Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article

by Howard S. Becker, Pamela Richards (Contribution by)

Social scientists, whether earnest graduate students or tenured faculty members, clearly know the rules that govern good writing. But for some reason they choose to ignore those guidelines and churn out turgid, pompous, and obscure prose. Distinguished sociologist Howard S. Becker, true to his calling, looks for an explanation for this bizarre behavior not in the psyches of his colleagues but in the structure of his profession. In this highly personal and inspirational volume he considers academic writing as a social activity.

Both the means and the reasons for writing a thesis or article or book are socially structured by the organization of graduate study, the requirements for publication, and the conditions for promotion, and the pressures arising from these situations create the writing style so often lampooned and lamented. Drawing on his thirty-five years' experience as a researcher, writer, and teacher, Becker exposes the foibles of the academic profession to the light of sociological analysis and gentle humor. He also offers eminently useful suggestions for ways to make social scientists better and more productive writers. Among the topics discussed are how to overcome the paralyzing fears of chaos and ridicule that lead to writer's block; how to rewrite and revise, again and again; how to adopt a persona compatible with lucid prose; how to deal with that academic bugaboo, "the literature." There is also a chapter by Pamela Richards on the personal and professional risks involved in scholarly writing.

In recounting his own trials and errors Becker offers his readers not a model to be slavishly imitated but an example to inspire. Throughout, his focus is on the elusive work habits that contribute to good writing, not the more easily learned rules of grammar and punctuation. Although his examples are drawn from sociological literature, his conclusions apply to all fields of social science, and indeed to all areas of scholarly endeavor. The message is you don't have to write like a social scientist to be one.

Genres: Writing, Sociology, Nonfiction, Research, Education, Academia, Academic

187 pages, Paperback

Published March 15, 1986

About the author

Howard Saul Becker was an American sociologist who taught at Northwestern University.

Reviews

[Ivana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Time-travelling, that is my goal after reading this book. Or at least write a readable thesis.
The most exciting moment is when you realize that you are adopting some of Becker´s advices. While reading the book I mostly nodded with agreement.
For me the most important things for everyone to realize are:
- writing is a part of academic system, institutions
- something is rotten in this kingdom, but one should not give up
- forget about your ego while writing, put the cause at the first place
- start and try
- really, shut up and write
And so I continued.

[AYAH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must-read for all research students, and anyone really trying to get the hang of writing clearly & by clearly I mean in terms of ideas but also the language used to express them. Unfortunately, we tend to obscure our ideas by the language we use.

The book is not written in the dry style of do and don't! Becker is very aware of the emotional, social, psychological, and even physical aspects of the process of writing. Also, the book is written for social scientists but it is really relevant to ANY researcher especially in the humanities.

I really don't see how such a book can become "outdated"! It is a classic! And one I believe I will return to time and again as an early career academic.

[Beyza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yazar sosyolog olduğundan verdiği örnekler de sosyoloji üzerinden, ancak kitapta bahsedilen sorunlar akademik yazımla uğraşan herkesin karşılaştığı türden. Yazar kitapta akademik yazım sürecinde karşılaşılan sorunların kişisel olmadığını, bunların asıl kaynağının toplumsal organizasyon olduğunu vurgulayarak sorunların üstesinden gelebilmek için çözüm önerilerinde bulunuyor. Bunlardan birkaçını denemeye başladım ve faydasını görüyorum, kitabı da sosyal bilimci olsun veya olmasın, akademik metin üretmeye çalışan herkese tavsiye ederim.

[Este · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most relatable book I've read that's written by a sociologist. It's honest, unpretentious, and most of all helpful. Reading Howie Becker makes you feel smarter and inspired which few books on research ever achieve to do. His writing conveys empathy and is in touch with the struggles of being a young scholar in cut-throat industry.

[Shuyi Chua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Becker is an advocate for rewriting and editing as a means to produce good writing. What makes this book different from Peter Elbow's is its contextualization to the social sciences, hence addressing issues unique to sociology in writing and publishing. It reads like a friend talking to you, and was what drew me to the book. It is a good book for people from any discipline who fear academic writing and need help to see why it's not scary and why even fun (which I agree is fun).

However, if you really want to learn how to do free writing and editing, you may need to get a more academic text. This works as a good introduction, but hits just at the level of beliefs and principles, sharing from a very personal account. So it does not give a lot of guidance that is typically found in texts that teach academic writing. It is also a little outdated though it interestingly compares the 1986 text to the 2007 text. It's a nice book to see how the discipline and publishing industry and even technology has evolved through this book.

Very informative read but perhaps not the kind you would keep referring to for help. More like something you read once and may give to a friend who is fearful of writing, or likes autobiography and trivia (like me).

[Kerem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kitabı çok sevdim. Keşke bu kalibredeki akademikler çalışma ve yazma pratikleriyle ilgili daha fazla şey karalasalar.

Bu kitabın başarılı yapan şey yazarının Howard Becker olması herhalde. Howie :) neticede döneminin en üretken ve aldığı editörlük gibi görevlerle bunu daha fazla pratik edebilmiş, Chicago geleneğiyle yetişmiş, bunun neticesinde yazma eylemini sosyal teoriyle ve metodolojiyle birleştirebilecek biri ve kitabında bunu başarıyor. Keşke tartışmayı daha fazla daha derinleştirseymiş.

Yazma eylemiyle öyle ya da böyle ilgilnen herkese tavsiye ederim.

[Doniben J. Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

He sido ese estudiante problemático que nunca se conforma con versionar una y otra vez la redacción de sus textos. No se me dificulta entender y crear nuevas ideas, pero sí se me dificulta confiar en ellas y en ese mismo sentido, estructurarlas de manera concreta. Pienso que hay una manera correcta de escribir un texto académico; a veces pretendo ser un intelectual y entonces escribo complicado, con una prosa casi ilegible. En el proceso preliminar me extiendo buscando, acumulando material y me dejo abrumar por la bibliografía. He entendido que es parte de mi naturaleza afrontar de tal manera la construcción de textos académicos y, por ende, aceptarlo no significa que deba cambiarla.

Si alguien se despreocupa por la escritura, ya ha logrado esa confianza que necesita el escritor de textos académicos; posiblemente no necesita leer este libro. Pero si a alguien le pasan cosas similares a las que menciono arriba, sin importar la carrera profesional que curse, entonces Howard Becker ciertamente le ayudará a organizar las ideas y superar los bloqueos brindando estrategias, anécdotas, teoría y coraje para superar a gusto ese reto que representa la escritura de un producto académico.

[Eren Buğlalılar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Başarılı bir çalışma. Sosyal bilimcinin işi yalnızca araştırmak değil, araştırmasını anlaşılır bir biçime sokup, okura sunmak. Bunu yapmakta zorlananlar için iyi önerileri var. Pratik tavsiyeler yanında sosyal bilimcilerin neden anlaşılmaz yazma eğiliminde olduğunu çözümleyen bölümler de ilginç. Bilgisayar kullanımına ilişkin bölüm biraz eski kalmış.

Tercümesi de fena değil ama, keşke editörlüğü biraz daha titiz olsaymış. Az da olsa bazı cümleler biraz çeviri kokuyor, anlamak zorlaşıyor.

[Wilson prata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quando li Art's World pela primeira vez, uma das coisas que me chamou atenção foi como o texto era fluído e objetivo. Enquanto avançava na leitura, pensava: "como esse cara escreve bem". Essa impressão se justifica com esse livro de Howard Becker, agora dedicado à escrita. No mundo acadêmico escrever de modo pomposo e embolado é tido como sinal de erudição, muitas vezes, serve também para disfarçar o texto de quem não tem muita coisa a dizer. Ao longo do livro, Becker expõe, explica e dá várias dicas de como escapar desse cacoete da pós-graduação. Foi um tanto frustrante e doloroso me reconhecer nas descrições que eram apresentadas de alunos e professores que se enrolavam com as palavras ou que entram na dança dos apostos e adjetivos sem questionar muito as razões daquele comportamento. A vantagem de Becker é que além de criticar e expor essa situação ele mesmo mostra como sair desse formato, convoca os acadêmicos a darem a cara a tapa e dizerem claramente o que acham, o que sabem e o que não sabem (um explicação em três termos, é verdade, e sim, essa é uma fórmula que é colocada em xeque pelo autor, mas que aqui se mostra necessária, caso eu quisesse confundir e alongar o texto, poderia ter dito que"Becker evidencia com minúcia as sutilezas e sortilégios da produção textual acadêmica inquirindo os agentes componentes desse espaço simbólico a evidenciarem suas incertezas e aspirações quando estas se apresentarem parcamente estruturadas e, tanto quanto possível, a exporem de modo sucinto, claro e objetivo seus achados de pesquisa e suas hipóteses somente quando estas estiverem plenamente refutadas ou confirmadas, ou ainda, de modo ousado e desafiador, sugere que os pesquisadores clarifiquem as lacunas no pensamento e nas suas investigações", uma prova de que se ainda não mudei completamente, estou me esforçando para isso)

[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

Al final se me ha hecho un poco repetitivo pero los primeros capítulos me parecen súper útiles e interesantes

[H.d. · Rating 4 out of 5]

O autor discorre de forma honesta e instigante sobre as dificuldades da escrita acadêmica, sempre vendo uma razão sociológica por trás do que entendemos por dificuldades pessoais. Além de abrir o seu próprio processo de escrita. No fim de tudo ainda compartilha com o leitor do seu pessimismo quanto ao tipo de texto acadêmico que se produz hoje, com as metas de publicação cobradas pelas instituições.

[Matthias Lammers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I guess this is a great book to have somewhere near your desk when the reading slum is invading your creative writing process. I would highly recommend it for social scientists but also for other humanoids who are writing about various topics and need a more fluent writing style :)

[malinka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Je comprends désormais la hype de mes profs pour ce mec. Il est génial. Je suis convertie. Et accessoirement, ça m'a largement débloquée pour la rédaction de mon mémoire.

[Özgür Balmumcu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bir sosyolog ve aynı zamanda caz müzisyeni olan Howard S. Becker okuması kolay bir kitap kaleme almış. Sade bir dil, daha çok yazmanın psikolojik yanına odaklanan ve kendince (?) pratik çözümler ile öneriler getiren bir eser. Lâkin beklentilerimi tam olarak karşıladığını söyleyemem. Zaman içinde güncellense de yazıldığı dönem itibarıyla bir miktar demode kalıyor ne yazık ki. Örneğin, "Bilgisayarla Yazmak" bölümü çok işlevsiz günümüz itibarıyla. Yazma motivasyonlarını da doyurucu bir biçimde işlediği kanaatinde değilim. Hacmi itibarıyla daha kapsamlı bir kitap bekliyordum. Aslında kendisi de kitabının son cümlelerinde bunu dile getiriyor ve ilham vermekten ziyade umut verebilmeyi hedefliyorum sözleriyle kitabını noktalıyor.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stubborn. Strong-willed. Hard-headed (in the most literal sense I would discover). Great characteristics in a life or death situation. Not so great when trying to be a successful writer, and by successful I just mean getting any damn thing actually written that’s more than a couple of sentences to throw in a drawer.
I’ve read numerous books on writing. They all gave the same advice. Just write. Easier said than done. See, I’m a perfectionist too, and never once had a teacher or professor taught me how to actually edit my writing. I was just always told it was great, but I knew something was missing. It took this book for one of my husband’s post-graduate Urban Studies classes to fall into my lap. If you, like me, are not in a social sciences field but do some type of writing and have to find a back door method for everything (see above list of personality traits), I can’t recommend this book enough. For 165 pages, Howard Becker was the professor that I always needed but never knew I wanted.

[Puty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book. It is written by a sociologist and a lot of examples and contexts are quite specific about sociology. However, as a writer, almost everything is just.... on point in general sense. For examples, on how we struggle to start writing:

"They were afraid that they would not be able to organize their thoughts, that writing would be a big, confusing chaos that would drive them mad. And they spoke feelingly about a second fear: that what they wrote would be “wrong” and that (unspecified) people would laugh at them."

or how starting anyway and writing our first draft can help us to think better, or how social scientist mostly wants to write in "classy way to sound smart" (😂), being brave to "getting the writings out of the door", or being anxious to deal with literature especially the classic ones.

I take it mostly as a book of wisdom rather than a practical 'how to'. Fun to read but at the end of the day, the suggestions are not extraordinary: just start, don't be afraid to make mistake, no need to be phony, edit-and-repeat, take the risk, get it out of the door 😁

[Alex Mader · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was overall a relatable and informative read. There were some areas that seem somewhat less relevant today as they may have been when originally written, (The chapter on the merits of using word processors first comes to mind).

The key ideas were clearly expressed and helpful in laying out some of the common pitfalls and anxieties that academic writers often face. I would recommend the first couple chapters to anyone new to the world of academic writing and the final chapter does a particularly good job of summarizing the key points contained within.

[Luca Gatto · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Writing for social scientists” è un libro interessante e ricco di spunti per essere in grado di iniziare e portare a termine i propri prodotti accademici. Becker, grazie alla sua lunga esperienza nel l’insegnamento, da alcuni suggerimenti su come poter superare le fasi di stallo che inevitabilmente affliggono la vita degli scienziati sociali. Scritto in maniera chiara, semplice e diretta - come lo stile che suggerisce - cerca di delineare queste problematiche più che questioni di organizzazione del lavoro. Ne farò sicuramente grande tesoro nel futuro. Consigliato!

[Leonardo Gedraite · Rating 3 out of 5]

Procurei esse livro depois da indicação do Robson Nascimento.

Gostei muito da abordagem sociológica sobre a escrita acadêmica que o autor adota. Ele transforma nosso modo de ver o processo de produção de artigos e livros em algo mais mundano, manual. Mostra como a visão que temos sobre a escrita é cosntruída socialmente, com muitos viéses.

Essa mudança de visão traz algumas dicas úteis sobre a escrita que me ajudaram bastante.

[Kerynnisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical, aspirational and transformative. I wish I had been in the right mindframe and time of life to have read and absorbed this book 5, 10, years ago. But now is always the right time, because I feel keenly the potency and the importance of the skills Becker so freely shares. there are many outdated parts in this book esp around writing technologies, but the advice re how, when to write and to stop writing are timeless and always relevant

[Olwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an 'old' book from 1986 - the author writes of the amazing new invention of computers - but it's one of the best books on the writing process I've ever come across. No wonder it's a classic, and in high demand at my library, still.

If you thought that writing should be easy, you need to read this book!

[Alejandro · Rating 3 out of 5]

No esperes un contenido inspirador, Becker no puede cumplir con algo como eso, porque no cree en poder inspirar a nadie, pero puedes encontrar un poco de esperanza en este manual de escritura.

[khedna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ótima leitura, me ajudou a entender meus problemas com a escrita e a terminar um projeto de mestrado.😶‍🌫️

[Madison]

phd journey begins

[Tomáš Kratochvíl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books about writing and rewriting I have ever read. And not just for social scientists, despite the title. For anyone who writes anything.
It's a) very therapeutic. Because you meet the experience of other people and their fears while writing. You realize that you are "normal". You can relate.
It's b) full of tips. The author uses his classes and the texts he came across the best way. He mines them and gives you the perfect gems of examples and explanations. And he does so while telling stories. Literally, he does not just describe, he actually shows you how the situations went without it being lengthy or boring.
It's c) multi-perspective. The author discusses the topic from the point of artists, undergraduates, young scholars, seasoned scholars, editors... And as (once) a member of many of these categories I could always relate and agreed. The author evidently discussed the topic with multiple people and listened to them and deeply thought about what they said.

There are some points when the books is at a stalemate. (Especially as the end is nearing.) When you read a page or two and wonder what it should have given you since it is too abstract or too philosophical. You can, of course, skip those if you are after the practical stuff. But you won't be bored even if you read those parts about dual types of academic writers (goal-oriented quickies and quality-oriented deadline-deniers), about the six uses of previous literature, or others. No matter the topic, the book is easy and fun to read. Which is great, since this is generally a very practical book.

All in all, 5/5 and definitely read it!

[U Recife · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyone who has faced the challenges of having to write a paper for college knows exactly how troublesome this task can be. There’s this constant anxiety that keeps growing as the term for the paper gets closer and closer; there’s all the things we do to try to avoid having to face the actual writing; and there’s the fear of not being able to do the task at all, of not finding the right way to write the whole thing down. We get stuck and leave the bulk of the writing for the last minute.

Well, we all have been there. And so common are these problems that Howard S. Becker tries to tackle them all on 10 essays dealing with different difficulties writers face when preparing their papers (or whatever they have to write).

The book is a must read for those who want to overcome the anxieties, fears, and all sort of troubles that accompany the act of writing for institutional settings such as college. Becker shares with us a lot of ideas that may help in different situations; and, most of all, he does a great job in showing that all we go through is not a particular problem of our lack of gifts for writing, but very common stumbling blocks that affects most who are obliged to produce meaningful pieces of writing.

If you are in college and are trying to make the leap forward in how you put your work into writing, don’t miss this book. It will definitely help you improve your skills and confidence.

[Paulo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Já tinha sido um alento há alguns anos durante o mestrado. Hoje, mais maduro e (um pouco) menos tomado pelas ansiedades acadêmicas, foi uma leitura ainda mais profunda. O Becker acalma diversas das inquietações da escrita e da pesquisa com uma calma muito grande que, no final das contas, vem de um lugar muito simples: ninguém se importa (ou não deveriam se importar). A estratégia da tempestade de parágrafos e das sucessivas reescritas - pelo menos pra mim - é uma forma eficaz de dar um pouco de ordem ao caos das ideias na cabeça.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book was written in 1986 and some of the chapters are slightly dated, I still found this book to be pretty useful. It's not a book about how to write the most elegant paragraph; Becker (and the various chapter authors) help you to get past the crap and get to work. Of particular use to me were the sections on "Risk" and "Getting it out the door."

[Dee Michell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots to like about this guide to writing. I especially enjoyed his chapter on the way to use academic literature. His metaphor of building a table is brilliant - you can take bits and pieces of others' work when that's useful and use those bits and pieces to craft something new.

[Yaseen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful in its realm. Not outstanding, but a good little support guide. Best thing I learned from it is the tip to simply let go and start writing whatever comes to your head. Also, a good guest chapter that sums up what it feels like to be in academia and the stress that can cause you to freeze.