Writing for Social Scientists

Howard S. Becker has made significant contributions to the sociology of deviance, art, and music. He earned his PhD from the University of Chicago, where he also taught sociology and social sciences. He was a sociology professor at Northwestern University for twenty-five years before becoming a sociology professor and adjunct music professor at the University of Washington. He splits his time between San Francisco and Paris.

Students and researchers all write under duress, and those duresses—most notably, the urge to impress rather than engage with your audience—often lead to pretentious prose, academic posturing, and, not uncommon, writer's block.

Howard S. Becker, a sociologist, wrote the classic book on how to overcome these demands and simply write. Writing for Social Scientists, first published nearly two decades ago, has become a lifeline for writers of all levels, from beginning students to published authors. Becker's advice is simple: take a deep breath and then start writing if you want to learn how to write. Revise. Repeat.

As Becker cynically observes, it is not always an easy procedure. Decades of teaching, studying, and publishing have provided him with ample material, and Becker deftly exposes the faults of academia and its "publish or perish" culture. Wordiness, the passive voice, introducing a "the way in which" when a simple "how" will suffice—all of these techniques are part of academic writing's social structure. We can modify our work habits and start writing clearly without caring about grades, peer approval, or the "literature" by ignoring such impediments—or, at the very least, setting them aside for a few hours.

Becker's revised version takes into account key developments in computer tools available to writers today, as well as significantly expanding his critique of how academic institutions create challenges for them. Writing for Social Scientists will bring relief to a new generation of harried, would-be authors as academic competition heats up. It is exactly among the best books on academic writing you should read.

Author: Howard S. Becker

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0226041301

Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 stars (from 171 reviews)

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