Research: Language and Writing Styles

Language Style

In other to achieve a better result, a researcher should be economical with words (economy of expression). This is achievable by presenting ideas in an orderly manner and by being precise in expression. This section is very vital because some students do make mistake here, many students intend to impress audience by using highly powered vocabularies rather than simple English words. This can be attributed to the lack of in-depth knowledge in academic writings.

The essence of language is to communicate or inform sharing (Ezeh, 2011). The language of a researcher should be coherent and direct to the point. There is no need for tautology and colloquialism except for technical reasons. The language style should be very simply and grammatically correct. What concerns academic community is its grammaticality and objectivity.

 

Writing Style

Writing style, this is similar to language style. The latter beget the former. As stated in the sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, the prime objective of scientific reporting is clear communication. You can achieve this by presenting ideas in an orderly manner and by expressing yourself smoothly and precisely. Thesis (project) report is a scientific writing. Therefore, it should do away with irrelevant evaluation of things or groups under study in order to reduce biasness. 

According to the Manual, say only what needs to be said. The author who is frugal with words not only writes a more readable manuscript but also increases the chances that the manuscript will be accepted for publication. You can tighten long papers by eliminating redundancy, wordiness, jargon, evasiveness, overuse of the passive voice, circumlocution, and clumsy prose (APA, 6^th ed.).

Finally, in order to ensure effective writing, economy, clarity, coherence, correctness, diction, and simplicity of it must be constantly observed.

 

Spelling

Consistency is a cardinal feature of all research writings. Therefore, the act of project writing calls for consistency in the use of spelling. There are variants of spellings mostly between British and American words. The rule is that, if you are using British spelling of a word stick with it throughout the document vice versa.

Examples of British and American spelling of words

 

British versus American

 

Honourable Honorable

Hospitalised Hospitalized

Travelling Traveling

Colour Color

Programme Program

Democratisation Democratization

Defence  Defense

Metre Meter

Centre Center

Behaviour Behavior

 Tyre Tire

Diarrahoea Diarrhea

Haemoglobin Hemoglobin