The Practice of Social Research

Chapter Seventeen.  Reading and Writing Social Research


Writing Social Research
    Some Basic Considerations
    Organization of the Report
    Guidelines for Reporting Analyses


This chapter (and the text portion of the book) ends with a discussion of how to communicate social research results.  Partly, this is a matter of good writing: clear, active, and engaging.  At the same time, you'll see that there are some special norms for scientific writing that distinguish it from journalism or fiction.

We'll look at ways to organize your report, and I've offered some guidelines on how to write up your discoveries.

All in all, I hope this final chapter will help you appreciate some of the excitement inherent in the social research of others and make it possible for you to make your own, original contributions.