Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article

Abstract

Students and researchers all write under pressure, and those pressures - most lamentably, desire to impress your audience rather than to communicate with them - often lead to pretentious prose, academic posturing, and, not infrequently, writer's block. Sociologist Howard S. Becker has written classic book on to conquer these pressures and simply write. First published nearly twenty years ago, Writing for Social Scientists has become a lifesaver for writers in all fields, from beginning students to published authors. Becker's message is clear: in order to learn to write, take a deep breath and then begin writing. Revise. Repeat. It is not always an easy process, as Becker wryly relates. Decades of teaching, researching, and writing have given him plenty of material, and Becker neatly exposes foibles of academia and its publish or perish atmosphere. Wordiness, passive voice, inserting a the way in which when a simple how will do - all these mechanisms are a part of social structure of academic writing. By shrugging off such impediments - or at very least, putting them aside for a few hours - we can reform our work habits and start writing lucidly without worrying about grades, peer approval, or the literature. In this new edition, Becker takes account of major changes in computer tools available today and also substantially expands his analysis of academic institutions create problems for writers. As competition in higher education grows increasingly heated, Writing for Social Scientists will provide solace to a new generation of frazzled, would-be writers.

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