Writing Research Critically: Developing the power to make a difference

This is not a standard guide to writing a dissertation, thesis, project report, journal article or book. Rather, this book will help researchers who are dissatisfied with the typical recipe approaches to standardised forms of writing-up and want to explore how academic writing can be used to greater effect.

Writing Research Critically shows that writing up is not just about ‘presenting findings’ as if the facts would speak for themselves. As the authors show there are certain vital skills that any writer needs to develop within their academic writing, such as the ability to:

• develop critical understanding and a personal academic voice
• question assumptions and the status quo
• frame the background and transgress the frame
• read between the lines when reviewing the literature
• strengthen interpretations and conctruct persuasive arguments
• challenge and develop theory and explanations
• develop ideas that create possibilities for realistic action

Packed with examples from a range of writing projects (papers, dissertations, theses, reports, journal articles and books), this book provides a practical and refreshing way to approach and present research. Through case studies the authors offer a step-by-step guide from the early stages of planning a writing project, whether an undergraduate paper or a professional publication, to the polishing processes that make the difference between a merely descriptive account to an argument that intends to be critical and persuasive.

Written in a clear accessible style this book will inspire a wide range of researchers from undergraduates to postgraduates, early career researchers and experienced professionals working across a wide range of fields, and demonstrate how research can have more impact in the real world.

John Schostak is a Professor at the Education and Social Research Institute, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.

Jill Schostak is an independent researcher, UK.