the time I spend in Egypt: Travelling through the coun-
try we often had to wait for late night buses.
• Of all the books we will read in class this semester, perhaps none chal-
lenge the typical case prototype quite like The Bad Beginning from
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.
9.3.2 Key language features of thought papers
A thought paper is one of the only university-level genres in which students

genuinely write for their lecturers. With extended essays or empirical re-
search papers, your ‘imagined readers’ should be fellow researchers in your
academic community (even if in ‘real life’ the only reader of your text is your
lecturer). A thought paper can be oriented directly to your lecturer. Assume
that she or he knows the texts and was present in the class discussion.
However, you cannot assume that your lecturer understands the theories
and concepts the same way you have done. Reading is always an individu-
al interpretative process. The goal of the thought paper is to share your
meaning-making processes about these theories, concepts, values, issues.
For this reason, the single key language feature is how to present your
understanding of the text as your understanding.
Exercise
Read Extract [6] from a student thought paper. It engages with the first
of the three questions listed in 9.3.1 (personal reading of the author’s
main argument). Which language elements make this extract less formal
than, for example, an essay?
[6] In the text “Performing media: Toward an Ethnography of Intertextuality”,

the author Mark Allan Peterson is indeed advocating for what the title indicates:
An ethnographic approach towards media performance of its audience, stressing
the latter’s proactive role of producing intertextuality. For Peterson, intertextual-

ity means (amongst much more precise and more differentiated definitions which
are elaborated in the text) the decontextualisation and recontextualisation of
symbols or discursive elements. Peterson begins his text by describing a situation
in which (abbreviated) quotes extracted from a popular American comedy break
the ice between some strangers – which point to his main interest in media in-
tertextuality as a social action. He puts forward the argument that the role of
media in society is not limited to practices of consumption and interpretation.
According to Peterson, people are “never only audience” which is merely con-
structing certain readings of texts, but people “seize upon, remember, replicate
and transform elements from the media they consume”. Media intertextuality
is not a property of the text, but a social strategy. The social action of construct-
ing media intertextuality is hereby always shaped, or at least influenced by, the
social surroundings of actors. It draws on cultural and symbolic capital, as well
as serving to accomplish ordinary tasks of everyday life.
Comment
In this first paragraph of her thought paper, the student outlines what she
sees as the author’s main argument, and some central concepts and fur-
ther arguments in the reading. The language is fairly informal but also uses
specialist vocabulary; the student is in an intelligent conversation with the
lecturer.
9.3 | Thought papers 161
The language in Extract [6] is much more conversational than in a formal

essay.
Useful conversational language for presenting conceptual understanding

Useful language Comment
For Peterson, intertextuality Parentheses () demonstrate infor-
means (amongst much more pre- mally the author’s awareness of
cise and more differentiated defini- more the elaborate definitions.
tions which are elaborated in the

text) the decontextualisation and
recontextualisation of symbols or
discursive elements.
Peterson begins his text by de- The author links the structure of
scribing a situation in which (ab- the text with one central concept
breviated) quotes extracted from (intertextuality as social action).
a popular American comedy break The dash (between strangers and

the ice between some strangers which) links in a conversational
– which point to his main interest way the first and second parts of
in media intertextuality as a social the sentence. This would be too
action. informal for an essay.
For Peterson, intertextuality means … The thought paper explicitly posi-

Peterson begins his text by … tions the meanings and argu-
He puts forward the argument that … ments as Peterson’s.
According to Peterson, people are …
So, the first one or two paragraphs identify those concepts or aspects of the
text that the writer thought were most relevant, and demonstrate his or her
reading of the author’s main argument. The next paragraph or paragraphs
generally gives an explicitly personal response.
Useful phrases for giving a personal response

• I could relate the text to my own fieldnotes right away.
• At many parts, I find her conclusions quite “far-fetched”.
• The power structure of domination that Rancière unveiled in the
assumed relation between the theatre makers and the spectators is
a crucial power structure which – I am sure – can be detected in many
more relations.
• I found particularly interesting the reflections about the ways in which
blogs can really come to constitute a great challenge to mainstream

news media because of their independence from organizations and
their personal selection of current events and political contents.
• I also had to think of our course, and the way we are engaged in “meta-
textuality”.
• I believe this is true, because the text of a book is far more important
than the pictures.

• I think Hannerz’ concept of cosmopolitanism remains weak through-
out the article.

• If the quality of news and of blog discussions would guarantee in-
dependence from national institutions and work as a real source of
alternative discourse capable of positively affecting the national and
international mistakes of bad policies we are all subjected to, I would
be the first user ready to pay for it.
• This character was implying that children are not permanently dam-
aged by certain experiences and I think this is an incredibly important
feature of the movie as a whole.
Your personal reaction (I could relate, I find, I feel, I believe, I think, I am

sure,...) should be linked to the relevant concepts (fieldnotes, power structure,
metatextuality, alternative discourse, permanent damage).
Tip
If you can link the reading for this week with previous class read-
ings/discussions/assignments, your lecturer will probably be
delighted!
Overall, due to its conversational style, you should be able to write a thought
paper much more quickly than an essay. In my experience, many students
9.4 | Case reports 163
need to be encouraged to write such personal/informal responses. Check

your lecturer’s expectations, but do dare to be personal.
Tip
Even in conversational thought papers, always remember to
proof-read!
9.4 Case reports

It is important with every type of assignment to follow the specific instruc-

tions provided by your own lecturer or institution. With case reports, how-
ever, this is particularly important, as the label ‘case report’ (or ‘case study’)
can refer to different kinds of text. In general, however, a case report is a
factual, authoritative paper which is oriented to a professional audience
with very little time to read. This audience wants concrete recommenda-
tions for how to deal with a specific (problematic) situation.
Overview: Case reports

Purpose To analyse a specific situation
To make recommendations for action
To link theory and practice
Readers Professionals (not always researchers), politicians,
public
Tone Concise, factual, authoritative, fast
Language Mixed tenses, active voice, nouns as grammatical
subject
Structure Executive summary, table of contents, numbered
headings, bullet points, short paragraphs
9.4.1 Elements of case reports
Formal case reports generally include the following sections.

➔ Letter of transmittal (the letter which gives the reasons for the report,
states who commissioned the report, and includes due dates, contact
information, etc.)
➔ Title page
➔ Executive summary (the summary for busy executives which outlines
the main points and indicates where to find further details in the report)
➔ Table of contents
➔ Introduction or case background
➔ Analysis and solutions
➔ Detailed recommendations
➔ Implementation plan
➔ References
➔ Appendices (e.g. large graphics, tables or maps)
Check with your lecturer if all these sections are required for your particu-
lar assignment.
A key feature of case reports is the bullet point list. This makes the key
information easy to find.
Useful phrases for introducing bullet point lists

• The Assessment of Need comprises:

• The current location of facilities provides a number of benefits to users.
These include:
• The HCJFS print shop has a staff of four and a personnel budget of
$193,820. These employees include:
• The Scopus shopping centre measures its customer service with the
following categories:
• Limitations:
9.4.2 Key language features of case reports
As with all writing, imagining your audience is the key to deciding which
language to use and how to structure your text. Here, you are writing for
busy professionals who want solutions based on your solid analysis of the
relevant (and only the relevant) issues, problems, evidence and theories.
Exercise
Read Extract [7]. What do you notice about the style of language?
[7] Study Aim and Scope

The aim of the study is to produce a business case for the future provision of
Broadbridge Heath Leisure Centre (BBHLC), based on the following areas of
work and as set out in the consultants’ brief:
1. To undertake a detailed evaluation of the current levels of usage, condition
and appropriateness of facilities and service provision at Broadbridge Heath
Leisure Centre.
2. To identify, evaluate and cost options for the future of Broadbridge Heath
Leisure Centre including:

• Retain indoor and outdoor facilities in present format on a permanent
basis.
• Retain indoor and outdoor facilities in present format for an interim pe-
riod pending the provision of alternative facilities.
• Retain building and outdoor facilities for an interim period for use by core
users (HABC/HAODS/Theatre 48) and preferential hirers (football and

athletics) pending the provision of alternative facilities.
• Mothball building and retain outdoor facilities for an interim period pend-
ing the provision of alternative facilities.
Evaluation of options will include an assessment of the non-financial impacts of
the closure or relocation of particular facilities including accessibility, affordabil-
ity, health and other community impacts. [...]
Comment
You may have noticed the following:
• Many active verbs (to undertake, to identify, evaluate and cost...).
• Active voice: Neither the first person nor the passive voice is used. In-
stead, nouns are the grammatical subjects in the sentences, i.e. the
nouns ‘do’ the actions rather than people (The aim of the study is to
produce...; Evaluation of options will include...)
• Visual devices: Numbered lists and bullet point lists begin with active
verbs (To undertake, To identify, Retain...).
• Capitalization: The first letter of each line is a capital letter, even though
it is actually in the middle of a sentence.
• Repetition: Phrases are repeated in the bullet points (Retain indoor and
outdoor facilities in present format). Repeating words and phrases makes
it easy for busy readers to get the main point quickly.
• Each paragraph consists of fewer than three lines.
Various headings are possible in case study reports. The opening sections,
for instance, may be headed: ‘Study Aim and Scope’, ‘Purpose’, ‘Introduc-
tion and Case Background’ or simply ‘Introduction’.
Exercise
Select two case study reports which you have discussed in class. Do you
recognize the features listed above in those reports? Which further lan-
guage features do you notice? Look especially at verbs, active/passive
voice and paragraph length.
A key feature of case reports is that they strictly avoid ‘flowery’ language.
Exercise
Look at Extract [8], the opening lines of the ‘Scope’ section of a business
case report. What do you notice about the language used here?
[8] Hamilton County’s printing needs are handled by two printing operations
(located in Hamilton County’s Job and Family Services Department and the
Board of Elections) and multiple outside vendors. Countywide printing costs
totalled approximately $1.3 million in 2006.
2006 Hamilton County Printing Costs
Job and Family Services Department $539,320
Board of Elections Print Shop $534,905
Outside Vendors $234,000
The Hamilton County Job and Family Services (HCJFS) print shop provides
the majority of printing necessary for the department. […]
Comment
Notice that no additional introductory language is used. Sentence 1 starts
directly with the main focus of the report (Hamilton County’s printing
needs), and provides concrete information about this topic. The table uses
the same words as the paragraph. The number is rounded to $1.3 million
in the paragraph. Details are given in the table. The sentence following the
table identifies one element from the table. It does not refer to the table
(e.g. ‘see Table 1’, or ‘as Table 1 indicates’). Again, it uses the same words
(Hamilton County Job and Family Services), this time introducing an acro-
nym which it will use throughout the paper (HCJFS).
Again, as above: active verbs, active voice, nouns as actors (Countywide
printing costs totaled…). Some passive voice but with clear actors (Hamilton
County’s printing needs are handled by two printing operations…), visual de-
vice, repetition, short paragraphs.
In addition to an Introduction, the opening sections of case reports state

the purpose, define the scope of the report and provide details about the
analytical approach and/or methods.
Useful phrases for early sections of case reports

Function Samples with key phrases highlighted
Stating purpose The aim of the study is to produce a business case for
the future provision of BBHLC, based on the following

areas of work and as set out in the consultants brief: …
The purpose of this business case is to identify the suit-

ability of pursuing a managed competition effort for
printing services in Hamilton County.
The purpose of this report was to analyse two portable
computers and recommend a suitable machine for our
training staff to use at client locations.
Defining scope While investigating these two computers it was impor-
of report tant to consider their suitability for corporate use, stand-
ard features, optional benefits and warranties.
This report describes the environmental, social, and
economic activities of the Ricoh Group in fiscal
2000. The report covers only fiscal 2000 (from April
2000 to March 2001); however, some of the target
values given include data from fiscal 2001.
The report covers data from all Ricoh production and
nonproduction sites and affiliates that have estab-
lished their own environmental management systems.
The figures which appear in the report are based on the
figures of Sponda’s Finland operations, unless other-
wise indicated.
Describing Our approach to this study is objective, although we

analytical are aware of, and understand the events culminating
approach in the decision to develop an Outline Business Case.
This section describes the data collection approach and
methods used in this business case.
Describing Stage 1, the Assessment of Need, comprised:
specific Review of all previous reports and information rele-
methods vant to the study
Review of Horsham strategic context e.g. population,

current participation patterns, HDC
Comprehensive stakeholder consultation (technical,
users, professional)
Analysis of consultation feedback [….]
The County collected detailed information on printing

services activities for JFS and BOE.

The information used in this report was collected by
consulting an independent review by the Australian
PC Authority magazine and contacting the individu-
al companies for additional information on the tech-
nical specifications and warranties on the machines.
The stakeholder consultation undertaken to inform
this study has been both comprehensive and robust.
Business case reports are the most common type of case report that stu-
dents encounter during their degrees. Medicine also regularly uses short
case reports.
Exercise
Look at Extract [9], a medical case report. This section follows a 150-word
Introduction which although very short, includes some elements from
research paper Introductions (see Chapter 4). Compare the language
features of Extract [9] to Extracts [7] and [8].
[9] A 21-year-old man who had been injured in a motorcycle accident appeared
with abdominal and right leg pain. On presentation, the patient was conscious,
with a blood pressure of 120/60 mmHg, heart rate of 106 /min, respiratory rate
of 22/min, and body temperature 36.0 °C. On examination, right flank and leg
abrasions were observed. His abdomen was flat and soft. Numbness, pain and
decreased movement was noted in the right leg. Hemoglobin was 12.9 g/dl; serum
blood urea nitrogen and creatinine were 20.4 and 1.23 mg/dl, and urinalysis
showed microscopic hematuria with 51-100 red blood cells per high-power field.
A radiographic imaging revealed right tibial fracture and multiple right rib
fractures.
Comment
You may have noticed the following:
• Active and passive voice (A 21-year-old man … appeared with…; Numb-
ness, pain and decreased movement was noted…). The first person is not
used.
• Long paragraphs but several very short sentences (His abdomen was flat
and soft.). Several sentences are lists (On presentation, patient was con-
scious, with a blood pressure of 120/60 mmHg, heart rate of 106 /min,
respiratory rate of 22/min, and body temperature 36.0 °C.).
• Visual devices: The final sentence says ‘A radiographic imaging re-
vealed…’. This x-ray image is included in the report with an arrow point-
ing to the right tibial fracture.
• No flowery language.
Despite some differences, e.g. passive voice, longer paragraphs and fewer
visual devices such as bullet point lists, overall the medical case report also
has a very fast pace. It includes several very short sentences, and ‘lists’ the
important facts. It takes the reader through the specific details of the case
quickly, with visual imagery to guide the reader’s focus.
Further useful phrases for case reports

Function Samples with key phrases highlighted

Summarizing In summary it is clear from the analysis that a number
the analysis of key issues needed to be considered in developing the
Outline Business Case for future provision at BBHLC.
These include:
The following table summarises the important points of
comparison between the two portable computers:
Presenting In summary, the three options are as follows:

options/ This section does not make any final recommendations
solutions for the future management arrangements of each of
the facilities but instead puts forward options, the key
issues to consider and potential risks to each of the parties.
Taking each option in turn, it can be concluded that:
Proximal ureteral injuries are best managed by an
uretero-ureterostomy with an interrupted anastomo-
sis over an indwelling ureteral stent.

The prognosis for ureteral injury is excellent if the diag-
nosis is made early and prompt corrective surgery is
performed.
Drawing Given the level and nature of use at BBHLC, there is
conclusions clearly a need for some provision on this site.

After investigating the Hewlett Packard Omnibook
3000CTX 5/233 and the Micro-pro 8500 Series port-

able computers, it was found that both models are
suitable for corporate use and would meet All Purpose
Training Company requirements.
From a cost perspective, it does not appear likely that
submitting printing services to managed competi-
tion would result in savings of at least 5% as called
for in the current policy concerning savings threshold
for managed competition.
Presenting The table above suggests that Option 6 is the most
recommenda- suitable option, although Option 7 should be pursued
tions if the District Council decides to continue to provide
an athletics track.
The findings and conclusion in this report support the
following recommendations:
Based on extensive comparison of costs and other
printing operations in the public and private sector,
the following recommendations are provided:
Detailed recommendations: 1. Maintain an in-house
printing operation within HCJFS.
Therefore, early use of a multidisciplinary approach is
recommended to reduce morbidity and mortality.
Introducing The conclusions of the Assessment of Need reflect all

conclusions information reviewed and analysed above. The conclu-
sions provide the basis for the future provision options
considered in subsequent sections of this report.
The conclusions of the Assessment of Need are sum-
marised below, and reflect the evidence gathered and
set out above.
Highlighting It is important to note that…
information It is first important to understand the need for…

Referring to The table below highlights some of the key timings for
other sections different events.
Further detail relating to consultation feedback is set
out in Appendix 2.
When writing a case report, you may also profit from working through
Section 5.4 on Discussions in empirical research papers and Chapter 6 on
theoretical, interpretative and analytical writing.

• Think carefully about the purpose and the audience of the specific
genre you are writing.
• Lab reports are concise: Avoid repeating too much detail from the lab
manual, but do use full sentences.
• Lab report Experimental Procedures use the past tense, passive voice.
• Short essays state the main argument near the beginning (Introduc-
tion), provide examples, evidence and explanations to back this up
(Body), and conclude with a clear position (Conclusion).
• Short essays embed quotations in an establish-use-explain structure.
• Thought papers are personal, reflective conversations with the text
and/or your lecturer.
• Thought papers tend to be in the first person.
• Case reports are oriented to busy executives.
• Case reports use good visual devices (bullet points, graphs, tables,
diagrams) and dynamic, active verbs.
10 Further resources
10.1 Continuing alone
10.2 Continuing in groups
10.3 Academic vocabulary online
10.4 Further online resources
I hope that this book has helped you to feel more confident in formulating
English language academic texts. It has touched on a range of ‘genres’,
including essays, thought papers, empirical and theoretical dissertations,
posters, lab reports, case studies, proposals and abstracts. It has provided
exercises to sharpen your awareness of the ways academic collectives con-
ventionally write their texts. And it has included useful phrases and for-
mulations from across the disciplines. As a short book, it could only aim
to sketch the key language issues in each of these genres. This final chap-
ter thus includes a selection of suggestions and links to follow up the issues
raised in this book.
10.1 Continuing alone
To continue working on your genre awareness and writing skills, I highly

recommend three other books.
1) Skern, Tim. Writing Scientific English: A Workbook. Vienna: UTB, 2009.
This excellent workbook is particularly useful for the empirical sciences.
It is full of tasks which draw primarily on sample writing from Skern’s
students. Readers are invited to analyse the students’ drafts before read-
ing Skern’s comments and the revised texts.
2) Swales, John M. and Christine B. Feak. Academic Writing for Graduate
Students: Essential Tasks and Skills, 3rd edition. Ann Arbor, MI: Univer-
sity of Michigan Press, 2012.
Again, a workbook with lots of tasks for student-readers. It is based on
the genre approach to writing, and on linguistic research which observes
the features of published academic texts. It includes texts and tasks from
across the disciplines, and focuses on useful genre and vocabulary is-
sues.
174 Further resources | 10
3) Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The

Craft of Research, 2nd edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
2003.
This classic handbook is intended for ‘native’ speakers of English: stu-
dents, researchers and professionals. It guides readers through the steps
of planning, conducting and reporting on research. It is wonderfully
easy to read, and focuses on voice, style and the core action of academ-
ic writing: making and supporting claims.
10.2 Continuing in groups
One excellent way of continuing to work on your academic writing is to

form a writing group. Get together four to six people who are in a similar
situation as you are (i.e., who are also writing assignments or Bachelor
dissertations of PhDs). Decide on a regular meeting time (weekly or fort-
nightly). There are various ways of organizing these local, face-to-face

meetings (see, for instance, http://gsrc.ucla.edu/gwc/resources/running-
an-effective-writing-group.html). One successful option is that all mem-

bers send one or two pages to all other members in advance of every meet-
ing.
Alternatively, join an online writing group such as Scribophile (http://
www.scribophile.com).
The benefits of regular writing groups – local or virtual – are enormous.
First, it encourages (or forces) you to write regularly. Second, by talking
about your writing, you develop fresh ideas. Third, you get regular feedback
on your writing from a range of readers.
Tip
A good alternative to a writing group is to share texts with a
friend or co-student. They give you feedback on your assign-
ments and you give them feedback on theirs.
10.3 Academic vocabulary online
My three favourite online resources for academic vocabulary are the fol-
lowing.
10.3 | Academic vocabulary online 175
1) John Morley’s Academic Phrasebank at the University of Manchester.

http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/
The phrasebank includes lots of useful phrases for academic writing
(especially empirical research papers and dissertations). It provides
phrases for the major sections: Introductions, Literature review, Meth-
ods, Results, Discussion and Conclusions. And it has phrases for gen-
eral functions such as being critical, classifying, comparing and con-
trasting, and giving definitions.
2) Sketch Engine corpora https://ca.sketchengine.co.uk/open/

This site lets you search in four English language ‘corpora’. The most
useful corpus for academic writing is the British Academic Written
English Corpus (BAWE) which you can select on the Sketch site. It
contains almost 7 million words from about 3000 good-standard uni-
versity-level (Bachelor and Masters) student assignments, across 30
disciplines. Users enter a word and receive a set of concordances (see

Fig. 22) showing how the word is used in context. Clicking on individ-
ual concordance lines takes you to the whole student text. The British
National Corpus (http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/) with 100 million words
has a similar search function for written and spoken British English.
Irvine uses the example of unemployment, claiming that over the past three decades the definition
requirements can also be useful, however. Bumer claims that statisticians often go to many lengths
problems with reliability and validity, and he claims that as a result official statistics pose
began to associate women‘s bodies with evil, claiming they were inherently dangerous, and therefore
focused its attention on upper-class women, claiming they were more fragile and in need of extra
economic profit, as they can be a way of claiming higher benefits and gaining access to housing
factors have more of an input. <lp><p> Coleman claims that children are a form of 'social capital'
discourses that link femininity with motherhood, claiming that 'true womanhood' is not reached unless
introduce (1991), and Professor Laynard agrees, claiming that rising inflation, fiscal monetary
these changes was the young, and Makeham claims that they are now especially vulnerable
young, reflecting the fact that Maguire claims , employers often view the young as irresponsible
popular theory put forward by physicians, claimed that madness was caused by 'the action
from its assumed political incorrectness, claimed implications for public policy, and doubts
scientific community as to its scientific claims (Keenan 1999). In this essay I shall attempt
expressing a person's intelligence. Especially claim five and six, respectively, that properly
According to critics, the problem is that these claims involve more complication and nuance than
Fig. 22 Concordance lines for the word ‘claim’
3) Stanford University’s open online course ‘Writing in the Sciences’

http://online.stanford.edu/course/writing-in-the-sciences
The first four weeks on effective writing are useful for all academic writ-
ing, including the arts and humanities. It includes sessions on cutting
unnecessary clutter, using verbs effectively and crafting better sentenc-
es and paragraphs. The teacher, Kristin Sainani, is a clinical assistant
professor at Stanford University and a health and science writer.
10.4 Further online resources
This section suggests several useful links to websites with further details
or examples of good academic writing which will help you further develop
your writing skills.
10.4.1 General writing skills and academic language
Interactive online tutorials and information files on a wide range of writing

skills, e.g., paraphrasing, linking words, sentence construction, spelling

and academic style (Learning Lab at RMIT University): http://emedia.rmit.
edu.au/learninglab/content/writing-skills
Video tutorials (30 videos; max 10 minutes each) on key university writ-
ing skills (epax): http://www.epax.co.uk/index.php
On gender-neutral language (Writing Center at Warren Wilson College):
http://www.warren-wilson.edu/~writingcenter/Gender-Neutral_
Language.pdf.
On the writing process in general (Writing Centre at the European Univer-
sity Viadrina): http://www.europa-uni.de/de/struktur/zfs/schreibzentrum/
Links_und_Materialien/Materialien/Handouts/index.html.
On academic language and style, including nominalisation, negatives,
signposting and being cautious or ‘hedging’ (University of Newcastle’s Writ-
ing Development Centre): http://www.ncl.ac.uk/students/wdc/learning/
language/
On sentence structure (University of Ottawa): http://www.uottawa.ca/
academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/bldsent.html
On cutting out extra words (University of Toronto): http://www.writing.
utoronto.ca/advice/style-and-editing/wordiness
Brief guides to writing in different disciplines: History, Philosophy,
English, Psychology, Sociology. (Harvard College Writing Center): http://
writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/brief-guides-writing-disciplines
10.4 | Further online resources 177
10.4.2 Empirical academic writing (life sciences, physical sciences, social

sciences)
On all sections of the IMRAD paper (Bates College): http://abacus.bates.

edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWsections.html
On the three steps to writing a good hypothesis (Evergreen Public
Schools): http://iqa.evergreenps.org/science/resources/hypotheses/3-
step-hypothesis-writing.html
A student lesson on writing hypotheses (Access Excellence @ the Na-
tional Health Museum): http://www.accessexcellence.org/LC/TL/filson/

writhypo.php
A detailed discussion of how to write the Methods section (Access Excel-
lence @ the National Health Museum): http://www.accessexcellence.org/
LC/TL/filson/writhypo.php
A brief 12 point list to writing effective Materials and Methods (San
Francisco Edit): http://www.sfedit.net/methods.pdf

A brief 12 point list to writing effective Results (San Francisco Edit):
http://www.sfedit.net/results.pdf
10.4.3 Extended and short essays (arts and humanities, social sciences)
Entertaining video on how to write a brilliant short essay, including the ‘art
of the quotation’ (8 mins): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liyFKUFCQno
On formulating the right kind of essay question (Tim Woods, interna-
tional schools educator): http://www.timwoods.org/2011/09/05/how-
to-write-your-extended-essay-getting-started/
Four keys to writing in the humanities (University of Oregon): http://
pages.uoregon.edu/munno/Writing/FourWritingIdeas.html
An energetic and polemical guide to writing humanities papers ‘that
don’t suck’ (University of San Francisco): http://www.usfca.edu/fac-staff/
mrvargas/Handouts/How2writeHumPapers.pdf
On errors that inexperienced writers often make when writing humani-
ties essays (State University of New York College at Geneseo): http://www.
geneseo.edu/~easton/humanities/convhumpap.html
Concise advice on 18 fundamental elements of academic writing, includ-
ing essay structure, counterargument, writing a comparative analysis, and
tips on grammar, punctuation and style (Harvard College Writinge Cent-
er): http://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/strategies-essay-writing
Sample short essays from the New York Times: http://essay.blogs.

nytimes.com/
10.4.4 Posters
One of the best guides to creating your academic poster and presenting it
at a poster session (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill): http://
www.unc.edu/~moreton/Materials/Posters.pdf
Guide to designing conference posters, including an example of a dread-
ful poster (Colin Purrington, science writer and photographer): http://

colinpurrington.com/tips/academic/posterdesign
Powerpoint slide on designing scientific posters, including tips on pre-
senting data effectively (Cornell University): http://www.cns.cornell.edu/
documents/ScientificPosters.pdf
An open access journal with many examples of scientific and medical
posters: http://www.eposters.net/
10.4.5 Research proposals
A 41-page booklet on writing effective research proposals (Departments of

Medicine and Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary): http://
www.ais.up.ac.za/health/blocks/block2/researchproposal.pdf
A systematic guide to the elements of a research proposal, including
advice on how to plan, structure and revise your proposal. Also includes a
collection of just under 40 sample research proposals from across the
disciplines (Baltimore County Public Schools): http://www.bcps.org/
offices/lis/researchcourse/develop_writing.html#planning (Samples
here: http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/researchcourse/develop_write_
sample.html).
10.4.6 Lab reports
A guide to the elements of different assignment types, including lab reports

(University of Technology, Sydney): http://www.lib.uts.edu.au/sites/
default/files/attachments/page/Academic%20Writing%20Guide%20
Part%202%20-%20Assignment%20Types.pdf
Guidelines for writing a formal laboratory report for the life sciences and
physical sciences (Germanna Community College): http://www.germanna.
edu/tutor/Handouts/Chemistry/Lab_Report.pdf
10.4 | Further online resources 179
10.4.7 Thought papers
A ten-step process for writing short formal thought papers, including two
samples (Florida State University): http://mailer.fsu.edu/~shadden/
studyaids/thoughtpapers.htm
A concise response to the question of what a thought paper is, and what
it is not (Sonama State University): http://www.sonoma.edu/users/v/
vazquez/ResponsePaper.html
Samples of strong student writing which demonstrate insightful think-
ing and received high grades (Longwood University): http://www.

longwood.edu/staff/mcgeecw/sampleresponsepapers.htm
10.4.8 Case reports
Details on three processes involved in writing case studies: identifying

problems, creating solutions and making recommendations. Includes

samples and activities (Study & Learning Centre, RMIT University):
https://www.dlsweb.rmit.edu.au/lsu/content/2_assessmenttasks/assess_
tuts/case%20study_LL/answering.html
A guide to the elements of different assignment types, including case
reports (University of Technology, Sydney): http://www.lib.uts.edu.au/
sites/default/files/attachments/page/Academic%20Writing%20
Guide%20Part%202%20-%20Assignment%20Types.pdf
A sample case study report with comments on the language elements
used (Monash University): http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/
writing/general/report/1.xml

• Keep working on your genre awareness!
• Plan regular time (perhaps 15 minutes/week) to ‘read-for-genre’
• Join or start an informal writing group which meets up regularly.
• Experiment with the academic phrasebank and academic corpora.
• Think about spending time on online tutorials or participating in an
open access course on academic writing.
• I wish you good luck observing, hypothezising about, and experiment-
ing with your own approach to writing in your academic collective(s).
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Register
Active verbs A see Verbs Implications 26, 41-3, 51, 68, 81, 108, 110, 136-7,
Active voice 17-8, 27-8, 38, 41-2, 134, 149, 163, 153
165-9 Introductions 47-65, 67, 90, 92, 96, 132-3, 148-
Aims A see Objectives 50, 153, 155, 159, 165-8, 175
Argument 9, 21, 23, 29-30, 32-3, 36-7, 41, 56-60, KISS 44, 120, 125
76, 87-111, 144, 153-7, 177 Limitations 81, 92, 108, 141-2, 164
Audience 8-9, 14-7, 23, 27-9, 31-3, 40, 47, 50, 53, Methods 25, 29-30, 36-40, 67-73, 123, 132-3, 137-40,
55-7, 70, 85, 97-99, 113-4, 117-9, 121-8, 147, 153, 150, 168, 175, 177
158-9, 163-4 Moves and steps in introductions 52

Cautious language 41-3, 78-80, 91-2, 97-98, 176 Novelty A see Significance
Citation A see Reference style Objectives 35-8, 109, 119, 133-7, 140
Centrality A see Significance Objectivity 17, 94
Clarity 43-4, 53, 61, 67, 85, 89, 92, 103, 114, 118-9, Opening sentences 33-5, 45, 55-6, 78, 133-4, 155,
123, 126-9, 134, 137, 145, 153-5 166-8
Coherence 16, 88, 93, 102-7 Paragraphs 13-5, 103, 151, 168, 176
Comparing 80, 83, 88-9, 102, 106, 175 Passive voice 24, 69-70, 91, 148, 151, 167-9 A see
Concession 198-101, 134, 154, 156 also Active voice

Conclusions 26, 28, 30, 41-3, 68, 102, 107-10, Procedures A see Methods
117-9, 140, 152-3, 170-1, 175 Quotations 56, 155-7, 177
Connecting words 27-8, 42, 79-81, 121, 140, 176 Readers A see Audience
Contrasting A see Comparing Recommendations 108, 110, 163-4, 170, 179
Corpora 175 Reference style 20, 55, 88-9, 106-7, 142, 145, 152
Counter-claiming 52-3, 58, 98-101, 177 Results 40, 67-8, 73-6, 140-1, 148, 152, 175, 177
Discussion 40, 68, 76-81, 85, 87, 129, 148, 152, A see also Findings
175 Significance 29, 33-6, 52-6, 74, 79-80, 93-4, 105,
Dissertation 7-10, 23, 31, 35, 38, 47, 52-3, 67, 87, 131-2, 136-7, 140-1, 171
106, 113, 131, 133, 141-3, 174-5 Signposts 15-7, 43, 53, 73, 88-9, 103-6, 109, 176
Evaluation 88-9, 93-4, 101, 159 Structure 9-10, 13-5, 25, 29-30, 43, 53, 59-60, 68-70,
Figures 68, 75-6, 81-5 88, 102-3, 132-3, 148, 153, 158, 163, 177-8
Findings 17-8, 26, 28-30, 36, 38-42, 53, 59-60, Style manual A see Reference style
67-8, 76-85, 118-9, 132, 140-1 Summarizing 14, 23-45, 62, 77, 79, 89, 103, 109,
First lines A see Opening sentences 169
First person (I, we) 17-8, 24, 37, 42, 91, 134, Thesis A see Dissertation
148-50, 153, 158-9 Thesis statement 92, 94, 153-6
Five-finger pattern 24-31, 89, 119 Titles 68, 83, 118, 120-2, 124, 126, 148
Gender-neutral language 19-20, 176 Topic sentences 13-5, 82, 111, 153
Genre 7-10, 23-4, 32, 37, 47, 85, 87, 118, 126, 132, Verbs 18-19, 24, 37, 41-2, 70, 91, 96-8, 120-2, 151,
147, 156, 159, 173 165-7, 171, 176
Hypotheses 60-5, 67, 74, 76-9, 177 Writing groups 174

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Academic Writing, 9783825240875, 2014

Eine Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Verlage

Böhlau Verlag · Wien · Köln · Weimar

herausgegeben von Helga Esselborn-Krumbiegel

In der Reihe sind bisher erschienen:

H. Esselborn-Krumbiegel: Richtig wissenschaftlich schreiben

M. Herrmann u.a.: Schlüsselkompetenz Argumentation

Online-Angebote oder elektronische Ausgaben sind erhältlich unter www.utb-shop.de

Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek

© 2014 Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn

2 General writing conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2.1 Key structures: Writing with paragraphs and topic sentences 13

3 Abstracts: Summarizing your study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

3.1 OHE: Observe – hypothesize – experiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

4 Introductions: Beginning your paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

5 Empirical research papers: Presenting empirical research . . . . 67

6 Theoretical, interpretative and analytical writing . . . . . . . . . . . 87

7.1 The purpose of posters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

8 Research proposals: Making plans for future studies . . . . . . . . 131

8.2 Stating objectives and research question(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Whether spending a semester abroad, writing assignments for seminar

courses, working on your final Bachelor, Masters or PhD dissertation or

This includes discussing ‘typically German’ sentences and ways of avoid-

phrases and rhetorical strategies to help you become more proficient.

1.1 Genre awareness: Conventions, contexts and creativity

As the above paragraph indicates, the approach in this book is based on

When I refer to genre, I mean a kind of purposeful interaction, and a

to your friend during a coffee break, or in an email to a colleague or fellow

1.2 Academic collectives

Doing academic work is about participating in a network of people, institu-

manner which is generally thought of as appropriate to specific academic

several samples of a particular genre which students are expected to write.

1.3 How to use this book

stracts (Chapter 3), Introductions (Chapter 4), conference posters (Chap-

Take-home message from Chapter 1

This chapter outlines some general conventions shared by English aca-

Before turning to the conventions, it is worth thinking about writing

2.1 Key structures: Writing with paragraphs and topic sentences

Occasionally, the first sentence in a paragraph summarises the previous

2.2 Key directions: Using signposts

When you walk to a new building, or drive to a new town, it is helpful to

of the cultural industries.

2.3 Key persons: Writing ‘I’, ‘we’ or the passive voice

[5] To initiate analysis of the mechanism by which Pcdhgs mediate self-avoid-

2.4 Key actions: More verbs, less nouns

Of course, specialist vocabulary is always necessary in academic work, and

especially Chapter 5).

One common way of signalling action in English academic writing is to

2.5 Key genders: Using gender-inclusive language

In German it can be difficult to construct a sentence which does not clear-

manual of the American Psychological Association has sections on reduc-

2.6 Key sources: Citing other research

Academic writing invariably draws on previous research: ideas build on

Take-home message from Chapter 2

3.7 The language of findings

In this chapter, I present the Observe – Hypothesize – Experiment (OHE)

3.1 OHE: Observe – Hypothesize – Experiment

The OHE approach to language learning is similar to a common approach

examining it critically. This means looking at e.g. the length of sentences,

Fig. 1 The Observe – Hypothesize – Experiment cycle

3.2 Abstracts: The five-finger pattern in science

The Abstract functions as a short summary. Although it is placed at the

in the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. Section

[1] On 15 and 16 December 2011, Sun-grazing comet C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) passed

The five-finger pattern (Sciences)