Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article: Second Edition

By Howard S. Becker

Book Overview

Students and researchers all write under pressure, and those pressures--most lamentably, the desire to impress your audience rather than to communicate with them--often lead to pretentious prose, academic posturing, and, not infrequently, writer's block. Sociologist Howard S. Becker has written the classic book on how to conquer these pressures and simply write. First published nearly twenty years ago, Writing for Social Scientists has become a lifesaver for writers in all fields, from beginning students to published authors. Becker's message is clear: in order to learn how to write, take a deep breath and then begin writing. Revise. Repeat. It is not always an easy process, as Becker wryly relates. Decades of teaching, researching, and writing have given him plenty of material, and Becker neatly exposes the foibles of academia and its "publish or perish" atmosphere. Wordiness, the passive voice, inserting a "the way in which" when a simple "how" will do--all these mechanisms are a part of the social structure of academic writing. By shrugging off such impediments--or at the very least, putting them aside for a few hours--we can reform our work habits and start writing lucidly without worrying about grades, peer approval, or the "literature." In this new edition, Becker takes account of major changes in the computer tools available to writers today, and also substantially expands his analysis of how academic institutions create problems for them. As competition in academia grows increasingly heated, Writing for Social Scientists will provide solace to a new generation of frazzled, would-be writers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226041328
• ISBN13: 9780226041322
• Release Date: December 2007
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 197 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

The book is helpful

Having read a bunch of books on the topic of doing your thesis, I was a bit desperate since none of them seemed to offer really practical advices on how to tackle the problem of starting to write. I got lost in "how to read and write a literature review" and "how to talk to your committee members", and only when I start reading Becker's book I found this seemingly crazy but increadibly fine advice: sit down and write - just about everything that comes into your mind. If you get stuck, put it down. Your first draft will be much of a weird writing, but only through materializing it you will be able to make further steps forward. I've read this book in less than two days and have brightened my view of this huge task in front of me. The only redundant thing is the chapter on using the computer, since it became a usual stuff since this book was published. Everything else is a true confidence booster!

Becker gets you going

Starting Chapter 1 of my dissertation proposal scared the living daylights out of me. Where to start? How much do I need to research and read before I actually start writing? And then there is the never-ending "Here's just one more article/book/website I need to read/investigate before I can even start *thinking* about writing" refrain...Becker, in a very straight-forward and humorous manner, gets you going. He lets you know the absolute fear you are feeling is perfectly normal and that the first draft is just that - a first draft. It doesn't have to be perfect; in fact it *shouldn't* be perfect. After reading this book, I simply sat down and started writing. I didn't worry about punctuation or sentence structure, I just wrote. Some of it ended up in the trash, but much of what I wrote on the first go-around was molded into some very good work.Thanks to Howard Becker I think I might actual graduate!

Well done!

Becker's pragmatic approach has brought the fear of editing, the risks of perception by others who will read the paper, and the search for the One Right Way of writing into the open. He didn't just stop there. He shows the reader how to overcome these obstacles and get the job done. The thought I have after reading the book is: "Everything else is useless if you don't get your point across."I recommend this book to anyone who is serious about scholarly writing.

A must have!

Everyone of us, to include social scientists, have flaws. While reading this book, it is common to see yourself in some of Becker's examples - the relief comes when Becker explains how you can work through your faults and get to what is important - finishing your project.I did not find out about this book until after I started on my Master's Program. I wish this was made required reading when I was an undergrad, it would have helped me out greatly. This book should be on every college students' bookshelf, no matter what field they are in.

Becker is a master

I discovered this book in a methodology class for social scientists when our teacher demanded that we read it. The great thing about Becker is that what he writes is real life in its most intriguing details. This book won't teach you how to write but will teach you how to WORK. I recommend you read it, sociologist, anthropologist, political scientist, psycologist or whatever you are in the social sciences.