This document provides a biography of Nehanda, a powerful female religious and military leader who led the resistance against British colonial rule in Zimbabwe in the late 19th century. It describes how Nehanda rose to a high position in the traditional Mashona religious hierarchy and strongly opposed the confiscation of land and oppression of her people by British colonists. The document outlines how Nehanda helped organize and train forces to fight against the colonial administration, establishing her military headquarters in a mountain fortress. It provides context on traditional Mashona religious beliefs and the roles of important spiritual figures like Nehanda in mobilizing resistance to the imposition of colonial rule in Zimbabwe.
UCLAUfahamu A Journal of African StudiesTitleNehanda .docx
1. UCLA
Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies
Title
Nehanda of Zimbabwe (Rhodesia): The Story of a Woman
Liberation
Fighter
Permalink
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3nc0s46w
Journal
Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies, 7(1)
ISSN
0041-5715
Author
Mutunhu, Tendai
Publication Date
1976
Peer reviewed
eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library
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2. Introduction
59
~iffil OF Zlf'BlB£ CIIDIESIA):
TI£ STORY OF A ~
LIBERATIOO LEAIER lliD FIGITER.
by "
Tendai Mutunhu
In Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), African women have tradition-
a lly shared equal responsibilities and duties in public
administration, political affairs and national defense. In
the military service, women, like men, were involved in
combat duties. During the Mwenemutapa Empire, for example,
some of the best combat regiments in the Imperial Army were
made up only of women soldiers. These battle seasoned
regiments were commanded and led by capable and competent
women military officers. The regiments were made up princi-
p ally of young and un-married women. A number of the
Emperors of this wealthy and powerful empire had great faith
and confidence in the fighting capabilities of their women
soldiers because many of them had distinguished themselves
in battle by their courage and bravery.l
This great military tradition has been maintained in
Zimbabwe and has surfaced in various forms and intensity
s i nce 1890 when the country was formally colonized and sub-
jugated by the British settlers. Because of the growing
military and racial conf~ontation between the Zimbabwe Lib-
eration Army, the Military wing of the African National
Council, and the forces of the white racist minority regime
of Ian Smith, a number of African women of Zimbabwe are
3. being
r ecruited to serve at various levels in the army of libera-
tion .
The woman who is generally recognized by many Zimba-
bwe ans as the greatest military leader and freedom fighter
in recent history was Nehanda. Nehanda was a powerful and
influential woman who achieved her religio-political fame
and military greatness during the 1896 to 1897 Mashona- Mate-
bele 2 war of national liberation against the oppressive and
dehumanizing f orces of colonialism and economic exploitation
in Zimbabwe. This great and histori c war of national lib-
eration was waged against the British settlers who had
annexed the country as a British colony in September 1890.
60
Zimbabwe and British Imperialism
The British colonization of Zimbabwe was accomplished
with the financial backing and military support of Africa's
greatest racist and most notorious imperialist - Cecil John
Rhodes. On October 30, 1888, Rhodes' imperial agents, Charle!
Rudd, Rochfort Magui~e and Francis Thompson, with the
conniv-
ance of the Rev. Charles Helm of the London Missionary Socie-
ty, tricked and deceived King Lobengula of the Matebele to
sign a mineral concession whose contents were not fully and
truthfully explained by the missionary who spoke Sindebele,
the Matebele language. This concession became known as the
Rudd Concession. In return for granting this mineral conces-
sion to Rhodes, the Matebele King was supposed to receive
about $300 per month for an unspecified period, 11,000 Martin·
Henry breech loading rifles and a steam gun-boat to be sta-
4. tioned somewhere on the Zambezi River about 400 miles from
the Matebele capital of Bulawayo. How Rhodes or his agents
were going to take the gun-boat up the unnavigable Zambezi
Ri.ver has never been explained. At any rate, King Lobengula
never received from Rhodes the money, the guns nor the gun-
boat.
In 1889, Rhodes used the Rudd Concession to acquire
the Royal Charter from Queen Victoria which gave him the
right to colonize Zimbabwe and subjugate its people. A few
historians and scholars, including the author, doubt the
authenticity of the Concession used by Rhodes to acquire the
Royal Charter for a number of good reasons, the most import-
ant being that the document is not stamped with the Matebele
Royal Stamp-·the Elephant Seal. All the official documents
signed by King Lobengula carried the official stamp of the
Elephant Seal. Since the Rudd Concession presented to the
British Queen did not have the official stamp, it is suspec-
ted that this document was a forgery.
At any rate, in June 1890, Rhodes recruited 200 white
soldiers in South Africa to be the vanguard of the imperial
and colonization process in Zimbabwe.· This military force
of occupation was financed and equipped by the British South
African Company, . Rhodes' giant financial company which was
built by the excessive exploitation of African mine workers. 3
Each recruit was promised by Rhodes a 3,000 acre farm on the
land of his own choice and 15 gold claims anywhere in Zimba-
bwe. In addition, each recruit carried a special document
which stated that any amount of "loot shall be divided half
to the British South Africa Compan~ and the remainder to the
officers and men in equal share." The .il.arge-scale rape of
Zimbabwe had already been planned before the force left
South Africa .
5. 61
The British colonial settlers arrived at Harare, (in
central Mashonaland on September 12, 1890.) Harare has since
been renamed Salisbury in honor of the British imperialist
Prime Minister Lord Salisbury. The following day, the British
union Jack was hoisted with ceremonious p0111p anc
Zirr:l:abwe was
formally annexed as a British colony. The administration of
the new colony was assumed by the British South Africa
Company
which appointed magistrates, district commissioners and civil
servants.
Many of the Mashona rulers who lived in the surrounding
areas of Harare were alarmed and angered with the ruthless
swiftness with which the British settlers confiscated their
cattle and land on a very large scale. In addition, many
Mashona women found themselves subjected to sexual abuses
by
the white settlers who did not have their white women with
them. The sexual violation of the Mashona women infuriated
the rulers and their subjects because they held their women
in a very high esteem. Moreover, the racial arrogance of the
white settlers further angered the Mashona. The colonial
settlers, impregnated with racist beliefs and theories, con-
sidered the indigenous people "primitive, barbaric, supersti-
tious and uncivilized." 5
In reaction, the Mashona rulers viewed the presence of
European colonists in their midst as a threat to their poli-
tical power,authority and independence. The most outspoken
ruler was Kadungure Mapondera who resided in what is now the
Mazowe district. Terence 0. Ranger, writing about Mapondera,
states that "when the Pioneer Column [ a euphemism for the
6. colonial settl·ers ] and the British South African Company ad-
ministration arrived. in 1890, the proud Mapondera found the
closeness of the white men intolerable. Between 1890 and 1894
there were a series of incidents in his part of the Mazoe
valley and one of his brothers was jailed for the killing of
a white man. In 1894, Mapondera totally refused the Company's
demand for tax." 6 The political rulers were joined by the
religious leaders who also strongly opposed the establishment
of oppressive European rule in their country. Many of the
religious leaders became the most vocal opponents of colonia-
lism. One of these religious leaders was Nehanda.
The Poli.tico - - Military Rise of Nehanda
Nehanda was born around 1862 in what is now the Chisha-
washa district located in central Mashonaland. The names of
he r parents are not really known except that they were hard-
working farmers. Nehanda's family was large and very reli-
gious. The religiosity and spiritualism of the family was
later reflected in Nehanda. She had a secure and happy life
62
becau~ she was surrounded by a loving and understanding
family. As she matured into womanhood, she showed
remarkable
leadership abilities and organizational skills. She was a
compassionate woman with a very strong moral and ethical
character. People who lived in her community regarded her
as a woman of strong principles, a woman of wiSdom and a
woman
with vision.
At the time of the arrival of the British settlers,
7. Nehanda was one of the two most powerful and influential
religious leaders in Mashonaland; the other religious leader
being Kagubi. She was an active member of the powerful
Mashona religious priesthood, occupying an important and in-
fluential position within the top religious order hierarchy.
She is the only woman known to have risen to such a signifi-
cant position during the 19th century. She rose up the reli-
gious ranks because of her competent spiritual leadership and
indepth knowledge and understanding of the Mashona religious
dogma and theological philosophy.
·The Mashona had a monotheistic religion which was
complex and sophisticated in terms of its religious beliefs
and practices. The God of the Mashona was called Mwari. He
was the Creator of the universe and everything in it both
animate and inanimate. 7 According to the Mashona's theolo-
gical philosophy, Mwari only communicated with mankind
through
the ancestral spirits who acted as intermediaries. And these
in turn communicated with the priests and priestesses.
Prayers - Mhinamato - and sacrificial offerings and gifts -
Kudira - Mudzimu ~ere used to communicate with Mwari, as
some-
times happened, and the ancestral spirits.
The Mashona believed t~at after death the spirit of a
person entered into a spiritual world in which it lived a life
closely bound to the earth. The spirits of their dead rela-
tions were found everywhere. The links between the living and
the dead were very close, much closer than in European society
.
The Mashona loved, respected and revered their dead and, in
time Of great need, turned to their ancestral spirits in the
same way as the Christians turn to their God.
There were five major spirits in the Mashona religion,
8. s ome were more important than others, but each had its own
significance which was taken into account. These spirits were :
Mhondoro Spirits - ethnic spirits, Midzimu Spirits - family
spirits, Mashawe Spirits - the alien and patronal spirits,
Ngozi Spirits- the aggrieved spirits , and Waroyi Spirits-
the evil spirits of witches. The headquarters of the Mashona
religion was located in the Matopo Hills in what is now Mate-
63
beleland. The Mashona Chief Priest and his top associates, a-
bout six in nurnber,resided in the Matopo Hills. Sacrificial
gifts - black cows - were brought to this religious headquar-
ters from many parts of Zimbabwe •
Nehanda's membership in this male dominated Mashona
priesthood was an unprecedented and remarkable achievement,
considering the number of religious aspirants to this noble
profession which carried immense prestige, power and
influence,
especially in a society as deeply spiritual and religious as
Zimbabwe. Religion permeated all the departments of life and
every human activity was religious in nature and character.
Nehanda opposed the oppressive British colonial rule
from the day it was established. Besides opposing their rule,
she also believed that white people were evil, inhuman and
destructive. According to Lawrence Vambe:
She saw the white men, filled with hate
and fear, kill her people · aS if they were
game or vermin and she asked the spirits
of the ancestors again and again why the.y .
had brought this evil curse on her people.8
9. Nehanda viewed the presence of the British colonists in her
country as the greatest threat to the survivial of the Mashona
social, political, religious and economic institutions. To
her, the preservation of these traditional institutions was of
utmost importance to the cohesive stability and survival of
the Mashona society.
As more British settlers and Boers from South Africa
poured into the country, lured by its rich agricultural land
and mineral wealth, Nehanda became extremely concerned and
worried about the social, political and economic future and
well being of her people. She witnessed her people being
forcibly removed from their ancestral homes and land by
Company colonial administrators to make room for the new set-
tlers. She also observed many of her people being subjected
to racial and political oppression, economic exploitation,
dehumanizing forced labor and dehabilitating physical tortures
by the settlers.
The Mashona, finding their political and material con-
ditions unbearable, began to look for leaders who could extri-
cate them from their depressing situation by any means
ne cessary. The logical leaders were the religious leaders
who commanded nation-wide support and had a very large
follow-
ing. It was the existence of active religious branches in
every village community that led to the development of such
a mass-based religious following. On the other hand, the
65
direct: "The local whites were ••. [to be] attacked and killed."l4
10. Nehanda and -the Armed .. struggl-e
Prior to the outbreak of war in Mashonaland, Nehanda had
devoted a great deal of her time and effort in organizing,
mobilizing and training those people who had volunteered to
fight under her canmand and leadership. Nehanda trained her
forces at night:
The war-song was sung, accompanied by
Mbira music; a goat or other sacrificial
animal was offered to the dead ancestors
who had been warriors in their days, and
the war-dance would go on throughout the
night, usually in the thickets and forests,
preferably near a mountain, far from the
village. Nothing was llOre effective than
this all-night sacrificial war-dance in
working up in people the mood of war . 15
Because of her effectiveness in training and mobilizing the
people for armed struggle, Nehanda emerged as "the most
power-
ful wizard [religio-military leader] in Mashonaland and •••
[had] the power of ordering all the people ••• and her orders
would be in every case ••• obeyed. nl6 When Nehanda received
her
war orders from Mkwati, her soldiers were ready to fight
against the evil forces of colonialism and economic exploita-
tion.
When the war was about to break out in Mashonaland,
Nehanda established her military headquarters at Husaka in
the Mazowe district. Husaka was an impregnable mountain for-
tress with a network of "caves .•• with plenty of water, some
stored grain, kraals for cattle, and was inaccessible except
through the narrow and dangerous passages." 17 Well armed and
11. trustworthy guards w~re stationed at all the entrances to this
mountain fortress. Nehanda was to direct her war efforts from
Husaka. Her military commanders were two brothers named
Chi-
damba and Chiweshe who were to distinguish themselves in
battle.
Nehanda gave orders to her soldiers to attack and kill
white settlers in different military codes. For example,
"rather than say 'white people must be killed', messengers
were to say 'Nhapi! Nhapi! ••. and the general idea •..
conveyed was that people should talk of ••. [killing] white
men as though they were talking of going for a big hunt. nlB
The soldiers who carried out these orders operated in the
....
64
power and influence of political leaders was limited in that
it was regional and localized.
It was not long before the people began to ask the
religious leaders for political direction and military leader-
ship. Nehanda was one of the first religious leaders to
answer the distressing call of the masses. Shortly thereafter,
not only the common people, but also "the chiefs and headmen
brought their troubles to Nehanda and she in turn reported to
Kagubi at Mashayamombe. She said her people were ill treated
and were ready to fight •• Messages .. were exchanged between
Nehanda and Kagubi, by messengers travelling mostly at night.
n9
It was then that Nehanda, Kagubi and other religious leaders
decided to organize and mobilize the masses of their followers
12. for war against the European settlers and the oppressive
Company administration.
The most important task of planning and laying the
ground-work for war was under the leadership and direction of
Mkwati, the Mashona Chief Priest, who resided at Taba Zi Ka
Mambo in the Matopo Hills. In 1895, Mkwati summoned to his
headquarters the religious leaders. Nehanda, Kagubi and other
top Mashona leaders sent their representatives-chiwa, Benda
and Tandi-because they were busy organizing and mobilizing
the masses for war. From Matebeleland came Umlugulu,
Siginya-
matshe and Mpotshwana.lO After the first preliminary meetings,
Mkwati then summoned "The Matebele indunas, the Mashona
chiefs ••• to hammer out with them the [final] tactics of rebe-
llion" 11 against white rule. Also present at these meetings
was Tengela, the wife of Mkwati. She hated white people with
a passion and openly advocated their extermination.l2 This
was calculated to discourage any more colonial settlers from
coming to Zimbabw·e.
At one of the meetings, Mkwati strongly urged the Masho-
na and Matebele leaders to "move out of the limitations which
•••
were implied by their connexion with the specific past poli ti-
cal systems, and to speak to all black men "13 of Zimbabwe,
Mkwati realized the critical importance of political and mili-
tary unity between the Mashona and Matebele in their
impending
armed struggle against colonialism and imperialism.
Finally in March 1896, Mkwati, after being informed that
the Mashona and Matebele military forces were ready to fight,
ordered the Matebele forces to first launch the war of natio-
nal liberation. In June, the Mashona forces also launched
their armed struggle against the white settlers and the Compa-
13. ny administration. The anti -colonial armed struggle star ted
at different times because of strategical and tactical consi-
derations. The war orders issued by Mkwati were simple and
66
Mazowe, Lomagundi and Bindura districts. Nehanda 's chief
military targets were white settlers, their farms, mines and
trading posts as well as policemen and Africans who coopera-
ted with the colonists.
From June to August of 1897, the war raged throughout
Mashonaland with the Mashona forces in complete control of
the rural areas. The European survivors of the attacks were
confined to fortified laagers established in the towns. Be-
cause of the seriousness. of the anti-colonial war, Britain
decided to intervene by dispatching from England and South
Africa 500 Imperial troops under colonel Alderson. This
British force fought most of its battles against the forces
led by Kagubi and Mashayamanbe in western Mashonaland. The
Imperial troops proved inaffective against the Mashona forces
and were withdrawn unceremoniously.
Nehanda was a dedicated and disciplined commander and
she expected her soldiers to be well disciplined also. She
led highly motivated soldiers and she prohibited them from
looting because she did not want to see her soldiers distrac-
ted from their major military objectives. Guns and other
weapons were a different kind of loot because they were need-
ed fo:t fighting the war. Nehanda, on some occasions, accompa-
nied her forces to the battle-field. It is not known whether
she took part in actual fighting.
Most of the gunpowder used by Nehanda 's forces and other
14. Mashona forces were of domestic manufacture. According to A.
Atmore, J. Chirenje and s. Mudenge, the Mashona had a war
industry that manufactured:
Gun powder from local materials, and for
amnnmi t:ion they used almost any missile that
the particular gun could fire. These ranged
from lengths of telegraph wires, nails, and
glass balls from soda water bottles to ordi-
nary stones. Since lead was a heavy commodi-
ty and gunpowder required careful handling,
traders cou.ld carry only limited quanti ties.
This meant that unless they could make their
own munition [the Mashona soldiers] were
bound to run out from time to time. 19
As for guns, the Mashona forces were supplied from four major
sources; the Portuguese gun traders, the South African gun
graders, the Mashona police defectors who brought their guns
with them and from stealing guns ·from the Bri.tish settlers.
As the war raged in intensity throughout Mashonaland,
67
Nehanda perfonned a number of other important functions such
as giving valuable infonnation of the whereabouts of the white
forces as well as keeping up the morale of the fighting forces
by predicting military victories and providing them spiritual
fortitude. She relayed the vital piece of information about
the whereabouts of the white forces to her forces in the field
after receiving the intelligence from three sources, spies,
infonners and fire signals. For example, the departure of a
white force under the leadership of captain Judson Nesbitt
15. from Salisbury was made known to Nehanda because "signals of
fire were seem fran hill to hill right to Shamva" 20 in the
Mazowe district.
The war in Mashonaland began to turn · in favor of the
white forces by the middle of August. Three reasons have
been advanced to explain this turn of events. First, the
anti-colonial war had come to an end through negotiations in
Matebeleland, making it possible for the ·white forces to be
shifted to Mashonaland and ~utting the Mashona forces on the
defense for the first time, 1 second, the increasing fire-
power of the white focces was no match for the African forces
anned with antiquated guns, and third, the problem of re-
supplying the Mashona .forces with war materials.
In December, Nehanda was captured in the Dande district
and was brought to Salisbury in chains and under a heavy
guard. On January 12, 1898, she was charged for instigating
rebellion against white authority and murdering the Native
Cotmnissioner Pollard. 22 On March 2, she was "tried and
found
guilty" and was sentenced to death. The day of execution was
set for April 27. The capture of Nehanda as well as that of
Kagubi brought the anti-colonial war to an end in Mashonaland.
After receiving her death sentence, she was coaxed and
cajoled for several weeks by the Rev. Father Francis Richarts
of the Chishawasha Mission, in the Salisbury prison, to re-
pent, be Christianized and die fortified with all the last
rites of the catholic Church. But she adamantly refused to
be converted to a foreign and alien religion. She had a deep
cOIIUlitment to her own religion. On the day of execution "Ka-
kubi [Kagubi) showed fear ••• but Nehanda, began to dance,
to laugh and talk so that the wardens were obliged to tie her
hands and watch her continually as she threatened to kill her-
self. n23 At the scaffold, Nehanda is knoWn to have somehow
16. defied death. It is said that the first two attempts to take
her life failed. She was finally killed on the third attempt.
The execution of Nehanda and Kagubi produced a feeling
of relief among the white settlers. Father Richartz commented
that "everyone felt relieved after the execution, as the very
68
existence of the main actors in the rebellion, though they
were secured in prison, made one feel uncomfortable." 24
Immediately after the execution, "tlleir bodies were buried in
a secret place so that no natives could take away their bodies
and claim that their spirits had descended to any other pro-
phete.ss or witch doctor. n25 So passed from the scene Zimba
bwe's greatest female fighter and leader.
Conclusion
Nehanda was a woman of very strong principles and cha-
racter. Her defiance of the oppressive white rule, racism and
economic exploitation to the last day of her deatch is eviden
ce of that fact. She was a true and dedicated nationalist
and a committed freedom fighter. She sacrificed her life
because she wanted her people to live in peace and controlling
their own political destiny and way of life. Nehanda is a ·
heroine and. a historic figure to the people of Zimbabwe and
one hopes She will be honored as one of our greastest fighters
when the country is freed from white racist domination and
control.
Footnotes:
1. Filippo Pigafetta, A ~eport of the Kingdom of Congo and
17. of the Surrounding Countries. {London: Frank Cass, 1970
reprint), pp. 118-119. The Mwenemutapa Empire co~prised
the modern states of Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana and
half of South Africa. The author has recently completed
~iting a history of the Mwenemutapa Empire from 1400 to
1800, which he hopes will be published soon.
2. The Mashona and Matebele constitute the two ethnic groups
of Zimbabwe. · The Matebele originally came from what is
now South Africa.
3. The money used for Rhodes Scholarship is blood money be-
cause it was acquired through the blood and sweat of
African miners. Many lost their lives in the mines owne
by Rhodes.
4 . Suzanne Cronje, "Rhodesia and the African Past" in New
Africa, July/August 1966, p. 14.
5. · See Hugh M. Hole, The Making of Rhodesia {London:
Frank
Cass, 1967 reprint), pp. 148-188 •.
69
6. Terence 0. Ranger, The African Voice in Southern Rhodesia
London: Heinemann, 1970), p. 4.
7. See Charles Bullock, The Mashona {Westport: Negro
Universi-
ties Press, 1970, reprint), pp. 116-142, Michael Gelfand,
Shona Religion {cape Town: Juta & Company, 1962), Shona
Ritual Johannesburg: Juta & Co., 1959). These two last
.books deal in great detail about the Mashona religious be-
18. liefs and practices as well as spiritual and theological
concepts.
8. Lawrence Vambe, An Ill-Fated People: Zimbabwe Before and
After Rhodes {Pittsburg: Pittsburg University Press, 1972)
p. 120.
9. Quoted by Terence 0. Ranger, Revolt in Southern Rhodesia,
1896-7 {London: Heinemann, 1967), pp. 391-392.
10. The Matebele had adopted the Mashona religion around the
1860's. King Lobengula was converted to the Mashona re-
ligion before he became King of the Matebele in 1870.
11. Oliver Ransford, The Rulers of Rhodesia {London: John
Murray, 1968), p. 269.
12. A 10/1/2, Prestige to Chief Native Commissioner, April
24, 1896.
13. Terence o. Ranger, " 'Primary Resistance' and Modern Mass
Nationalism", in The Journal of African History, Vol. IX
No. 3, 1968, p. 450.
14. A 1/12/11, Colonel Seal's Evidence, July 1896.
15. C.G. Chivanda, "The Mashona Rebellion in Oral Tradition:
Mazoe District," History Honors III: Seminar Paper No. 9
June 23, 1966, The University of Rhodesia, Salisbury, p. 9.
16. N 1/1/9, Native Commissioner Campbell's Report, January
1896.
17. C. G. Chivanda, "The Mashona Rebellion", p. 10.
18. Ibid. p. 8.
19. 19. A. Atmore, J. Chirenje, s. Mudenge, Firearms in South
Central Africa," in The Journal of African History, Vol.
XII, No. 4, 1971, pp. 553-554.
20. C. G. Chivanda, "The Shona Rebellion", p. 20.
70
21. The Matebele took the decision to negotiate an end to the
war without consulting the Mashona military leaders. Mkwati
was angered by this unilateral decision. He left Matabele-
land and moved to Mashonaland where he died.
22. Preliminary Examination: Regina Vs. Nehanda, High Court
of
Matabeleland, No. 252, January 12, 1898.
23. Father F'. Richartz, The End of Kakubi, in The Zambezi
Mission Records, Vol. I, No. 2, November 1898.
24. Ibid,
25. Ibid.
* * * * *
Tendai Mutuhhu is an Assistant Professor of African and
African-
American History at the Africana Studies & Re-
search Center, COrnell University, Ithaca, New
York 14853.
***************************
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· https://www.nitrd.gov/ &
https://www.nitrd.gov/pubs/bigdatardstrategicplan.pdf
Notes on Formatting & Using Citations in APA Format
The American Psychological Association (APA) has only
recently release version 7 of its standard. For the present you
can use either APA 6th or 7th ed. as the standard for your
Research Paper. Be aware that these versions of the standard
differ—be consistent and use one version consistently.
The 7th edition of the American Psychological Association
Publication Manual (p. 37) states that running heads are not
required for student papers unless requested by the instructor. I
definitely do not require them.
Some additional locations where you can find more information:
· APA Paper Formatting & Style Guidelines
https://www.easybib.com/guides/apa-paper-formatting/
· How can I download the Word template (APA 7th edition)?
https://bowvalleycollege.libanswers.com/faq/202831
· APA 7th edition in MS Word – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZnVkd2svkY
· APA style report (6th ed.) – MS Word Template
https://templates.office.com/en-us/apa-style-report-6th-edition-
tm03982351
· APA Citation Guide
http://www.bibme.org/citation-guide/apa/
· A Comprehensive Guide to APA Citations and Format
http://www.citationmachine.net/apa/cite-a-book
When citing a book in APA, keep in mind:
· Capitalize the first letter of the first word of the title and any
23. subtitles, as well as the first letter of any proper nouns.
· The full title of the book, including any subtitles, should be
stated and italicized.
Each type of publication requires a specific format.
Punctuation
Correct punctuation is important for clear and effective writing.
Care with punctuation is something that may need particular
attention, particularly if your native language is not English—
and even if your native language is English.
Punctuation in American English differs from punctuation in
British English.
Take care with the following punctuation writing in American
English:
· There is always a space after period (“.”) at the end of a
sentence and after comma (“,”) and generally other punctuation
wherever they occur.
· Use double-quotes to enclose short quotations.
· Block quotes (indented) should be use for quotes of more than
several lines. Quotation marks are not used with block quotes.
· Punctuation at the end of a quote, for the text of a quote,
requires special rules.
· Use only one space between sentences—using two spaces is
old fashioned (was used for typewriters) and is no longer used.
Dashes & hyphens:
· Dashes—often confused with hyphens—connect groups of
words to other groups of words to emphasize a point. Usually,
the dash separates words in the middle or at the end of a
sentence.
· Hyphens are used in compound words, e.g.: high-tech, empty-
handed, …
· Dashes are used between words
· The most common dash is the em-dash (as wide as the letter
“em”) and should not be confused with a hyphen:
· Em-dash: —(used to offset ideas)
· En-dash: –(used between ranges of numbers, e.g., pp. 27–29)
24. · Hyphen: -(used to show compounded words)
· In APA style, there are no spaces before or after dashes and
hyphens:
· Hyphen: Use no space before or after (e.g., trial-by-trial).
· Em dash: An em-dash is longer than a hyphen or en-dash and
is used to set off an element added to amplify or to digress from
the main clause, e.g.,
Studies—published and unpublished—are included.
· If you have not mastered how to do an em-dash to offset text
in a sentence, type a double-hyphen (hyphen + hyphen) and let
MS Word change it to an em-dash (by default).
The following will help you with mastering punctuation:
· Basic Punctuation Rules
https://www.apu.edu/live_data/files/288/basic_punctuation_rule
s.pdf
· Hyphens | Punctuation Rules—Blue Book of Grammar
https://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/hyphens.asp
· APA Fact of the Week—Hyphenation
https://www.statisticssolutions.com/apa-fact-of-the-week-
hyphenation/
Let MS Word help you with Spelling and Grammar
Taking advantage of Microsoft Word’sproofing and editing
options can help you maintain a scholarly level of writing and
complete the Research Paper writing process more quickly. For
many writers, it is hard to focus on the minute details, including
spacing between sentences and whether the use of affect or
effect is correct.
With so much emphasis on the content and making sure one’s
ideas and findings come across clearly, the meticulous details
often fall by the wayside. However, Microsoft Word has various
built-in features to help combat formatting and grammatical
errors.
Very important:
· Using the default configuration of the program, Word displays
potential spelling errors with a wavy red underline and potential
25. grammar errors with a wavy green underline.
· Please use these hints. When I will read your Research Paper
later, if I see a lot of these hints that are uncorrected, I will
have to assume that you are just plain careless.
· These hints are there to give you clues as to how correct your
spelling and your grammar.
Here’s some help:
· Microsoft Word Proofing Options: How to Make Word
Automatically Find Errors
https://www.statisticssolutions.com/microsoft-word-proofing-
options-how-to-make-word-automatically-find-errors/
Example Formatting for Citations in the References section
References
Finney, J. (1970). Time and again. New York, NY: Simon and
Schuster.
Jameson, J. (2013). E-Leadership in higher education: The fifth
“age” of educational technology research. British Journal of
Educational Technology, 44(6), 889-915. doi:
10.1111/bjet.12103
Nevin, A. (1990). The changing of teacher education special
education. Teacher Education and Special Education: The
Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for
Exceptional Children, 13(4), 147-148.
Simmons, B. (2015, January 9). The tale of two Flaccos.
Retrieved from http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-tale-of-
two-flaccos/
Teen posed as doctor at West Palm Beach hospital: police.
(2015, January 16). Retrieved from
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Teen-Posed-as-Doctor-at-
West-Palm-Beach-Hospital-Police-288810831.html
------
Note that the paragraph formatting of each Reference in APA
format uses this style, with the beginning of each paragraph
starting at the left margin and the body of the reference is
indented one-half inch. References starts on a new page. The
references in this section are in alphabetic order.
26. [Include all figures in their own section, following references
(and footnotes and tables, if applicable). Include a numbered
caption for each figure. Use the Table/Figure style for easy
spacing between figure and caption.]1
8How to Write Your Research Report
Glen R. J. Mules
Adjunct Professor, Iona College, New Rochelle, NY
Lecturer, San José State University, San Jose, CA
Author Note
This Report is written in APA 7th ed. Style and is intended to
illustrate to my students how to write the actual Research
Report. It does not, however, at this time get into heavy detail
on how to do the actual research (searching / finding
appropriate documents, reading, evaluating, and deciding on
what to write.
Version 1, Last updated on Thursday, April 2, 2020
Abstract
[The abstract should be one paragraph of between 150 and 250
words. It is not indented. Section titles, such as the word
Abstract above, are not considered headings so they don’t use
bold heading format. Instead, use the Section Title style. This
style automatically starts your section on a new page, so you
don’t have to add page breaks. Note that all of the styles for
this template are available on the Home tab of the ribbon, in the
Styles gallery.]
Keywords: APA 7th ed., APA 6th ed., APA Style, Citations,
References.
How to Write Your Research ReportWhy Do I Need to Write in
a Formal Style?
Overview
This course as part of the better prepare students for writing
skills that will transfer readily to their advanced professional
needs, both academic and corporate. We examine different
technical writing demands and research techniques, learning to
27. always focus on purpose, scope, and audience. Research
methodologies that are needed for your Research Paper / Project
/ Thesis writing and academic problem solving are generally
part of any course, including this. Plagiarism and copyright
issues are addressed in detail, with practice in proper
documentation, using the format for citations and references
required in both undergraduate and graduate work. The research
and writing for this class does not have to be directly applied to
your project/thesis, but you will want to discuss the long-term
plan of your project/thesis with your graduate advisor.
You should note that some of the references in the text of this
paper are intended to illustrate requirements and are not
Plagiarism
What is Plagiarism? Plagiarism is using others’ ideas and words
without clearly acknowledging the source of that information.
Sometimes it is tempting to copy other people’s ideas from the
Internet, textbooks, magazines, lectures, or even from other
student papers, incorporating them into our own writing. As a
result, it is very important that we give credit. If we don’t give
credit, we are taking these words and passing them off as our
own. This is plagiarism, which comes from a Latin word
meaning a kidnapper or thief.
How Can You Avoid Plagiarism? To avoid plagiarism, you must
always give credit whenever you:
Use someone else’s direct words (use quotation marks around
exact words that you are quoting—and give source at end of
quotation marks): “For SJSU students to thrive in the highly
competitive global economy, it is critical to develop
international perspectives and knowledge” (Wei, 2009). The full
reference will be in the back of the report, using APA format.
Use someone else’s ideas, in your words, that are not common
knowledge: Calypto Design Systems Inc. recently announced
PowerPro that automatically adds clock-gating logic to RTL
code (San Jose Mercury News, 2009). [Note this is not the exact
words, so there are no quotation marks.] The full reference
28. woud be in the back of the report, using APA 6 format.
Use specific statistics, graphs, drawings, that are not yours:
“SJSU’s engineering program is ranked among the top 20
engineering programs for master’s-level institutions in the most
recent edition of America’s Best Colleges 2008” (U.S. News &
World Report, 2008).
Self-work: One should cite his or her own (or co-authored)
work. If your company has copyrighted work that you or your
team have written as part of your job, or you share a patent, or
have previously published material that you have written, credit
must be still given. There are times permission from the
company must also be given. Please check with both your
company and your instructor.
Policies of Academic Integrity
Statements of the need for Academic Integrity are including in
University/College Syllabus for all courses, both undergraduate
and graduate. Academic integrity is an essential attribute of all
University/College work and all Scientific Study no matter
where undertaken. Your own commitment to learning, as
evidenced by your enrollment and your institution’s Academic
Integrity Policy requires you to be honest in all your academic
course work. Faculty members are required to report all
infractions.Why Use APA?
Aside from simplifying the work of editors by having everyone
use the same format for a given publication, using APA Style
makes it easier for readers to understand a text by providing a
familiar structure they can follow. Abiding by APA's standards
as a writer will allow you to:
Provide readers with cues they can use to follow your ideas
more efficiently and to locate information of interest to them
Allow readers to focus more on your ideas by not distracting
them with unfamiliar formatting
Establish your credibility or ethos in the field by demonstrating
an awareness of your audience and their needs as fellow
researchers
29. APA Style provides a foundation for effective scholarly
communication because it helps writers present their ideas in a
clear, precise, and inclusive manner.
The following paragraphs are taken from a section on the APA
website titled APA Style.
Where Did APA Style Come From?
APA Style originated in 1929, when a group of psychologists,
anthropologists, and business managers convened and sought to
establish a simple set of procedures, or style guidelines, that
would codify the many components of scientific writing to
increase the ease of reading comprehension. They published
their guidelines as a seven-page article in Psychological
Bulletin describing a “standard of procedure, to which
exceptions would doubtless be necessary, but to which reference
might be made in cases of doubt” (Bentley et al., 1929, p. 57).
Since then, the scope and length of the Publication Manual have
grown in response to the needs of researchers, students, and
educators across the social and behavioral sciences, health care,
natural sciences, humanities, and more; however, the spirit of
the original authors’ intentions remains.
Why Is APA Style Needed?
Uniformity and consistency enable readers to (a) focus on the
ideas being presented rather than formatting and (b) scan works
quickly for key points, findings, and sources.
Style guidelines encourage authors to fully disclose essential
information and allow readers to dispense with minor
distractions, such as inconsistencies or omissions in
punctuation, capitalization, reference citations, and presentation
of statistics.
When style works best, ideas flow logically, sources are
credited appropriately, and papers are organized predictably and
consistently. People are described using language that affirms
their worth and dignity. Authors plan for ethical compliance and
report critical details of their research protocol to allow readers
30. to evaluate findings and other researchers to potentially
replicate the studies. Tables and figures present data in an
engaging, consistent manner.
Whether you use APA Style for a single class or throughout
your career, we encourage you to recognize the benefits of a
conscientious approach to writing.
Although the guidelines span many areas and take time and
practice to learn, we hope that they provide a balance of
directiveness and flexibility and will eventually become second
nature.
Does APA Style Cover Everything About Writing?
APA Style covers the aspects of scholarly writing most
pertinent to writing in psychology, nursing, business,
communications, engineering, and related fields. It specifically
addresses the preparation of draft manuscripts being submitted
for publication in a journal and the preparation of student paper
being submitted for a course assignment.
The Publication Manual does not cover general rules explained
in widely available style books and examples of usage with
little relevance to the behavioral and social sciences. Among the
most helpful general guides to editorial style are Words Into
Type (Skillin & Gay, 1974) and the Chicago Manual of Style
(17th ed.; University of Chicago Press, 2017).
Style manuals agree more often than they disagree. Where they
disagree, the Publication Manual, because it is based on the
special requirements of psychology, takes precedence for APA
publications.APA 6th Edition Citation Style
The American Psychological Association (APA) provides the
official style manual of choice for writers, researchers, editors,
students, and educators in the social and behavioral sciences,
natural sciences, nursing, communications, education, business,
engineering, and other fields. A new edition of the Publication
Manual of the American Psychological Association was released
in October 2019. The APA 6th edition will continue until
February 2020, when the new APA 7th edition Guide and
31. Resources will be available, but it is expected that for most
writers the differences will be minimal.
The APA 7th edition (2019) provides citation guidelines and
sample references for more than 140 sample references,
including traditional sources (e.g., journal articles, books,
dissertations, and reports) plus many others (e.g., social media,
webpages and websites, legal) – an increase from the 96 sample
reference styles in the APA 6th edition (2009). The 7th edition
has been expanded to include general guidelines for reducing
bias and specific guidelines for writing about age, disability,
gender, participation in research, racial and ethnic identity,
sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality,
as well as guidelines that support accessibility for all users,
including simplified reference, in-text citation, and heading
formats as well as additional font options. A chapter on journal
article reporting standards includes updates to reporting
standards for quantitative research and the first-ever qualitative
and mixed methods reporting standards in APA Style.
Guidelines are presented in detailed tables that were previously
relegated to tables in an Appendix.
Examples of Citation Types (APA 6th & 7th editions)
There are many examples available for referencing publications
of the various types available and supported. The following are
some of the locations that provide the correct manner for
references and in-text citation and worked-out examples that
can be imitated for style:
Purdue Online Writing Lab, College of Liberal Arts, Purdue
University at
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa
_style_introduction.html
APA 6th Edition Citation Style (American University of
Sharjah) at https://aus.libguides.com/apa as part of the
LibGuides Community at https://community.libguides.com
Santa Fe College, Lawrence W. Tyree Library, APA (7th
edition) Citation Guide, at
32. https://sfcollege.libguides.com/apa7/components
APA Citation Style (WordPress) at
https://librarypolipd.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/apa-
citation_pdf.pdf
For each type of publication (book, journal article, web page,
…) there is a specific APA citation style. Thus, for example, a
basic reference list entry for a book (print version) in APA must
include:
Author or authors. ...
Year of publication of the book (in round brackets).
Book title (in italics).
Edition (in round brackets), if other than first edition.
Place of publication.
Publisher.
The first line of each citation is left adjusted.
And, naturally, different styles for references and for in-line
citation for the other types of publication (140+ types for APA
7th ed. and about 96 types for APA 6th ed.).
A good starting spot for someone not already familiar with APA
style is the Library Guides: APA Referencing: Getting started in
APA Referencing on the website of Victoria University,
Melbourne, Australia, but based on APA 6th ed., at
http://libraryguides.vu.edu.au/apa-referencing/getting-started-
in-apa-referencing. The major changes occasioned by going
from APA 6th ed. to APA 7th edition styling are noted in a
webpage by Streefker (2019) and the changes are outlined with
an online video and examples.
Missing Reference Information
Sometimes some of the information needed to create a reference
list entry is missing or unknown. When this is the case, there
are various strategies to adapt the reference.
The APA website, in a section entitled APA Style. Missing
Reference Information, provides a simplified, tabular list of the
common occasions where you might reference a published work
where information is missing and it shows how to adapt for the
33. missing information, along with the corresponding in-text
citations. This webpage also refers the read to a number of
reference examples and Chapters 9 and 10 of the APA
Publication Manual 7th ed (2019) for specific details for the
type of work being cited.
Punctuation Used in Written Reports
Where does sentence punctuation go in regular paragraphs in
your report. This is a typographic issue: when you have a quote
that ends a sentence, the American practice is to include the
period inside the quote. Thus, instead of writing,
Godsey (2017) makes note of two dangerous pitfalls in which
one can expect from the capabilities of data, these being
“expecting the data to be able to answer a question it can’t”,
and “asking questions of the data that don’t solve the original
problem”.
The APA style wants you to place your punctuation like this:
Godsey (2017) makes note of two dangerous pitfalls in which
one can expect from the capabilities of data, these being
“expecting the data to be able to answer a question it can’t,”
and “asking questions of the data that don’t solve the original
problem.”
This show that lower and small punctuation goes inside the
quotes themselves. Yes, this does not make logic sense, but it is
visually more pleasing. The British and Australian way of
writing does it the way that you did, In America, the visual rule
is applied: small punctuation (“.”, “,”) goes inside the quote,
but large punctuation (“:”, “;”, “!”, “?”. Etc.) goes outside. This
will save you some corrections when you are writing
professionally in America. Have a look the rules in the APA
style provided at:
· Punctuation Around Quotation Marks
https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2011/08/punctuating-around-
quotation-marks.html
· Punctuation Junction: Periods and Parentheses
https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2013/03/punctuation-junction-
34. periods-and-parentheses.html
These blog entries take a brief look at the two punctuation
systems that may have encountered — called American style (or
North American Style) and British style (also used in Australia
and other parts of the former British Empire). The first of these
blog entries adds the following comments:
As a final note, we’d like to say that we realize APA Style is
used in many places across the world that may not usually
follow American style punctuation rules and that not all fields
or publishers in the United States and Canada use American
style punctuation. Does this mean that you should change to
American style punctuation when you’re writing an APA Style
paper? If you’re writing for publication with APA or you’ve
been told to “follow the APA Publication Manual,” then the
answer is yes. However, if you typically use British style
punctuation (or some other style) and you have doubts about
what to do, check with your publisher or professor to find out
their preference.
And, incidentally, block quotes, such as the one immediately
above, also have rules:
· Indent the block quote five spaces or half an inch.
· Do not use quotation marks.
· Double space the quote unless your school has a rule about
single spacing block quotes.
· Do not include any additional lines or spaces before or after
the block quote.
· Notice that in block quotes, the period goes before the
parentheses, not after.Sample Papers
The APA provides several sample papers formatted in Seventh
Edition APA style. They are included here for your convenience
from the APA Style section of the APA website at
https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-
format/sample-papers
The following two sample papers were published in annotated
format in the Publication Manual and are provided here for your
ease of reference. The annotations draw attention to relevant
35. content and formatting and provide users with the relevant
sections of the Publication Manual (7th ed.) to consult for more
information.
Annotated Student Sample Paper (PDF, 2MB)
Annotated Professional Sample Paper (PDF, 3MB)
The same APA website location also offer these sample papers
in Microsoft Word (.docx) file format without the annotations.
Student Sample Paper (DOCX, 38KB )
Professional Sample Paper (DOCX, 96KB)
Sample Papers in Real Life
Although published articles differ in format from manuscripts
submitted for publication or student papers (e.g., different line
spacing, font, margins, and column format), articles published
in APA journals provide excellent demonstrations of APA Style
in action.
APA journals will begin publishing papers in seventh edition
APA Style in 2020. The transition to seventh edition style will
occur over time and on a journal-by-journal basis until all APA
journals use the new style. Professional authors should check
the author submission guidelines for the journal to which they
want to submit their paper to determine the appropriate style to
follow.
More Sample Papers Coming Soon
More sample papers will be available on the APA Style website
in the spring of 2020. We have plans for sample quantitative,
qualitative, and mixed methods research papers; literature
reviews; and more!
References
American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication
manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.).
American Psychological Association. Cf: VandenBos (2010).
American Psychological Association. (2019). Publication
manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
36. American Psychological Association (2019). APA Style.
https://apastyle.apa.org/about-apa-style
American Psychological Association (2019). APA Style.
Missing Reference Information. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-
grammar-guidelines/references/missing-information
American Psychological Association (2019). Style and Grammar
Guidelines. Retrieved from APA website:
https://apastyle.apa.org/about-apa-style
Bentley, M., Peerenboom, C. A., Hodge, F. W., Passano, E. B.,
Warren, H. C., & Washburn, M. F. (1929). Instructions in
regard to preparation of manuscript. Psychological Bulletin,
26(2), 57–63. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0071487
Godsey, B. (2017). Think like a Data Scientist: Tackle the data
science process step-by-step. Manning.
Perdue University Online Writing Lab (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa
_style_introduction.html
San José State University (n.d.), “Citing and Writing Help,”
retrieved from https://libguides.sjsu.edu/writeandcite
Skillin, M. E., & Gay, R. M. (1974). Words into type (3rd ed.
rev.). Prentice Hall.
Streefkerk, R. (2019). APA Manual 7th edition: The most
notable changes. Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/apa-
style/apa-seventh-edition-changes/
University of Chicago Press. (2017). Chicago manual of style
(17th ed.).
VandenBos, G. R. (Ed). (2010). Publication manual of the
American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC:
American Psychological Association.
Victoria University (n.d.). Library Guides: APA Referencing:
Getting started in APA Referencing on the website of Victoria
University, Melbourne, Australia. Retrieved from the Victoria
University website: http://libraryguides.vu.edu.au/apa-
referencing/getting-started-in-apa-referencing
Appendix A: Common Errors in Formatting Research Papers
This appendix is intended to list the most common formatting
37. errors found in Research Papers turned in to this Instructor.
This list is expected to grow over time as new ways for
misformatting are discovered (students are inventive, but
badly). Please use the following numbered checklist to see if
you have made any of these formatting errors:
1. Not using MS Word Style Capabilities. Microsoft Word has
very sophisticated style capabilities. In any document that you
are working on, use the little marker that you find on the Home
tab in the section Styles to open up the Styles Window. You
can change the style of a paragraph by first clicking on the
paragraph, then selecting the appropriate style in this Styles
Window.
The marker looks like this and you can find it here:
Headings that appear on the very bottom of a page. Headings,
by definition, should head up the paragraph that follows. If you
use the provided APA template, you will not have this problem
as Heading 1 & Heading 2 have the “keep with next” option set.
Solution
#1: Search for Extra MS Word Templates by doing a Google
Search (microsoft word apa 6th template download) to find the
page https://templates.office.com/en-us/apa-style-report-6th-
edition-tm03982351 Download the .dotx (MS Word Document
Template) file and use it. When you save the file, give it a name
and note that the saved file will have a .docx suffix Not that at
the bottom of the page you will find a number of other useful
templates.