Words or Phrases that are Inappropriate in Sociological Writing
"This article proves..." or "This study proved..."
● Scientific research provides evidence in favor of a particular theory or hypothesis, but it
doesn’t prove anything to be one thing or another.
“Since the beginning of time…” or “Throughout history…”
● Social structure and behavior has changed drastically throughout time, so there isn’t
anything that has consistently remained the same since the beginning of time.
“In all societies…” or "As we all know..." or "Everyone can agree that..."
● Different social structures create different social environments where such
generalizations won’t make sense.
“Back in the day…” or “Nowadays…”
● What day? When? This is too vague.
“The bible says…”
● You can’t use the bible or any other religious text to support a sociological point or
argument because it’s not based in research or fact.
“I think that…” or “In my experience…” or “In my opinion…” or “I know someone who…”
● If I ask you what you think or about your personal experience, you can use these phrases
and anecdotal evidence. Otherwise, sociological arguments aren’t based in individual
thoughts or experiences, but rather in a larger perspective that takes structural forces into
account.
“Naturally, people are…” or “Normal people are…” or "It is human nature..." or “People are
inherently…” or “Common sense says…” or “People are innately...”
● One of the main tenets of sociology is scientific examination of behavior that we take for
granted, or otherwise refer to as natural, normal, common sense behavior. Sociology
teaches us that there aren’t biological, universal, or natural standards for human social
behavior or common sense, but that we learn our behavior through our social
environment.
“____ is never going to change…”
● We have ample evidence across societies, time, and disciplines that shows us that humans
and human behavior are constantly adapting and changing.
"In the end, everyone interprets the world in their own way."
● Sociology is a science that uses empirical evidence to gives us ways to predict human
behavior, which wouldn’t work if everyone interpreted the world in their own way.
“Anything is possible if you work hard enough.”
● From a sociological perspective, this doesn’t make sense because it ignores the structural
forces that we don’t have control over that work together to shape people’s life chances.
"Wikipedia says…”
● While you can usually get some basic background information from Wikipedia, it’s not
an appropriate source to cite in order to support a point or argument.
“By paying attention to and talking about this issue (insert social problem) we are perpetuating
it/making it worse,” or suggestions that being colorblind or ignoring social issues is the best
course of action.
● In order to solve problems, we must first understand them, which requires conversations
and examinations that are sometimes difficult to participate in and digest. Cognitive
dissonance is a real force that we can better recognize and combat when we’re aware of it
and it the way it works to prevent understanding and empathy.
“Colored people” or “negro” or any other slur or derogatory language to refer to black people
and/or African Americans
“Transvestite” or any other slur to refer to a trans person
“The Gays” to refer to LGBTQ+ people
● That language is no longer accepted or appropriate.