English Writing Grammer

1.
2 Notes on written communication and critical reasoning
Professor John Parkin
September 2012 London South Bank University Department of Urban Engineering 103 Borough Road, London SE1 0AA www.lsbu.ac.uk
Notes on written communication and critical reasoning
CONTENTS
Contents .................................................................................................................. 2 List of Tables ............................................................................................................ 2 List of Figures ........................................................................................................... 3
CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3
THE NATURE OF WRITING ................................................. 4 PUNCTUATION .................................................................. 4 SENTENCE AND PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE ......................... 8
A PREAMBLE ON THE STRUCTURE OF WORDS: SPELLING .......................... 8 SENTENCE STRUCTURE ......................................................................... 8 PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE ..................................................................... 15 CHAPTER 4 DOCUMENT STRUCTURE .................................................. 15
DEFINITIONS OF DESIGN, RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTS ....................... 15 STRUCTURE OF REPORTS .................................................................... 19 OTHER TYPES OF DOCUMENT ............................................................... 28 PROOF READING ................................................................................ 30 CHAPTER 5 STYLE AND SUMMARIES .................................................. 30
STYLE ............................................................................................... 30 SUCCINCTNESS AND SUMMARIES ........................................................ 32 PLAGIARISM ...................................................................................... 33 CHAPTER 6 CRITICAL THINKING ....................................................... 34
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 34 EXPLANATION, INFERENCE AND ARGUMENT .......................................... 34 CREATING VALID ARGUMENTS ............................................................. 35 CLASSES OF FAULTY REASONING ......................................................... 36 CHAPTER 7 BACKGROUND: LITERATURE AND REFERENCING............. 37
COMPONENTS AND STRUCTURE ........................................................... 37 TYPES OF LITERATURE AND THEIR WEIGHT ........................................... 38 THE LITERATURE SEARCH ................................................................... 39 REFERENCING .................................................................................... 41 CHAPTER 8 OTHER RESOURCES ......................................................... 45
References ............................................................................................................. 45
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE TABLE TABLE TABLE TABLE 2.1 2.2 3.1 4.1 5.1 PUNCTUATION MARKS USED IN ENGLISH ........................................ 5 CAPITAL LETTERS ......................................................................... 7 COMMON ERRORS OF SYNTAX (AFTER BROWN, UNDATED) .............. 13 OUTLINE PROCEDURE FOR DESIGN, RESEARCH OR EXPERIMENTS .... 20 EXAMPLES OF DENOTATIVE AND CONNOTATIVE WORDS ................. 32
2
Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University
TABLE 5.2 SHORTENING PHRASES TO WORDS ............................................... 33 TABLE 7.1 EXAMPLE REFERENCES ................................................................ 44
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 4.1 EXAMPLE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ................................................ 17
CHAPTER 1 THE NATURE OF WRITING

1.1. All writing is (presumably) written in order to be read. At the very minimum, good writing is unambiguous and succinct. Preferably it also has a style which endears the reader to continue reading. In the modern world, communication is about speed (email, twitter, facebook and so on) with accuracy and precision seemingly taking second place. However, professional writing, which (presumably) contains valuable thought needs to be carefully crafted and can take many revisions. As a technical professional, you will be judged by your ability to convey ideas in writing. Consider: were you to write a badly written letter or report for a client, what impression would the client have of your general capability, and how then might he or she view your specific capability in your chosen engineering field? Fundamentally, no writing is worth reading if it does not convey something which is worth reading. What is worth reading will vary, but will include writing which contains interesting facts or, better still, interesting ideas. These ideas are based on claims which are built into explanations and arguments. Explanations and arguments need to be logical, otherwise they may not be accepted, and your credibility will suffer. Cobbett (1823, p175) sums up writing as being about the conveyance of ideas in a lovely epithet: Sit down to write what you have thought, and not to think what you shall write. 1.5. Above all, the meaning of what has been written must be clear to the reader, otherwise what has been written will not have been successfully communicated. Consider: There was a man hosting a foreign friend on a train journey through the English countryside. The visitor was standing by the open window occasionally putting his head out of the window to take the view. His host noticed a tunnel approaching and said to his friend Look out! 1.6. 1.7. What do you think happened next? There are many thousands of examples of attempts at communication which are ambiguous; this is just one of them. These notes consider the building blocks of good writing. Chapter 2 discusses the very important issue of punctuation. Chapter 3 considers the structure of writing at sentence, paragraph and document level. Chapter 4 provides some insight into developing a good writing style and being succinct. Chapter 5 presents the background to how a logical argument may be constructed and finally, Chapter 6 discusses referencing.
1.2.
1.3.
1.4.
CHAPTER 2 PUNCTUATION
2.1. Punctuation helps to make your meaning clear. Punctuation is not required in spoken language because we put in the pauses and emphases by the way we speak. We can make it plain when something is In an engineering sense, you an aside, when we change the subject, when we might think of punctuation ask a question or when we make an exclamation. Punctuation is essential for maintaining the accuracy of the syntax (the proper construction) of a sentence. While punctuation may seem to be
marks as the fixings or nuts and bolts (often nearly invisible) which are essential to hold a structure together.
2.2.
a small matter, perhaps because the symbols are small in size in relation to the sizes of letters, its importance is out of all proportion to its size. 2.3. Table 1 below summarises punctuation marks used in English. Table 2.1 Punctuation marks used in English
Punctuation Name mark . Full stop Purposes and examples A full stop is used to indicate the end of a sentence, which is a meaningful group of words with at least one subject and one verb. A sentence is comprised of independent and dependent clauses. A sentence may have i) a single independent (or main) clause, or ii) an independent clause and a dependent (or sub-ordinate) clause, or iii) two independent clauses (which could in fact be separate sentences). A dependent clause cannot be a sentence on its own as it is incomplete, that is, it does not have a subject and verb. i)A single independent clause: The crane parked on the road. ii) Two independent clauses: The crane parked on the road and the bus parked in the lay-by. iii) An independent clause and a dependent clause The crane parked on the road after it arrived. (The final clause is dependent on the initial clause). The full stop is also used to indicate the shortening of a word; for example, etc. which is short for etcetera (meaning and the rest). [NB etc. should only be used when describing
a sequence (e.g. 1, 2, 3 etc. to 10), otherwise, if the rest of a list or sequence is unclear, the reader is left guessing what else was in the writers mind. It should NEVER be used in such a sloppy fashion]
; Semicolon i) A semicolon connects two main clauses and may be used in place of the conjunctions and, but, or and because. The crane sat on the road; the bus parked in the lay-by. (Note that the above two clauses could be separate sentences. The writer, based on the fact that the ideas conveyed in each clause are related to each other, has, however, chosen to keep them in the same sentence). iii) A semicolon is often used to separate items in a list when the items comprise multiple words or phrases. A wedding comprises of the following parts: the preparation for marriage involving a developing understanding of the commitments involved; the marriage ceremony itself; a celebratory meal. ii) A semicolon may be used before the words for example when what follows is a complete statement. My son has several peculiarities; for example, he rolls around in mud after he has washed. i) A colon directs the reader to what follows, which may be a list, or a single item. The clause preceding a colon must be syntactically complete. The most eminent nineteenth century engineers are as follows: Smeaton, Telford, Brunel and Stephenson. not The most eminent nineteenth century engineers are: Smeaton, Telford, Brunel and Stephenson. An example of a one item list is as follows: I had one ambition: to finish the notes. ii) A colon may also be used before a statement of a result or a consequence. I have checked the calculations: they are correct. i) To separate an independent clause from a dependent clause: After it arrived, the crane parked on the road.
Colon
Comma
! , or
(This sentence is similar to the one above, but its order has been changed, and in this case it now needs a comma.) ii) For natural pauses, an early natural pause: However, this is not the case in London. A later natural pause: All these things may, eventually, come to pass. iii) To provide additional information, used in a similar way as parentheses (brackets): I have used my new calculator, the one with the special functions, to check the calculations. iv) To maintain syntactical accuracy: A few days after, the engineer completed the design. (without a comma, the above is not a sentence, but a phrase, and the reader is left wondering what happened a few days after the engineer completed the design) v) For emphasis: Please reply, in writing, before the end of March. vi) To break up lists of items: The people coming are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Oxford comma is an additional comma sometimes added for clarity before the and at the end of a list: I surveyed the site, made detailed calculations, prepared a plan and section, and wrote the specification. Another example, with the comma: We invited the cleaning ladies, J F Kennedy, and Winston Churchill. and without the comma: We invited the cleaning ladies, J F Kennedy and Winston Churchill. In the second example without the Oxford comma, JFK and WC seem to be named as the cleaning ladies. vii) When preceding direct speech or after direct speech: Peter said, I will do it. You are correct, he said. viii) In dates when the American style is used as follows: April 12th, 1965. But better to stick to the English style: 12th April 1965 (with no commas) Question Used after a direct question: mark What is for tea? Not after an indirect question: He asked whether they should have question marks. Exclamation Used to indicate an exclamation (abrupt or forceful utterance). mark Very rarely used in technical or academic writing. Inverted To enclose direct speech or a quote: commas He said, Oh no it isnt! To highlight a particular word, for example a technical or contentious word. The engineer provided a new idea. Was it really new, or was it derivative? (It is usually preferable to use single inverted commas because it is shorter and quicker on the qwerty keyboard, but be consistent.) Apostrophe i) To denote the possessive (genitive), that is to say that something belongs to someone. In the singular this is easy: The boys voice. (Think: the voice of the boy) When in the plural the final s is dropped so instead of The boyss voices, we write: The boys voices. (Think: the voices of the boys) (NB it has to be voices, because a group of boys cannot have a single voice). Other examples: One beams mass (think: the mass of one beam) Two beams mass (think: the mass of two beams) The roof trusss ends (think: the ends of the roof truss, presumably its two ends) The roof trusses ends (think: the ends of the roof trusses, plural)
For proper names ending in an s, the possessive s is added. Mr Williamss road was blocked. (Think: the road of Mr Williams was blocked) [The exception is Jesus, where conventionally no additional s is added: Jesus followers. (Think: the followers of Jesus)] When the plural is formed without an s, the possessive s is added in the usual way. The childrens voices ii) Apostrophes are not used to form plurals apart from the plurals of individual letters, numbers and signs. For example There are two 3s, three ts and five +s. iii) The apostrophe is also used to replace missing letters (e.g. its for it is, dont for do not and so on). Note that in technical and academic writing you should NEVER be so lazy as to use an apostrophe instead of typing the required missing letters. Cobbett (1823, p76) suggests that in such use It ought to be called the mark of laziness and vulgarity. The only exception to its used may be in poetry or where you are reporting speech verbatim, or for very common shortenings such as phone (short for telephone), or cello (short for violincello). [Note that apostrophes are not used in possessive pronouns (hers, yours, theirs, its) or for plurals.] Hyphen Used to connect compound words, including numbers. Some examples include: ex-wife, self-evident, twenty-three. As compound words become more regularly used, you may find that the hyphen is dropped. For example, when once nonsubmission may have been common, you may now find it more frequently written as nonsubmission, but please, never non submission. (For more on hyphenation see Society of Petroleum Engineers, 2009) Parentheses Parentheses are used to provide additional information in order to avoid upsetting the syntax of the sentence: The kayaking kit (kayak, spray deck and paddles) were loaded on the trailer. (NB avoid using a pair of dashes in place of parentheses)
()
2.4.
Capital letters in English are used at the start of a sentence and for proper nouns (the name for somebody or something). Some examples of use and misuse are provided in Table 2. Table 2.2 Capital letters
Use At the beginning of a sentence For a proper noun and adjectives derived from proper nouns Example This is a sentence, it has a capital letter at the beginning. (NB Treat titles as sentences) Some examples of proper nouns include names of people, places and organisations. Thomas Telford River Thames London South Bank University The Labour Government 1997 to 2010 (but in a general sense government would have a lower case g.) England, and hence the adjective English The meaning of an acronym or the full name for an abbreviation should always be written out in full the first time it is introduced. For example: In the United Kingdom, the Automobile Association (AA) provides assistance to motorists. The AA has a fleet of yellow vans. I, not i.
In acronyms and abbreviations
For the First person
CHAPTER 3 SENTENCE AND PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE

A PREAMBLE ON THE STRUCTURE OF WORDS: SPELLING
3.1. 3.2. Two common problems occur in spelling: difficulties with homonyms and American spelling. A homonym is a word that sounds the same, but is spelt differently. Occasional lapses are perhaps tolerable, and should be corrected by tutors, but consistent errors simply make the writer look stupid. Common examples include: their/there, week/weak and so on. Ensure that your computer is set to UK English (toolslanguageset language). Nothing annoys an English academic more than American mis spellings (e.g. program for programme, modeling for modelling and so on).
3.3.
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
The two parts of a sentence 3.4. A sentence, for it to be more than just a group of words, needs two parts, both of which are essential: a subject and a predicate. The predicate says something about the subject. The example below illustrates the point. Subject The concrete mixing lorry 3.5. Predicate arrived on time at the construction site.
In English, the subject usually precedes the predicate, but this is not always necessary, as in the following sentence for example: With a mighty bang was the building demolished by the explosion. This sentence is quite awkward, but sometimes such inversion can be quite poetic. It is usually better in technical writing to stick to the order: subject followed by predicate. The verb is an essential word contained within the predicate and more is said about this word shortly.
3.6.
The eight parts of speech 3.7. The table below summarises the eight parts of speech. Part of speech Noun Description A word that names something. There are four types of noun: Proper noun: name of a person or thing, e.g. John, The Albert Hall. These nouns take a capital letter in English. Abstract noun: e.g. truth, honesty, learning. Collective noun: e.g. fleet (of buses), herd (of cattle) Common noun: bicycle, lorry (i.e. all other nouns which are not proper, abstract or collective) A noun can be the subject of a sentence The essential word in the predicate. Verbs are one of two broad types: Action words: e.g. designed, drew, wrote Being words: e.g. is, were, became, seems, appears Frequently, the verb comprises more than one word: e.g. the engineer was told of the catastrophe as it happened. Verbs are also classified as follows: Transitive verbs: if the action contained in their meaning is carried across (transmitted to) a direct object. The train carries commuters. Intransitive verbs: where the action is not carried across to a direct object. Verbs can act transitively or intransitively, but being verbs can only act intransitively, as there is no action to carry across. The worker dug (intransitive). The worker dug a hole (transitive).
Verb
Pronoun
Adjective
Adverb
Preposition
A word used for, or instead of, a noun. Their use makes a sentence quicker to read, but only when it is clear what noun it refers to. Good use: The client was disconcerted, because he was not expecting additional payments to have to be made. (He clearly refers to the client, and is a nominative pronoun, see below) Bad use: The client was annoyed with the engineer, because he was expecting a payment. (It is not clear whether the he is referring to the client who might have been expecting a payment, or the engineer who might have been expecting a payment). Nominative pronouns are the subject of the sentence and are as follows: I, you (singular), he, she, it, we, you (plural), they. Possessive pronouns denote that the noun which the pronoun stands for possesses something and they are as follows: my or mine, your or yours, his, her or hers, its, our or ours, your or yours, their or theirs. Objective pronouns denote a noun which is the object of the action and are as follows: me, you (singular), him, her, it, us, you (plural), them. An adjective says more about a noun or a pronoun, it is said to qualify a noun. There are four types of adjective: Descriptive: e.g. the red car, the large house, the blossoming tree. Number (quantity): the four students, the eight engineers. Demonstrative (i.e. those adjectives which point out): e.g. that drawing, those widgets. Ownership: e.g. his scale rule, her calculator. The articles: The and a (or an) are usually referred to as the definite article and the indefinite article respectively, but essentially, they are adjectives. An adjective usually precedes the noun to which it refers, however, this may not be the case in sentences with being verbs; e.g. The design was flawed. Some words can act as pronouns or adjectives: I thought that proposal would win (adjective). That won the contract (pronoun) Several engineers were involved (adjective). I chose several (pronoun). An adverb says more about the verb, an adjective or another adverb and it is said to modify them. Adverbs essentially answer the questions how, when, where, how often, and also to what extent (degree)? How did she write? She wrote quickly. When did he arrive? He arrived early. Where was it constructed? It was constructed there. How often did he call? He called twice. What level of pain did he sustain? He suffered much. (The words how, when, where and why are in themselves adverbs.) The lecture theatre is too warm. (too is an adverb adding meaning to the adjective warm.) He designs extremely well. (extremely is an adverb which adds meaning to the adverb well.) A further example: The location where (place) you will dig the trial pit will have soil which is, of late (time) very (degree) cohesive because of the rain. A preposition positions a noun or an action and it is the first word of a phrase which contains a noun or a pronoun. The car drove under the bridge. I arrived home before her.
Conjunctions Interjections 3.8.
Prepositions (coupled with some of their opposites) include: in/out of, under/over, after/before, with/against, to/from, at/near. A prepositional phrase is an adjective or an adverb. The dumper truck on the site had a flat tyre. (on the site is and adjectival phrase which qualifies the dumper truck by adding meaning to it). The bus parked in the garage. (in the garage is an adverbial phrase modifying the meaning of the verb) Conjunctions are words which join parts of a sentence together and include: and, but, neither/nor and either/or. Interjections are words used to express emotions: Oh!, Mmm!, Aargh!. They may be phrases: Oh my gosh!, I say!
It should be pointed out very clearly that a word is defined as one of the above parts of speech depending on what it does in a sentence. For example, the word clean may either be a verb or an adjective: I clean the window (verb). The book is clean (adjective). There are very many examples of the same word performing a different function in a sentence.
Verbs and their tenses 3.9. 3.10. The verb is undoubtedly the most important word in a sentence and it should be chosen with the greatest of care. There are two voices in English: the active voice and the passive voice. Active voice: Cubbitts built many houses. (Cubbitts= subject; built = verb in the simple past tense; houses = object) Passive voice: Many houses were built by Cubbitts. (Many houses = subject; were built = verb; Cubbitts = agent) Note how in the passive voice, the noun (a proper noun in this example) is called the agent, i.e. the person doing the action, and it is preceded with a by. 3.11. There are three tenses: (i) (ii) Present tense sub-divided into two tenses: a) Simple present (Active: I do; Passive: It is done) b) Present progressive (Active: I am doing; Passive: It is being done) Past tense sub-divided into six tenses: a) Simple past (Active: I did; Passive: It was done) b) Past progressive (Active: I was doing; Passive: It was being done) c) Simple present perfect (Active: I have done; Passive: It has been done) d) Present perfect progressive (Active: I have been doing; Passive: Closest equivalent It has been (in the process of) being done, but this is clumsy) e) Simple past perfect (Active: I had done; Passive: It had been done) f) Past perfect progressive (Active: I had been doing; Passive: Closest equivalent It had been (in the process of) being done, but this is clumsy) Future tense. The sense of future is conveyed in quite complex ways in English: a) Future (Active: I/we shall/will do, you/he/they will do; Passive: It will be done. NB shall is only used with the first person and is becoming less common than will. The negative (in spoken language only) is reduced to I/we shant/wont do; you/he/they wont do). b) Future progressive (Active: I will be doing; Passive: It will be being done) c) be about + infinitive (Active: I am about to do; Passive: It is about to be done) d) be + infinitive (Active: I am to do (that tomorrow); Passive: It is to be done) e) Future using the present progressive (Active: I am doing (that tomorrow); Passive: It is being done (tomorrow))
(iii)
10
f)
Future perfect to connote action completed at some time in the future (Active: I will have done (that tomorrow); Passive: It will have been done (tomorrow)) g) Future in the past (I was going to do that yesterday and others, see a grammar book) 3.12. It can be quite a difficult task to determine which voice and tense is appropriate in writing a report. When writing about what others have done (for example in a literature review) it is usually best to use the active voice in order to avoid awkward and clumsy constructions of the passive. e.g. Ashley and Banister (1989) studied cycling to work based on census data at ward level in the three metropolitan districts. (Ashley and Banister=subject; studied=verb; cycling to work=object) 3.13. When writing about the analysis performed in the main body of the report you should avoid I and We (the first person singular and plural respectively) and this usually means, therefore, that you will need to write in the passive voice. e.g. All respondents were asked whether or not they would have considered dismounting. (All respondents = subject; were asked = verb in simple past tense; note there is no agent, it is implicit ). Not I asked all respondents whether or not Simple, complex, double and multiple sentences 3.14. It would be trite to have many short sentences, such as the following. I have a puppy. He is a nice puppy. I take him for a walk each day. I give him a bone for lunch. 3.15. It is much more satisfying to express more than one idea in a sentence using separate clauses as follows. After I have given my puppy a bone for his lunch, I take him to the park for a romp, where we both have a nice time. 3.16. Some of these clauses can stand alone as a sentence and these are called main clauses, while others cannot stand alone as a sentence and these are called subordinate clauses. There are three types of sub-ordinate clause as follows: Type Adjectiveclause Adverbclause Function Qualify the subject word in another clause Modify the verb, or an adjective, or an adverb, or another clause. Example Offices that have air conditioning sell well in the market place. (italicised words qualify the subject). The piling rig started when the dawn broke. (italicised words modify the verb) Company margins were as small as our competitors. (italicised words modify adjective small) She designs quicker than he colleagues do. (italicised words modify the adverb quicker). [There are ten types of adverb-clause: of time, of place, of manner, of reason or cause, of purpose, of result or consequence, of condition, of concession, of comparison, of degree or extent (but it is not necessary to remember these!)] What the client most feared is collapse. (italicised words are the subject of the sentence) Engineers estimated when the building would be complete (italicised words are the object of the sentence)
3.17.
Nounclause
These are equivalents to a noun
3.18.
Sentences may be of the following four types:
11
Type Simple Complex Double Multiple
Features One finite verb One main clause and one or more subordinate clauses Two main clauses (with or without one or more sub-ordinate clause) More than two main clauses (with or without one or more sub-ordinate clause)
3.19.
Summarised below are the components of a sentence and these draw on the parts of speech discussed above: Component Subject word Subject Qualifier or modifier Adjective or adjective phrases
Verb Direct object word Indirect object word Predicative word or words or complement (used when verb is a being verb and no object can be used).
3.20.
The words in bold have to be present to make a sentence. With due deference to all world religions, classically, the shortest sentence in English is usually quoted as being from the King James version of the Bible, John Chapter 11, Verse 35 Jesus wept. This contains simply the subject word, Jesus, and the verb, wept. Examples using simple sentences: Simple sentence with doing verb The red crane slowly lifted the heavy pallet
Subject with qualifier Verb with modifier Object with qualifier
3.21.
Predicate
Adverb or adverb phrase Adjective or adjective phrases Adjective or adjective phrases
onto the flat roof.

Indirect object with qualifier and preposition
Simple sentence with being verb Concrete is grey

Subject verb Predicative word
Word order 3.22. The normal word order for a sentence is subject followed by verb and then any objects (the classic the cat sat on the mat.) Consistent use of this format would be dreary and alternative word orders can assist in placing emphasis. Consider the following (after Cooper, 1964): A new product must not only be created, but experimentally developed, to be successful. To be successful, a new product must not only be created but experimentally developed. 3.23. The difference between them is on the emphasis you want to make and the context within which they lie. In the first the emphasis, because it is at the beginning of the sentence, is on the creation of a new product. In the second sentence, the emphasis is on the degree to which a new product may be successful.
Sentence length and readability 3.24. If you have to read a sentence (or a paragraph) a second or even third time before its meaning is clear, then it has failed. Choosing the right length for a sentence is quite important for its adequate comprehension and, particularly if
12
you think your English is weak, shorter sentences are probably a better choice most of the time. 3.25. Twenty to twenty-five words is a good length for a sentence. Sometimes people use formulas for identifying how complex a sentence is. One such is the so-called Fog Index which is calculated as the average sentence length plus the percentage of words with three syllables or more all multiplied by 0.4. On a scale of 6-17 anything above 12 is purported to be difficult. The problem with such systems is that the mathematics does not point you to ways of making the language clearer, and hence they are of limited value.
Errors in syntax (sentence construction) 3.26. Syntax is the relation between words to form phrases. It is all too easy to make syntactical errors. Just as when you play a piano, it is easy to accidentally hit a wrong note, so with the construction of phrases it is easy to accidentally make a mistake. Table 3 summarises some common errors of syntax. Table 3.1 Common errors of syntax (After Brown, undated)
Description Problem Examples Agreement of The subject of the i. The test tubes and Bunsen burner are of good subject and sentence may be in quality verb the singular, but ii. George, as well as you, is to blame. further words may iii. The company is in favour of mechanisation define the iv. Our only land mark is the hills components of the v. None of us is perfect (None means not one, singular noun. There and is singular) may be more than vi. Either of them seems reasonable (either the one singular noun, one of them, or the other one of them, hence making the subject singular) plural. vii. This kind of machine is good viii. These kinds of potatoes are popular ix. Dynamics concerns moving bodies. x. The data show this to be the case (data is always plural). Consistency Two parts of a i. The crowd was dispersed by the police and and balance sentence are went its way (not their way) inconsistent with ii. When one chooses a career, one should each other consider whether one is content to do it for the rest of ones life. iii. If the children want to play, they must show themselves worthy of it. iv. The shortage of natural materials has been aided by the production of new synthetic products (not just aided by synthetic products) v. The railway age succeeded the canal age. (not just followed the canals) Future and Tenses need to be conditional consistent tenses i. When the plan is passed, the pedestrian zone will be here. (future tense) ii. If the plan were to be passed, the pedestrian zone would be here. (conditional tense) iii. We shall be pleased to see you if you are free. (future) iv. We should be pleased to see you if you were to be free. (conditional tense) Examples in error: While walking into town, the clock tower struck one. (implies that the clock tower was walking into town, should be While I was walking into town, the clock tower struck one) Looking along the road, the traffic was congested. (How could the traffic look along the road? Possibly: As one looked along the road, the traffic was congested)
Dangling unrelated participle
and An initial clause may set the scene and its subject should be the same as the subject of the sentence
13
Gerund
Common confusions
A gerund is a noun formed from a verb and ends in ing. For example, for the verb to learn, the equivalent noun to describe the action is learning. As a result, be careful with possessives Through common use, some errors develop the illusion of being correct
The students learning engineering so quickly was the reason they could begin to design well. (The learning of the students of engineering .) Please overlook my being late for the interview (Please overlook the state of my being late)
i. Due to means caused by and owing to means because of. The traffic was held up owing to fog. The rise in unemployment, due to inflation, is continuing. ii. Comprise does not take the preposition of. A spade comprises a handle and a blade. iii. Affect (verb)/effect (noun), think special effects). The special effects will not affect me. iv. Alternately means by turns and alternatively means a choice between two items. For a choice between more than two, the word is options v. fewer is used when the items may be counted, less is used when the items cannot be counted. There are fewer cars tonight and there is less congestion. vi. Programme means a schedule and program is reserved for use with computers. The programme of work involving a computer program. vii. i.e. short for id est and means that is); e.g. short for exempli gratia and means for example. viii. Some unusual plurals: criterion/criteria; phenomenon/phenomena; medium / media; datum / data; stratum / strata; stadium / stadia. ix. Only needs to be positioned before the word it qualifies. Compare Only he came once a week (he was the only one who came once a week) with He only came once a week (he came, but only once a week). i. A common mistake is to use the objective when the nominative is required. They did the mischief, it was not my brother and me. Should be it was not my brother and I. The guide as Cobbett (1823,p92) suggests is to fill up the sentence with all the words that are understood; and if there be errors, you will soon discover them. Leaving out understood words is common and called ellipsis. In the above it was not my brother and I who did the mischief ii. An example where the difference changes the meaning quite clearly: a) I love you more than him and b) I love you more than he. i. ii. iii. iv. IF Milk is nourishing, if tuberculous. (Can mean on condition that or even though WHILE. While he is inexperienced, he will be do the job adequately (can mean during the time which or even though) BOTH. He was both deaf to argument and entreaty (Needs positioning immediately before words to which it refers) ONLY. Only he came once a week. He only came once a week. (As for both, needs
Pronouns
Case
Danger words
14
positioning immediately which it refers).
before
word
to
PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE
3.27. Deciding how to divide your work up into paragraphs does not always become apparent until after the words have been written. Sir Ernest Gowers suggested (Gowers, 1962): The subject does not admit of precise guidance. The chief thing to remember is that, although paragraphing loses all point if the paragraph is excessively long, the paragraph is essentially a unit of thought, not of length. Every paragraph must be homogenous in subject matter, and sequential in treatment of it. 3.28. You have to work quite hard at paragraphs and be prepared to re-arrange ides once you have got them on paper so that the order of the story that you are telling is logical. The worst thing to do is to beg a question in the readers mind. Consider the following three (very short!) paragraphs. 1 2 3 3.29. I ate beef stew for supper last night. I have a rash on my arm this morning. I always have a rash on that arm after I have eaten beef stew.
In the order presented above, the reader will immediately have a question in his or her mind as to why the writer might be saying that he has a rash on his arm, this morning in particular. That question which has been begged is only answered by the final paragraph.
CHAPTER 4 DOCUMENT STRUCTURE

4.1. Documents are written for different purposes and these notes assume that a document is being written either as a Report, or for some other purposes such as an essay, letter, or email. The first part of the chapter deals with reports which are usually written to summarise a design, some research, or an experiment. The nature of design, research and experimentation is now defined. There is then a section on report structure. The next section discusses other types of documents (i.e. essays and communication documents), the final section addresses the very important point of proof reading.
DEFINITIONS OF DESIGN, RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTS

4.2. This section defines in turn design, research and experimentation. It then discusses aims and objectives, or the alternative, research questions and hypotheses.
Design 4.3. Design is the creation of an artefact or process. The Oxford English Dictionary definition is not that helpful as it states that the verb to design is to decide upon the look and functioning of (a building, garment, or other object), by making a detailed drawing of it. Design is much more than this. The Joint Board of Moderators (which accredits civil, structural and transport engineering degree programmes) suggests that the design process needs the exercise of continuous judgement, adaptation, modification, ingenuity and nearly always a need for imagination and flair. The Board suggests that a competent design engineer will: understand that design is a creative process; be able to cope with uncertainties; be able to think outside the box; be able to interact with clients;
4.4.
15
know how to gather relevant information; be able to sort and synthesise all relevant information; be able to work with people together and to plan and track progress; and be able to justify the chosen solution to stakeholders. Research 4.5. Research is systematic investigation in order to establish facts, postulate theories and make predictions. The term is frequently used loosely in everyday life, and indeed in education prior to higher education. Research is not about simply finding things out from the existing literature. The origins of research may be traced to Francis Bacon (1561-1626) whose suggested scientific method was to collect a vast number of facts and from them, through an inductive approach, develop theories. He advocated a step-by-step approach and his analogy for the scientific method was that of a ruler which helps someone draw a straight line: the scientific method was a mechanical aid to discovery. Scientific method was further developed by those associated with the Royal Society and Sprats history of the society (1667) suggests the underlying philosophy (Gribbin, 2005): To this I shall add, that they have never affirmd any thing, concerning the cause, till the trial was past: whereas, to do it before, is a venomous thing in the making of Sciences: for whoever has fixd on his Cause, before he has experimented; can hardly avoid fitting his Experiment, and his Observations, to his own Cause, which he had before imagind; rather than the Cause to the truth of the Experiment itself 4.7. Research is hence concerned with fitting hypotheses to the observed facts rather than twisting facts to fit mistaken ideas. The manner of the testing of such hypotheses is undertaken by review of competent peers, often through open discussion at conferences and through peer review of papers before they are published in journals. The origin of this approach may be traced to a conciliatory letter from Robert Hooke to Isaac Newton, part of a tense series of exchanges concerning light: Your designes and myne I suppose aim both at the same thing wch is the Discovery of truth, and I suppose we can both endure to hear objections, so as they come not in a manner of open hostility, and have minds equally inclined to yield to the plainest deductions of reason from experiment. 4.8. Newton was a querulous and secretive man and his response, however seemingly conciliatory, contained perhaps the most famous line in scientific history If I have seen farther, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants. Out of context, this is often assumed as a comment on his development of his theory of gravity: in reality it was a put down to Hooke, suggesting that Hookes work on light is of no value. Research possesses originality and will include the analysis of data which has not already been analysed in the way proposed. The data could have been collected especially for the research (through survey, interview, measurement or observation), or it might have been collected from existing sources (government or academic databases of social, economic and other data). Researchers need to learn to be very careful in their observations and techniques and be ready for the unexpected. The research project is more than a coursework assignment: the research process must seek the information, analyse it and offer conclusions. Modest objectives are adequate at undergraduate level, but every research project has to have at its heart some level of analysis, and the best research projects will have some quantitative analysis.
4.6.
4.9.
4.10.
16
4.11.
Research goals may be summarised as: the aim, the supporting objectives, the research question and one or more hypotheses.
Laboratory experiments 4.12. In essence, laboratory experiments are a sub-set of research. A research project may comprise of a number of strands of work, one of which may include a range of laboratory experimentation. A laboratory experiment will usually be undertaken in order to provide measurable data to help understand a system or process, and to confirm a theory.
Aim and objectives for design and research 4.13. Aims and objectives are relevant to both design and research. The aim is a statement at a strategic level and will always be in the form To do something. The aim will be supported by the objectives and linked to the main hypothesis. Objectives are statements of what the project will do to support the aim. They must be capable of having an outcome, and the success of the project will be measured against them. Examples might be to determine, to assess, to compare, to design, to calculate, to correlate, to develop, to establish, to evaluate, to examine, to find out, to measure, to review, to show, to survey, to test. The objectives should be mo dest and achievable within the resource constraints. The aim and objectives should be written as bullet points in the introduction as part of the narrative. Figure 1.1 shows how the first page of the introduction might look. It can be seen that a few short paragraphs of introduction will lead directly up to the aim and objectives. Figure 4.1 Example Aims and Objectives
4.14.
4.15.
4.16.
Small projects may have two or three objectives. The logic behind the choice of aim and objectives should be based in theory, literature and the needs of people working in the field. It is frequently necessary to re-confirm the aim and
17
objectives again after the background or literature review has been presented. In shorter documents this may be done as part of the summary of the literature review. In longer documents, there may be a separate chapter devoted to this reconfirmation, sometimes linked with the chapter on methodology. 4.17. For a research project, it can be useful to be so specific as to state the particular quantitative variables in the objectives. A study may have more than one objective, but still pursue the same theme by using the same Independent Variable (IV) or Dependent Variables (DV). For example: Objectives using the same Independent Variable: to correlate method of payment (IV) with safety (DV), to correlate of method of payment (IV) with quality (DV), and to correlate method of payment (IV) on timely completion (DV). 4.19. Alternatively, objectives may use the same Dependent Variable to correlate method of work (IV) on safety (DV), the influence of method of payment (IV) on safety (DV), and (the influence of project planning (IV) on safety (DV). The alternative: a research question and hypothesis 4.20. An alternative, but complementary, way of expressing a research goal is through a question. Such a question needs to be robust and relevant. For the example aim in Figure 1.1, the research question might be: What is the effect on cycling levels of population density and road network density? The wording in the research question should mirror the wording in the objectives. A hypothesis is a supposition, or a proposed explanation as a starting point for research. Modern Western science works on the basis of falsifiability after the 1 philosopher Karl Popper . Hypotheses hence need to be very precise and are often written as a null hypothesis, that is an hypothesis implying no difference. Again using the aim from Figure 1.1, an appropriate null hypothesis might be: there is no difference in levels of cycling in the UK as compared with No rthern European countries based on population density and road network density. This hypothesis is potentially falsifiable through the proposed analysis. The alternative hypothesis is also important to understand. Based on our general knowledge about cycling levels we might suppose that the alternative hypothesis to the null hypothesis described above would be: levels of cycling in the UK are lower than other Northern European countries based on population density and road network density. This presupposes a direction to the difference, if the null hypothesis is not provable. It should be noted that this is different than assuming the alternative to be: levels of cycling in the UK may be higher or lower than other Northern European countries based on population density and road network density. This difference becomes important when undertaking statistical tests and will determine whether one-tail (where the assumption is that the sign of the difference is known), or whether two-tail (where the sign of the difference is unknown) tests are performed. Professor Martin Rees in his acceptance speech of the Templeton Prize in 2011 said: But, as always in science, each advance brings into focus new questions
4.18.
4.21.
4.22.
4.23.
Classical science had been based on empiricism, which is the development of scientific knowledge based on experience through observation and induction. Karl Popper, an Austrian and British philosopher (1902-1994) proposed what he called critical rationalism, and argued that scientific theories are abstract. He suggested that the only way to prove a theory is through falsifiability: a single negative outcome will be logically decisive and show a theory to be false, but a whole string of positive outcomes cannot prove a theory to be true. Popper's philosophy now lies at the heart of modern research methods.
18
that couldn't previously have even been posed and which enlarge our horizons still further. 4.24. The consequence of this is that research aims, objectives and questions may change even over the duration of a single research project. A good researcher stands alert to this. As a consequence, the title of research should only be regarded as a working title, and will need to be reviewed at the conclusion of the work. The final title should reflect the nature of what was in fact undertaken and discovered.
STRUCTURE OF REPORTS
4.25. 4.26. A report will require an introduction, an ordered sequence of sections or chapters which logically describe what has been done, and a conclusion. A design project report or a research project report is a record or the design or research activity that has been carried out. Note that if no activity has taken place, a document cannot be written. A suggested framework around which a design project, research project or laboratory report may be written up is identified below: Cover page and contents listing (including figures, tables and appendices listing) Summary (or abstract) Ch 1. Introduction Ch 2. Background / theory and literature review Ch 3 Methodology of the design, research or laboratory experiment Ch 4. Analysis (results and findings) Ch 5. Discussion Ch 6. Conclusions and recommendations References and bibliography Appendices 4.27. !!Note: Neither the Summary nor the References are chapters, and they should not be given chapter numbers!. Note also that the above is only a guide. The background literature may be so large that Chapter 2 needs splitting into more than a single chapter. The Analysis may form a separate chapter from the results and findings. There may be a need for separate chapter for the conclusions and the recommendations. The preliminary pages of a document should include a cover/title page, declaration that the work is their own (this is sometimes required, e.g. for theses), acknowledgements (if required), summary (or abstract) and contents page. These pages may often be numbered using roman numerals, with the exception of the cover page, which is not numbered. The contents page lists chapter titles and main sub-headings as well as listings of figures, tables and appendices. Glossaries of abbreviations, symbols (such as Greek letters used in equations) and terms may follow on from the contents listing. The glossary of terms ensures a specific understanding even for quite well known terms. Table 1.1 identifies a possible order of procedure for the process of undertaking the work necessary as part of a design, research or experimentation project.
4.28.
4.29.
4.30.
19
Table 4.1 Outline procedure for design, research or experiments Stage 1 2 Research activity Identify a subject area of interest Define design, research or experimentation goals Document writing activity Articulate the problem and write a draft introduction specifying aim, objectives (and measurement variables), and research question and hypothesis as required. Define an appropriate working title (It might be easiest to start a title as An investigation into or A design for . (i) Write notes on what has been read by you in readiness for writing the literature review chapter. (ii) Identify the gap in the literature that the research will address (if required). (iii) After everything has been read and notes made, shape the chapter appropriately.
Background / literature review
Review research goals for continued validity against the identified gap(s) in the literature (if a research project) Formulate the study design: define the data measures and potential data sources, specify the method of analysis (e.g. statistical tests to be used). Obtain the design data or the research data that measures the independent and dependent variables Analyse data (and design with the data if a design project)
Write up the methodology chapter
Write up analysis and results or designs
8 9 10 11 12
Discuss the data, and write up in the Discussion chapter. Draw conclusions and recommendations and write up. Review and update introduction. Write the abstract. Proof read the document
Notes 1 The stages will be to an extent iterative. For example, if there is no suitable data to be found at Stage 5, the research goals will need to be revised. 2 Stage 7 is arguably the most important stage, and it should certainly be one of the most time consuming stages.
4.31.
The articulation of the research goals should be the first writing stage of the dissertation. These will be refined after the literature review, and perhaps again based on what data is available for analysis. The first substantial part of the research document to be written up will be the literature review. It is always best to open up a word-processing document, establish a draft overall structure using what seem like appropriate headings, and write up notes and ideas in the relevant places in the document as work progresses. The final
4.32.
20
document will be the result of much iteration. Document production and proof reading is time consuming and tortuous. Good reading is difficult writing! The Abstract 4.33. The abstract, or summary, does NOT form part of the flow of the document, but is something that may be read separately and will in 200 to 250 words: define the aim and objective of the research; state the data used in analysis; describe the method used; present the main result(s) found; and state the main findings and conclusion(s) derived. 4.34. A good guide is to write two sentences on each of these five areas. This is very demanding and requires hard work. It is NOT possible to copy and paste parts of the introduction and conclusions chapters. If you do so, you will be using too many words and not be sufficiently describing the data set and analysis method adopted. The abstract should be written at the end of the period of research. (NB. The abstract to these notes, in so far as it has been possible for a document not related to design, research or experimentation, has been written adopting the five point list above.)
4.35.
The Introduction (Chapter 1) 4.36. Writers need to focus very carefully on what an introduction should contain. Usually they need to go through three or four drafts. They are the hardest part of the document to write, because they need to set the scene in a logical order. In a document which reports research, it is normal that the introduction chapter should include the following: (i) A statement of some fairly well know and relatively un-contestable facts about a topic area. The way of describing this will depend on the proposed research but could be based on a history, theory, law, statistics, or whatever other paradigm seems most appropriate); The opening up of an area of interest in which the design is to take place or, for research, could reveal deeper understanding; Statement of goals (aim, supporting objectives, research question and hypothesis); a very brief (one paragraph) outline methodology; an outline of the structure of the document which will summarise in sentence or phrase the contents of each chapter.
4.37.
(ii) (iii) (iv) (v)
The Background or Literature Review Chapter (Chapter 2) 4.38. This is such an important and distinct area, that a whole chapter is devoted to it in these notes in Chapter 7.
The Methodology Chapter (Chapter 3) Primary and secondary data 4.39. It is important that a research project clearly describes how it was executed; what method was used to achieve the objectives. A study could be fundamentally flawed if a mistake is made in the methods used, e.g. the population not selected correctly, an inappropriate method of analysis used, a poorly written research questionnaire, etc. A methodology chapter should substantiate each step along the way, and describe the overall method used to achieve the aim. Bell (1993) quoted in Fellows and Liu (1997, p. 14) suggests five types of research style: (i) action, (ii) ethnographic, (iii) surveys, (iv) case study, and (v) experimental. It is noted that definitions varies amongst authors, and the
4.40.
21
boundaries are therefore somewhat blurred. Data may be collected by the researchers and hence be new data, this is termed primary data. Alternatively, researchers may use data that has already been collected, for example by government departments and which is then made available on the internet. This data is termed secondary data. Good examples of these data sets are the census, transport statistics and audit commission best value indicators. 4.41. If a questionnaire is used, place it in the appendix and discuss each section individually substantiate why each question was asked. Refer to similar questions by previous researchers if possible. If interviews were undertaken, describe how they were conducted. If observation of a production process is undertaken, full details must be given. The verbatim transcripts of qualitative interviews may also be included as an appendix. If the study involves a population, it must be described and quantified. The process used to select a sample from a population must be described and substantiated. Reliability and validity are very important concepts in research. The methodology section must describe how the study ensures reliability and validity are achieved. The data analysis process must be described; the methodology must substantiate why a particular analytical tool was selected. The methodology should not only describe the method that was actually used, but it should also state what alternatives were considered and rejected at the various stages of the process, and why they were rejected. Why, for example, was a postal survey used instead of interviews; why was quantitative analysis used instead of qualitative; why was non-parametric statistical analysis used in preference to parametric analysis and so on. If secondary data is used, the methodology chapter must substantiate that the data is robust, reliable and valid. The chapter must argue why a particular source of data was appropriate to the problem being examined. It does not matter whether the data analysed is primary or secondary. It does not matter which analytical tool is applied to the data. One of the requirements of a dissertation is merely that there is some data that is analysed. The more robust analytical tools, providing they are appropriately applied, will more likely achieve better marks. Examples of primary data are: (i) case studies, (ii), laboratory and field experiment (iii) individual interviews, (iv) focus groups, (v) postal surveys, (vi) time and motion studies or observation and (vii) action research or participation. Students often feel that they need to use a questionnaire in their dissertation it must be emphasised that this is not the case. Secondary data maybe obtained from libraries or maybe available in the workplace. Data is available on economic performance, cost, environmental pollution, traffic flows, safety etc. The European Union publishes a whole host of statistical data. Other sources include the government statistical office, government agencies, local authorities, professional institutions, company reports etc. Data may be taken from the published work of other researchers provided that it is acknowledged/cited. Part-time students may have access to an abundance of data in the workplace e.g. production levels, costs, safety targets, personnel records. Employers need not be fearful of releasing information; confidentiality of data can be respected. Research documents often do not give details of data in its absolute raw form and thus it is hidden - often appendices merely include data in some sort of summarised form. If this latter data is still thought to be commercially sensitive, the whole research document can be classified as confidential and thus its circulation restricted. Another requirement of a research project is that there should be some originality; it may be adequate to merely analyse the data in a different sort of way. The task of the researcher who wishes to use secondary data is to define the problem, and then perhaps bring together data for two variables that have not been brought together before. The process requires thought, a little insight and perhaps a little ingenuity. An example may be a correlation between unemployment levels and percentage of home owners in European Union states.
4.42.
4.43.
4.44.
4.45.
4.46.
22
Soft and hard data 4.47. Soft data can be classified as such if it comes from opinion surveys. It can be argued that just because people are of the opinion that product A is better than product B in respect of say quality, it does not mean that this is the case in a factual sense. Quality can be measured in a variety of ways - factual data can be obtained from laboratory experiments about each of the products. It is this latter data that should be arguably used to distinguish between the quality of two products; it is surely this data that the sponsor of a project needs. But it is commercial life that people will make decisions about products based upon their opinion and without looking at the data provided by factual studies. In this sense it is peoples' opinions as much as fact that drive the national economy. Opinions may be fairly loose and people may be persuaded to change them. Attitudes are more deep-rooted, and more difficult to change. Values are more deep rooted still and are only likely to change over a long time span (Oppenheim, 1992, p. 179). It is often appropriate to collate factual information. Such data may be secondary data, or be from experiments or observation. It may alternatively be historical data that lies in archives and needs bringing together or abstracting into a form suitable for analysis.
4.48.
4.49.
The Analysis (Chapter 4) 4.50. The middle of the report should include some analysis taking perhaps one element of a problem, breaking it down, establishing causes and effects. Such analysis needs data of some sort. Recognising limited resources, it may be that a research project is predominantly based on only one type of robust data analysis. It does not matter which, provided there is some type of analysis of some type of data. Robust analysis involves the application of some kind of academic tool; some academic tools may be considered more robust than others. Two major analytical schools exist: qualitative and quantitative. Some people may be able to use both methods, but often a person is specialist in one or the other. Crudely speaking qualitative methods involve analysing words and quantitative methods involve the analysis of numbers. But this definition is not adopted by all authors. Some authors describe attitude measurement based on opinions, views and perceptions as qualitative data [Bryman (1988) cited in Naoum (1998, p. 43)]. Holt (1997, p. 73) describes such methods as quantitative data. The boundary between the two may be blurred by a question such as how do you feel today; the respondent is given a choice of four answers (i) great, (ii) fine, (iii) not very good, and (iv) lousy. The analytical process may allocate numbers to each answer, so that great = 3 through to lousy = 0. The answer given is clearly qualitative; it expresses the feeling of the respondent using a word that is carefully selected. But the subsequent analysis will be quantitative. Factual statistical data are clearly quantitative. Unstructured interviews, whereby interviewees speak freely, aim to find out how people view the world. Data from such interviews are labelled qualitative. Qualitative data may aim to gain insights and understand peoples perceptions of the world. Beliefs, understandings, opinions and views of people are examined. The data will be unstructured in its raw form. Data needs to be filtered, sorted and manipulated if analytical techniques are to be applied. Qualitative data may be analysed by counting key words or grouping like answers. Qualitative analysis may be merely findings derived from reading other work or from reading transcripts of interviews. A more rigorous approach may involve some kind of comparison of findings in a tabular format or content analysis (word counting) of data. The qualitative analysis expert will labour meticulously over transcripts, using perhaps computer software such as NUDIST (Non-numeric unstructured data indexing, searching and theorising) as a tool to assist in the analysis. One
4.51.
4.52.
4.53.
4.54.
23
may remember a testimony given by President Clinton what does the word is really mean? 4.55. It is argued that the best studies comprise the analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative analysis may come first; speaking to people, teasing out issues and problems. The literature review may be considered to be a qualitative analytical tool. The quantitative analysis follows, using numerical data to test hypotheses. The researcher may then revert back to more qualitative data gathering to help in interpreting results and findings from the quantitative tests. Quantitative analysis at its simplest level may be a mere comparison of figures. This may involve analysis of unemployment figures, inflation, costs of products etc. Some people may have a fear of quantitative analysis or statistics, but such figures are common starting points for analysis in many arguments. Descriptive statistics perhaps takes quantitative analysis one step further. Under the umbrella of descriptive statistics is the calculation of means - a concept that is widely used by many in every day work activity. Medians, modes, standard deviations are also described as descriptive statistics.
4.56.
Analytical techniques 4.57. The most rigorous statistical analytical methods are inferential statistics, and they are often not complex. It merely involves the concept of variables, and seeks to determine causes and effect or the influence of independent variables on dependent variables. At higher levels of study all written work has to contain analytical study. This analysis could be in the form of work leading to a design, experimental or field analysis, analysis of secondary data sources or primary data sources either statistical in nature or not. The argument for the inclusion of statistical analysis is that it is accepted throughout the research community, worldwide, as being a robust analytical tool. Many aspects of life anyway are about statistics, even if it does not involve statistics in any sort of complex way. The analysis for example of unemployment levels or inflation involves numbers and trends, often illustrated in line diagrams or the like. In this context the student may be using statistical data without actually giving it the statistics label. Using inferential statistical tests should not be seen as being too complex. Such tests are certainly taught in schools and on the first year of undergraduate programmes in disciplines such as psychology. They are not rocket science; they are a useful analytical tool that can contribute substantially to the quality of research material. It is acknowledged that some statistical tests are extremely complex; the complexity of test used however need only match the level of study being undertaken. The argument against the inclusion of statistical analysis is that there are other analytical tools. The qualitative analytical school involves the researcher in labouring over statements, interviews etc. Analysis pervades many subject disciplines and modules of study. Mathematical computations can involve complex analysis. Network analysis techniques (arrow diagrams, bar charts) can be used as a tool to compare the duration of two different projects. Cost benefit analysis is sometimes used as a tool to assist the decision making process when two alternative infrastructure developments are being considered. The possibilities are endless: Value management: brainstorm alternative building designs to yield best value solution. Integrate all construction disciplines in reaching such solutions i.e. architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical. Drawings or sketches: comparison of alternative designs to yield technical solutions Photographic surveys: use with computer images to enhance visualisation of proposed projects
4.58.
4.59.
4.60.
24
Land survey development
plots:
comparison
of
alternative building
sites
for
proposed to yield
U-values: comparison of alternative environmentally friendly solutions
designs
Decision trees: compare established theoretical models to a case study situation Feasibility studies: integrated design and cost service to establish viability of proposed projects. Perhaps incorporate some cost/benefit analysis techniques Risk analysis: consider alternative projects in what if models to assess their financial viability i.e. what if interest rates change, ditto inflation, ditto UK to join EMU Financial analysis: use data from the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) to make a comparison of cost of two or more methods of construction Building surveys: compare surveys undertaken independently by two different building surveyors on the same property or plot of land. Network analysis: compare an arrow diagram and precedence diagram as tools for planning construction work Measurement: measure components or elements of buildings using different 'standard methods of measurement' 4.61. 4.62. Many of the techniques maybe simply used to make comparisons between two different things. The terms analysis, results, findings, conclusions and recommendations are often used interchangeable in the media. It is useful to distinguish between them, and use such definitions as a vehicle for structuring the sequence of a research project. The analysis involves the application of academic or analytical tools to the data. If the analysis is qualitative, the result may be a table of comparisons of statements or frequency counts of key words or phrases. If the analysis is quantitative, the result may be the numerical figure at the end of a calculation, say the mean cost for two different products. The finding is the next logical step; qualitatively and quantitatively it may be found that product A is better or worse than product B.
4.63.
The Discussion (Chapter 5) 4.64. The Oxford dictionary definition of a discussion is: an examination by argument a debate 4.65. The discussion requires that the results and findings be evaluated against each other and against the theory and the literature. It should also deduce explanations for similarities and differences; why and how. Carefully speculate causes. Consider results and findings against the aims and objectives; perhaps the discussion should be articulated under the heading of each objective. Causations should be examined. Link the discussion/analysis to the conclusion by giving the findings and saying how they relate to the literature. Argue from the other side. Link the theory, literature, study findings, authors experience; and then give a judgement. A causal link may exist if: There is a strong statistical relationship It is difficult to think of a more important factor
4.66.
25
The relationship is consistent over samples, time, different circumstances etc. The causal direction is clear Potentially confounding factors have been controlled for There is a clear dose-response relationship The time lag to effect is logical The relationship appears to hold universally (check other literature) The statistical relationship may be explained in physical laws of physics. 4.67. The concept of seeing the project from the other side is important. Consider the cynic who may be critical of the research project. It is useful to articulate what the cynic may find - in some respects perhaps a recognition of limitations, but more importantly a recognition that there are two sides to any debate. The discussion chapter must try to have empathy with and respect for the other side. The process may again be analogous to the set of balancing scales, which are appropriate in the writing of the literature review. Many issues in life are not black or white; they are grey. A discussion chapter should be written with sensitivity, recognising blurred boundaries that exist. The conclusions should not just pop out in the conclusion chapter. They should be developed in the discussion chapter, and any arguments supporting them should be articulated. There are many issues in life where there are two sides to the debate. The political world is full of issues where the decision making process is often controversial, with seemingly compelling evidence on each side of an argument. In the dissertation context, whilst the writer may make a judgement on one side, the discussion chapter should not leave readers to examine the arguments from the other side.
4.68.
Conclusions and recommendations (Chapter 6) 4.69. Conclusions are very important the whole purpose of academic study is to give robust conclusions. It is important to focus upon the writing style of a conclusion. If it is found that A is better than B, perhaps the conclusions should answer the cynical question of readers so what?. The researcher may draft conclusions on the assumption that something needs to change or something needs to happen. The Oxford dictionary definition of a conclusion is: a final result; a termination a judgement reached by reasoning the summing up of an argument, article or book a proposition that is reached from given premises 4.71. In the context of a dissertation a conclusion could be expressed in the format of something needs to happen. There should be a seamless transition from results of analyses to discussion to conclusions. Conclusions maybe a maximum of 2000 words. Each conclusion will be a separate paragraph, with no new material. The conclusions should stand-alone the reader should be able to understand the concept behind each conclusion without having to refer to earlier chapters. Therefore the conclusion will include the results and findings from the earlier chapters. Each aim, objective and hypothesis will have a conclusion; it will assess to what extent have they been met. Link them by reference to the introduction. Hypothesis or objectives for future study may be recommended. It may be the case that some readers only have time to read selected parts of the document, and in this context the conclusion serves as a means of bringing together the whole of the document. A research project can stand or fall by its conclusions. Students often write their conclusions the day before submission is due. This must not be the case. The conclusions must be laboured over long and hard. They should be the result of
4.70.
4.72.
26
many iterations, and be approached with insight and given a great deal of thought. Good conclusions yield strong recommendations. They should identify what has been achieved, what has been learned and who might benefit from the findings. Conclusions support the research validity. 4.73. Recommendations detail suggestions for changes in practice and will identify potentially significant aspects of the area which were outside the scope of the study. Do not force out conclusions and recommendations that are not really there; do not claim too much in the conclusions. Recognise the limitations of the project. A conclusion should be a logical outcome of all that has gone before. The underlying reason of research projects is to draw realistic and tangible conclusions from the study; even if the conclusions are negative. Recommendations include advice, praise or commendation as well as calls for action and further work. Recommendations should be bullet points not discursive reading. Recommendations for further study should include a research question or objective or hypothesis. They should also state the proposed methodology for the study, the population and proposed method of analysis. A recommendation may follow which suggests how the proposed change may be implemented. This perhaps gives the researcher the opportunity to be innovative and put forward good ideas. Studies executed on the premise of establishing causes may be appropriate to a conclusion writing style which suggests something needs to change or happen; that is establish what the IVs are and conclude that they need to be manipulated. However some studies may not be appropriate to this style. The objective of some research may be to develop theories or explanations as to why things happen. The explanation may not be clear cut and definitive, and therefore a conclusion may be substantive in its own right if it merely articulates why something happens. Such explanation needs to be academically robust, but stem from the data analysis, results and findings in the study.
4.74.
4.75.
Data in reports 4.76. The presentation in a report of the data used is important. This will often be presented in tables, graphs, diagrams, photographs or other means of quickly and readily conveying information. It is very important that every piece of data presented in a report is commented on and evaluated by the author. It is not possible to expect the reader to provide his or her own interpretation of the data: it is the job of the author to do that. Figures and tables throughout the document should be numbered, and prefixed by the number of the chapter in which the figure or table appears, e.g. Figure 2.3 will be the third figure in chapter two. The title and content of figures or tables should be such that they can be understood on a stand-alone basis. Appendices provide supplementary information that is too bulky to include within the main flow of the report. The general rule is that if there is data larger than a single side of A4, it should be in the appendices. The data in the appendices will need however, to be summarised in the main report. The appendices help subsequent readers and users of the report and may include, for example, survey questionnaires. Appendices should be in the same order as they appear in the narrative, and they should be designated by capital letter (Appendix A, Appendix B etc.) rather than by Arabic number. The main report itself should include all information necessary to develop arguments, test the hypotheses and fulfil the aims and objectives of the study and not rely on the reader needing to have read the appendices. Appendices should be pagenumbered. Do not include published reference material in Appendices. This should be referred to in the normal way using the Harvard Reference system.
4.77.
4.78.
4.79.
4.80.
4.81.
27
Verb tenses for reports 4.82. The following provides a useful guide to tenses for each section of the report: Abstracts: best in the present tense. E.g. The aim of the study is to . The results show that. Introduction: best in the present tense, but a lapse into the future tense is also possible. E.g. The literature review demonstrates that ., or it will be shown in the literature review that . Literature review: could either be in the present tense or the past tense depending on the age of the research and the context and particular sentence construction being employed. E.g. Smith (1952) de veloped the theory of XYZ and Jones (2005) shows that data still support this theory. Methodology, analysis, discussion: usually written in the past tense. Data from XYZ were analysed and showed (NB. There is no such word as datas, and so data can be either singular or plural, hence be sure to conjugate the verb accordingly in this case data is in the plural and so the verb is were and not was). Avoid the temptation to write in the future tense, particularly the method, even if you are writing up before carrying it out. Conclusions: Usually in the present tense. E.g. It is concluded that . 4.83. The important point is that the writer should be consistent.
OTHER TYPES OF DOCUMENT

Essays 4.84. An essay is a work of prose structured in such a way as to put across a point of view. An academic essay presents a coherent argument based on facts that are verifiable. The main point of an essay set for a student is to help them think in depth about a subject area, and so the process is as important as the end product. They require the write to: think logically and argue a case; relate theoretical concepts to particular issues; and write cogently and fluently. 4.86. The stages are as follows: Defining the subject area, aim and readership of the essay Gathering of information from source material Sorting that information into clustered groups and a logical order Putting those ideas into words, and this will mean careful drafting and redrafting. 4.87. An essay may set out to do one of the following: outline area of inquiry; narrate (for example a history); explain something; discuss something; describe something; or compare and contrast two ideas or subjects. The introduction should outline the scope and subject matter of the essay and the point of view from which the subject matter will be treated (For example, the essay could be on concessionary fares in public transport. It may tackle the subject from the point of view of the user and the way that they change behaviour as a result of free or cheaper fares, alternatively it may consider the cost to the exchequer of the subsidy which is put in to providing concessionary travel) The main body of the essay should progress in an orderly sequence such that the logic of any argument being constructed is quite apparent to the reader. This will mean you need to group ideas appropriately together and think about which group of points lead and which follow. It should not leave the reader begging the question, i.e. being unsure as to why something has been said, which only
4.85.
4.88.
4.89.
28
becomes plain later. You are not writing all you know about a subject, but you are constructing a piece of writing to address a title. What you write should not merely be interesting to you, but should be used to support the argument you are putting forward. Look at Chapter 5 which gives you some ideas about critical reasoning. 4.90. The conclusion sums up the main points. You should think of it as a summarising conclusion, rather than a full discussion (which is contained in the main body of the essay). New material should not be included in the conclusion. In summary a good essay will: Have answered the question implicit in the title Have presented a coherent argument (i.e. one that stands up to logic) Be objective and analytical and make appropriate use of evidence Be well written (punctuation, structure at sentence, paragraph and document level, with style, but being succinct). If it is well written, it will be easy to read. Letters and emails 4.92. The box below shows the format of a letter.
London South Bank University 103 Borough Road London SE1 0AA 1st September 2011 Mr S Holmes 221b Baker Street London NW1 6XE Dear Mr Holmes Observation for engineers My colleagues and I have long been admirers of your powers of observation which you use to great effect in solving crime. We would be pleased if you would consider providing a short course we are thinking of running called observation for engineers. Would you be interested in providing a guest lecture on this course? Yours sincerely, Professor Ivor Spanner
4.91.
4.93.
Key points are: Address of sender (in order to receive a reply!) Full date (for record purposes, NB a date is never complete without the year) Name of recipient includes initials in the address block Salutation (Dear Mr Holmes, which excludes initials, but first name may be used if you know him well) Title (Observational instruction) Body of text is in short paragraphs and is as succinct as possible, and uses sentences which are as short as possible as this makes it quicker to read. Sign off (Yours sincerely if you know the person by name, otherwise for letters addressed as Dear Sir, or Dear Madam, use Yours faithfully.)
29
4.94.
The box below shows the format of an email

To: s.holmes@gmail.com From: i.spanner@lsbu.ac.uk Subject: Observation for engineers Mr Holmes My colleagues and I have long been admirers of your powers of observation which you use to great effect in solving crime. We would be pleased if you would consider providing a short course we are thinking of running called observation for engineers. Would you be interested in providing a guest lecture on this course? Regards Professor Ivor Spanner
4.95.
Key points are as follows: Subject line is always given as it helps sorting (Observational instruction) Salutation is usually just the persons name (Mr Holmes, or Sherlock if you know him well) Body of text is in short paragraphs and is as succinct as possible, and uses sentences which are as short as possible as this makes it quicker to read Sign off usually just Regards and then your name. Do make sure you use some sort of polite sign off.
4.96.
The key point is that you should regard emails as being akin to letter, and not text messages. They should be written in proper grammatical sentences. (The author of these notes has sent emails back to students when they have not been written in appropriate language or expressed in proper English asking them to write them properly).
PROOF READING
4.97. The proof reading stage is very important and the process must be meticulous. It is not only about content but also mistakes in, for example: grammar; spelling; missing apostrophes; missing words; and layout. Every sentence should be readable with perfect clarity and no ambiguity. If an idea needs to be in a report for logical construction of an argument, a sentence describing that idea needs to be in the report. If a sentence is present in a report which really does not add anything of value, or repeats what is said elsewhere, it should be deleted.
4.98.
A document of, say, 3,000 words in length will probably at some stage of its life been, say 5,000 words in length. Information that is unnecessary needs to be cut out. Notes on this are provided in the chapter on summaries. Reading final year projects, MSc dissertations and PhD theses can provide useful ideas about document structure and research methodology. They may also provide a useful list of references if they are in a similar field of inquiry as the proposed research.
4.99.
CHAPTER 5 STYLE AND SUMMARIES

STYLE
5.1. Consider the following change in London Transport Executive Notices before and after revision carried out in 1949.
30
Dogs - before Small dogs may, at the discretion of the conductor and at owners risk, be carried without charge upon the upper deck of double-deck buses, or in singledeck buses. The decision of the conductor is final. Dogs after You can take your dog with you if it is a small one and the conductor agree. It travels free, but at your risk. If the vehicle is a double-decked, you must both go on the upper deck. 5.2. 5.3. The second is more direct and more easily readable. You should always adopt the most direct style possible. Consider the following two letters; it is fairly clear which is better (after Cooper, 1964).
Dear Sirs, XYZ has recently given consideration to the sending of Christmas Cards and, although it is certainly not without its pleasant side, we have decided regretfully to discontinue the sending of Christmas Cards for this year. I am sure that you will appreciate that the warmth of the feelings of all in the division who have had, and are having dealings with you is undiminished, and that as in the past, but henceforth silently, our good wishes will be with you at this time of year. Yours faithfully Dear Sirs, We have decided to discontinue our practice of sending Christmas Cards. We should, as ever, like to wish you the compliments of the season. Yours faithfully .
5.4.
As a further example, the following letter from Dr Johnson, one of the foremost proponents on the English language, to James MacPherson is terse, emphatic, has no superfluous words, is direct and every word says what it means (from Cooper, 1964).
I have received your foolish and impudent letter. Any violence offered me I shall do my best to repel; and what I cannot do for myself, the law shall do for me. I hope I shall never be deterred from detecting what I think a cheat, by the menaces of a ruffian. What would you have me retract? I thought your book an imposture; I think it an imposture still. For this opinion I have given my reasons to the public, which I here dare you refute. Your rage I defy.
5.5.
Cobbett (1823, p177) suggests that One of the greatest of all faults in writing and in speaking is this: the using of many words to say little.
A word on rhythm 5.6. Cooper (1964) uses the following speech by Sir Winston Churchill to make the point that language, to be engaging for the reader, benefits from a certain rhythm to its construction. The second box illustrates how much less poetic the speech could have been.
31
Ever since your victory at Alamein you have nightly pitched your moving tents a days march nearer home. In days to come, when people ask you what you did in the Second World War, it will be enough to say: I marched with the Eighth Army. Sir Winston Churchill You have advanced rapidly ever since your victory at Alamein. When people, in days to come, ask you what you did in the Second World War, you will be able to tell them you fought in the Eighth Army.
5.7.
Fowler (1965) states A sentence or a passage is rhythmical if, when said aloud, it falls naturally into groups of words each well fitted by its length and intonation for its place in the whole and its relation to its neighbours. It is an instinct cultivable by those whom nature has not bestowed it, but on one condition only that they will make a practice of reading aloud.
A word on choice of words 5.8. The careful selection of the correct word is very important. The most important word in a sentence is, arguably, the verb and so the choice of the verb is the most important choice for a writer to make. Words may either simply denote something in a neutral way, or they may bring with them some connotative meaning, either pleasant or unpleasant. Table 5 provides some examples. Table 5.1 Examples of denotative and connotative words
Denotative Neutral write thin ungainly cry deceive frown enlarged Pleasant inscribe slender awkward weep hide grimace distended Connotative Unpleasant scribble scraggy lumpy whine cheat scowl bloated
5.9.
5.10. 5.11.
You should, in technical and academic writing, usually attempt to select the most straightforward and direct of all possibilities. Minutes of meetings tend to be very difficult to write because you are usually trying to use different verbs to describe the actions that have been undertaken at a meeting, but most of the actions are very similar and involve speaking! The list of words below may be helpful when trying to differentiate: Reported, commented, explained, said, stated, outlined, highlighted, expressed the view, would., clarified, tabled, presented, discussed, rebutted, confirmed.
SUCCINCTNESS AND SUMMARIES

5.12. The following rules should be adopted for general writing, and when attempting to write summaries of work that you have undertaken. Rules 1 to 5 are for your own work, and rules 6 and 7 apply when you are summarising the work of others. Rule 1 REDUNDANCY and REPETITION. All unnecessary words and phrases must be cut out, and nothing should be said more than once. Rule 2 SIMPLE SENTENCES. Wherever possible, sentences must be simplified so that phrases do the work of clauses, and single words replace phrases. Rule 3 ILLUSTRATIONS. Provided the main point is clearly stated, leave out all examples and illustration of it. Rule 4 FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE. Similes should be omitted, and elaborate metaphors and other figures of speech simplified.
32
Rule 5 GENERALISING. Sum up all unimportant detail, so that the general point is clearly stated, but the details are omitted. Rule 6 NOTE TAKING. Take notes of the main points Rule 7 YOUR OWN WORDS. After making notes of the main points, build up the summary from them in your own words. Refer back to the original passage, but never copy whole phrases or sentences from it. 5.13. Cooper (1964) offers some useful suggestions for reducing phrases to single words as shown in Table 4. Table 5.2 Shortening phrases to words
Phrase
It is clear that It was note that if It is obvious that It is observed that molecules which It has a tendency to For the reason that take into consideration If the improvements mean that A word on analogy 5.14. clearly If Obviously Molecules which It tends to because Consider If
word
By contrast with the discussion above, the use of analogy can be very powerful in providing explanations. Three examples follow (after Cooper, 1964).
Oil as you know is a liquid lubricant. But there are other substances, solids in fact, which also have lubricating properties. Graphite is one of these. Any pipe smoker will know that the way to slacken a tight joint in the stem of a pipe is to rub an ordinary lead (graphite) pencil over it. Graphite lubricates in a rather different way to oil; it fills up the irregularities in the surface of bearings and enables them to slip more easily over each other, see figure 4. Bur graphite is not the answer. It fulfilled a very valuable function during its hey-day, but something more was needed. Whilst this idea is rather difficult to grasp in theory, there is a very simple practical demonstration. Take a pack of ordinary playing cards and hold them together in the palms of the hands. Now rub your palms together. The two outer cards of the pack will stick to your hands, but the cards in between will slide over each other quite freely. In other words your hands are the bearing surfaces, the outer cards are the plating of polyslip molecules, and the cards in between are the gliding layers of molecules. We further observe that the molecular chains are in no sort of order, but resemble rather bits of string with which a kitten has been playing
PLAGIARISM
5.15. Plagiarism is the representation of another persons work, without acknowledgement of the source. When this is done by a student for the purposes of satisfying formal assessment requirements, penalties apply. Most people consider plagiarism as simple common theft. (In some countries, the penalty for thieving is to have ones hand chopped off!) Examples of plagiarism include: the use of a single phrase from another persons work or from the internet without the use of quotation marks and reference to the source; the summarising of another persons work or an internet source by changing a few words or altering the order of presentation; the use of images such as acknowledgement of the source; graphs, tables, photographs without
5.16.
the use of ideas or intellectual data of another person or the internet without acknowledgement of the source;
33
copying the work of another student; collusion with other students on work which is then submitted as though it was an individual students own work; the submission of a piece of work which has previously been assessed for a different award; 5.17. Plagiarism may be avoided by these three golden rules: Avoiding Plagiarism Rule 1: read the work of another person and make notes about what you read in your own words. Avoiding Plagiarism Rule 2: After making notes of the main points, build up the summary from them in your own words. Refer back to the original passage, but never copy whole phrases or sentences from it. Avoiding Plagiarism Rule 3: Make proper reference to the source material using the Harvard convention. See LSBU Helpsheet 30 and the notes on the structure of research and the research document. 5.18. NEVER EVER use the copy and paste commands to take material from elsewhere and place it in your document. This is a certain way of committing plagiarism. You may be used to a copy and paste approach from your school days. You need to break this habit now. In higher education we expect you to think about what you are writing, rather than just copy what someone else has written.
5.19.
CHAPTER 6 CRITICAL THINKING

INTRODUCTION
6.1. The whole point of doing a degree is that your intellectual behaviour is developed in some way within your particular field of inquiry. This intellectual behavioural development can only come through thinking. Every assignment is in some way testing your ability to think. We all think in a general sense, but often our thinking is biased, distorted or partial, prejudiced and ill-informed. Critical thinking imposes some standards on the way we think in order to improve our ability to formulate problems, gather relevant information, challenge assumptions and assess alternatives, come to appropriate conclusions, and communicate the results of thought. Critical thinking is based on reasoning and this has a purpose (there is some end in view), is usually based on resolving a question or problem, is based on assumptions, comes from a particular point of view, is based on information and is shaped by ideas or concepts. Reasoning is built up of inferences which lead towards conclusions, and these conclusions may have implications. As an example, the following may be an example of critical thinking. Aeroplanes are noisy (information), they disturb human populations (information and point of view), hence airports should not be built in locations where aeroplanes will overfly populous areas (conclusion), so we should build an airport in the Thames Estuary (implication). Clearly, however the issue is more complex than may be well argued in a single sentence.
6.2.
6.3.
6.4.
EXPLANATION, INFERENCE AND ARGUMENT

The explanation 6.5. The following statement explains why you should not use masonry in earthquake zones. Masonry is brittle, so should not be used to build structures in earthquake zones
34
6.6.
It comprises of two claims, the first is that masonry is brittle, and the second that masonry should not be used to build structures in earthquake zones. The first claim is used to infer the second claim. There is an unstated assumption that buildings in earthquake zones need to be flexible and so the above could be rewritten in a fuller form as: Masonry is brittle and buildings in earthquake zones need to be flexible, so masonry should not be used to build structures in earthquake zones.
6.7.
However, it is up to the writer to judge whether assumptions need to be stated. Stating all the assumptions makes the explanation fuller, but may not make it clearer as the assumptions may be obvious and well accepted.
The Inference 6.8. The following statement infers something about the future: Houses in England are made of masonry, so when the next earthquake strikes they will fall down. 6.9. The above inference is weak as it relies on unstated assumptions which may or may not be true, not the least of which is that the next earthquake to hit the United Kingdom is of a sufficient magnitude to cause structural damage. Of course inferences may be much stronger than this.
The Argument 6.10. An argument is essentially a sequence of claims which may require more than one supporting claim. The following statement presents two claims before a concluding claim: Houses in England are made of masonry. The United Kingdom suffers only minor earthquakes, so English masonry houses are safe from earthquake damage. 6.11. 6.12. There are two separate statements here which, taken together, lead to the claim that English houses are safe from earthquakes. A fuller arguments might be written as Houses in England are made of masonry and masonry is brittle (1). Brittle buildings suffer damage and collapse in earthquakes (2). The United Kingdom is not in an active earthquake zone and suffers only minor earthquakes when they do occur (3). On this basis, houses in England are safe from earthquake damage and collapse (4). 6.13. The assumptions are stated as well as the claims. Note that sentence (1) and sentence (2) work together to create an outcome, which is then set against sentence (3) before coming to the conclusion in sentence (4). Notice that the conclusion is prefaced by the words on this basis. Examples of other words and phrases which frequently may come before a conclusions are: hence, so, therefore, consequently, it follows that.
6.14.
CREATING VALID ARGUMENTS

Inductive and deductive reasoning 6.15. A valid argument needs to be based on sound reasoning. Inductive reasoning may be used where repeated observations tend to lead the observer to a conclusion. In such cases, the claim must be beyond question based on sound evidence. The evidence must be credible and consideration must be given to the following: the motives of the experimenter; any biases which may creep in either knowingly or unknowingly; the extent to which the approach is neutral;
35
an assessment of any vested interests; the expertise and reputation of the people involved; the ability to perceive from the evidence collected; any independent corroboration which is available. 6.16. Deductive reasoning, by contrast is where a new conclusion emerges from combining existing knowledge. A syllogism is an example of deductive reasoning and has a major premise, a minor premise and a conclusion, as the example below illustrates. Major premise: All good students are intelligent Minor Premise: All LSBU students are good students Conclusion: All LSBU students are intelligent 6.17. The Subject is LSBU students and intelligence is the Predicate. The middle, or linking description is good students. Hence the general pattern is: Major premise: All linking description are what is predicated Minor Premise: All the subject are the linking description Conclusion: All the subject are what is predicated
CLASSES OF FAULTY REASONING

6.18. There are many examples of faulty reasoning. Some are listed below. Inappropriate use of percentages, particularly for example quoting a large percentage when the population to which it refers is only small. (If you were to say that 80% of the respondents thought the new cycle facility was good, this would sound impressive and you may attempt to use this figure to win an argument about infrastructure provision. It tells a different story if you realise, perhaps, there were only twenty respondents!) Inappropriate use of ratios when real numbers would reveal a different truth. Over-generalisation or wrong generalisation (the no smoke without fire argument) for example It always rains in the North. Slippery slope or thin end of the wedge arguments, for example If we let our eight year old go to bed late tonight, she will always now want to go to bed late. Straw man arguments, where an argument is misrepresented. Person A We should invest more in public transport. Person B No, subsidy for public transport is a waste of money. (Investment has been misrepresented as subsidy, two different things) Restriction of options. For example, lower interest rates and quantitative easing are the only two options presented in an argument about recovery from a recession, when other options such as for example, adjusting taxes may exist. Circular arguments are arguments which rely on their premises for their conclusions. Only people good at mathematics choose engineering. The fact that engineers are good at mathematics proves this. This is wrong because there is only one proposition: engineers are good at mathematics. Engineers may become good at mathematics through their training. Ad hominem arguments (against the person arguments) are arguments which attack the person and not the argument. He is wrong because he knows nothing about it.
36
To quoque arguments (you too arguments) are based on a judgement that a person is hypocritical. You cannot think that we should reduce greenhouse gases because you own a car. Cum hoc, ergo propter hoc (with this, therefore because of this false causation). A correlation between two independent variables does not necessarily imply causation. This is one of the most common fallacies in the scientific process of inductive logic. When a correlation is found, separately, a reason for causation still also needs to be found. York has many cycle routes and this is why there are a lot of cyclists in York (it may be that the many cyclists in York created the need to build cycle routes, not the other way round). Post hoc, ergo propter hoc (after this, therefore because of this or false time dependent causation). Event B may follow Event A, but it is not necessarily the case that Event B was caused by Event A. might follow another event, the second event. The rooster crowed leading to the suns rising False Premise. Arguments where conclusions are drawn from an inaccurate premise. Making all buses free will increase ridership because the only thing keeping people off buses is the high price (The reason given is probably not true: there are many reason including comfort and journey time which people will consider in making decisions about whether or not to use a bus). Missing Premise. Arguments where a conclusion is drawn but without a premise being stated. Making all buses free will increase ridership (The unstated premise is that price is the only thing keeping people off buses) Arguments that appeal to popularity, for example Rioters should get stiffer prison sentences for criminal activity. Arguments that appeal to pity. We should give it to him because he deserves it after all he has been through. (and only for the reason that he has been through it and for no other logical reason!) Arguments that appeal to authority. Professor Potter has been correct on similar things in the past, therefore we should believe him now Arguments that appeal to history. This old wives tale has been known for hundreds of years Arguments based on false analogy. Airports are analogous to bus stations because they are both transport hubs. The profile of people passing through these hubs is therefore similar.
CHAPTER 7 BACKGROUND: LITERATURE AND REFERENCING

COMPONENTS AND STRUCTURE
7.1. The background or literature review is an important part of a project: it identifies the current state-of-the-art (knowledge and understanding) in a field of inquiry. The literature review seeks to confirm the latest position is in the field; define the extent of current knowledge; describe what is happening at the leading edge; and identify gaps which warrant research and lead into the aims and objectives. 7.2. The writing up of a research paper in a literature review may take between one paragraph and two sides or more, depending on its relevance to your research aim and the value of the research undertaken. It may be appropriate to reproduce
37
tables of results from the reference, again if relevant to your research methodology and aim. The write up should contain the following parts: Clear statement of the aim of the research being referenced. The number of observations in the study and an overview of the method of data collection. The form of analysis. Variables considered and rejected and variables tested and retained. Consequences of the research. Conclusions, recommendations, where relevant to your aim. 7.3. It is not sufficient, however, that a literature review merely comprises statements extracted from previous work which are bolted together. The review should make intelligent links and demonstrate that the literature has been examined critically and with insight. It is these latter two that are often most difficult to master and it is good to make use of the work of one author to criticise the work of another, so that any criticism is informed. The literature review will need to present material usually in a chronological order. The chapter will however, need to be sub-divided around the different themes relevant to the research topic, perhaps for example: the historical development, the policy framework, background statistics, research into the different aspects of the problem (as many as are required) and so on.
7.4.
TYPES OF LITERATURE AND THEIR WEIGHT

7.5. The weighing process is assisted by recognising the value of the source material with a refereed journal at the high value end of the scale and a web page or media report2 at the low value end of the scale. Academic journals contain papers that are rigorously refereed, and are based on robust research using sound methodology. Authors tend to be very specialist in their field, and the papers are often the output of university research. Such papers are based on evidence and may be considered to be in the top division of written work. Within the division there are some journals which may be informally ranked in the upper quartile, some in the middle and some in the lower quartile. Academics can be most pleased with their work if it is published in the leading journal in their field. Journals will have an ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) and this is a sign of their status as a published document. It should be noted that most journals are now available to the academic community as ejournals (electronic journals) and are available on the web in restricted areas and searchable through web based search engines. Their presence on the web should not be confused with other web based sources of lesser importance (see below). Review papers are syntheses of findings reported in papers and are themselves reported in academic journals which often contain the word review in the title (for example the journal Transport Reviews). The purpose of a review paper i s to collect together and analyse the findings from primary research papers in order to provide further revelations about the subject matter. They may simply provide a partial overview of the field of inquiry, or they may be reviews of methods, or reviews of concepts and theories. Conference proceedings are often useful sources of data. Again some conferences are more prestigious than others. Conferences on the whole, though, are often not thought to be as prestigious as refereed academic journals, since it is more difficult to achieve publication in the latter. Conference proceedings may
7.6.
7.7.
7.8.
Media reports may be a useful way of finding out who is researching in a field. You should
avoid using media reports as primary reference sources.
38
be refereed, but more often than not, they are not refereed. Refereed proceedings would usually have an ISSN, but most often conference proceedings do not have an ISSN. 7.9. Books and textbooks are clearly important, but it should be remembered that they are often not based on evidence and research, and therefore may be considered less substantive than academic journals. The style of many text books is merely explanatory. They are termed secondary sources in that they will in turn refer to primary research outputs, such as papers in journals. Books have an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) and this is a sign of their status as a published document. News media, such as magazine and newspaper articles, should have little or no weight placed on them (even though they may have ISSNs, the equivalent of ISBNs for journals). They can provide a background context and may contain references to other source material, but no more than that. World wide web pages can provide data, reports, and opinion and may be classified in three ways: Web pages of public sector organisations, from which authoritative facts, reports (with an ISBN or otherwise) or secondary data sets as well as gre y literature (without an ISBN) may be downloaded. This might include universities, research laboratories, academic organisations providing secondary data (e.g. MIMAS and EDINA), government departments and international bodies (e.g. the United Nations, The European Union, International Panel on Climate Change). Note that some reports may merely be policy or strategy documents. Web pages of private companies, trade organisations and other identifiable organisations that may be incorporated bodies or charities. These web pages may provide grey literature, that is literature which is unpublished (that is, possessing no ISSN or ISBN), or sometimes may also provide published literature. It may also include proprietary product information or policy or lobbying information. Other web pages from non-verifiable sources. There are millions of web pages of which the authorship is unclear and for which their purpose is unclear, or alternatively, clearly biased. These should be avoided. 7.12. The above list is not exhaustive, but most literature will be classifiable into one of the broad groupings identified above.
7.10.
7.11.
THE LITERATURE SEARCH

7.13. The primary entry point for student research is the LSBU library home page: http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/library/. Following the search by subject link, it is possible to follow a link to the appropriate faculty and departmental website. Core eresources are then listed at this location. Two important abstracting engines are ISI Web of Knowledge and ScienceDirect. Further up to date information on sources of information and the use of those sources should be obtained directly from the library. Equally as important as the electronic search is the browse search through paper journals or e-journals. Students must not think, however that all important information in a field is listed electronically. Where information is not available electronically, and is also not on the shelves of the University library, it can be obtained through the inter-library loan process. Material can be obtained from the British Library and other libraries through the interlibrary loan system within a couple of days by filling out a form http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/library/html/interlibloans.shtml. The important point here is that it can be a time-consuming process, and so it is important to start the literature review early.
7.14. 7.15.
39
7.16.
Students may become aware that their subject area is one for which a particular university may have specialised staff. It follows that there may be several dissertations or theses stored on that university's shelves. Do not be afraid to approach the university to see whether you can borrow copies, we have a host of reciprocal loan arrangements. At the end of the literature review process the student should clearly know: the leading academic journals, the lead industry data sources, the leading conferences, the centres of knowledge/excellence in the field, the relevant professional institutions, the lead government department in the field, the relevant government bodies and agencies, countries with an interest in the field, the leading national and international researchers in the field, the leading authoritative web sites in the field.
7.17.
7.18.
The need to browse may involve the student travelling to places in other parts of the country. Students should not only use their university, college or local municipal library. Often universities have reciprocal arrangements whereby students from one institution may visit the library in another. A visit to the library of professional institutions or trade bodies may also be useful. Government agencies often have specialist libraries relating to particular fields of inquiry, for example business or the environment. Before travelling long distances it may be prudent to arrange an appointment to ensure that access is possible. It can also be very useful at the literature search stage to talk to people who have an interest in the field. They may direct you to important information and they may even redirect the thrust of your work. If done humbly and politely, well worded e-mails to leading authors in the field may produce some useful guidance or references. The depth in a literature review is probably best obtained by gaining references from references. Early leads can be obtained in the lite rature review process by electronic searching and browsing. Once an article is found, at the end of that article is often a list of references to other work in the field. The student should obtain these references, and having done so, will find more references at the end of the new reference; and so the process goes on. In searches, be careful about differences in spelling between the UK and USA, e.g. colour/color, heteroscedasticity/heteroskedasticity, and differences in terminology, e.g. a footway in the UK is a sidewalk in the USA.
7.19.
7.20.
7.21.
Theories, models and paradigms 7.22. The aim and objectives, hypothesis and research question are better understood if they are grounded in a theoretical framework and the literature review should describe and confirm the basis of the theoretical context for the research. A theory is a systematic rationale (or view) of phenomena and which specifies relationships between variables to explain the phenomena. A research project may involve the development of a model or improvement of an existing model. A model is a representation of a process or system validated against observable data: it must capture reality as closely as possible. A model permits prediction (or forecasting) whereby, given the relevant inputs, the outputs maybe determined. The researcher will seek to introduce change in the relevant inputs and observe the effects on the outputs (sensitivity testing).
7.23.
40
7.24.
The literature might refer to a paradigm, which is a simply a theoretical framework. Mostly, research works within an existing paradigm. Paradigm shifts are relatively rare (and often claimed but mostly illusory) and may fundamentally affect the way a system is viewed. A good (although quite extreme) example of a paradigm shift is Einsteins theories of special (1906) and then general (1916) relativity, which moved thinking on dramatically from Newtonian mechanics.
Critical analysis and weight 7.25. References are quoted as evidence of the current state of play in a field of inquiry. First of all, it has to be decided whether or not the material in the reference relevant. If it is, it may either SUPPORT or DETRACT from an argument. There are three stages to the process of inclusion: Include the material factually and neutrally. Add every other reference of relevance. Review every reference included to come to a rounded view on their contribution. 7.26. It may be helpful to consider the exercise of writing a literature review as one whereby all the evidence pertaining to a particular issue is collated and placed on a set of balancing scales. Some of the evidence maybe substantial, rigorous and stem from a research project which has been well resourced and funded. Other evidence may be less substantive, lightweight, anecdotal and merely the opinion of important (or unimportant) people (e.g. many statements from the media would fall into this category). In collating evidence, the author must consider the weight of each individual piece, and consider on which side of the balancing scale it should be placed. Researchers can add their own evidence based on their personal verifiable experience and findings. The issue then becomes one of making judgements, very importantly not giving opinions or expressing personal views. The judgement should be made impartially, recognising the weight of the evidence on each side of the scale. Opinions, taken individually, are lightweight, anecdotal and prone to change. Writers must put themselves in the position of judge in a court situation and may for example say something like On the balance of the evidence from research project A and evidence B, it is likely that . . .. The concept of weight is important; the analogy maybe that an independently sponsored report executed by a team of leading people in the field may weigh 100kg, whilst a small scale piece of work funded by an interest group may weigh less that 1kg. The critical appraisal aspects of a literature review may be enhanced by the use of terms which emphasise that comparison is taking place, such as: whereas, on the other hand, alternatively, but, another view, the opposite stance, this is contradicted by. Such terms reinforce to the reader the critical nature of the literature review, and they help to focus the writer's attention on the need to be critically appraising the material being discussed.
7.27.
7.28.
Summarising appraisal 7.29. At the end of the literature review there should be an appraisal which assesses, in the author's words, the implications of the literature on the study and relates it to the aims and objectives. It may be titled summary, appraisal, summarising appraisal or critical appraisal. Whilst the literature will be from a wide variety of sources, it must be written as though it were a funnel, with the output being consolidated and narrow, with legitimate contentions, assertions and arguments for advancing the area of knowledge further. Typically say from the literature the following fundamental issues arose . Revisit the research questions, aim, objectives and hypotheses at the end of the literature review.
REFERENCING
7.30. It is important to list bibliographic information:
41
to avoid passing off a fact or statement, and comment or conclusion in your work as though it were yours (plagiarism); to allow the reader enough information to find the source and therefore be able to read it him or herself; and to allow the reader to evaluate the weight you place on the reference source (article in a referenced journal more weight than, e.g. a book perhaps and certainly more weight than an unregulated web-site). 7.31. It would be clumsy to write something like this: C.A. Ashley and C. Banister in a paper titled Cycling to work from wards in a metropolitan area: factors influencing cycling to work on pages 173 to 178 of the journal traffic engineering and control, Volume 30, Number 6, June 1989 studied cycling to work based on census data at ward level in the three metropolitan districts. 7.32. Instead, we place all the bibliographic information in a reference list at the end of the document, like this: ASHLEY, C.A., BANISTER, C., 1989. Cycling to work from wards in a metropolitan area: factors influencing cycling to work. Traffic Engineering and Control, 30(6), pp173-178. 7.33. Listing all the bibliographic information at the end in this way allows the sentence to be more easily understood, like this: Ashley and Banister (1989) studied cycling to work based on census data at ward level in the three metropolitan districts. 7.34. 7.35. The practice of referencing is very important in academic work and should not be treated lightly. There are two generic styles of referencing: the Numeric System and the Harvard System. Science and engineering journals tend to use the Harvard System (although, for example, the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers uses the numeric system!). Each journal will have its own specific peculiarities and editors tend to provide Notes for authors which detail these requirements. In this programme of study, the required style is the Harvard British Standard Version. There are a number of specific sources which can help with this, in particular LSBU (undated) and Anglia Ruskin University (2009) provide useful guidance. Perfection that is required: full stops and commas, and so on should all be in the correct place. The basic order of presentation of bibliographic information in a reference list is as follows: Author(s) (This may sometimes be the name of an organisation if a personal author is not identifiable, for example DfT, for Department for Transport) Year of publication Title of article or chapter (in edited books) (if a paper or chapter) Journal title (if a paper in a journal) Title of book (if a book or report) Volume and issue number (for journals) Edition number (for books) Publisher (Books or reports, this may be the same as the author in which case it is repeated, for example, Department for Transport) Place of publication (for books or reports: as well as, or instead of being a geographical place, this could be a virtual place, i.e. a web page, for example www.dft.gov.uk)
7.36.
42
Page numbers (for journals) 7.37. 7.38. References should be listed alphabetically. Table 7.1 summarises examples of references for different types of source material.
43
Table 7.1 Example references

Type of source material Article in journal Components and order of the reference plus an example AUTHOR, A.A., AUTHOR, B.B. and AUTHOR, C.C., YEAR. Title of article. Title of Journal, vol(issue), pp. xx-xx. e.g. PARKIN, J., WARDMAN, M. and PAGE, M., 2007. Models of perceived cycling risk and route acceptability. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 39(2), pp364-371. AUTHOR, A.A., AUTHOR, B.B. and AUTHOR, C.C., YEAR. Title of book. Xxx ed. Publisher: place. e.g. BRYMAN, A. and CRAMER, D., 1999. Quantitative data analysis with SPSS release 8 for windows. A guide for social scientists. Routeledge, London. AUTHOR(S), YEAR. Title of chapter. In: EDITOR(S) (Ed.(s)) Title of book. Xxx ed. Publisher: place. Ch. X. or pp. xx-xx. e.g. PARKIN, J., RYLEY, T. and JONES, T., 2007. Barriers to cycling: an exploration of quantitative analyses. In: ROSEN, P., and HORTON, D. and COX, P. (Eds.) Cycling and Society. Ashgate: London. Ch. 3. AUTHOR(S), YEAR. Title of paper. Conference title, place, dates. e.g. GUTHRIE, N., 1999. UK Cycle centres: factors that determine their success. Velo-City, 11th International Bicycle Planning Conference, Graz, Austria. 13-16 April. AUTHOR(S), YEAR. Title of paper. In: Editor or name of organisation. Title of conference. Location, date, publisher: place. pp xx-xx. e.g. COPE, A.M., ABBESS, C.R. and PARKIN, J., 2007. Improving the empirical basis for cycle planning. In: Heydecker, B. Mathematics on Transport, Proceedings of the 4th Institute of Mathematics and its Applications International Conference on Mathematics in Transport. Elsevier, Holland. ORGANISATION NAME, YEAR. Title. Publisher (usually the organisation name again), place. e.g. DfT, 1996. National Cycling Strategy. Department for Transport, London. AUTHOR(S) or SOURCE, YEAR. Title of web page or document. Available at: URL [Accessed date month year] e.g. ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY (2009) Harvard system of referencing guide. Available at: http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm?harvard_id=29#29 [Accessed 9th February 2009] AUTHOR(S), YEAR. Title. TRL Report No. Transport Research Laboratory: Crowthorne. e.g. GRAYSON, G.B., 1996. Behavioural adaptation: a review of the literature. TRL Report 254. Transport Research Laboratory: Crowthorne. PUBLICATION NAME, YEAR. Title of article. Date, pp. xx-xx. e.g. NEW SCIENTIST, 2007. No driver required. 17th Nov. 2007, p5. COMMUNICANT, YEAR. Type of communication and title (if appropriate), location and date as appropriate. e.g. SKINNER, A.J., 2000. Personal conversation on the 08:39 Bolton to Manchester train on 12th May.
Book
Chapter in book
Un-refereed conference paper Refereed conference paper (akin to chapter in a book)
Report by an organisation
Web page
Transport Research Laboratory Report1 Newspaper or magazine2 Personal communication
Notes 1 Transport Research Laboratory Reports are separately listed because they are a slightly special case for two reasons: they are usually referenced by the authors names rather than as TRL reports and because the Report Number is usually also quoted. 2 Relevant for publications which appear more than once per month. If the journalists name is printed with the article, then this may be added to the reference.
44
7.39.
Most journals are now available electronically as well as in paper copy. If they have been read on the web, they should still be referenced as described in Table 2.1 above. It is common now for papers to have a digital object identifier (doi) associated with them (e.g. doi: 10.1007/s11116-007-9137-5). This is like a telephone number for the particular paper and is searchable using search engines. While it is not currently common practice to include DOIs in a reference, this may change with time. A few points to note about how to include references in the text are as follows: The initials of the authors are not included in the main text. For example, Guthrie (1999), NOT Guthrie, N. (1999). When there are three or more authors, the reference in the text should be shortened to just the first author, plus the words et al. (short for et alii, meaning and the rest). For example Parkin et al. (2007). It may be appropriate to reference a particular page in a book, for example Bryman and Cramer (1999, p 23). If a date is not apparent, stated undated where otherwise the year would appear.
7.40.
7.41.
Start your reference list as soon as you start to write your literature review. If you read something, but do not actually reference it, put it in a separate list and call this the bibliography.
CHAPTER 8 OTHER RESOURCES

8.1. You may wish to look at one or more of the very useful web sites which deal with English, grammar and critical thinking as follows: Grammar: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/endangered-punctuation-the-semicolon-360/ http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs023/1102470512326/archive/11033348639 61.html Critical Reasoning: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/itunes-u/critical-reasoning-forbeginners/id387875756?ls=1
REFERENCES
Anglia Ruskin University (2009) Harvard system of referencing guide. Available at: http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm?harvard_id=29#29 [Accessed 9 th February 2009] Brink-Budgen, R. van den (2010) Critical thinking for students : learn the skills of analysing, evaluating and producing arguments 4th Edition. Oxford : How To Books. Brown, J. (undated) Grammatical pit-falls. Imperial College notes, unpublished. Cobbett, W. (1823) A grammar of the English language. 3 rd edition 2003. Oxford University Press: Oxford. Cooper, B.M. (1964) Writing technical reports. Penguin: London. Fellows, R. and Liu, A., 1997. Research methods for construction. Blackwell Science: London. Fowler, H.W. (1965) Fowlers Modern English Usage. Oxford University Press: Oxford. Geach, P.T. (1976) Reason and argument. University of California Press: Berkeley. Gowers, E. (1962) The complete plain words. Penguin: London. Gribbin, J., 2005. The fellowship: the story of a revolution. Penguin books: London
45
Holt, G.D. (1997) A guide to successful dissertation study for students of the built environment. The Built Environment Research Unit, University of Wolverhampton: Wolverhampton. LSBU (undated) How to do Your Referencing Using the Harvard System. Helpsheet 30. http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/library/helpsheets/hs30.pdf [Accessed 14th October 2010] Ruchlis, H. And Oddo, S. (1990) Clear thinking: a practical introduction. Promethues Books: New York. Society of Petroleum Engineers (2009) Style guide. Society of petroleum engineers. Available at http://www.spe.org/spe-site/spe/spe/papers/authors/Pub_StyleGuide.pdf [Accessed 30/8/11]
46

English Writing Grammer

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Titolo originale

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

English Writing Grammer

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

1.

2 Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

Professor John Parkin

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

CHAPTER 1 THE NATURE OF WRITING

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

In acronyms and abbreviations

For the First person

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

CHAPTER 3 SENTENCE AND PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

Conjunctions Interjections 3.8.

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

These are equivalents to a noun

Sentences may be of the following four types:

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

Type Simple Complex Double Multiple

Adverb or adverb phrase Adjective or adjective phrases Adjective or adjective phrases

onto the flat roof.

Simple sentence with being verb Concrete is grey

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

Dangling unrelated participle

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

positioning immediately which it refers).

CHAPTER 4 DOCUMENT STRUCTURE

DEFINITIONS OF DESIGN, RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTS

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

Background / literature review

Write up the methodology chapter

Write up analysis and results or designs

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University

Notes on written communication and critical reasoning

(ii) (iii) (iv) (v)

Department of Urban Engineering London South Bank University