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How to summarize

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say the same thing in fewer words

1. A summary is a shorter version of a longer piece of writing. Summarizing means capturing all the most important parts of the original, and expressing them in a shorter space. The shorter space could be a lot shorter.
How to Summarize
2. A summary is sometimes known as a précis, a synopsis, or a paraphrase.

3. In academic writing, summarizing exercises are often set to test your understanding of the original, and your ability to re-state its main purpose.

4. In business writing, you might need to summarize to provide easily-digestible information for customers or clients.

5. Summarizing is also a useful skill when gathering information or doing research.

6. The summary should be expressed – as far as possible – in your own words. It’s not enough to merely copy out parts of the original.

7. The question will usually set a maximum number of words. If not, aim for something like one tenth of the original. [A summary which was half the length of the original would not be a summary.]

8. Read the original, and try to understand its main subject or purpose. Then you might need to read it again to understand it in more detail.

9. Underline or make a marginal note of the main issues. Use a highlighter if this helps.

10. Look up any words or concepts you don’t know, so that you understand the author’s sentences and how they relate to each other.

11. Work through the text to identify its main sections or arguments. These might be expressed as paragraphs or web pages.

12. Remember that the purpose [and definition] of a paragraph is that it deals with one issue or topic.

13. Draw up a list of the topics – or make a diagram. [A simple picture of boxes or a spider diagram can often be helpful.]

14. Write a one or two-sentence account of each section you identify. Focus your attention on the main point. Leave out any illustrative examples.

15. Write a sentence which states the central idea of the original text.

16. Use this as the starting point for writing a paragraph which combines all the points you have made.

17. The final summary should concisely and accurately capture the central meaning of the original.

18. Remember that it must be in your own words. By writing in this way, you help to re-create the meaning of the original in a way which makes sense for you.

Summarizing – Example

Original text
‘At a typical football match we are likely to see players committing deliberate fouls, often behind the referee’s back. They might try to take a throw-in or a free kick from an incorrect but more advantageous positions in defiance of the clearly stated rules of the game. They sometimes challenge the rulings of the referee or linesmen in an offensive way which often deserves exemplary punishment or even sending off. No wonder spectators fight amongst themselves, damage stadiums, or take the law into their own hands by invading the pitch in the hope of affecting the outcome of the match.’ [100 words]

Summary
Unsportsmanklike behaviour by footballers may cause hooliganism among spectators. [9 words]

Some extra tips

Even though notes are only for your own use, they will be more effective if they are recorded clearly and neatly. Good layout will help you to recall and assess material more readily. If in doubt use the following general guidelines.

1. Before you even start, make a note of your source(s). If this is a book, an article, or a journal, write the following information at the head of your notes: Author, title, publisher, publication date, and edition of book.

2. Use loose-leaf A4 paper. This is now the international standard for almost all educational printed matter. Don’t use small notepads. You will find it easier to keep track of your notes if they fit easily alongside your other study materials.

3. Write clearly and leave a space between each note. Don’t try to cram as much as possible onto one page. Keeping the items separate will make them easier to recall. The act of laying out information in this way will cause you to assess the importance of each detail.

4. Use a new page for each set of notes. This will help you to store and identify them later. Keep topics separate, and have them clearly titled and labelled to facilitate easy recall.

5. Write on one side of the page only. Number these pages. Leave the blank sides free for possible future additions, and for any details which may be needed later.

© Roy Johnson 2004

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How to summarize a book

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What is a book summary?How to summarize a book

A summary of a book is a digest of all its main points. It should be a shorter version or a précis of its main arguments or topics – depending on the type of book.

It should capture the purpose of the book and include the most important parts of the original. Smaller details and illustrative examples will not be included.

The summary should re-cast and express the original material in your own words. It is not enough to quote parts of the original text. That would be a collection of extracts rather than a summary.

A summary should be a reasonable and impartial account of the original, without intruding any bias or value judgements. If you add your own opinions, it will become a book review rather than a summary.

How to summarize

Before you start, get some idea of the length and type of summary you are going to create. Have a look at examples from the field in which you’re working. If this isn’t possible, set yourself a word limit and create an outline plan.

First of all check your book for a table of contents. If it has one this will immediately provide you with some idea of its structure and the nature of the topics it covers.

Next look through the book quickly to get a rough idea of its subject and scope. This will give you a general idea of what to cover in the task ahead. If the book has chapters, these can provide a set of headings for your plan.

You should immediately start making notes. Don’t worry if they are not grammatically complete or well formed. These are the raw materials from which you can make your finished summary later.

Your main task is to capture a general outline of the contents. The amount of effort you put into
creating the summary will depend upon the seriousness of the task and the amount of time you have at your disposal.

Draw up a list of the topics the book covers – or make a diagram. A simple picture of boxes or a spider diagram can often be helpful. Some people visualise their ideas in this way, and it can be a fruitful approach for ‘non-literary’ people.

Look out for topic sentences that signal the main lines of arguments. These are often the first sentence in a paragraph. In good quality writing the remainder of the paragraph should explain and expand on the topic sentence.

Write a one or a two-sentence account of each section you identify. Focus your attention on the main points. Leave out any illustrative examples. Don’t be tempted to fill out your work with a detailed examination of minor details just to fill up the space. This will only weaken the summary.

Work through the text to identify its main sections or arguments. These might be summarized as short paragraphs. Remember that the purpose and definition of a paragraph is that it deals with one issue or topic.

Writing the summary

When you have finished reading the book, you should have a series of jottings, notes, and sentences, maybe a list of topics, and perhaps some half-formed observations. These fragments need to be arranged in some logical or persuasive order, then fashioned into something readable.

You are not obliged to follow the same structure or sequence of events as the original text, but your summary certainly needs a shape or structure as an independent piece of writing. You might choose any of the following approaches in arranging the items of your notes:

  • logical progression – from A to Z
  • increasing significance – from small to big
  • chronological order – from older to newer
  • narrative sequence – from first to next
  • grouping of topics – fruits, vegetables, wines

You might create the plan first, then fill in its parts with your own text. Alternatively, the plan might emerge from your work as you flesh out the parts into complete sentences. Don’t imagine that this part of the process can be done easily at your first attempt.

Expand each of your notes or topics until it makes a grammatically complete sentence. Then put statements dealing with the same topic next to each other. Be prepared to move the parts around until you find their best order.

The central structure of your results will be determined by the content of the book you are summarising. But any summary will be more successful if it has a good introduction and a satisfying conclusion.

The introduction is usually a general statement which presents an overview for the reader. It should launch the subject of enquiry and give some idea of what is to come. The conclusion does the converse – it wraps up the summary with a general statement that encapsulates the whole piece of writing.

Summary or review?

There is a difference between a book summary and a book review. A summary should be a reasonably neutral account of the book and its contents, whereas a review is a personal response to the book which might include criticising or praising the author’s approach. A review might also draw comparisons with other works of a similar kind.

In a summary you will be keeping your personal opinions in check, and concentrating on giving the best account possible of what the book offers. In a review on the other hand, you are often expected to make some sort of evaluative judgement on the approach that has been taken. The sample summary that follows combines both of these approaches.

Sample summary

Chris Baldick is a specialist in literature of the early twentieth century, and this collection of his essays covers the period 1910 to 1940, which is essentially the highpoint of what is now called ‘modernism’.

In terms of structure the first group of chapters covers the social, linguistic, and aesthetic background of the period, and then he discusses writers grouped according to literary forms – short stories, drama, poetry, and the novel. He highlights major figures – James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, D.H.Lawrence, and T.S.Eliot – but also considers writers who were once best sellers and held in high esteem, such as Arnold Bennett and Somerset Maugham. These are accompanied by almost-forgotten figures such as Dornford Yates, Aldous Huxley, and Elizabeth Bowen who were very successful in their own time. Part three of the book covers sociological issues such as English names, the Great War, childhood, sexuality, and censorship.

He starts with a well informed discussion of the writer’s relationship with literary commerce. Those who earned most (Arnold Bennett) were successful at exploiting new markets and media such as the newspapers and magazines. He reveals those writers who were sponsored by rich patrons (Joyce) as well as others who were kept by a wealthy spouse. D.H. Lawrence not only made a handsome profit from the subscription-published Lady Chatterley’s Lover but invested it in stocks and shares on Wall Street and made even more.

Each chapter is prefaced by a discussion of new words that became current in the period, a device which provides both flavour and intellectual context. He also includes an interesting consideration of theories of the novel. This involves a detailed consideration of first and third person narrative modes.

There are separate interpretations of all the major works of the period – Howards End, Mrs Dalloway, Ulysses, Women in Love pitched at a level which make his approach to literary criticism accessible to beginners and interesting to those who know the novels well.

The other major strand of his argument is a sympathetic reconsideration of the lesser-known works of the period, such as Walter Greenwood’s Love on the Dole, Elizabeth Bowen’s The Death of the Heart, Dorothy Richardson’s Pilgrimage, and Aldous Huxley’s Chrome Yellow, as well as novels by Robert Graves, Naomi Mitchison, and Sylvia Townsend Warner.

The latter essays are studies in cultural history which take in the attitudes and issues of the period as they were mediated via its literary products. This covers the shattering effect of the first world war on the romantic and pastoral visions of Englishness which had been the establishment ideology during the first two decades of the century. He then traces this effect through the twenties and thirties, showing how a view of modern Britain came to be formed.

There’s a very good collection study resources and suggestions for further reading. These entries combine notes on the author biographies, together with available editions of their major works, plus secondary studies and criticism.

This is the fifth volume of the Oxford English Literary History series. It can be read continuously as an in-depth study of the period, dipped into as an introduction to literary modernism, or used as a rich source of reference.

Chris Baldick, The Modern Movement, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004, pp.477, ISBN 0198183100

Why summarize?

There are a number of reasons why a summary of a book might be required. The following are the most common in academic and commercial life.

Exercise

A book summary is often set as a writing exercise, instead of a formal academic essay. It tests both understanding of the book’s content, an ability to digest and express its ideas, a grasp of structure, and the writing skills necessary to produce a readable préis.

The task in such cases is to show your ability to put somebody else’s ideas into your own words, to give a coherent account of the topic under consideration, to produce a coherent structure for your account, and to come to some sort of conclusion concerning the book’s overall value to another reader.

Research

In some subjects of study, you may be required to provide what is called a ‘literature review’. This is a survey of currently available knowledge in the subject. Its object is to show that you understand the latest state of research in your subject.

You are expected to have a full command of the terminology of the subject, and to show that you are aware of its theoretical and methodological issues. You will also be expected to have a full grasp of the academic writing style with regard to footnotes, referencing, and bibliographic presentation.

Assessment

Sometimes a book summary is called for so that other people can judge whether it is suitable for their requirements. This could be when providing librarians with information on which they will base purchasing decisions. Or it could be written for the research division of a company with information which might inform their development plans.

In both cases an impartial summary of content is required, along with an account of any special features which might help the reader reach a decision.

Cataloguing

Sometimes a summary of a book is required for a catalogue, a card index, or an inventory. In such cases the summary is likely to be very short – just enough so that somebody else can see if it’s the sort of book they require.

In these cases it’s important to record all the book’s metadata – that is, information about it’s author, title, publisher, date of publication, and ISBN number. You might also need to describe it physically – noting if it is hardback or paperback. if it contains illustrations, and even its size on the shelf.

Summarize a book without reading it completely?

Is it possible? The quick answer to this question is – “Yes – but only if you are experienced”. You require an intimate knowledge of the subject in question, and you need to be confident in writing summaries. But how is it done?

If you know your subject well, you will immediately put into effect the summarizing skills listed here above. You take into account such matters as the level at which the book is pitched, its potential readership, the range of its contents, its structure, and any critical apparatus which may be attached, such as illustrations, tables, bibliographies, and suggestions for further reading. This provides you with an overview.

Then you need to glance through the preface or any introductory remarks to pick up the general argument or the individual approach of the author(s) to the subject. This requires good skim-reading skills.

Most books are split up into sections or chapters. You need to look through these quickly, making a summary of each one – then combine the notes you make to form a general summary. It may not be a lengthy or in-depth account of the book, but it should be enough for your purpose.

© Roy Johnson 2012

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How to take notes

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important skills for successful study

1. In preparation for writing a piece of work, you should take notes from a number of different sources: course materials, set texts, secondary reading, interviews, or tutorials and lectures. You might gather information from radio or television broadcasts, or from experiments and research projects. The notes could also include your own ideas, generated as part of the planning process.

2. The notes you gather in preparation for writing will normally provide detailed evidence to back up any arguments you wish to make. They might also be used as illustrative material. They might include such things as the quotations and page references you plan to use in an essay. Your ultimate objective in planning will be to produce a one or two page outline of the topics you intend to cover.

3. Be prepared for the fact that you might take many more notes than you will ever use. This is perfectly normal. At the note-taking stage you might not be sure exactly what evidence you will need. In addition, the information-gathering stage should also be one of digesting and refining your ideas.

4. Don’t feel disappointed if you only use a quarter or even a tenth of your materials. The proportion you finally use might vary from one subject to another, as well as depending on your own particular writing strategy. Just because some material is not used, don’t imagine that your efforts have been wasted.

5. When taking notes from any source, keep in mind that you are attempting to make a compressed and accurate record of information, other people’s opinions, and possibly your own observations on the subject in question.

6. Your objective whilst taking the notes is to distinguish the more important from the less important points being made. Record the main issues, not the details. You might write down a few words of the original if you think they may be used in a quotation. Keep these extracts as short as possible unless you will be discussing a longer passage in some detail.

7. Don’t try to write down every word of a lecture – or copy out long extracts from books. One of the important features of note-taking is that you are making a digest of the originals, and translating the information into your own words.

8. Some people take so many notes that they don’t know which to use when it’s time to do the writing. They feel that they are drowning in a sea of information.

9. This problem is usually caused by two common weaknesses in note-taking technique:

  • transcribing too much of the original
  • being unselective in the choice of topics

10. There are two possible solution to this problem:

  • Select only those few words of the source material which will be of use. Avoid being descriptive. Think more, and write less. Be rigorously selective.
  • Keep the project topic or the essay question more clearly in mind. Take notes only on those issues which are directly relevant to the subject in question.

11. Even though the notes you take are only for your own use, they will be more effective if they are recorded clearly and neatly.

12. Good layout of the notes will help you to recall and assess the material more readily.

General guidelines
  • Before you even start, make a note of your source(s). If this is a book, an article, or a journal, write the following information at the head of your notes: Author, title, publisher, publication date, and edition of book.
     
  • Use loose-leaf A4 paper. This is now the international standard for almost all printed matter. Don’t use small notepads. You will find it easier to keep track of your notes if they fit easily alongside your other study materials.
     
  • Write clearly and leave a space between each note. Don’t try to cram as much as possible onto one page. Keeping the items separate will make them easier to recall. The act of laying out information in this way will cause you to assess the importance of each detail.
     
  • Use some system of tabulation. This will help to keep the items separate from each other. Even if the progression of numbers doesn’t mean a great deal, it will help you to keep the items distinct.
     
  • Don’t attempt to write continuous prose. Notes should be abbreviated and compressed. Full grammatical sentences are not necessary. Use abbreviations, initials, and shortened forms of commonly used terms.
     
  • Don’t string the points together continuously, one after the other on the page. You will find it very difficult to untangle these items from each other after some time has passed.
     
  • Devise a logical and a memorable layout. Use lettering, numbering, and indentation for sections and for sub-sections. Use headings and sub-headings. Good layout will help you to absorb and recall information. Some people use coloured inks and highlighters to assist this process of identification.
     
  • Use a new page for each set of notes. This will help you to store and identify them later. Keep topics separate, and have them clearly titled and labelled to facilitate easy recall.
     
  • Write on one side of the page only. Number these pages. Leave the blank sides free for possible future additions, and for any details which may be needed later.
Tony Buzan explains mind mapping

Mind-mapping guru Tony Buzan gives a brief demonstration of how the system works. Mind maps can be used for both note taking and note making.

This approach works for some but not all people.

Sample notes

What follows is an example of notes taken whilst listening to an Open University radio broadcast – a half hour lecture by the philosopher and cultural historian, Isaiah Berlin. It was entitled ‘Tolstoy’s Views on Art and Morality‘, which was part of the third level course in literary studies A 312 – The Nineteenth Century Novel and its Legacy.

Isaiah Berlin – ‘Tolstoy on Art and Morality’ – 3 Sep 89

1. T’s views on A extreme – but he asks important questns which disturb society

2. 1840s Univ of Kazan debate on purpose of A

T believes there should be simple answers to probs of life

3. Met simple & spontaneous people & soldiers in Caucasus

Crimean Sketches admired by Turgenev & Muscovites but T didn’t fit in milieu

4. Westernizers Vs Slavophiles – T agreed with Ws

but rejects science (Ss romantic conservatives)

5. 2 views of A in mid 19C – A for art’s sake/ A for society’s sake

6. Pierre (W&P) and Levin (AK) as egs of ‘searchers for truth’

7. Natural life (even drunken violence) better than intellectual

8. T’s contradiction – to be artist or moralist

9. T’s 4 criteria for work of art

  • know what you want to say – lucidly and clearly
  • subject matter must be of essential interest
  • artist must live or imagine concretely his material
  • A must know the moral centre of situation

10. T crit of other writers

  • Shkspre and Goethe – too complex
  • St Julien (Flaubert) inauthentic
  • Turgenev and Chekhov guilty of triviality

11. What is Art? Emotion recollected and transmitted to others

[Wordsworth] Not self-expression – Only good should be transmitted

12. But his own tastes were for high art

Chopin, Beethoven, & Mozart

T Argues he himself corrupted

13. Tried to distinguish between his own art and moral tracts

14. ‘Artist cannot help burning like a flame’

15. Couldn’t reconcile contradictions in his own beliefs

Died still raging against self and society

© Roy Johnson 2004

How to use Harvard referencing

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standard system of academic citation and quotation

1. Some subjects adopt the Author-Date method of referencing – which is also known as the Harvard referencing system. Full details of the texts you have quoted are placed in a bibliography at the end of an essay or a report. These details are recorded in the following order:

Author – Date – Title – Place – Publisher

Smith, John. (1988) The Weavers’ Revolt, Chicago, Blackbarrow Press.

2. References in your text give the surname of the author, plus the publication date of the work to which reference is being made. This information is placed in brackets – thus:

Some research findings (James and Smith 1984; Brown 1987) have argued that these theories are not always reliable.

3. When you wish to draw attention to a particular page, this is done by simply adding the page number directly after the date of publication:

The development of these tendencies during the 1960s have been discussed by Brown (1977,234) and others (Smith 1992,180 and Jones 1993,88-90).

4. Note that when the author’s name is given in your text, it should not be repeated in the reference. You should simply give the date, then the page number(s). When you give the author’s name, the reference should either follow it directly, or it may come at some other point in the same sentence:

Smith (1987,166) argues that this was …

Smith, who is more positive on this issue, argues (1987,166) that …

5. If two or more works by the same author have the same publication date, they should be distinguished by adding letters after the date. This can be quite common with articles in journals.

Some commentators (Mansfield 1991b and Cooper 1988c) have argued just the opposite case, that …

6. The list of texts which appears at the end of your essay should be arranged in alphabetical order of the author’s surname. The list differs from a normal bibliography in that the date of publication follows the author’s name:

Mansfield, M.R.1991a. ‘Model Systems of Agriculture in Early Britain’, Local History Journal Vol XX, No 6 ,112-117.

Mansfield, M.R.1991b. ‘Agriculture in Early Britain’, History Today Vol 12, No 3, 29-38.

7. Don’t list works you have not consulted or from which you have not quoted. Doing this creates the impression that you are trying to claim credit for work you have not actually done.

8. You might find that your bibliography repeats much of the information given in your endnotes or footnotes. Don’t worry about this: these two separate lists have different functions. In addition, your bibliography may contain works from which you have not directly quoted.

Bibliography

Beeton, I. 1991 Beeton’s Book of Household Management,
Chancellor Press.

Best, G. 1979 Mid-Victorian Britain 1851-75, Fontana.

Burman, S. 1979 (ed), Fit Work for Women, Croom Helm.

Darwin, E. 1890 ‘Domestic Service’, The Nineteenth Century, Vol.28,
August.

Davidoff, L. 1973 The Best Circles, Croom Helm.

Davidoff, L. 1974 ‘Mastered for Life: Servant and Wife in Victorian
and Edwardian England’, Journal of Social History,
Vol.7.

Davidoff, L. 1987 and Hall, C., Family Fortunes, Hutchinson.

[…and so on]

© Roy Johnson 2004

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How to use quotations

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the conventions and techniques of quotation

Quotations

1. There are in general two instances when you may wish to use quotations from other writers’ work:

Evidence – when quoting from other sources to support your own argument(s)

Reference – when a text is itself the subject of your essay and you need to refer to it in your discussion.

2. The conventions of accurate quotation and referencing are relatively simple, and they are based on the need for accuracy, consistency, and clarity. There are a number of slightly different systems of notation. The two most widely used are:

  • a quotation, with an endnote giving the source
  • the Harvard system (described separately)

3. The whole purpose of both systems is that tutors marking your work should be able, if they wish, to check the accuracy of the quotations you use.

Evidence

4. In a discussion of the development of Marx’s philosophy for example, you might argue that his work was a natural development of his predecessors, supporting your assertion by quoting David McLellan. He points out that

Marx began by paying tribute to the achievements of Feuerbach, particularly in having shown that Hegel’s philosophy was no more than a rationalisedtheology. (1)

5. A bracketed number is added immediately after the quotation, and the source of your quotation is given as an endnote on a separate sheet at the end of your essay. (You might wish to place the information as a footnote at the bottom of the page, though this system can become rather complicated.)

NOTES

1. David McLellan, The Thought of Karl Marx, London: Macmillan, 1971, p.26.

6. Note that this information is given in the following order, and you should remember to indicate the titles of books by using italics.

Author – Book Title – Publisher – Date – Page

7. The material you quote is placed between two single quotation marks if it is run in as part of your text:

this is what David McLellan calls a ‘rationalised theology’ (1) in his discussion of the relationship between Marx and Hegel

8. If the length of the quote amounts to more than three lines of your own text however, it should be indented separately, and no quote marks are necessary:

Marx began by paying tribute to the achievements of Feuerbach, particularly in having shown that Hegel’s philosophy was no more than a rationalised theology, and having discovered the true materialist approach by starting from the social relationship of man to man. (1)

9. Your own argument should normally be offered first, and you then reinforce it with quotation from an authoritative source. You are using this secondary evidence from acknowledged specialists to support your own views. Do not offer the quotation first, otherwise what should be your own argument will tend to be come more a ‘commentary’ upon it.

10. The quotations you offer should be as brief as possible to make their point. Don’t be tempted to offer long quotations from other people’s work in the hope that this will act as a substitute for your own argument. Nor should you stitch together a patchwork of quotations from a variety of sources with a few words of your own. This creates the impression that you are relying too heavily on other people’s work.

11. Sometimes in more advanced essays it might be necessary to quote longer passages. You would do this if you were going to analyse the author’s arguments in detail and at quite some length. This should only be done occasionally.

12. Each main point of your argument should be made and discussed in its own separate paragraph. This should not normally need more than one quotation to support it. Too many quotations can create the impression that you are relying too heavily on secondary sources.

Reference

13. When the subject of your essay is the discussion of a text (say, criticism of a novel or an article) you should follow the same system of notation. Directly after the first quotation you should give a full bibliographic description of the text you are discussing.

14. This information could be given within brackets in the body of your essay, but you will be developing good academic habits if you place the information as an endnote after the conclusion of your essay.

15. If your essay is predominantly concerned with just one text, all subsequent quotations from it may simply be followed by page references. Simply add an explanation to the first endnote, saying – all subsequent page references are to this edition.

16. If you will be quoting from a variety of other sources in the same essay, you should number the quotations and give the sources accurately as a series of endnotes.

17. It is also possible to mix these two forms of referencing, so long as the distinctions are made clear. If your piece of work was a long essay on Bleak House for instance, it would be acceptable to identify all your quotations from the novel with page references. Quotations from other critics or sources would numbered and their sources identified as separate endnotes.

18. There must be grammatical continuity and sense maintained between any quotation and your own argument. To arrange this, it might be necessary to add or delete words from the material quoted, or to change the tense of the original. Whenever you do this, any changes should be very small. They must also be properly acknowledged.

[It was] as if she were truly loved by him, but notwithstanding this impression she regarded the man as no more than a casual acquaintance who occasionally made her laugh (p.7)

19. Square brackets are used to indicate any words which you have added in order to make the quotation fit grammatically or otherwise within your own argument.

20. If you wish to draw attention to a particular word or some part of the quotation, you should provide the emphasis by using italics. You should then immediately admit the fact ‘as if she were loved by him’ [p.7 – my emphasis] and then carry on with what you wish to say in the remainder of your argument.

21. In order to shorten a quotation or to remove some part of it which is not relevant to your argument, you may wish to omit a number of words. To denote this omission (which is called an ellipsis) you should use the convention of the three dots ‘…’ in the space which is left:

He had even a kind of assurance on his face … the assurance of a common man filled with pride. (p.7)

22. This device should not be used to change the sense of the original in any way, or to misrepresent its spirit: such practices are regarded as academically fraudulent.

23. The three dots denoting an ellipsis do not need to be placed at the beginning or the end of your quotation, even if you are quoting a few words from within a sentence.

24. The general convention for indicating quotation is to use single quote marks (‘unmitigated’) and to reserve double quotes marks for indicating speech (“Good gracious!” cried the duchess.)

25. When quoting conversation, follow these rules, but if it makes things easier put the words spoken within double quote marks even if they were in single quote marks in the original:

Kayerts is being even more hypocritical and self-deceiving when he ‘observe[s] with a sigh: “It had to be done”‘ (p.39)

26. If you are quoting more than once from a number of works in an essay, you can avoid confusion and save yourself the trouble of giving a full reference each time. Use either the op. cit. and ibid. or the short title convention.

27. Different subjects have their own conventions in this respect – but the short title system is becoming more widely used and is easier to follow. However, an enormous number of academic books have been produced using the older system, so it is worth understanding how it operates, even if you decide not to use it.

28. Using the system of Latin abbreviations, the first quotation from a text is referenced fully with an endnote. In the case of any references which follow, just give the author’s name followed by op. cit. (which means ‘in the work already quoted’) and then the page number – as follows:

11. J.D. Bryant, The Origins of Mythology, London: Carfax Press, 1971, p.234.

12. History Today, Vol XXXIV, No 18, p.123.

13. Bryant, op. cit., p. 387.

29. If the very next quotation is again from the same work, the abbreviation ibid. (which means ‘in the same place’) is followed by a page reference. You do not need to give the author’s name. The sequence just given would therefore be extended:

11. J.D. Bryant, The Origins of Mythology, London: Carfax Press, 1971, p.234.

12. History Today, Vol XXXIV, No 18, p.123.

13. Bryant, op. cit., p. 387.

14. ibid., p. 388.

30. The short title system is particularly useful for longer essays which might deal with a number of texts or different books by the same author. Second and third year undergraduate studies often require a lengthy piece of work such as this. The principle is the same one of giving full bibliographical details in the first reference. Subsequent quotations are given a reference which is composed of the author’s surname, a shortened form of the book title, and the page number. The examples shown above would therefore appear as follows:

11. J.D. Bryant, The Origins of Mythology, London: Carfax Press, 1971, p.234.

12. History Today, Vol XXXIV, No 18, p.123.

13. Bryant, Mythology, p. 387.

31. The conventions of quoting from poetry and plays are exactly
the same, but for the convenience of the reader, line numbers are given.

32. There are a number of widespread misunderstandings about the use of quotation and systems of referencing. It is worth taking the trouble to follow the conventions outlined above (or use the Harvard system). Once you have brought simplicity and clarity to the presentation of your quotations it will help to improve the appearance and credibility of your work.

Some do’s and don’ts
  • You should not put page references in margins: they are placed immediately after the quotation, within your text.
     
  • You should not locate references as part of your own argument with expression such as ‘and we see this on page 27 where he collapses slowly … then later in the paragraph where he recovers’.
     
  • Ellipses are shown by three dots only [ … ] not a random
    number scattered across the page.
     
  • References and note numbers should form part of the text of your argument. They should not be added to the essay at a later stage and written into the margins or squeezed above the text as superscripts.

33. You should avoid using too many quotations and references to secondary material. In some subjects this can sometimes be required (as in a ‘review of the literature’) but in most it is not. Packing your essay with references to other people’s ideas creates the impression that you are unable to create an argumentof your own. Remember that your own evidence or points should come first. Quotation should normally be offered after you have established your own argument.

34. Some people use quotations as a means of starting an introduction or rounding off the conclusion to an essay. This can give your work a touch of sparkle if the quote is well chosen. However, you should minimise the use of this strategy in the body of the essay itself. Paragraphs which begin with a quotation can weaken your argument – for two reasons.

  • First, you are not leading with your own ideas in the form of a topic sentence directly related to the question.
     
  • Second, the substance of your argument in what follows might give the impression of being a commentary on the secondary source quoted, rather than an answer to the original question.

© Roy Johnson 2004

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How to write a personal statement

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making a good impression on paper

What is a personal statement?

A personal statement is an account of your own qualities, skills, and ambitions which is made to accompany job applications, funding bids, sponsorship requests, and applications for a place in further or higher education.

Think of it as being like a personal introduction, presenting yourself to an individual or an organization, and putting a human personality to a formal request.

Personal Statement

do yours with a word-processor

A personal statement is separate from your curriculum vitae (CV) which lists your formal qualifications and your previous experience.

A personal statement is most commonly required in the UK by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) when you are applying for a place at a university.

The personal statement is where you can tell your preferred universities why they should offer you a place on the course you have chosen.

Who will read a personal statement?

The reader of your statement will be a potential employer, a personnel manager, or an admissions tutor in your chosen faculty of study – arts, science, or technology.

The admissions tutor might be a lecturer on your chosen course (if you are lucky). He or she will decide whether to offer you a place on the course or an interview, based on the information you have written on the form.

First they will look at your academic achievements and decide whether you seem capable of completing their course.

Then they will read your personal statement, and judge whether you are the kind of person who has the motivation and personality to complete the course successfully.

First impressions

Your personal statement is an opportunity to make a positive impression. You will need to convince them that you are also a person who should be accepted on the course or considered for employment.

You need to show the reader that you are:

  • able to express the reasons for your choice of course
  • motivated, and committed to your subject
  • aware of your career options and have some clear ambitions
  • somebody who has outside interests, apart from your studies

You may be applying to several different universities in the hope of securing a place. But your personal statement should not be identical in each case. You need to tailor the statement to your chosen subject of study, or the ethos of the institution.

The same would be true of a personal statement made in conjunction with a job application. You’re trying to convince that particular employer that you are suitable for the position and interested in working for the company.

The same would be true if you were applying for a bursary, a grant, or funding of some kind. Your personal statement confirms that there is a fully rounded human being making the application. It is also an opportunity to say what you would do with the funding if it were granted.

Interviews

If the university or the employer does not interview prospective applicants, then a personal statement is your only chance to convince them to accept you.

Many institutions and employers no longer conduct interviews with all prospective applicants, because of the costs involved. They make a preliminary choice by skim reading through written applications, and only interview the few they select on written evidence.

If you are offered an interview, the interviewers will use the personal statement as a starting point for the questions they ask you. So it’s important for your statement to be interesting, fresh, and honest.

If you’ve written something which isn’t true, you’re likely to become confused if you’re asked a question about it at the interview.

Warning

There are lots of web sites that show you examples of personal statements. Many of them ask you to pay for this service. You should avoid using these services because they may encourage you to do two things:

  • pay to see other people’s personal statements
  • copy parts of other peoples statements instead of writing your own original words

It’s far better to write your own statement, honestly and imaginatively. Everyone is different, and you should be proud of your achievements and aspirations, and pleased to express them.

You can apply online using the UCAS Apply system – but you should prepare all your information in advance.

Use the UCAS guidelines if necessary.

How to write the personal statement

Don’t imagine you can sit down and write your personal statement in one attempt. First you need to plan the structure of the statement, and then generate its content in several drafts.

Planning

Sit down and make a list of all the general areas you might wish to cover in your statement. The list might include items such as:

  • hobbies
  • personal achievements
  • part-time jobs
  • life skills
  • social activities
  • special interests

If the personal statement is to accompany a curriculum vitae (CV) do not list your formal educational qualifications or a record of your employment.

These items should be arranged to create a clear structure. Show your first ideas to family and friends. They might think of skills or advantages that you possess but have taken for granted or forgotten.

Here are some general points about generating ideas for writing your personal statement.

Multiple drafts

Do it all your preliminary writing in rough first, and be prepared to do two or three versions before you get the right combination of words.

Do not be tempted to cut and paste materials off the Internet. There are now plagiarism checkers which will spot text that has been copied from somewhere else.

If you are applying to university, try to link your hobbies and experience(s) to the courses you are applying for. You need to show why you are interested in your chosen subject.

Write the final draft in short clear sentences, and use short paragraphs that make the content easy to read. Use sub-titles that indicate clearly what each section is about.

When you have produced your final draft – no matter how long it has taken – always check your spelling, grammar, and punctuation before submitting the final document.

© Roy Johnson 2014

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How to write a thesis abstract

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tutorial – guidance notes – example – tips

A thesis abstract – definition

A thesis abstract is a digest or a shorter version of the whole thesis. The abstract draws out in summary what’s in the complete thesis. It might also be known as a précis or a synopsis. The term abstract derives from the Latin ab— (away from) and tract— (to draw).

Purpose of an abstract

The original purpose of an abstract is to give an overview of the whole work. This enables a reader to determine the relevance of the thesis for their own purposes.

For instance, a librarian might read the abstract in order to know how to catalogue the thesis. Specialist researchers would read the abstract to see if the work as a whole covered the same topic on which they were working.

The function of the abstract is to prepare the reader for the full document. This is why the substance of the abstract must reflect the essence of the research in terms of —

  1. topic
  2. focus of the hypothesis
  3. methodology
  4. results
  5. rationale

For a supervisor, it sets the work in a useful context of overview. For a fellow student it facilitates research by indicating the content in summary and therefore making selection of resources more efficient.

Form

The abstract is a detachable, unbound section of the thesis normally comprising a single A4 page.

Length

The abstract should be very concise – maybe as little as a single paragraph of (say) 500 words. That’s why an abstract is quite difficult to write. You need to compress the whole of the thesis into an abbreviated series of statements, omitting illustrative details. There is no room for any padding. It requires good summarizing skills.

Example

Here’s an example of an abstract from a study of fire in plant-mammal interactions. Below it is an edited version showing that the abstract follows the criteria enumerated above.

The Latitudinal Defense Hypothesis predicts that levels of defense are highest near the equator and decrease toward the poles. This hypothesis is based mainly on insect herbivory that occurs during the summer. Mammilian herbivory in the winter is a more likely driver of plant defense levels in northern latitudes. Early successional trees such as birches are favored by fire and provide an important food source for mammals like snowshoe hares. In order to test the Latitudinal Defense Hypothesis, we collected birch seeds from eight locations in northwestern Canada and grew seedlings in a common garden. We assessed levels of defense by counting resin glands because resin glands are negatively correlated with snowshoe hare preference. This research will provide valuable information regarding the biogeography of defense and address the role of fire in plant-mammal interactions on a continental scale.

Analysis of an example abstract

1. Initial statement of the overall topic.

The Latitudinal Defense Hypothesis predicts that levels of defense are highest near the equator and decrease toward the poles. This hypothesis is based mainly on insect herbivory that occurs during the summer.

2. Brief statement of the specific focus of the hypothesis.

Mammilian herbivory in the winter is a more likely driver of plant defense levels in northern latitudes. Early successional trees such as birches are favored by fire and provide an important food source for mammals like snowshoe hares.

3. Explanation of the methodology

In order to test the Latitudinal Defense Hypothesis, we collected birch seeds from eight locations in northwestern Canada and grew seedlings in a common garden. We assessed levels of defense by counting resin glands because resin glands are negatively correlated with snowshoe hare preference.

4. Indication of the results

We found that the number of resin glands from the seedlings raised in a common garden was less than those collected in the eight locations chosen for our study….

4. Rationale of research

This research will provide valuable information regarding the biogeography of defense and address the role of fire in plant-mammal interactions on a continental scale.

Structure of the abstract

The chronological structure of the abstract is not as important as the crucial need to include the four topics exemplified in the example given above.

In some cases, ‘Rationale’ might precede ‘Results’. But it does make obvious sense to begin with the ‘Initial statement of the topic’.

How to write the abstract

Your abstract should be written after you’ve finished your thesis. The difficult part is to summarise in one page a substantial research project which might have taken up to two years to complete.

Preparation

  1. Tell one of your enlightened peers what your thesis is about
  2. Ask if they’ve understood your account
  3. If they have understood, write down what you said as quickly as possible in rough draft
  4. If they haven’t understood, tell them again in a different way
  5. Write down that version in rough draft form

Writing process

  • Write the title of your thesis then add the word ‘abstract’
  • Type the numbered headings shown above.
  • Use your notes to fill in the content in each case.
  • Read the abstract through.
  • Remove the headings but keep the separate paragraphs
  • Tidy up the expression so that the prose is fluent
Notes

Make sure that you –

  • Write your abstract in the same style and tone as the thesis
  • Remember it’s just a taster to the main event – but like a menu it has to show what’s there
  • Include all four elements shown in the sample
  • Don’t boast about your research or your achievements in the abstract. Let the work speak for itself.
  • Don’t be tempted to rush the abstract, thinking it’s less important than the thesis. It’s all part of the same project
  • Don’t use personal references or colloquial expressions. This is a professional document.
  • Don’t include sentimental acknowledgements in the abstract.
Details

The abstract is normally written in the past tense. That’s because it is written when the research has been completed and the thesis has already been written. The abstract should also be written last.

Do not use headings in an abstract. For instance – Introduction, Objectives, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. Your explanation of the thesis should be written in continuous prose.

The abstract should be written using the third person passive mode. ‘Samples of the oxides were analysed by …’. It’s possible that the thesis itself is written using the first person – ‘I (or we) collected samples using …’ – but the abstract needs to be more impersonal and objective.

Don’t use abbreviations, contractions, and acronyms in the abstract. If this is unavoidable, you should write out the term in full the first time it is used, followed by the abbreviation in brackets. For example – “Magnetic Photo-Scanning (MPS) was used to …”

© Roy Johnson 2012

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How to Write Critical Essays

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advice on writing academic essays – from start to finish

David Pirie’s sub-title here is ‘a guide for students of literature’ – but his advice will be useful for anybody in the arts or humanities. What he offers is to talk you through the process, from understanding the question to producing and submitting the final draft. He adopts a very sensible approach, and the advice he offers is timeless. The essay as an academic exercise has endured because it is both a form of intellectual self-discovery and a flexible yet taxing means of assessment. He starts with analysing and understanding questions, then organising the ‘research’ for your answer – including detailed advice on taking notes. All this quickly becomes an introduction to literary criticism.

How to Write Critical EssaysHis chapter on devising a suitable structure for an essay explores the standard approaches to this task. These are discussing the arguments for and against a proposition; following the chronological order of events; and constructing a logical sequence of topics. I think a few more concrete examples would have been helpful here. The chapter on how to make a detailed case is more useful, precisely because he examines a series of concrete examples, showing how to quote and examine selected passages. The same is true of his chapter on style, where he illustrates his warnings against repetition, vagueness, generalisation, plagiarism, and overstatement.

There’s something eloquent yet curiously old-fashioned about his prose style. The voice is like an audio recording of someone speaking to us from an earlier age. And he uses phrases which flatter his readers. He talks about students ‘writing criticism’ – as if their coursework exercises were about to be published.

It’s a shame there is no bibliography or index. These are omissions which should be rectified if the book ever makes its long-overdue second edition.

© Roy Johnson 2005

How to Write Critical Essays   Buy the book at Amazon UK

How to Write Critical Essays   Buy the book at Amazon US

David Pirie, How to Write Critical Essays: a guide for students of literature, London: Routledge, 1985, pp.139, ISBN: 0415045339

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How to write surveys

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skills for planning, designing, and writing surveys

What are surveys?

Surveys are usued to gather statistical data, first-hand evidence, or customer feedback and opinions.

Surveys are commonly used to gather information about

  • voting preferences during elections
  • government public health surveys
  • market research on commercial products
  • public opinion on controversial social changes
  • population surveys and census taking
  • data for an academic project or test

Surveys

Surveys are often a form of specialist product research. They are often created by someone who has been trained in market research.

Graduates in Economics, Psychology, Sociology, Mathematics, or Business Studies are often asked to construct and evaluate the results of a survey as part of their coursework.

However, people working in other disciplines are increasingly asked to write surveys as part of their work.

Surveys – the process

If you attempt your own survey, you need to be aware of the procedure outlined here in this example.

  1. Establish the goals of the project – What you want to learn
  2. Determine your sample – Whom you will interview
  3. Choose interviewing methodology – How you will interview
  4. Create your questionnaire – What you will ask
  5. Pre-test the questionnaire, if practical – Test the questions
  6. Conduct interviews and enter data – Ask the questions
  7. Analyze the data – Produce the reports
Surveys – Example

Statement of objectives

I intend to find the main reasons why Mighty Box is more popular than Pink Bucket as a gift container in the north west of England.

Rationale

The results of this survey will inform the marketing team regarding the next advertising campaign due to start 18 May 2014.

Methodology

I will carry out my research by distributing survey sheets to 5000 consumers.

I will create a database which will analyse my results in terms of a stated hierarchy of preferences and reasons.

Implementation

My consumer profile comprises women aged 25-50 in social groups C2 and D.

Location

My survey will be carried out in 17 shopping centres in the north west.

Human resources

I will employ experienced market research personnel in each of the target areas.

Costings

17 researchers @ £7 per hour x 18 hours = £ 2,142.00

Database technician @ £150 per day x 2 days = £ 300.00

Analyst @ £20per hour x 40 hours = £ 600.00

Total cost £ 3,042.00

Surveys – the two main types

There are various purposes in carrying out a survey. Here are the two main types, categorised by the types of question posed – open and closed.

  • Open survey
  • Closed survey

Open questions – What are they?

Open questions are those that allow the respondent to make up their own answer and express it in their own words.

Here are some examples of open questions.

  • Describe your feelings about the rail-crash.
  • What is your current opinion of the NHS?
  • How do you deal with distressed patients?

Closed questions – What are they?

Closed questions have a prescribed answer, as in multiple choice questions. Yes or no answers follow closed questions.

Here are the same topics expressed as closed questions.

  • Do you feel angry, sad or depressed about the rail crash?
  • Do you agree that the NHS is declining in quality?
  • Are you able to control distressed patients?

When are open questions more appropriate?

  • In a survey, open questions yield more authentic opinions and therefore can widen the scope of a survey. This is because the participant may express ideas that you have not thought of.
  • If you are genuinely attempting to find out what a group of people do think or feel, open questions are effective.

When are closed questions more appropriate?

  • When you are seeking to categorise a set of known symptoms, behaviour, beliefs, or feelings, closed questions are more efficient.
  • When you are seeking a certain response, to a given idea, then closed questions can assist your project.
Surveys – Open

Enlightenment

This is an ‘open survey’ – one for which there is no preconceived notion of result.

In other words, you need the result to be as authentic as possible, otherwise it will have no value. You have no vested interest except to know the facts. You will use these facts to inform your next sales strategy or publicity campaign.

Constructing the survey content needs extremely careful thought, planning, and trialling. An inefficient survey can cost you dear.

The open survey. To find authentic information, questions of a very different order are required. Here are some examples of open questions.

Q: I see you have bought a Mighty Box. Please state in one sentence your reason for choosing it.
A: I chose the Mighty Box because it is easy to carry and it is suitable for boys and girls.

Q: Indicate how often you read women’s magazines.
A: Never – every week – every month – every three months.

Q: Tick the content of women’s magazines in order of your preference.
A: None – articles – stories – adverts – horoscopes – readers letters

Q: With which of the following magazines are you most familiar?
A: Hers – Glamour – Lifelong – Woman’s Groan – Modern Girl – none of these.

Surveys – Closed

Publicity and politics

This is a ‘closed survey’ which seeks to gather the information which will support a belief or a statement of belief. In this case you know at the outset what result you are seeking.

For example, if you are a toothpaste company and you want to use statistics in your advertising campaign, you need to find those people who already use your product and are happy with it.

If you want to convince your management team that the main office is in need of refurbishment, you might construct a survey which will give you results to convince them. In this case, you might even include some Health and Safety issues to create a more powerful effect.

The closed survey demands ‘closed questions’. These are most likely to give you the responses you seek. Here are some examples of closed questions with their predicted answers

Q: How long have you been enjoying Mr. Stipling’s cakes?
A: Ever since they came out in 1976.

Analytical statement: ‘X number of people stated that they had enjoyed the cakes for many years’.

Q: When you relax and read Woman’s Groan, what do you like best about it?
A: I only read Woman’s Groan for the horoscopes. I don’t read the rest of it.

Analytical statement: ‘In a recent survey, over X thousand women said they found Woman’s Groan relaxing.’

Surveys – Guidelines for user-friendliness

1. Decide at the outset which of two methods you will use:

  • hand over the questionnaire for each subject to complete
  • read out the questions and fill in the results yourself

2. If you hand over the questionnaire, you need to –

  • Make all your questions simple and clear
  • Make the text large enough to be legible in the street
  • Make the questions answerable with a tick or one word

3. If you decide ask the questions, you need to –

  • phrase questions so that they sound like a spoken sentence
  • keep the survey out of sight of your subject, so that they actually listen rather than read over your shoulder

4. Always explain the context and the purpose of the questionnaire.

5. Avoid including the individual’s identity, or if you need it in some cases, ask permission to include it.

6. Always thank your subject for co-operating with your research.

Processing your data

7. Creating a database is the best way of dealing with survey results. This way, you can find a variety of results which will be done automatically, saving you hours of manual labour.

8. A database will also help you to generate results that you may not have anticipated at the outset.

Using the data

9. Use the data to inform your activities in as many ways as possible. The authentic survey is extremely valuable for such purposes as

  • correcting an ineffective publicity strategy
  • checking on the efficacy or usability of a product
  • assessing public relations in your company
  • using ideas generated by your employees
  • checking on employee morale

10. When acting on the results of your survey, publish your results as an integral part of your action statements.

11. For example, if your survey has shown that employees are not happy with the level of Health and Safety in your organisation, state that you are responding to their input into the survey.

12. If, as a result of the survey you need to make changes to your product or service, give your employees the benefit of the survey results.

Expressing the results of your survey

13. Charts, diagrams or tables are better than narrative explanation when it comes to expressing survey results.

14. A graph or bar chart showing preferences makes a bigger impact than a page of written text on the subject.

15. There are many easy-to-use electronic applications for creating graphics such as those needed to express statistics. They work in conjunction with databases.

16.A spreadsheet such as Microsoft Excel can output its data in the form of bar-charts, columns, and pie charts.

© Roy Johnson 2014

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Hyphens in essays

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sample from HTML program and PDF book

1. Hyphens in essays are most commonly used to join words when forming compounds:

mother-in-law     president-elect

matter-of-fact     author-critic

2. They are also used after prefixes – especially where it is necessary to avoid an awkward or confusing sequence of letters:

re-enter    co-operation    pre-ignition

3. Notice the difference between a compound word and the same terms used separately:

a fifteenth-century manuscript     in the fifteenth century

4. Hyphens should be used where it is necessary to avoid ambiguity:

two-year-old cats   — two year-old cats

In the first case, all the cats are two years old. In the second case, two cats are each one year old.

5. Hyphens should also be used to distinguish terms which are spelled identically, but which have different meanings:

reformation  re-formation
recover   re-cover
resign   re-sign

6. Hyphens are used when new terms are formed from compounds, but they are dropped when the compound is accepted into common usage. (This process is usually more rapid in the USA than in Europe.)

bathtub —   was once bath-tub

bookshelf —   was once book-shelf

clubhouse —   was once club-house

7. This phenomenon is currently visible in computer technology,where all three forms of a term may co-exist:

Word processor —   Word-processor —   Wordprocessor

© Roy Johnson 2003

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