Effective Writing for Sociology

Book excerpt: Writing well is an essential skill for sociologists, but few books help students learn to write well. Designed to help students produce a manuscript that is clear, concise, and compelling, Effective Writing for Sociology demonstrates and deconstructs what makes effective writing and how best to communicate scholarly ideas. The first half of the book addresses the fundamentals of good writing: writing clearly, conveying emphasis, writing concisely, and crafting effective paragraphs. The second half then looks to the three most important sections of a research report: framing an introduction, reporting results, and discussing findings. Each chapter of the book describes strategies for effective writing, illustrated with multiple examples and providing exercises where students can try their hand at implementing these strategies. The Epilogue provides tips on choosing a title as well as writing an abstract and method section; it also includes suggestions on how to master the tips described in the lessons. Ben Lennox Kail and Robert V. Kail’s book is essential reading in courses on research methods, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, sociological writing, and social science writing in allied disciplines such as education, criminology, health, and all research fields.