Writing in the Sciences

Module 4.1: More paragraph practice

 21  

Edit this paragraph:

In assessing the quality of an instrument we distinguish three

quality domains, i.e. reliability, validity, and responsiveness.
Each domain contains one or more measurement properties.
The domain reliability contains three measurement properties:
internal consistency, reliability, and measurement error. The
domain validity also contains three measurement properties:
content validity, construct validity, and criterion validity. The
domain responsiveness contains only one measurement
property, which is also called responsiveness. The term and
definition of the domain and measurement property
responsiveness are actually the same, but they are
distinguished in the taxonomy for reasons of clarity. Some
measurement properties contain one or more aspects, that
were defined separately: Content validity includes face
validity, and construct validity include structural validity,
hypotheses testing, and cross-cultural validity.
 What’s the paragraph about?
Domain Measurement Aspect
Property
Reliability consistency
reliability
measurement error
Validity criterion validity
contentvalidity face validity
constructvalidity structural validity
hypothesis testing
cross-cultural validity
Responsiveness responsiveness
 Possible revision
We assess each instrument based on reliability, validity, and
responsiveness. These domains may be subdivided into
measurement properties: Reliability includes internal
consistency, reliability, and measurement error; validity
includes content validity, construct validity, and criterion
validity; responsiveness is both a domain and a measurement
property. Some measurement properties additionally contain
multiple aspects; for example, construct validity includes
structural validity, hypothesis testing, and cross-cultural
validity.
Writing in the Sciences

Module 4.2: Overview of the Writing Process

 Steps in the writing process:
1. Prewriting
• Collect, synthesize, and organize information
• Brainstorm take-home messages
• Work out ideas away from the computer
• Develop a road map/outline

2. Writing the first draft

• Putting your facts and ideas together in organized prose

3. Revision
• Read your work out loud
• Get rid of clutter
• Do a verb check
• Get feedback from others
 What does your writing
process look like now?

Proportionally, how much time do

you
 
think you spend on each step?
 
 
 

1. Prewriting
2. Writing
3. Revision
 What I think it should be
(roughly!):

1. Prewriting (70%)
2. Writing the first draft (10%)
3. Revision (20%)
Writing in the Sciences

Module 4.3: The Pre-writing Step

1. Prewriting tips
Get organized first!
Don’t try to write and gather information
simultaneously!
Gather and organize information BEFORE
writing the first draft.
Literature review:
highlight passages, organize in categories
 Organizing your thoughts…
Do you have an organizational system?

If you don’t, create one that suits you!

Spend more time organizing and less time

writing. It’s just plain less painful!
Develop a road-map
Arrange key facts and citations from the
literature into a crude road map/outline
BEFORE writing the first draft.
Think in paragraphs and sections…
Example “road-map”
Writing in the Sciences

Module 7.1: Plagiarism

Plagiarism of others’ work
Passing off other people’s writing (or
tables and figures) as your own.
Includes:
cutting and pasting sentences or even phrases
from another source
slightly rewriting or re-arranging others’ words
“borrowing” material from sites like Wikipedia
Example
Original Version (Wikipedia): Ernest Miller
Hemingway (July 21, 1899– July 2, 1961) was an
American author and journalist. His economical and
understated style had a strong influence on 20th-
century fiction, while his life of adventure and his
public image influenced later generations. (Source:
Wikipedia)

Plagiarized Version: Ernest Hemingway’s thrifty

and understated style strongly influenced 20th-
century fiction. His audacious lifestyle and public
image also influenced later generations.
 When writing about
others’ ideas/work:
You must understand the material well enough
to put it in your own words!

Work from memory

Draw your own conclusions

Do not mimic the original author’s sentence

structure or just re-arrange the original author’s
words.
Brainstorm away from the
computer
Write on the go!
While exercising (Turn off that ipod!)
While driving alone (Turn off the radio!)
While waiting in line (Put down the magazine!)

Work out take-home messages

Organize your paper
Write memorable lines
 Compositional organization:
1. Like ideas should be grouped.
2. Like paragraphs should be grouped.
3. Don’t “Bait-and-Switch” your reader too many
times.
When discussing a controversy, follow:
 arguments (all)

 counter-arguments (all)

 rebuttals (all)
Writing in the Sciences

Module 4.4: The Writing Step

Tips for writing the first draft:
Don’t be a perfectionist!
The goal of the first draft is to get the ideas
down in complete sentences in order.
Focus on logical organization more than
sentence-level details.

Writing the first draft is the hardest step for

most people. Minimize the pain by writing
the first draft quickly and efficiently!
 Example of first-draft writing:
The finding of these HLA alleles may have some practical
implications as well. Now we all divide up into those who carry
archaic DNA and those who don’t. A potential implication is that
people who carry archaic HLAs could be more prone to
autoimmunity. Autoimmunity is associated with HLA factors. There
could be downsides to archaic HLAs. Since we’ve evolved
separately from Neanterdals for a few hundred thousand years, we
may have evolved important differences in the proteins that
interact with HLA. The archaic HLAs may interact more poorly with
some of these proteins, potentially causing mistakes, like
autoimmunity. “This is all just speculation. But we have been apart
for all this time, so it would be very surprising if there weren’t
differences,” Parham says. “It would solve a long-standing puzzle.”
 Revised version:
Neanderthal (or Denisovan) proteins continue to live on and
function inside us; and this may also have a downside,
Parham notes. Neanderthals evolved separately from us for a
few hundred thousands years, so their proteins may be
somewhat mismatched to our immune systems and could play
a role in autoimmune disease. Autoimmunity is poorly
understood but known to be related to HLA types. “This is all
just speculation. But we have been apart for all this time, so it
would be very surprising if there weren’t differences,” Parham
says. “It would solve a long-standing puzzle.”
Writing in the Sciences

Module 4.5: Revision

 Tips on revision
•
 
Read your work out loud
•
 
Do a verb check
•
 
Cut clutter
•
 
Do an organizational review
•
 
Get feedback from others
• Get editing help
Read your writing out loud
The brain processes the spoken word
differently than the written word!
Do a verb check
Underline the main verb in each sentence.
Watch for:
(1) lackluster verbs (e.g., There are many
students who struggle with chemistry.)
(2) passive verbs (e.g., The reaction was
observed by her.)
(3) buried verbs (e.g., A careful monitoring of
achievement levels before and after the
introduction of computers in the teaching of our
course revealed no appreciable change in
students’ performances.).
Don’t be afraid to cut!
Watch for:
Dead weight words and phrases (it should be
emphasized that)
Empty words and phrases (basic tenets of,
important)
Long words or phrases that could be short
(muscular and cardiorespiratory performance)
Don’t be afraid to cut!
Watch for:
Unnecessary jargon and acronyms
Repetitive words or phrases (teaches
clinicians/guides clinicians)
Adverbs (very, really, quite, basically)
Do an organizational review
In the margins of your paper, tag each
paragraph with a phrase or sentence that
sums up the main point.
Then move paragraphs around to
improve logical flow and bring similar
ideas together.
 Get outside feedback
Ask someone outside your department to read
your manuscript.

Without any technical background, they should

easily grasp:
-the main findings
-take-home messages
-significance of your work

Ask them to point out particularly hard-to-read

sentences and paragraphs!
 Get editing help
Find a good editor to edit your work!
Writing in the Sciences

Module 4.6: Checklist for the final draft

Checklist for final draft:

Check for consistency

Check for numerical consistency
Check your references
Check for consistency
“We followed participants for a
minimum of 2 years” (methods section)
“The average follow-up time was 1.5
years” (results section)
Check for numerical consistency
Do the numbers in your abstract match
the numbers in your tables/figures/text?
Do the numbers in the text match those
in the tables/figures?
Do the numbers in each table/figure
match those in other tables/figures?
Check your references
Do you have “references to nowhere”?

Reference does not provide the indicated

information/fact.
Authors misinterpreted or exaggerated the
findings from the original source.
Reference cites a secondary source rather than a
primary source. (Citation propagation!)
Authors mis-numbered the references.
Take-home message:
Always cite/go back to primary sources!
Assume that other authors have made
errors in citing sources!