BSD113 ECONOMICS
ASSESSMENT 2: RESEARCH ESSAY

Writing your research summary

Your writing style needs to be clear and efficient . Some key advice would be: • remember structure in writing: introduce, discuss and conclude • use short sentences – long sentences lose the reader • one argument/idea per paragraph • but be careful how you think about one argument/idea – a paragraph stretching over two pages is NOT acceptable so look for natural breaks, sub-arguments/ideas • nor will a paragraph with only one or two sentences look right, so think about how to combine some points (see comments below).

This assessment is a formal academic piece of writing. The words and language style you use will convey this. Language used should be appropriate. Things to avoid include informal language, shorthand or colloquialisms. A short checklist of advice would include: • use “do not” instead of “don’t” • write in the third person, ie avoid using personal pronouns. For example, “Research shows that...” rather than “I think that...”.

Descriptions should be quantified and/or relative to a comparable benchmark. For example:

• Instead of saying “there was a massive increase in young people’s drinking” you would phrase it as “young people’s drinking increased by X% over the period (include citation of where your evidence came from)”.

Tables and figures in themselves do nothing to enhance an argument unless they are clear AND explained AND interpreted by you for the reader. When inserting a table or figure into your work it is good practice to give each a number (eg Figure 1, Table 1, Exhibit 1) and title (the title should describe what the table or figure or exhibit is presenting), and to refer to the table or figure number explicitly in the text.

Place the table or figure as near to the paragraph where you have discussed