The Portable Editor
Tips for Improving Your Writing
Vol. 1, No. 7
Precision and Clarity
Scientific writing is intended to clearly communicate technical information, and is the type of formal writing used
most often in social work. Whether a peer-reviewed article, grant proposal, case management notes, or class paper,
all scientific writing has the same goal: communicating complex ideas or data in an objective way so that the reader
has sufficient information to evaluate the validity of the writer’s results, claims, actions, or conclusions. To achieve
this goal, the writing has to be effective, meaning it has to be precise, concise, and clear.
Precision
Precision in writing means that the writer not only has ensured that every word means exactly what it was intended
to mean but also has made certain to remove ambiguities that are likely to confuse the reader. Four areas
consistently present the greatest challenges to precise writing: comparisons, word choice, pronoun use, and
anthropomorphism. This issue of The Portable Editor addresses comparisons and word choice.
Comparisons. Social work writing makes frequent use of comparisons to illustrate the influence of interventions on
behaviors. However, imprecise comparisons can confuse the reader and muddle your information. A common
writing flaw is giving half of a comparison such as, “Adolescents are more likely to engage in substance use.” More
likely than who? The reader can’t evaluate the validity of this statement because the writer has omitted the crucial
information of what group the adolescents are being compared with. Consider this revision: “Adolescents are more
likely to engage in substance use than are graduate students.” But adding a comparator group doesn’t guarantee
clarity; for example, “The study showed senior citizens were more likely to marry age peers than college students.”
Clear? Are you sure? Does the sentence mean that senior citizens were more likely than college students to marry a
person of similar age? Or, does it mean that senior citizens were more likely to marry someone of a similar age and
less likely to marry a college student? The reader can only guess.
Sometimes illogical comparisons arise when a writer is trying to save words, but ends up sacrificing clarity for
brevity: “Typical housekeeping staff salaries are lower than a fry cook at McDonald’s.” This comparison is illogical
unless the writer has a personal grudge against the McDonald’s fry cook. Consider this revision, “Typical salaries
of housekeeping staff are lower than those of fast-food fry cooks.”
Word Choice. It may seem unnecessary to address word choice with an audience of graduate students. Certainly
you wouldn’t have made it this far in your academic career if you hadn’t acquired the habit of consulting a
dictionary to find the meaning of unfamiliar words and to ensure that you’re using words correctly. However, it is
the sheer familiarity of a host of frequently misused words that trip otherwise careful writers. Building from the
comparison discussion above, consider the difference between compared to and compared with. The difference in
meaning of these phrases signals the reader as to the type of comparison you are making. Compared to should be
used when comparing dissimilar groups, whereas compared with is used when comparing similar groups:
“Adolescent humans are more likely to engage in substance use as compared to adolescent orangutans.” “Highschool seniors are more likely to engage in substance use as compared with same age high-school dropouts.”
Comprise versus Compose. Have you ever written that something was comprised of part A, part B,…? Although
frequently seen, this use is a misperception of the word comprise. Properly used, the whole comprises the parts and
the parts compose the whole. Examples: “The Strong Couples–Strong Children program comprises a
comprehensive program of education, case management, and social support.” “The DoItNow intervention is
composed of 15 modules, each of which addresses a topic related to procrastination.”
Based on versus On the basis of. Okay, this distinction gets a little tricky. Basis is always a noun, whereas base
can be a noun, verb, or adjective. Some writing resources make a further distinction and recommend using based
on when referring to a concrete, physical aspect, and using basis of when referring to abstract ideas, concepts, or
theories. “Our estimates of program growth are based on 3 years of detailed enrollment data.” “The observations of
mother-child attachment form the basis of my subsequent research.”
Efficacy versus Effectiveness. In general usage, efficacy and effectiveness are synonyms and can be used
interchangeably. However, in scientific writing, especially when addressing research with interventions, these two
words acquire technical definitions with substantially different meanings. In the context of social work research,
efficacy refers to how well a program performs in a highly controlled clinical trial. In contrast, effectiveness refers
to how well a program performs when implemented in a real-world setting. Even if you’re not writing about
intervention research, it’s likely that your reading will often include these terms, and understanding the nuances of
word choice will help you evaluate the research.
Colloquialisms.
By now, you’ve likely learned to omit informal language from your formal writing. But many colloquialisms that
we use in speech have crept into writing and seem so ordinary that their misuse isn’t apparent. An example of this
problem is using over or under with numbers (see The Portable Editor, issue 5). Here’s a handful of other creeping
colloquilisms.
• Don’t use where to describe nongeographical aspects. “Volunteers will be enrolled in the DoItNow program
where they will learn nonprofit management skills.” Replace this misuse with in which.
• Avoid using as when you mean because.
• Let is a colloquialism when used in place of allow or permit.
• Do not use like instead of such as to introduce examples.
• Although a common phrase, on the other hand should be avoided. Use conversely or in contrast
• Avoid using so as a synonym for very (we were so proud...) and avoid indiscriminate use of very (e.g., very
important). You can increase the precision and clarity of your writing by avoiding the use of so as a
coordinating conjunction when you mean because or therefore.
Interested in Individual Writing Support?
Drop-in : Every Tuesday, Noon–2 p.m. Office 548E
One-on-One : Please e-mail or call to schedule an appointment
The hours below are reserved for students, but other times may be available.
Diane Wyant–dwyant@email.unc.edu
Susan White–sewhite@email.unc.edu
Office 548E, 842-5575
Tuesdays: 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.; 3 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Thursdays: 1 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Office 302C, 962-6418
Mondays: Noon–2 p.m.; Tuesdays: 5 p.m.–6:30 p.m.;
Fridays: Noon–2 p.m.