Assessment assessment - part 5 May 5, 2005
Posted by Andy Roberts in : ultraversity , trackbackA note about style
A note about style – this is nothing new to you but I feel it needs to be noted. Sometimes I feel you write in a way that isn’t in keeping with a style that is academic. (you might be happy about that) It’s not necessarily a problem, and it highlights the tension we have between wanting innovation and needing to conform to university regulations. For example, when you say that qualitative methodology is what journalists use – I found this to be a bit simplistic. There are many different types of journalism. Academic style tends to be more tentative because there is more than one way of interpreting something.
Isn’t in keeping with a style that is academic - what tosh! and then the reference to university regulations - yes REGULATIONS!
What might these regulations be I wonder ?
- Never write a statement when a question will do.
- Don’t use short words where long ones suffice.
- The passive tense should be used in preference to the active, except where the active can be made more convoluting.
- Precise meaning should be obfuscated as far as possible.
Academic style doesn’t have to be like that - there are many different types of academic writing, including clear and concise, strong polemic and socratic dialogue. Conjecture is all very well but I deplore tentative statements which relieve the author of any responsibility to stand behind them.
The description of journalistic research as an illustration of qualitative methods is a good one, in the context.
Qualitative research concerns itself with revealing the nature or truth about a subject through a journey of discovery, systematically following leads and searching for relevance. It’s what journalists and anthropologists do, whereas quantitative research is what Highway planners and epidemiologists do - counting journeys or identifying clusters through statistical analysis.
Reading again the above sentence which was picked on as breaking the university regulations for academic style, I find the criticism laughable. Over simplisitic? Compare it with this sentence:
Sometimes I feel you write in a way that isn’t in keeping with a style that is academic
It’s awkward, imprecise and just sounds kind of snooty without explaining anything. I wouldn’t be doing myself any favours by accepting lessons in writing style if this is the result.
Academic style tends to be more tentative because there is more than one way of interpreting something.
What Everything? I don’t accept that all interpretations are equally valid, nor that reality is created inside people’s heads. I happen to subscribe to the philosophical position which holds that the material world does actually exist and can become known to us. Am I still allowed to get a degree or would I first be expected to undergo surgery to have that part of my brain removed.
is an online professional who initiated DARnet 
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