35 Additional Resources
Online Resources
- UBC Learn. Writing. YouTube. Writing – YouTube
- University of Leeds Library. Academic Writing. How to incorporate evidence | Academic writing | Library | University of Leeds
Ethnography
1. Narayan, K., & Ebooks Corporation. (2012). Alive in the writing: Crafting ethnography in the company of Chekhov. University of Chicago Press.
This book about ethnographic writing beautifully combines the tradition of Russian realism and ethnographic writing. Narayan emphasizes the vitality (and risks) of literary techniques in ethnographic writing, offering a range of basic principles (about passive/active voice, use of background, effective and ineffective allusion) that the beginner ethnographer can begin with.
2. Brodkey, L. (1987). Writing ethnographic narratives. Written Communication, 4(1), 25-50. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088387004001002
Brodkey studies the divide between interpretive (experimental) and traditional (analytical) ethnographic writing, arguing that the ethnographic researcher should not gloss over epistemic crises within the social sciences but offer an answer to the question: is the researcher or research method telling the story? Brodkey argues that in ethnographic writing experience cannot be reproduced in writing, but must be narrated, forcing the researcher to abdicate the safety of being a literal translator of reality, and accept the risks and possibilities incumbent with being a story-teller.
3. Jackson, M. (2017). “Chapter 2: Writing With Care” In Pandian, A., McLean, S. (ed.), Crumpled paper boat: Experiments in ethnographic writing. Duke University Press
Jackson is brilliantly self-conscious of his work (his “anxiety to method” is a classic introduction to writing ethnographies). In this chapter, Jackson addresses the importance of ethnographic writing which is sensitive to the people it is writing about. Good ethnographic writing in Jackson’s view, must try to effect description of its subject without diminishment (excessive and unfair simplification).
Qualitative
1. Holliday, A. (2007). Doing and writing qualitative research (2nd ed.). SAGE.
A classic handbook designed by Holliday for conducting and writing about qualitative research. Holliday argues for a balance between evidence (data extracts) and argument (commentary on the extracts and articulation of the overall meaning) to create thick descriptions. In addition to insights about the basics of qualitative research, there are also plenty of examples provided.
Quantitative
1. El-Masri, M. M., & Fox-Wasylyshyn, S. (2018). Writing for quantitative research publication: A brief outline. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 50(3), 107-109. https://doi.org/10.1177/0844562118769202
This article offers bullet point suggestions about key things to consider when writing quantitative research publication. The suggestions are divided by section (Introduction, Methods, Literature Review, Discussion, Conclusion) and offer a clean list for you to consider in the revision stage of your research.
2. Fallon, M. (2016). Writing up quantitative research in the social and behavioral sciences. Sense Publisher.
This book is a more extensive (and engaging) account of writing quantitative research. The first chapters deal in the presentation of statistics before moving on to offer general points about writing practices and rituals. As a social psychologist, Fallon offers well-researched points about the effectiveness of certain mindsets and writing activities over others.
