Seale C. Researching Society and Culture. Third edition (Sage 2011) rscbook.co.uk

1. Seale C. Researching Society and Culture. Third edition (Sage 2011) www.rscbook.co.uk

2. Table 28.1. Ways to reduce your word count and write clearer text Seale C. Researching Society and Culture. Third edition (Sage 2011) www.rscbook.co.uk

3. Review questions for Chapter 28 How can reflexivity by writers help readers of research reports? How does scientific or quantitative research reporting differ from qualitative research reporting? In what ways are they similar? Why might it be important to separate the reporting of data from its interpretation? Why might it be important not to separate them? What are the key components and characteristics of the following things: an abstract; an executive summary; an introductory section; a methods section; a results section; a concluding section? What are appendices and acknowledgements for? How can plagiarism be avoided? Seale C. Researching Society and Culture. Third edition (Sage 2011) www.rscbook.co.uk

4. Workshop and discussion exercise 1 for Chapter 28 The following extracts in Box 28.10 are about writing in different styles by the sociologist Kathy Charmaz. The first comes from an article in which she provides an analysis of relationships between suffering and the self, demonstrating that placement in a moral hierarchy of suffering affects whether and how an ill person’s stories will be heard. The second is for an academic journal article about the experience of chronic illness. Compare and contrast the narrative voice, textual quality and ‘empirical facts’ in these two extracts. How, in each case, does the writer achieve authority and persuasiveness? What are the rhetorical aspects of each extract? How does the writer appeal to the reader and how much emotion does she evoke in each piece? Why might she have done this? Seale C. Researching Society and Culture. Third edition (Sage 2011) www.rscbook.co.uk

5. Seale C. Researching Society and Culture. Third edition (Sage 2011) www.rscbook.co.uk

6. Workshop and discussion exercise 2 for Chapter 28 Choose articles reporting two research studies, one largely quantitative, the other largely qualitative. If possible, they should be on similar subjects. How do they compare in terms of structure (look at the subheadings) and rhetorical devices to persuade the reader of the author’s point of view? How are data and theory used in each one? Seale C. Researching Society and Culture. Third edition (Sage 2011) www.rscbook.co.uk