Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article: Second Edition (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing),   ISBN:9780226041322

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Howard S. Becker, the author of "Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article", is a social scientist. Of course, no respectable scientist, social or non-social, would dare generalizing to other fields of knowledge the findings laboriously made in his own field. So, Becker conservatively addresses his book just to "social scientists". Writing is, however, an essential aptitude for any scientist. In fact, it is no less crucial to the survival of the scientist, as a scientist, than his or her own aptitudes to read or think logically. So, what Becker writes in his book is just as important to social scientists as it is to any other kind of scientist. Quite paradoxically, most scientists initiate and develop their scientific careers without devoting a single minute of their time to specifically learning how to write. Anyone would agree that it is impossible to play good tennis without proper training, and whoever wished to become a professional tennis player by just playing along would very likely be regarded as downright naive. This is, however, what most scientists do when it comes to writing. Becker's book does not fall in the category of the so called "how-to" books. It is, rather, a personal reflection written in a very entertaining and conversational style by an academic who addresses his fellow academics, not from the top of a pulpit, but from the cultural standpoint of the beliefs, traditions, aspirations and rites of their common academic life. It covers, in this way, a remarkably diverse collection of central aspects of scientific writing, such as the crucial role of editing and rewriting (and rewriting, and rewriting), the fear of scorn, the encounters with writer's block, or the urge to produce pompous and obscure texts. As the book progresses, the readers notice that they are being faced with the main fallacies of traditional scientific writing and that they are being helped to build their own opinion on how these fallacies can be properly handled. One such fallacy resides in the belief that there is only one right way of putting things down on paper. In fact, most less experienced writers tend to believe that to write well is to get the text right the first time. So, they stumble in the beginning of their text, unsuccessfully trying to work out the best beginning (and believing that, if they don't, they will not be able to proceed). Often, they also stumble when trying in vain to get the best plan for their text. Indeed, they seem to ignore that a significant part of our knowledge is built through experimentation, and that experimentation begins inside our own minds, as we tentatively combine ideas and try to make sense out of them.

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Howard Becker is indispensable to any student of the social sciences. This book, which provides insight into how to work efficiently as a scholar in the discipline, is an excellent resource. Read it while you're writing so you don't lose sight of the goal of finishing your work.

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Dears

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Óthon Pereira
from Brazil
Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article: Second Edition (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)

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I bought the first edition of this book about 20 years ago and found it very helpful. I long ago misplaced my copy and so was happy to order the new second edition. On reading the book again, I found Becker's advice to be as good as I remembered, but I was disappointed that he had made so few changes in the "second edition." Essentially, the first edition has been reprinted verbatim--even typos weren't corrected--with a relatively few pages of additional material added to the last two chapters. Chapter 9 now contains Becker's general thoughts on recent software that he considers useful to writers. This discussion would have been more helpful if he had been willing to mention specific programs. I guess he decided not to either to avoid giving free advertising or to avoid dating the discussion. The last chapter gives some interesting, if brief, observations on the place of writing in modern academic life.

In short, if you already have the first edition, there's not much point in buying the second edition. If, on the other hand, you haven't encountered this book before and you would like some useful tips on academic writing, it's well worth the price.

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This was the best $10 I've ever invested. The book is wonderful; clear and concise. It's made a big difference with my papers through understanding that writing is a process that mostly begins with angst, that there are a few quick tricks that can make any paper much better and that big words in scientific papers don't make the paper scientific (or readable). BUY THE BOOK!!!