Masumeh Anvari Laleh

1. Masumeh Anvari Laleh Islamic Azad University South branch

2. Chapter 3 writing clearly And concisely

3. Words are a lens to focus one’s mind.- Ayn Rand

4. In this chapter we are going to consider: Organization Writing style Reducing bias in language

5. Length Try to summaries as much as you can. Shorten the paper by stating the points clearly and directly. Eliminate repetition. Write in active voice.

6. Organizing a manuscript with headings: Headings help the readers to anticipate key points. All topics of equal importance have the same level of headings. Avoid having only one subsection.

7. Levels of heading

8. Method Samples and participant selection Assessment and measures Q_sort measures of inhibition. Life hostory calendar.

9. Do not label headings with numbers of letters(the headings in this book are numbered to permit indexing and cross referencing) • The number of levels of heading needed for your article will depend on its length and complexity.

10. seriation It helps the reader to understand the order of key points in sections,paragraphs,andsentences. Separate paragraphs in a series, such as steps in a procedure, are identified by Arabic numeral followed by a period. 1.Individuals who….[paragraph continues] 2.Nondepressed persons exposed to…..[paragraph continues]

11. If you use numbers it might connote unwantedordinal position such as importance or priority. If you want to eliminate such implication, items should be identified by bullets such as square ,circles. Within a paragraph or sentence, identifyelements by lower case letters in parentheses The participant’s three choices were(a)working with another participant(b)working with a team, and(c) working alone.

12. Within a sentence use • Commas :to separate items that do not have internal commas. • Semicolons: toseparate items that have internal commas we tested three groups:(a)low scores, who scored fewer than 20 points;(b)moderate scores, who scored between 20 and 50;and(c)high scores, who scored more than 50

13. Writing style Continuity in presentation of ideas Readers better understand your ideas if you have continuity in words , concepts from the opening statement to the conclusion. You can achieve it in two ways: Punctuation Transitional words Transitions help to maintain the flow of thoughts especially when the text is complex. transitions avoid repetition

15. Smoothness of expression when writing a scientific prose , avoid ambiguity ; inserted the unexpected ;omitting the expected ; and suddenly shifting the topic , sense, or person. Because you have been very close to your paper , you may not see certain problems so it is better to: • Ask a colleague to read it • Put it aside and read it later • Read the paper aloud

16. If you see your writing is abrupt introducing more transitions can be helpful. You can have smooth expression by using verb tenses consistently. Stay with the chosen tense.

17. Noun strings Putting several nouns together to modify the final noun can be confusing. *hyphenation can clarify the relationships between words for example: Don’t say: commonlyused investigative expanded issue control question technique. Say: acontrol-question technique that is commonly used to expand issues in investigation.

18. One way to untangle noun strings Move the last word to the beginning and fill in with verbs and prepositions don’t say : early childhood thought disorder misdiagnosis. Say :misdiagnosis of thoughts disorders in early childhood. To achieve smoothnessuse synonyms but be careful (subtle differences) Usepronounsto avoid monotonous repetitions of terms.

19. Tone Scientific writing differs from literary writing but it must not be dull use interesting style and tone that shows your involvement with the problem. Say: Richards and Rogers did not address….. Don’t say: Richardsand Rogers completely overlooked….. One way to achieve the right tone is to imagine the specific reader whom you want to educate.

20. Economy of expression Try to be frugal with words so the chance of publication will increase. You can tighten long papers by : eliminating redundancy , wordiness , jargon , overuse of the passive voice , circumlocution. Short sentences are easy to comprehend.

21. wordiness

22. Redundancy Don’t use more words than are necessary to convey your meaning.

23. Unit length varied sentence length helps readers maintain interest Don’t use too simple or too long sentences. Paragraphs that are too long lose the reader’s attention

24. Precision and clarity formal informal Word choice Make sure to use words that means exactly what you intend to mean. believe think feel Say: Articlesby psychologists such as Skinner and Watson….. Don’t say: Articlesby psychologists like Skinner and Watson…….

25. Colloquial expression: Avoid colloquial expressions(e.g.) *Quantity terms such as(quite a large part , practically all , very few)are interpreted differently by readers. Jargon: Use of technical lexis Monetarily felt scarcity=poverty Jargon can grates on readers

26. Pronouns : they can confuse readers unless the reference is obvious .eliminate ambiguity by writing this test , that trial, these participants Comparisons: Ambiguity or illogical comparisons result from omission of key verbs or from non-parallel structure. Her salary was lower than a convenience store clerk.

28. Third person : to avoid ambiguity use a personal pronoun . don’t use third person when describing steps Correct: Wereviewed the literature Incorrect: Theauthors reviewed the literature.

29. Anthropomorphism Do not give the human characteristics to animals or objects. Correct: pairs of rats were allowed to forage together. Incorrect: ratcouples were allowed to forage together. editorial we Restrict your use of we to refer only to yourself. Correct: researchers usually classify………. Incorrect: we usually classify………… Alternatives to “we "are people ,researchers , humans

30. Linguistic devices Avoid heavy alliteration, rhyming ,poetic expressions and clichés. don’t use metaphors .They can distract readers. e.g.(A theory representing one branch of a growing body of evidence)

31. Strategies to improve writing style

32. Reducing bias in language Do not evaluate the groups being studied on the bias of gender, sexual orientation, racial or ethnic group or age.

33. General guidelines for reducing bias Guideline 1:describe at the appropriate level of specificity. *don’t use man to refer to all human use women and men *give specific age range (ages 65-83) instead of over 65 *don’t describe participants as Asian American or Hispanic American *describe them by their nation(e.g. Chinese, American, Mexican American) *when discussing sexual orientation, realize that some people interpret gay as referring to men and women. *gender is cultural , sexis biological

34. Differences should be mention only whenrelevant. Marital status , sexual orientation ,racial identity , or peoples disabilities should not be mentioned gratuitously. Guideline 2:call people what they prefer to be called. *Broadly categorize people such as (the gays , the elderly)or you can put the person first(people diagnosed with schizophrenia) *A label should NOT be pejorative you need to find more neutral terms(the demented is not repaired by demented group butdementia group would be acceptable.

35. Don’t use one group as standard for example citizen of U.S. BE aware that the order of presentation of social group can imply that the first mention is standard andthe latter is deviant.Men and women, white Americans and racial minorities.

36. Guideline 3:acknowledge participants When acknowledging people in your study use participants or subjects rather than children or college students Avoid the term failed because it can imply a personal shortcoming The passive voice suggests individuals are acted oninstead of being actors (the students completed the survey ) is preferable to(the students were given the survey)

37. Reducing bias by topic Gender: sexist bias can occur when pronouns are used carelessly or when he is used to refer to both sexes(e.g. policeman instead of police officer can be ambiguous) One solution is to use plural pronouns.(e.g. A therapist who is too much like his client) Say (therapists who are too much like their clients) Use he or she instead of he Using s(he) can be distracting

38. Racial and ethnic identity

39. Disabilities Avoid language that objectifies a person by her or his condition(autistic, neurotic) Avoid using pictorial metaphors(wheel-chair bound or AIDS victim) say: peoplewith intellectual disabilities in contrast to the retarded.

40. age Provide age range Don’t say :under 18 or over 65 Girls and boys=individuals under 12 Young man or male adolescent=people between 13-17 Man or woman=people 18 and above The term older adult is preferred.

41. Historical and interpretive inaccuracies Be careful not to misrepresent ideas of the past in an effort to avoid language bias. Change in (nouns) or pronouns may result in serious change in the author’s idea . In such writing , it is best to retain the original language and to comment on it in the discussion.