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1. Academic writing guidelines for social sciences.
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Hadson Sitembo.
Academic writing
● Intended for use in depth research
● Use of specialized vocabulary
● Sources should be cited
● Reviewed by academic peers
● Reliable methods used
● Validity of study findings
● May contain words " journal of " ," review of literature"
● Plain covers with no graphics
● Complex tables , language and statistics used to display research findings.
Popular writing
● Intended for general audience
● Written to entertain persuade and inform
● Mostly essential for finding current events and issues
● No need for citation
● To inform about popular events , culture and entertainment
● Very colorful visuals and design
● Simple and non technical language
● Possibility of bias
Technical writing
● Process of documenting processs, such as software manual or instructions manual.
● Traditionally limited to user manuals
● It includes exucutive summary , recruitment information, job summaries , brief, reports ,
websites , electronic user manuals etc
● It can include high technical language on how a product operates
● Technical writing need research and data collection is important
● It has to be shaped to user reader interests
● It is imperative to understand the technical nature of the content you are writing about
● Easy to read and free of errors
● Follow a specific time,style and guide of writing
● Testing of documents is important to ensure its relevance
Principles of academic writing.

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● Clarity and limited focus:( establish a focus of the paper, every sentence and paragraph
should comment back to the focus of the paper, the data should support the focus of the
paper)
● Logical structure: ( all academic writing follows a logical , straight structural, in it's
simplest form it contains : introduction,main body and conclusion) . The conclusion part
gives background information and lays out the direction of the paper, the body supports
the statement , and the conclusion refers back to the thesis and summarize the main
points and highlight the implications of the paper
● Evidence based ( it requires well informed arguments, the statement must be supported
by evidence from scholarly source. Evidence gives credibility
● Impersonal tone:( the goal of academic writing is to convey a logical argument from an
objective stand point
● Research based:( academic papers should be research based for validity)
● Abstracts ( most academic published papers contains abstract . A brief summary and the
most important points of the paper are put out .
● The use of formal language: the use of informal languages like slangs ,idioms and
conversation language should be avoided.
● Citation : every source used throughout the research must be cited using one style
manual. Avoid plagiarism
Format for research proposal
Considered as one of the most complex task and requires mastery of multiple skills. It aims at
delivery of brief information of the research you want to conduct, the reason why it will be useful
and methods of conducting research. There are various components of research proposal
below are the major ones
● Cover Page ( it contains proposed title,contact details, institution , qualifications ,
supervisor and the degree being attempted. Sometimes may contain date of submission
● Table of contents ( this is a list of research sections, give accurate page reference)
● Introduction ( it gives background information, brief and catch to persuade readers)
● Purpose and objective: ( it clear states the purpose, here is where you develop
hypothesis,and outline objectives. Objectives should not be too many)
● Need and significance( what are anticipate outcomes, benefits and the usefulness of the
research)
● Literature review ( demonstrating that you have read enough on the subject matter,
argue for validity of your research, and specify which issues you will concentrate.
Review all important works done in that area)
● Methodology ( indicate the source of your approach, research action and time
framework, limitations.
● Format of report ( a proposed table of contents, description of each proposed chapters)
● Glossary of term( definition of specialized terms used and their meaning)

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● Appendix ( relevant documents not seen in the research proposal e.g questionnaire, pilot
study
● Reference ( list of all sources used in preparation of research proposal )
Abstract
● A brief summary of research article, thesis, review or any other depth analysis of
particular subject
● Often used to help readers quickly ascertain the purpose of the paper
● When used it appears at the beginning of the paper
● The term precis and synopsis are sometimes used to mean the Same
● It acts as a stand alone entitye instead of a full paper
● Most literature database only index abstracts instead of full papers
● Mostly between 150 and 250 words
● It is usually contains key words
● It should be centered
● Contains atleast research topic, research question , methods , results ,data analysis and
conclusion and recommendation
Format of short essay
● Introduction
● Main body
● Conclusion
Sources of academic writing
In general there are three types of sources of information ( data) in academic writing these are :
primary , secondary and tertiary sources
● Primary sources ( original materials which research is based on like original written
works ,poems , diaries,court records, interviews, autobiography, fieldwork, observation ,
letters, personal experience among others).
● Secondary sources ( those that analyse and describe primary sources eg textbooks ,
films , journals, biographies among others).
● Tertiary ( some kind of assemblage of primary and secondary data . Not recommended
to be used for academic writing eg dictionary, encyclopedia, study guide).
However it is important to know that the distinction between primary, secondary and tertiary
sources is not a fixed one and can be blurry.
APA ( American psychological association) style manual

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It is a format of writing scholarly journal articles and books. It is commonly used in the field of
psychological and social sciences
- Developed to aid reading and comprehending
- It was developed to reduce bias and increase clarity
General characteristics of APA
1. In text citation ( used of author date reference) eg Sitembo ( 2019).
2. Reference list ( in APA reference lists the writer should provide author, year, title and
sources of cited work in an alphabetical order, if the reference is not cited in the work it
should not appear reference list. The reference varies based on document type.
3. Journal articles with two author ( e.g Mathew,A.&Biju,L.( 2019) Comparative studies in A
and B. Kerala Political Journal) invert the names of authors Capitalise initial, first word of
research article and Capitalise each word of the journal title
4. It should be typed with times new roman or similar font
5. It should be 12 margin double spaced with a running page header
6. All lines should be indented on both sides
7. Present journal in full
8. When referring to articles, books chapters or blogs capitalize only first letters
9. Italise titles of journals and books
Components of a paper written using APA fomart
1. Title page( include name of journal, the title should be very long, normally between 8 to
12 words, authors me only don't include titles)
2. Abstract ( it's is a summary of key points, research topic, research question methods . It
must have key words.
3. References
4. Footnotes and key words are not relevant in APA.
Difference between APA and MLA
1. APA is a method of choice in the field of social sciences and psychological sciences,
while MLA is a method of choice in humanities , literature, philosophy , language and
history.
2. In APA we follow author date format with parentheses, while MLA we follow publisher
date format without parentheses.
3. In APA the authors name is spelled out by using his last name and his first name as
initias , while MLA uses full names first and last spelled out.
4. In APA only first word of title , the first word of subtitles and any proper noun are
Capitalised , while in MLA all major words of title are capitalized.
5. In APA the sources are called references, in MLA the sources are known as " works
cited"
6. In APA it is a must to have title page and abstract, while in MLA it is not .
7. Under APA titles are italised , in MLA titles are underlined.

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8. In APA ,In-text citation follow author ( year ) format , while MLA follows author ( page)
format
9. APA when two works are cited from the same author we follow chronological order
Sitembo( 98,99) , while MLA follows the alphabet of the work done Sitembo ( A,Z)
10. In APA endnotes and footnotes are not required , while MLA require endnote and
footnotes
Both style update their styles periodically therefore the difference could not be constant.
Qualitative Data analysis
Data analysis is a process used to examine collected data and find it's relevance and propose a
conclusion.
-It is a process through which a researcher reduces larger number of data collected into a
significant data that can make sense.
There are different methods/ approaches of qualitative data analysis. The following are some of
the approaches
1. Ethnographic analysis ( this involves cultures , demographic, human life, education,
health care issues and environment Issues.)
2. Narrative analysis ( a narrative to a social context, storytelling with emphasis on
understanding , recalling and summarize. How story varies from culture to culture.
3. Phenomenological analysis ( laying emphasis on ones assumption of a phenomenal
under study)
4. Constant comparative study ( it assigns codes that reflects conceptual relationships.
5. Hermeneutics ( refers to the interpretation of texts )
Techniques used
1. Interpretation
2. Coding
3. Narrative
4. Evaluation
5. Confirmation
6. And presentation.
Data collection
Primary data collection
1. Field notes ( which includes your own observation, thoughts , feeling, interaction)
2. Maps and diagrams drawn on site
3. Tally of scoring sheets
4. Survey using questionnaire
5. Interviews
6. Diaries ,time log and documents
Secondary data collection
1. Reuse data by others

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2. Goveenment sources of published statistics
3. Trade unions, political parties, interest groups
4. Archive organization
5. Films
6. Books and journal reading
7. Documnted sources
Qualitative Methods of collecting data in social sciences
1. Interviews
2. Observation
3. Case studies
4. Visual methods
5. Ethnographies
6. Working with objects
7. Social networking
In social sciences and cognate discpline qualitative methods are well established because using
Qualitative methods is good for working out feelings, altitudes, perception and understandings.
Stages in academic writing
There are various stages of academic writing below are general ones
1. Developing ideas:( ideas are around us , everyday situation presents an opportunity for
idea development. Select a topic of personal interest, a topic that can be manageable
with a stipulated time, be original and follow guidelines.)
2. Review of literature:( review related studies in the topic you selected , demonstrate that
you have read enough on the topic, gathering of ideas and validity of your research)
3. Identifying primary and secondary sources ( a primary source is the one which was
created at the same time as the event, secondary is the source from someone else).
4. Data collecting and analysis ( a research is incomplete without data,choose a method of
collecting and analysing data. Each data primary or secondary will have a specific format
of collection ).
5. Summarize and paraphrasing ( to paraphrase is to rewrite someone's work using
different words while maintaining it's original meaning, to summarize is to reduce the
content.)
6. Presenting research findings( knowledge of topic is vital, knowledge of your
audience,use texts and visual aids , interpret results, referring figures correctly. After
putting so much information you will want your report to contain factual and accurate
information.)
General structure of thesis and dissertation

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The aims of thesis is to produce an original piece of research work( M Phil or PhD) .
Dissertation is usually done at undergraduate level and it is a little shorter.
1. Introduction ( contains background information, reasons for research, need and
significance and format of report
2. Review of literature ( theoritical overview of research, review of related studies ,meta
analysis you analyse the results of all results. Based on this you establish your own
analysis
3. Methodology ( methods,tools , sample ,data collection and analysis , the use of
statistical analysis like SPSS)
4. Results and discussion ( results analysis and major findings)
5. Conclusion and suggestions ( conclusion based on the findings of the theses,
implications, limitations and suggestions for further research
6. References ( all sources used )
7. Appendices ( includes things like questionnaire)
Format of thesis and dissertation
1. Title page ( includes topic, researchers name, qualifications, purpose of study,
supervisor, institution name, year .
2. Certificate ( to certify that it is a bonafide work, and no plagiarism
3. Declaration ( decorations of the work by the candidate)
4. Acknowledgement ( acknowledge supervisors, experts,subjects, secretarial assistance,
any one who made the work possible.)
5. Table Contents ( include chapters,list of table,list of figure,list of appendices, reference
page numbers should be included)
6. Main body ( the main body is usually more than 50 percent of the entire thesis)
7. Reference
8. Appendices.
Reference
1. Judith B.( 2009) Doing your social science dissertation. California
2. Monippally M.M.&Pawar B.S ( 2010) Academic writing: guide for management students
and researchers. New Delhi
3. Wolcott,H,F. ( 2001) Writing Up Qualitative Research. London : sage