SOCIAL SCIENCES ACADEMIC WRITING

Ruiqi Tao

Writing 2

02/12/2020
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Social Sciences Academic Writing

As students focus on writing for different academic disciplines,

they need to realize that each discipline requires a different writing

technique. For example, it is common to find a student who receives

positive feedback on essays in one field and receives negative reviews on

his writings in another discipline at the same time. Obviously, the

difference in the feedback does not necessarily stem from the general

essay writing technique. Instead, theAcademic Writing for Statistics

Ruiqi Tao

8th March 2020

Abstract

The difference in writing for different academic disciplines stems from the need to

understand how to argue and support their arguments in the different disciplines. This

involves understanding the discipline's writing standards, the nature of the evidence that

the discipline requires, and the knowledge on how individuals within the discipline

understand its conventions. Consequently, thisThis paper identifies and analyzes the

appropriate literacy practices to use when writing a social sciencestatistics academic

paper.

Taking an example of academic writing in social science, I recommend five literacy practice: the

overall tone of the paper, the choice of the words, multi-dimensional structure, arguments with

following evidence and a clear thesis.

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Academic writing in social sciences focuses on new scientific developments and clarification of

scientific questions in fields such as anthropology, political science, sociology, economics, and

psychology1.Introduction

Academic writing in statistics focuses on the scientific analysis of data. It provides an analysis of

collected statistical data to support the key arguments of a specific research issue or question.1

Like writing for any other discipline, social sciencestatistics academic writing follows certain

conventions. First, a social sciences paper must have in-text citations, footnotes or endnotes,

and a list of references. A well-written statistics paper must follow a standard and logical

structure to make it easier for the reader to follow the argument it presents. These

requirements ensure that the writer acknowledges the source of the ideas and form a defend

shielddata and acts as a defense against plagiarism, which is a violation of academic writing

rules. Secondly, a social sciences paper uses must follow the APA writing format, which

describes the paper format, headings, subheadings, and citation styles.Like in all other spheres

of academic writing, these parts of a statistics paper must have in-text citations, footnotes or

endnotes, and a list of references. Besides, statistics academic writing requires 2 Finally, social

science writings require the use of appropriate academic language. The paper should avoid the

use of slang or colloquial language, avoid emotions or unconfirmed statements, avoid

contraction of information, and finally avoid the use of the first and second-person pronouns.

Further, good2. Structure

1 University of South Carolina. 2020. Organizing your Social Sciences Research Paper. February 10. Accessed
February 12, 2020. https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/academicwritingIntroduction to SAS. UCLA: Statistical
Consulting Group.
from https://stats.idre.ucla.edu/sas/modules/sas-learning-moduleintroduction-to-the-features-of-sas/

2 Bhakar, Sher, and Navita Nathani. 2015. A Handbook on writing Research Paper in Social Sciences. New
Delhi: Bharti Publications.
 Tao 3

A statistics paper is divided into four main parts. These are the introduction and problem

statement, the research design and hypothesis, the data analysis and finally the summary and

conclusion.3 The introduction and problem statement of the paper is a brief statement of the

scientific issue at hand, and it should indicate why the matter is worthy of study. Next, the

research design and hypotheses section translates the academic concerns expressed in the

introduction. In this part, the paper should indicate the nature and source of data used in the

study, the theoretical concepts, and the factors affecting the data variables. The third section,

which is the data analysis, reports the results of the statistical tests undertaken in the study. It

defines the correlation coefficients, regression coefficients, and results of tests. The final part of

a statistical research paper is the summary and conclusion. It highlights the relationship

between the data analysis results and the academic question stated at the beginning.

3. The first literacy practice

Good writing in the context of social sciencestatistics as a discipline entails other literal

practicesaspects. First is the overall tone of the paper. When writing a social sciencesstatistics

paper, it is important to present the arguments of others fairly using an appropriate tone and

attitude.4 In other words, when presenting arguments that one disagrees with, one must

describe these arguments with unbiased language, which means that the paper should

demonstrate a high level of investigative research. Therefore, one should present their

arguments confidently in a neutral and non-confrontational tone. Second is the choice of words

in the paper. WhenNotably, the paper should be persuasive. Persuasive means that it should

3 Janda. 2020. "Guide For Research Papers In Statistics". Janda.Org. http://janda.org/c10/Research

%20papers/PaperGuide.htm.
4 Judy, Eaton, and Morris David. 2019. Academic Literacy in the Social Sciences. Toronto: Canadian
ScholarsKearney, Michael. (2014). Persuading Audiences with Statistical Evidence. 10.13140/RG.2.2.27930.34242.
 Tao 4

present the reader with an opportunity to make a verdict based on the statistical arguments it

presents. Besides, when writing a social sciencestatistics paper, it is important to avoid the use

of words or terminologies that could dilute the intended argument. Writing in this discipline

aims to support or discuss scientific arguments. Therefore, and, therefore, it must use precise

words that convey a specific meaning.

Additionally, writing social science4. The second literacy practice

Writing statistics academic papers is often intersectedintricate and multi-dimensional.

Thus, it is important to use accurate language. The paper should have well-structured

paragraphs with clear topic sentences. These will enhance the coherency of the paper and

make it easier for the readers to follow the content without difficulty. The paper should adopt a

concise and formal language to express its arguments. It should avoid the use of vague

expressions that do not allow the reader to derive the exact meaning the writer wishes to

convey.5 For example, instead of stating "the organization," the writer should specify the

organization they are referring to by name; for example, “organization Abc." The paper should

also avoid the use of superfluous words like "very," "super," or "incredible." Finally, good

writing in the context of social science requires the use of appropriate punctuation. Effective

scholarly social science writing relies on the use of all the elements of writing. Therefore,

writers in this discipline must use the correct punctuation. For example, it is inappropriate to

use exclamation marks, even in instances where one needs to emphasize a point. The use of

dashes, hyphens, semicolons, and colons should also be limited.

Also, scholarly social science writing requires arguments with tons of evidence

5 Caroline , Coffin, and Hewings Ann. 2003. "Writing for different disciplines." In Teaching Academic Writing: A
Toolkit for Higher Education, by Coffin Caroline, Hewings Ann, Jane Mary, Sharon Goodman, Theresa Lillis and
Joan Swann, 45-72. London: Routledge
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Further, it should adopt the use of visuals like graphs and tables. Visual aids make it easier for

the reader to understand the data being analyzed as well as the results.6 For example, it is

easier to understand a graph that represents the population of fifty states as opposed to the

numbers. A graph will help one to pinpoint the differences in these populations based on the

different colors on a graph.

5. The third literacy practice

Scholarly statistics writing requires evidence-based arguments. Because the primary aim

of statistical papers is to use data to present its arguments, it is vital that the writer ensures

that they gather data from credible sources. Besides, they should identity an appropriate data

analysis method or tool to use in the entire paper. While academic writing often requires the

writer to express their opinion on an issue, effective writing in this discipline requires one to

back their opinions on reasoning based on evidence. Alsoevidence-based reasoning. Besides,

writers need to have a proper understanding of the issues surrounding the matter and

consequently base their arguments or opinions on academic debates. This means that people

needone needs to support their arguments with evidencestatistics from academic research and

other reliable sources. The use of scholarly sources helps writers to present an objective

6 The Writing Center. 2020. "Statistics - The Writing Center". The Writing Center.
https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/statistics/.
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position objectively. In factessence, the quality of evidence that a writer presents determines

the strength of their argument.7 One of the goals of academic writing is to convince the

audience of the rationality of the writer’s argument through an articulate and rationally

structured paper, which must be backed up by evidence. Consequently, one needs to conduct

an extensive literature review using previously published evidence on the subject. One way to

provide evidence to support an argument is social sciencesstatistics is the inclusion of table and

statistical findings.8 The use of sources that present factual information help to explainelucidate

the magnitude of the problem and the possible outcomes of the proposed solutions. The use of

evidence from credible sources is especially important when the paper aims to propose

solutions. Therefore, social science writers must use evidence in their arguments since it

enhances the credibility of their work.

Finally, individuals

6. The forth literacy practice

Individuals within the social sciencesstatistics fraternity engage with papers that have a

clear thesis. A clear thesis in the discipline refers to the preliminary arguments that a writer

presents. In other words, for a social sciencestatistics paper to qualify as scholarly, it needs to

start with an idea on a chosen topic of research, which the writer then discusses to establish

solutions to the research question. 9 For example, when writing a psychology paper that

requires one to discuss the effects of parents’ divorcesmoking on the psychological welfare of

7 IbidHorkoff, Tara. 2020. "Chapter 11. Developing A Convincing Argument". Opentextbc.Ca. Accessed March 5.
https://opentextbc.ca/writingforsuccess/chapter/chapter-11-developing-a-convincing-argument/.
8 Ibid

9 UCSD. n.d. Writing a Good Social Science Paper. Accessed February 12, 2020.
https://pages.ucsd.edu/~keferree/Writing%20a%20Good%20Social%20Science%20Paper.htm .Ibid (Horkoff 2020)
 Tao 7

children, the thesis would be the writer’s opinion. In this case, the paper should begin by

stating the psychological effects of divorce on the children, which would be the thesis of the

writinghealth of smokers. The thesis would state clearly that according to statistics, there is a

close relationship between smoking and poor health outcomes. Based on the opinion

presented in the thesis, the paper should then provide supporting statistical evidence to sustain

the argument.10 Without a clear thesis, stakeholders in the discipline will not perceive a paper

as academic because despite identifying a problem, it will not informpersuade the reader how

the research will contribute to solving the issue.

To sum up, that the problem has been statistically proven to exist.

7. Conclusion

academic writing in an intricate undertaking. It is worth noting that different academic

disciplines have different requirements and conventions in terms of format, language, and

supporting evidence. For example, social sciencestatistics academic writing follows different

conventions to those followed in other disciplines like law or information technology. Despite

the differences in the writing standards of the various academic disciplines, scholarly writing

requires a form of argument, which the writer is then required to provide supporting evidence.

Some of the main conventions of social science include APA formatting, which standardizes the

structure, headings, sub-headings, and referencing criteria for papers written for this discipline.

Social sciencestatistics include Chicago in text citations and footnotes, and a standardized

structure with headings, sub-headings. It must also include visuals like tables, charts, and

graphs to represent the data used in the study. Statistics papers also need to be evidence-

10 Ibid
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based, and thus require the use of data from credible or scholarly sources to support their

arguments.
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References

Bhakar, Sher, and Navita Nathani. 2015. A Handbook on writing Research Paper in Social

Sciences. New Delhi: Bharti Publications.

8. References

1. Caroline , Coffin, and Hewings Ann. 2003. "Writing for different disciplines." In Teaching

Academic Writing: A Toolkit for Higher Education, by Coffin Caroline, Hewings Ann, Jane Mary,

Sharon Goodman, Theresa Lillis and Joan Swann, 45-72. London: Routledge.

Judy, Eaton, and Morris David. 2019. Academic Literacy in the Social Sciences. Toronto:

Canadian Scholars.

UCSD. n.d. Writing a Good Social Science Paper. Accessed February 12, 2020.

https://pages.ucsd.edu/~keferree/Writing%20a%20Good%20Social%20Science

%20Paper.htm.

University of South Carolina. 2020. Organizing your Social Sciences Research Paper. February

10. Accessed February 12, 2020.

https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/academicwriting2. Horkoff, Tara. 2020. "Chapter

11. Developing A Convincing Argument". Opentextbc.Ca. Accessed March 5.

https://opentextbc.ca/writingforsuccess/chapter/chapter-11-developing-a-convincing-

argument/.

3. Introduction to SAS. UCLA: Statistical Consulting Group.

https://stats.idre.ucla.edu/sas/modules/sas-learning-moduleintroduction-to-the-features-

of-sas/
 Tao 10

4. Janda. 2020. "Guide For Research Papers In Statistics". Janda.Org.

http://janda.org/c10/Research%20papers/PaperGuide.htm.

5. Kearney, Michael. (2014). Persuading Audiences with Statistical Evidence.

10.13140/RG.2.2.27930.34242.

6. The Writing Center. 2020. "Statistics - The Writing Center". The Writing Center.

https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/statistics/.