Technical Writing Notes #1

2-13-09 Natural Sciences: Abbreviations: you should avoid abbreviations by writing out the full. Exception include common biological terms like ATP and DNA, units of measure and mathematical or chemical formulas. Never begin with an abbreviation

Acronyms: You may wish to introduce an acronym for a word that is often repeated; however you must first use the full name.

Direct Quotes: Should be avoided unless you are presenting another authors specific definition or original label. You should paraphrase the writing effectively and more concisely and attribute sources of the statement.

Fluff: It is obvious when students do not understand what they are writing about and their grades suffer as a result. AVOID!

Footnotes: should not be used.

Scientific names: consisting of genus and species should be underlined or italicized with only the genus capitalized.

Significance: the word “significant” implies the result of a statistical test. It cannot be used to say, “the number of root nodules on red clover plants increased significantly when nitrogen was added.” Thus, stop using it unless you tested the information fucker.

Slang: IT’ AWESOME!!!!11!!1

Tenses: When describing methods and results, you should use the past tense.

Social Sciences: Psychologist: study personality Sociologist: study relationships among groups Political Scientist and Economists: study interaction in government, labor, and trade.

Writing in the social sciences seeks to seek the present the systematic study of human being s and their interactions in society and with their environment.

Writers will seek: • • •

To discover patterns in human behavior Describe and define social laws, rules, and conventions Predict human behavior and relationships

As with the sciences, knowledge in the social sciences is built y carefully researched and crafted arguments, often presented in professional journals or at conferences. Key components are: • •

Observation Analysis

Qualitative: based upon observational techniques: filed work and controlled observations

Quantitative: based upon “hard” data: surveys, questionnaires, controlled experiments.

Uses APA style Experimental reports: •

Abstract

• • • • •

Into Methods Results and discussion Conclusion References

Field Reports: •

Typically provides a rich detailed description of observed behaviors.

Case Studies