Writing for the Social Sciences

63b Writing texts in the social sciences

Perhaps because the social sciences share concerns with both the humanities and the sciences, the forms of writing within the social sciences are particularly varied, including summaries, abstracts, literature reviews, reaction pieces, position papers, radio scripts, briefing notes, book reviews, briefs, research proposals, research papers, quantitative research reports, case studies, ethnographic analyses, and meta-analyses. Such an array of writing assignments could seem overwhelming, but in fact these assignments can be organized under five main categories:

Writing that encourages student learning—reaction pieces, position papers
Writing that demonstrates student learning—summaries, abstracts, research papers
Writing that reflects common on-the-job communication tasks undertaken by members of a discipline—radio scripts, briefing notes, informational reports
Writing that requires students to analyze and evaluate the writings of others—literature reviews, book reviews, briefs
Writing that asks students to replicate the work of others or to engage in original research—quantitative research reports, case studies, ethnographic analyses

Many forms of writing in the social sciences call either explicitly or implicitly for argument (see Chapter 13). If you write an essay reporting on the results of a survey you developed about attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide among students on your campus, you will make an explicit argument about the significance of your data. But even in other forms of writing, such as summaries and book reports, you will implicitly argue that your description and analysis provide a clear, thorough overview of the text(s) you have read.

The literature review

Students of the social sciences carry out literature reviews to find out the most current thinking about a topic, to learn what research has already been carried out on that topic, to evaluate the work that has been done, and to set any research they will do in context. The following guidelines are designed to help you explore and question sources, looking for flaws or gaps. Such a critical review could then lead to a discussion of how your own research will avoid such flaws and advance knowledge.

What is your topic of interest? What is the dependent variable (the item or characteristic being studied)?
What is already known about this topic? What characteristics does the topic or dependent variable have? How have other researchers measured the item or characteristic being studied? What other factors are involved, and how are they related to each other and to your topic or variable? What theories are used to explain the way things are now?
How has research been done so far? Who or what has been studied? How have measurements been taken?
Has there been change over time? What has caused any changes?
What problems do you identify in the current research? What questions have not been answered yet? What conclusions have researchers drawn that might not be warranted?
What gaps will your research fill? What new information or ideas does it contribute? What problems do you want to correct?