HSE – Sociology, November – December 2013
Karl Bruckmeier
Course in Academic Writing (3 credits)
Short course information
The course is given in English.
Place and time: HSE, sociological faculty; course sessions from November 15 - December
18, 2013 (9 sessions: combined lectures with discussion, group work and writing exercises).
The course is connected with the further thesis work of the participants: every six months in
the two years following the course there is a follow-up seminar with the course participants to
discuss difficulties experienced during the thesis writing.
Objectives: This course for doctoral students of sociology and social sciences has the main
objectives
(1) to enable students to understand the sociological traditions of scientific writing
(2) to inform about procedures and requirements of publishing books and scientific articles in
journals or in the internet
(3) to train scientific writing through reviewing and writing exercises
(4) to improve individual writing skills for scientific texts of different type
Themes: Sociology of knowledge and writing; traditions and norms of sociological writing;
scientific writing – general criteria; the process of writing a doctoral thesis; scientific
monographs – structure and publication (publisher and internet); scientific articles – structure
and publication (journal and internet); quality of scientific texts – methods, language and style
of writing; ethics of scientific writing; practical exercises in reviewing and writing texts.
Two main forms of scientific relevant for thesis writing are discussed– monographs (books)
and scientific articles to be published in peer reviewed journals.
Course material: Electronic copies of course literature and power point slides from lectures
will be available for participants. Every participant is asked to bring a paper written by him/herself (course paper or master thesis, can be in Russian) – this paper will be reviewed in the
course.
Examination is based on active participation in the whole course and writing of an individual
examination paper
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Schedule
Session
1
Time
Theme
Fri 15/11
16-18h
Room 322
Part 1: Principles of academic writing
Introduction: The course - objectives and practice of work
Information: Sociology and writing - quality criteria of scientific texts
Discussion of course planning with the participants
Week 47
(18-22/11)
Lectures and individual work:
- Reading basic course literature (texts 1-6)
- First draft: describe briefly theme and research questions of your
thesis
- Answering a short questionnaire “Themes, questions, problems
that should be discussed in the course academic writing”
2
Mon 18/11
16-18h
Room 513
3
Tue 19/11
16-18h
Room 312
4
Wed 20/11
16-18h
Room 306
Lecture and discussion 1: Traditions and norms of sociological writing (40
minutes)
Group work 1: Discussion “Different traditions and norms of sociological
writing - consequences for writing a thesis ” (20 minutes + 20 minutes
reporting and discussion)
Individual writing assignment 1: “Norms guiding my thesis writing” (20
minutes)
Lecture and discussion 2: Scientific writing - general criteria
Group work 2: Discussion “Scientific writing, difference to other writing”
Individual writing assignment 2: “What is important for the work with my
supervisor(s)”
Lecture and discussion 3: Process of writing a doctoral thesis
Group work 3: Discussion “Reading and reviewing texts - what is
important?”
Individual writing assignment 3: Short review of one text of the course
literature
Part 2: Practice of academic writing
Week 48
(25-29/11)
Lectures and individual work:
- Reading of course literature (texts 7-10)
- Developing your thesis plan
5
Mon 25/11
16-18h
Room 513
6
Tue 26/11
16-18h
Room 312
7
Wed 27/11
16-18h
Room 306
Lecture and discussion 4: Writing scientific monographs/books – process
and quality criteria
Group work 4: Discussion “Writing monographs – difficulties”
Individual writing assignment 4: Thesis plan, part 1 – theme, research
problem, research questions
Lecture and discussion 5: Writing scientific articles in journals – process
and quality criteria
Group work 5: Discussion “Writing journal articles - difficulties”
Individual writing assignment 5: Thesis plan, part 2 – literature search ,
important literature, state of research , theory
Lecture and discussion 6: Ethic of scientific writing and publishing
Group work 6: Quality of research reports – discussion of results and
conclusions
Individual writing assignment 6: Thesis plan, part 3 – research methods,
time and work plan, open questions
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Week 49+
50
(2/1213/12)
Fr 13/12
Part 3: Individual writing, review seminars, follow up
Individual writing of an examination paper
Reviewing a paper from another course participant (review presented
orally in the review seminars in a discussion with the author)
Submission of examination paper (by email)
Week 51
(16-18/12)
Review seminars and individual meetings
8
Mon 16/12
16-18h
Room 513
9
Tue 17/12
16-18h
Room 312
Review seminar 1:
Group presentations: Review of texts by Shapin, Chun
Presentation of reviews of participants´ texts (“pair groups” with 2 persons
- each reviews the text of the other and discusses with the author)
Review seminar 2:
Continuing reviews
Discussion of writing problems that came up in the texts reviewed
Course evaluation - plenary discussion and individual questionnaire
Individual meetings with participants (time booked individually):
Further thesis planning and writing - how to deal with individual writing
problems
Wed 18/12
Follow-up
Seminars:
07/05/ 2014
05/11/2014
07/05/2015
05/11/2015
Four “follow-up seminars” with the participants every six months for the
two years following:
To improve the writing practice of participants: discussion of writing
difficulties experienced during the thesis writing
- One week before the seminar the participants are contacted by the
teacher to specify the problems that should be discussed during the
seminar
- After each seminar the participants can book an individual supervision
session with the teacher
Course plan
1. Objectives
The course is about academic and scientific writing for doctoral students in sociology or
social sciences. The course aims at enhancing and improving the writing skills of students
already familiar with the basic rules of scientific writing. It is assumed that participants have
some experience in scientific writing (course papers, master thesis; may be: publications).
The course has four objectives
(1) to create awareness of the sociological traditions of scientific writing
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(2) to inform about procedures and requirements of publishing books and scientific articles in
journal or the internet
(3) to train scientific writing through reviewing and writing exercises
(4) to improve the writing skills of participants for scientific texts of different type
To make the writing process transparent and the individual writing more effective the course
includes analysis and assessment of scientific texts, analyses of the processes of writing and
publishing scientific manuscripts, and practical exercises in reviewing and writing. On
successful completion of the course, the participants should be able
(knowledge and understanding)
- to understand sociological reflection of knowledge and writing
- to describe and explain the forms, components and specific qualities of scientific texts
and their production (writing, reviewing, publishing)
(skills and abilities)
- to practice critical reading and reviewing of scientific texts
- to write sociological texts (different forms)
- to present and effectively communicate his/her research (written and verbal
communication)
(judgment and valuation)
- to reflect on ethical issues in relation to writing and the publication process
- to evaluate scientific work and texts
2. Course design
The main methods of the course include individual reading, introductory lectures, group work
exercises (reviewing and evaluating texts, discussions in class), and individual writing
exercises.
The course has three parts:
(1) principles and traditions of sociological and scientific writing,
(2) practice of writing of monographs and articles - how to write effectively, concisely, and
clearly; both parts include four sessions (each session 3 hours: 1 hour introductory lecture, 2
hours seminar with discussion in the class, group work and practical exercises);
(3) training and developing individual writing practice
Part 1: Principles and traditions of sociological and scientific writing (1 introduction
session, 3 working sessions):
1. Introduction - Sociology and writing – theoretical reflection of sociological work (thinking
and reflection, empirical research, oral communication, writing)
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2. Traditions and norms of sociological writing – how sociologists reflected about research,
communication and writing in the sociological discipline
3. Scientific writing – general criteria, differences between disciplines, disciplinary and
interdisciplinary writing, differences between scientific and other writing
4. The process of writing a doctoral thesis – forms, methods, progress, difficulties
Sessions 2-4 include practical exercises in reviewing and writing texts
Part 2: Practice of academic writing (3 working sessions)
Discussing the writing of monographs and articles - how to write effectively, concisely, and
clearly:
5. Scientific monographs – structure, publication requirements, review and publication
process (publisher and internet); quality criteria
6. Scientific articles – structure, publication requirements, review and publication process
(journal and internet); quality criteria
7. Ethic of scientific writing – author rights, individual and co-authorship, scientific honesty
and plagiarism, to be forced to publish, writing in the internet
All sessions include practical exercises in reviewing and writing texts
Part 3: Training individual writing - review and supervision, follow up
Writing of individual examination paper, 2 review seminars, individual supervision, follow-up
seminars after the course:
Writing an individual examination paper (sociological essay) within two weeks after the
course sessions
Session 8-9: Review of the individual papers (each participant reviews a paper of another
participant)
Individual supervision meetings
Four follow-up seminars to improve writing and to deal with writing difficulties experienced
3. Assessment and examination
The participants can pass or fail (10 point grading scale). In order to pass the students need to
attend all sessions and participate actively in all compulsory components of the course
(individual reading, all course sessions, all oral and written assignments, individual
examination paper).
4. Course evaluation
Course evaluation is done in the last seminar session, written (answering a questionnaire) and
oral (discussion).
The course evaluation is made public and compiled by the course coordinator who suggests
possible changes for the subsequent course.
5. Literature
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Participants should read the compulsory course literature – some texts before, some during
the course (all literature is available from November 8). Literature is posted on the course web
page (password-protected, password will be distributed after registration).
Compulsory reading (texts to be read individually):
Introductory texts:
1. Irvin, L. Lennie, 2010. What is “Academic” Writing? (in. C. Lowe and P. Zemliansky, eds.,
Writing spaces: readings on writing. Vol.1) – to read before the course
2. The Writing Center. Writing in Sociology. www.umt.edu (undated) – to read before the
course
Classical texts on sociological writing, controversy between traditional and critical
sociology:
3. Ogburn, William F., 1947. On Scientific Writing. The American Journal of Sociology, Vol.
52, No. 5., Mar., 1947, pp. 383-388 – to read before the course
4. Mills, Charles Wright, 1959. The Sociological Imagination. New York: Oxford University
Press - appendix “On Intellectual Craftsmanship”: to read before the course
5. Becker, Howard S., 1986. Writing for Social Scientists. Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press, xii+180 pp – last chapter to read before the course (other chapters are
optional reading)
6. Abbott, James R., 2006. Critical Sociologies and Ressentiment: The Examples of C. Wright
Mills and Howard Becker. The American Sociologist, Fall 2006, pp. 15-30 – to read before
the course
Academic writing – theory and practice:
7. Shapin, Steven, 1995. Here and Everywhere: Sociology of Scientific Knowledge. Annual
Review of Sociology, Vol. 21, 1995, pp. 289-32. – to read during the course
8. Hengl, Tomislav; Gould, Michael, 2002. Rules of Thumb for Writing Research Articles.
Enschede, Netherlands – to read during the course
9. Chun, Allen, 2005. Writing Theory. Anthropological Theory, 5,4, pp. 517-543 - to read
during the course
10. Volpato, Gilson Luiz, 2011. The Logic of Scientific Writing. Revista de Sistemas de
Informação da FSMA n. 7, 2011, pp. 2-5 – to read during the course.
Optional reading:
Bauerlein, Mark, 2004. Bad Writing´s Back. Philosophy and Literature, 28, 2004, pp. 180191.
Leahey, Erin, 2008. Methodological Memes and Mores: Toward a Sociology of Social
Research. Annual Review of Sociology, 2008, 34, pp. 33–53.
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Literature in Russian:
Короткина, И.Б., 1998. ВОЗМОЖНОСТИ ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЯ ЗАРУБЕЖНОГО
ОПЫТА РАЗВИТИЯ АКАДЕМИЧЕСКИХ ЯЗЫКОВЫХ НАВЫКОВ В РОССИЙСКОМ
ОБРАЗОВАНИИ. Вестник, Московского государственного областного университета,
№ 3, 81-85.
Андрианова, Ю.В., 2012. ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ АКАДЕМИЧЕСКИХ ЯЗЫКОВЫХ
НАВЫКОВ КАК ОДИН ИЗ ВЕДУЩИХ ФАКТОРОВ РАЗВИТИЯ АКАДЕМИЧЕСКОЙ
МОБИЛЬНОСТИ. Санкт-Петербур (ICEE 2012, 18 pp.).
Короткина, И.Б. , et al, 2013. Академическое письмо: новые события, новые
перспективы. Высшее образование в России, № 7, 99-118.
Дубина, Вера, 2012. Academic Writing (научный текст), 18pp.
Reference literature - formalities of scientific writing
Tischler, Marc E., (undated). Scientific Writing Booklet. University of Arizona.
American Sociological Association, 1997. Style Guide. Washington, DC.
Turabian, Kate, L., 2007 (1996). A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses and
Dissertations. 7. Edition (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing and Publishing). Chicago:
Chicago University Press, 482 pp. (classical manual about the formalities of academic
writing; in the course literature: excerpt – citation guide)
QUT, 2008. Cite, write - Your introductory guide to citing, referencing and academic writing
at QUT (www.citewrite.qut.edu.au).
Harvard College, 2009. A guide to writing a Senior thesis in sociology. Harvard University.
6. Appendix – the practical exercises
1. Review of examples of scientific texts from the course literature about sociological
knowledge and writing: discussion in groups and in plenary sessions using a detailed checklist
of questions (thematic context, form and style/language, evaluation, personal views and
individual learning from the text).
2. Review of examples of scientific texts from the participants - developing and discussing
criteria for the analysis and evaluation of scientific texts: discussion in groups and in plenary
sessions. Criteria from exercise 1 and 2 can be used for a practical assessment of one´s own
manuscripts for the thesis or further writing.
3. Analysis and evaluation of the process of scientific writing: Writing as thinking and
formulation – language, logic, rhetoric. Psychology of writing – preparation and planning,
attitudes, inspiration, creativity, text improvement – writing and rewriting, good and bad
habits of writing. Peer review and publication process.
4. Discussion of problems of writing a doctoral thesis in sociology: How to start and plan –
defining themes, research problems, research questions. State of research and literature
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review. Specifying the thesis/research work. Connecting theory and empirical research.
Defining adequate research methods and method triangulation. Assessing the progress of
work. Analyzing and improving ones´ individual working and writing habits.
5. Analysis of forms, components and structure of scientific manuscripts/texts – quality
criteria of monographs/books in individual- and co-authorship:
Components and structure – abstracts and summaries, research questions, hypotheses,
introduction, theory and empirical material, review, materials and methods - analysis, results,
synthesis, discussion, conclusions. Paragraphs, logic, and organization. Organizational
strategies. Depth and emphasis.
6. Analysis of forms, components and structure of scientific manuscripts/texts – quality
criteria of articles/essays (literature review, research, discussion articles) in individual and
co-authorship:
Components and structure - abstracts, research questions, hypotheses, introduction, theory
and empirical material, review, materials and methods - analysis, results, synthesis,
discussion, conclusions. Paragraphs, logic, and organization. Organizational strategies. Depth
and emphasis.
7. Discussion of the ethic of scientific writing: Scientific and other/practical purposes of
sociological writing – informing whom, changing what?: critical and traditional theory today.
Publish or perish? How to deal with knowledge explosion and information overkill. Scientific
honesty and plagiarism. Ethic of peer review and publication. The internet as changing factor
of scientific writing. Author rights – copyright, open access. Individual and co-authorship.
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