Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article: Second Edition (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) Second Edition Edition
Author: Visit ‘s Howard S. Becker Page ID: 0226041301
Review
“Humane, wry, reflective, gentle, wise….A primer in the sense that it teaches the elements of good writing [and] a shrewd and subtle essay on the social organization of scholarship.” – Kai Erikson, Contemporary Sociology “This little book is must reading for any would-be writer, social scientist or not, who has sat in front of a blank piece of paper…and wondered whether the plants have been watered lately.” – Jane Delano Brown, Journalism Quarterly”
–This text refers to the Paperback edition.
About the Author
Series: Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and PublishingHardcover: 208 pagesPublisher: University Of Chicago Press; Second Edition edition (December 15, 2007)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0226041301ISBN-13: 978-0226041308 Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Best Sellers Rank: #2,563,852 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #1048 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Reference #1691 in Books > Textbooks > Reference > Writing Skills #5707 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > Literature > Creative Writing & Composition
Howard S. Becker, the author of "Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article", is a social scientist. Of course, no respectable scientist, social or non-social, would dare generalizing to other fields of knowledge the findings laboriously made in his own field. So, Becker conservatively addresses his book just to "social scientists". Writing is, however, an essential aptitude for any scientist. In fact, it is no less crucial to the survival of the scientist, as a scientist, than his or her own aptitudes to read or think logically. So, what Becker writes in his book is just as important to social scientists as it is to any other kind of scientist. Quite paradoxically, most scientists initiate and develop their scientific careers without devoting a single minute of their time to specifically learning how to write. Anyone would agree that it is impossible to play good tennis without proper training, and whoever wished to become a professional tennis player by just playing along would very likely be regarded as downright naive. This is, however, what most scientists do when it comes to writing. Becker’s book does not fall in the category of the so called "how-to" books. It is, rather, a personal reflection written in a very entertaining and conversational style by an academic who addresses his fellow academics, not from the top of a pulpit, but from the cultural standpoint of the beliefs, traditions, aspirations and rites of their common academic life. It covers, in this way, a remarkably diverse collection of central aspects of scientific writing, such as the crucial role of editing and rewriting (and rewriting, and rewriting), the fear of scorn, the encounters with writer’s block, or the urge to produce pompous and obscure texts.
Becker’s message for his readers is to set aside their fears, relax, and do it. As unimpressive as that advice may sound, it is laid out in very modest, clear, practical terms and, like all good analyses, it is hard to implement because it goes to the heart of the matter and questions the assumptions that guide people’s writing practices, mostly without them realizing it. It helps that Becker has been grappling with similar problems for 30+ years as a writer, teacher, and editor. I will try to give a bullet list of what I took away from the book. That fails to do justice to the book, predominantly for two reasons: Firstly, the proof is in the pudding. If Becker is critical of citation practices, his own relatively short bibliography is rich and thought-provoking. Secondly, he has a knack for situating the problem in its context. Along the way, he appears to sociological gems of analysis like the dichotomy between head and hand, "the corruption of indicators," "pluralistic ignorance," etc. Some of the conclusions are a little too quick, but, overall, this is quality sociology applied to a common problem.
Some of the practical advice:
– What if I cannot organize the chaos of my thoughts in the form of an attractive product that I can then "export" to my readership?
This concern rests on a misleading dualism between thinking and writing, where writing is understood as the product of thinking rather than a process of thinking in its own right. Students tend to believe that, unlike them, adept writers simply sit at their desks and transcribe their perfectly orchestrated thoughts into well-structured compositions in one go. The dualism also blinds us to the complexity of the writing process and the different demands of, say, a first vs.
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