Teaching Sociology

41(1) 121 127

American Sociological Association 2013
http://ts.sagepub.com
Book Review
Fred Pyrczak and Randall R. Bruce
Writing Empirical Research Reports: A Basic Guide for
Students of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. 7th ed.
Glendale, CA: Pyrczak Publishing, 2011. 162 pp.
$44.50 (paperback). ISBN-10: 1884585973 | ISBN-
13: 978-1884585975
Jose L. Galvan
Writing Literature Reviews: A Guide for Students of the
Social and Behavioral Sciences. 4th ed. Glendale, CA:
Pyrczak Publishing, 2009. 170 pp. $49.95. ISBN-10:
1884585868 | ISBN-13: 978-1884585869
Reviewed by: Pamela Pitman Brown, University of
Central Missouri, USA
DOI: 10.1177/0092055X12463561
As more students return to college for their bach-
elors and graduate degrees after time in the pri-
vate sector, one of the largest challenges they face
is updating their writing styles and skills. As a
nontraditional graduate student, I was introduced
to the resources provided by Pyrczak Publishing in
the mid-2000s. The fifth edition of Writing Empir-
ical Research Reports (2005) impressed me and
provided a wonderful review of research-based
paper guidelines. Additionally, my more tradi-
tional-aged colleagues benefited from the helpful
guide and introduction to writing of empirical
research reports provided by the text. Because of
these positive experiences, I was happy to review
the seventh edition of Writing Empirical Research
Reports and the fourth edition of Writing Litera-
ture Reviews.
Writing Empirical Research Reports (seventh
edition) and Writing Literature Reviews (fourth
edition) are highly structured, well-written texts
that carry the student through the complete process
of writing a research article and a literature review,
respectively. The formatting remains unchanged
across the editions, with each chapter addressing
one particular task or component of the writing
process. The chapter then details, using guidelines,
examples, and exercises, how to complete the
named task. Pyrczak Publishing has maintained
this format throughout each text, making each of
them a valuable resource for those reentering the
academic climate after years of absence or those
who are new to the academy, including instructors.
Additionally, Writing Empirical Research Reports
(seventh edition) includes an answer key to assist
the instructor with the discussion questions at the
end of each chapter.
Writing Empirical Research Reports is broken
down into 15 chapters, which is useful during a
semester-long course. Chapter 1 provides an intro-
duction to the essential elements of a research
report, setting the stage for the remainder of the
text. Chapters 2 and 3 cover the often difficult task
of writing a simple research hypothesis. The
authors have broken this task into guidelines that
address each element necessary for writing this
type of hypothesis. The use of the terms independ-
ent variable, dependent variable, and predicted
relationship are covered in the first three guide-
lines. Often writing the most basic or simple
hypothesis is difficult as students are often unsure
as to what components should and should not be
included within one. Pyrczak and Bruce break the
step into manageable and understandable terms,
include examples, and offer improved examples as
well.
Chapter 4 speaks to writing the research objec-
tives or purposes and research questions. The
concept of qualitative research questions and
objectives are discussed within this chapter as an
alternative to writing a simple research hypothesis.
463561TSOXXX10.1177/0092055X12
463561Teaching SociologyBook Review
2013
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122 Teaching Sociology 41(1)
Throughout the text, Pyrczak and Bruce point out
the subtle differences between qualitative and
quantitative research writing. This allows the text
to be used not only for those who are writing
research reports that are based on quantitative
methodology, but also qualitative research. Addi-
tionally, Pyrczak and Bruce focus solely on writing
reports of qualitative research within chapter 14.
For those normally writing quantitative reports/
articles, this later chapter both alerts and assists in
the differences in writing style and terminology.
Titles are another nail-biting issue for many
students. Chapter five, Writing Titles, makes the
process much less painful by presenting what a
title should and should not include. For example, a
title should not be a complete sentence (p. 35) and
a title should indicate the findings of the study
(p. 37). One guideline states that the title should
not be clever (p. 42), which for many students is
difficult to comprehend when they see others using
catchy or cute titles for their presentations or
articles.
When reviewing the remainder of the chapter
titles one can see how simply the authors have
constructed each element or task in the research
report writing process. The chapters titles high-
light the task at hand and focus on writing the
various sections of the research paper (introduction
and literature review [Chapter 6], definitions
[Chapter 7], methods [Chapter 9], analysis and
results [Chapter 11], discussion [Chapter 12]). The
breakdown of each research report section allows
the student to focus on the current application and
not be overwhelmed with the complete process or
expected outcome.
Additionally, Pyrczak and Bruce include
improvements in the examples when necessary,
showing where a guideline was not followed and
how the sentence could be restructured in order to
follow them. For example, in chapter eight the
guideline says, When stating an assumption, con-
sider providing the reason(s) why it was necessary
to make the assumption (p. 73). The example
shown is it was assumed that the cheerfulness
scale was valid (p. 73). But the authors then issue
an improved version of the example, highlighting
the fact that no reason was given as to why the
assumption was necessary and including the miss-
ing portion of the guideline within the improved
example. Both the examples and the improved
version examples are highly advantageous when
teaching students how to identify an adherence to
the research report guidelines, particularly under-
graduate students who may have never read an
empirical report, much less written one.
Moreover, graduate students can benefit from
the examples to remind them of the correct or more
scholarly attributes of their writing. In my teach-
ing, I have often found that graduate students,
while knowing the proper procedure, may be rush-
ing to complete a paper in a timely manner and not
pay attention to the details of the report. The texts
examples have the ability to highlight their weak-
nesses and assist them in corrections prior to sub-
mission, whether to a professor, a conference, or a
publication. As a professor, I continue to use the
text with my own work, particularly when trying to
meet publication or conference deadlines, to make
sure that my writing is more academic in nature.
My favorite chapter within Writing Empirical
Research Reports is chapter 13, Writing Abstracts.
For an academic who must write abstracts for con-
ference presentations and journal articles, this would
be a wonderful addition to their toolbox. Through-
out my academic career, I have never once had
instruction on how to actually produce or write an
abstract. It appeared to me that abstract writing was
something of an art. But Pyrczak and Bruce have
succeeded in moving it from an art to an almost fill-
in-the-blank concept with 12 guidelines. Numerous
conferences are now insisting that abstracts contain
findings or face rejection. The authors address how
to write not only the findings within the abstract but
how to summarize the methodology, the theoretical
undercurrents, and the uniqueness of the study. This
chapter is worth the purchase price of the text
for those who struggle to complete a satisfactory
abstract.
Often when reviewing or using a continued edi-
tion, limited changes are noted within the review.
Such is not the case with Writing Empirical
Research Reports (seventh edition). Each subse-
quent edition includes more contemporary research
examples. Additionally, the seventh edition incor-
porated the latest changes of the Publication Man-
ual of the American Psychological Association
(American Psychological Association, 2009). This
is most useful as well when teaching students who
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Book Review 123
may not be familiar with the 2010 APA style
changes or those who are writing across numerous
disciplinary genres.
Pyrczak and Bruce note that the text is useful
for both undergraduate and graduate students, par-
ticularly graduate students who are in the process
of writing theses or dissertations. To further this
assistance, Pyrczak and Bruce intersperse pointers
for these graduate students throughout the text.
There is only one suggestion that I have to the
authors of Writing Empirical Research Reports
(seventh edition) and to professors/instructors con-
sidering using the text. In the introduction section
of the text, the authors suggest using Appendix
B as the place to begin. The article, Thinking
Straight and Writing That Way, presents an over-
view of the five fundamental principles toward
effectively composing a research report. If the
authors believe this article should be first in the
presentation of material, I recommend relocating it
to the front of the text as the first chapter.
An accompanying text is Jose Galvans Writing
Literature Reviews (fourth edition), which could
be considered an expansion of Writing Empirical
Research Reportss chapter six. Additionally, the
text follows the familiar style and organization,
using guidelines, examples, and activities, which
assist the writer through the process of completing
the academic literature review.
Galvan uses the first chapter to familiarize the
reader with the terminology of literature reviews,
including the types of writings found in journal
articles and explaining what constitutes primary or
secondary sources. He goes on to further describe
what primary sources may consist of within a social
or behavioral sciences, noting that all journal arti-
cles are not original research but may be theoretical
proposals or critiques, literature review articles syn-
thesizing works, anecdotal reports based on per-
sonal experiences, or professional practices and
standard reports. Often as professors, we fail to give
our students this information, particularly toward
upper-level undergraduates or beginning graduate
students. Many students will never attempt to pub-
lish an excellent class paper simply because they are
unaware of the various types of articles contained
within academic journals.
Additionally, within the first chapter Galvan
breaks down the three major issues that may
confound both readers and reviewers of research
articles. This section of the text may confuse
lower-level undergraduates, causing them to pose
the question Why do research if there are always
issues? It is because of the level of attention to
detail Galvan uses, that would direct me away
from using the first five pages of the text with this
group of students. I would be inclined to move
these five pages to the end of the first chapter or
even address them as a separate section prior to
chapter five, Analyzing Qualitative Research Lit-
erature. However, when using the text with upper-
level undergraduate or graduate students I would
leave the pages in order as it should simply be a
review or reminder to them on research methodo-
logical issues.
Chapter two is quite short (four pages) but
addresses the specific purposes in which a litera-
ture review would be used. Galvan notes the three
reasons as a class term paper, a research article,
and a thesis or dissertation. He notes within each
reason how to utilize the timeframe available to
work within, such as a class term paper where you
are only allotted the semester to complete the task.
He offers a timeline for a 15-week semester (p.
12), breaking the tasks into four stages, from the
beginning library search to the final draft. This is
most helpful for professors as well as students
when constructing deadlines for class papers. I
have used this timeline within various courses and
have been able to modify it for 8- to10-week sprint
classes quite easily.
My favorite chapter within Writing Literature
Reviews (fourth edition) is chapter five, Selecting
a Topic & Identifying Literature for Review.
Numerous times, I have heard graduate students
state that they cannot choose a topic or they cannot
narrow a topic into a specific path. This chapter
walks the reader through this tedious and challeng-
ing process in 14 steps. Of particular importance is
the use of the Educational Resource Information
Center (ERIC) database, highlighting the impor-
tance of using a disciplined-focus database such as
PsychoINFO or Sociological Abstracts. Galvan
leads the reader through the concepts of academic
databases by including a how-to guide for nov-
ices (p. 18). This step-by-step guide is a bonus for
readers who have never had a library course on
locating resources. Additionally, a sample list is
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124 Teaching Sociology 41(1)
included of discipline-specific library databases
(pp. 22-23).
Chapters four through six walk the student
through choosing the appropriate literature and
quantitative/qualitative research for the selected
topic. Galvan inserts the concept of using note
cards while reading articles to make it easier for
categorization and grouping of topics/subtopics.
Additionally he suggests using note cards for defi-
nitions, important points of the article, quotes, and
key statistics, as well as methodological strengths
and weaknesses. For those of us old-school
types this makes sense. But for the current tradi-
tional-aged students, the concepts of using note-
cards and not computer-generated spreadsheets
may appear to be an old and outdated notion. I still
suggest to students that they should use notecards,
particularly when writing lengthy papers.
Chapter 7 consists of 10 guidelines in building
literature summary tables. Galvan notes that you
may want to include in your literature review one
or more of the tables you build, which will also
help to provide an overview for the readers of your
review (p. 63). The most useful guidelines in this
chapter are 9 and 10. Galvan includes instructions
on how to use Microsoft Word to build and format
the table.
Galvan uses chapter eight as more of a planning
and synthesis module. He offers 12 guidelines to
assist the reader on choosing their voice, creat-
ing an outline, and organizing notes. He also
includes a sample outline (p. 73), which is to be
used to illustrate various points during the remain-
der of chapter eight. At the end of the chapter, he
clarifies what is meant by a more detailed outline,
or in his words fleshed-out (p. 78). For readers
unfamiliar with the concept of outlining a literature
review and constructing a detailed outline, this is a
vital piece of information in assisting them in mov-
ing toward the next step, writing a first draft.
The writing of the first draft is addressed in
chapter 9 with chapter 10 assisting in the first
drafts refinement. These two chapters are critical
to the success of the final paper. Students will often
write their first draft, turn it in to the professor, and
consider the project completed. By employing
Galvans methods of refinement, the student will
be well on their way toward the completion of the
project with the possibility of fewer revisions.
Additionally, chapter 11 leads the reader through
the process of checking writing style, language
usage, and the mechanics of writing, including the
technical aspects of grammar rules, punctuation,
and spelling.
Of major importance within chapter 11 is Gal-
vans section on plagiarism. While all professors
and universities usually address plagiarism in their
syllabi or on the university Web site, most of us do
not address the topic in class. This can lead to egre-
gious violations of academic protocol. By Galvan
including this section within the text, it allows pro-
fessors to then address this topic from a nonaccusa-
tory standpoint of covering the text material and not
from an adversarial position at a later date when a
student has committed a violation. Personally, I
would move chapter 11 ahead of chapters 9 and 10
when using this textbook so that this section is cov-
ered prior to the writing of the first draft.
The last three chapters (12-14) are mainly con-
cerned with what happens after the feedback and
the submittal of the first draft, the final steps in the
completion of the literature review. I applaud Gal-
vans statement of what to do when you get back
your paper with feedback, put the manuscript
aside for a period of time, thereby creating some
distance from the manuscript and from your role as
the writer (p. 107). No greater advice was ever
given to me during my years as a student, particu-
larly during the intense process of thesis or dis-
sertation writing. Chapter 14 is actually a checklist
to assist the reader, now a writer, in editing,
redrafting, and overall refinement of the project.
An entirely new chapter to this edition of Writ-
ing Literature Reviews is chapter 13, Preparing a
Reference List. Reference lists can cause many
students to go into panic mode for no apparent
reason and I am very glad that Galvan has added
this chapter. I would however address reference
lists and compilation earlier within the text so as to
alert the student to the careful construction of their
notecards. Having surveyed where to relocate this
information, I believe that it probably should be
addressed either just after or during chapter 4,
along with the guidelines for analyzing literature
and the suggestion of notecard usage.
Supplemental material at the end of the text
contains eight literature review models, which can
be used for discussion or evaluation during the
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Book Review 125
course. Additionally, these literature review mod-
els are used during end-of-chapter activities for
several chapters and have been updated with the
addition of three new models.
My bookshelves at home and at the university
hold several texts from Pyrczak Publishing, includ-
ing previous editions of Writing Empirical
Research Reports and Writing Literature Reviews.
I continuously find myself referencing them for
classroom instruction, one-on-one conferences on
term papers, and professional conference abstracts.
After carefully reviewing the newer editions, I am
incorporating each of them into a graduate profes-
sional seminar this coming semester, continuing
the tradition set forth in my first graduate pro-sem.
It is a fitting tribute to the longevity of the texts, to
their formatting, and to the texts ability to allay
writing fears within students and even professors.
REFERENCE
American Psychological Association. 2009. Publication
Manual of the American Psychological Association.
6th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association.
Mark Edwards
Writing in Sociology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Pub-
lications, Inc., 2012. 160 pp. $22.00 (paperback).
ISBN: 978-1-4129-1424-6.
Reviewed by: Kristen M. Budd, Indiana University
South Bend, USA
DOI: 10.1177/0092055X12463560
Learning how to write using the sociological per-
spective is a journey. Sometimes on this journey it
helps to have a guide! Whether undergraduates
taking sociology classes or graduate students pro-
gressing through their course work, writing
becomes a vehicle for students not only to com-
municate their mastery of the discipline but also the
voice that conveys their research. Having a how
to book on producing well-written sociological
work that students can either read and/or reference
has the potential to be a powerful tool. Writing in
Sociology is a book that aims to do just that: to
teach students how to write in the field of sociology
while embracing the struggles and triumphs that
happen during the writing process. After reading
this book, I view it as a student user manual that
details different types of sociological writing, using
a variety of illustrations, so that students can learn
to write, and write well, in sociology.
Edwardss book is well written and clearly
organized. It is easy to follow his progression from
brainstorming research ideas to writing up quanti-
tative and qualitative research. An organizational
feature that I find beneficial is that each chapter
can stand alone or the book can be read in its
entirety. This can be useful for students who need
help in specific areas, such as strengthening their
literature review or writing the results section of a
quantitative paper. They can simply locate the
chapter they need to read or reference instead of
having to sift through larger bodies of text. In addi-
tion, because Edwardss writing keeps a good pace
and is laced with a bit of humor, the book itself can
be read within a short amount of time; for example,
a few hours here and there over a few days.
Writing in Sociology is broken down into four
primary sections: an overview of sociological writ-
ing, quantitative writing, qualitative writing, and
other types of writing objectives such as applied
research literature reviews. The first section, con-
taining chapters one through five, gives students a
broad overview of writing in sociology from turn-
ing research ideas into research questions, ground-
ing research in the published literature, to citing
sources. I am appreciative that Edwards starts out
his book with a short discussion of how personal
the writing process can be and that, at times, it
takes courage to have someone else read and cri-
tique what we write. This especially holds true for
students who are just starting to learn how to write
from the sociological perspective.
The remainder of section one focuses on the
nuts and bolts of sociological writing. Novice
and even seasoned sociology students struggle
with formulating research ideas and then turning
them into research questions. To address this,
Edwards dedicates an entire chapter to this topic
(chapter two). He offers many examples to help
students move beyond what may appear to them as
individualistic questions to sociological questions.
In chapter three, he provides a good analogy of
how to construct a research paper by using the
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