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A Workshop for Writers in Economics and Related Disciplines

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A Workshop for Writers in Economics and Related Disciplines A Workshop for Writers in Economics and Related Disciplines Christina Pawlowitsch [email protected] September 20, 2019 Contents 1 Voice 7 1.1 How to make yourself write: confidence and routine . .7 1.2 Choices . .9 1.3 \I" or \we," or \one"? . 11 1.4 Who are you writing for? . 13 2 Structure 15 2.1 Doing research . 15 2.2 Three-part structure . 16 2.3 Introduction and conclusions . 17 2.4 Connecting parts . 17 2.5 Tools and habits . 19 3 References 23 3.1 Two basic systems . 23 3.2 Bibliographies and reference lists . 24 3.3 Alternative systems . 25 3.4 Specific journals . 26 3.5 When to put a reference? . 26 4 Using words 29 4.1 British or American standard for rules of spelling and punc- tuation? . 29 4.2 Punctuation . 30 4.2.1 Some useful rules . 31 3 4 CONTENTS 4.3 Grammar and usage . 38 4.4 Beyond grammar and usage . 52 4.5 Revising sentences . 53 4.6 Coherence beyond the sentence . 53 5 Writing Math 55 5.1 Mathematical text is hypertext . 55 5.2 Symbolism and the curse of knowledge . 60 6 Finding your own voice 63 6.1 Reading . 63 6.2 Imitate . 64 6.3 Leaving out and shining through . 64 Preface Different academic disciplines follow different style conventions. In economics and related disciplines, the style defined in The Chicago Manual of Style, published since 1906 by The University of Chicago Press, is most relevant.1 In addition to the Manual, The University of Chicago Press publishes a number of collective and individual works on writing and research. Par- ticularly useful for students are A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertation (which appears under the name of Kate Turabian, the author of the original style guide from which it evolved) and The Craft of Research by Wayne Booth, Gregory Colomb, and Joseph Williams, three long-term contributors to the Chicago Manual of Style. Writers in economics frequently deal with mathematical arguments, num- bers, and data. The Chicago Manual of Style contains a chapter on \Math- ematics in Type," which is closely related to style recommendations and re- flexions on the typesetting of mathematics published by the American Math- ematical Society (AMS), such as A Manual for Authors of Mathematical Papers, Ellen Swanson's Mathematics into Type, and the AMS Style Guide. The basis of this workbook is Chicago and AMS style. The material presented here grew out of a workshop that I have first developed for the PhD program in economics at the University of Vienna in 2009 and that I have since then held for various institutions. 1Two other prominent resources for academic writing are the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (\APA style"), which is commonly used in psychology, the sciences, education, and some areas of the social sciences, and the The MLA|the Modern Language Association|Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, which is widely used in the humanities, especially modern language and literature studies. 5 6 CONTENTS University of Vienna, PhD program in economics, Fall 2009 University of Vienna, PhD program in economics, Spring 2010 University of Vienna, PhD program in economics, Fall 2010 University of Vienna, PhD program in economics, Spring 2011 University of Vienna, PhD program in economics, Fall 2011 University of Vienna, PhD program in economics, Spring 2012 University of Vienna, Doctoral School, Fall 2012 Vienna Business School, Doctoral School, Fall 2012 University of Vienna, Central and South-East European PhD Network, Fall 2016 University of Vienna, Central and South-East European PhD Network, Fall 2017 University of Vienna, Central and South-East European PhD Network, Fall 2018 University Panth´eon-Assas,Paris II, Doctoral School, Spring 2019 University of Vienna, Central and South-East European PhD Network, Fall 2019 c Christina Pawlowitsch 2019 Chapter 1 Voice 1.1 How to make yourself write: confidence and routine This chapter addresses: the fear of not knowing enough { writer's block { confidence { routine { the sound of your voice Reading 1 • Ernest Hemingway, A Movable Feast, 11{13. • Jonathan Lethem talks with Paul Auster. In Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers, 25{42. Discussion - What do these writers say about routine? Discipline? What do they tell us about methods to keep the process going? - What do they say about the subconscious|their own and that of the reader? - What do they tell us about identity? Trust? - \Do not worry," Hemingway says he would tell himself: 7 8 CHAPTER 1. VOICE \You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is to write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know." So finally I would write one true sentence, and then go on from there. (Hemingway, Movable Feast, 12) What can be truth in fiction writing? What is the implication of that for academic writing? Research? - What does Hemingway say about reading? And looking? - Auster says: I can even hear the words being written. So much of the effort that goes into writing prose for me is about making sentences that capture the music that I'm hearing in my head. It takes a lot of work, writing, and rewriting to get the music exactly the way you want it to be. That music is a physical force. Not only do you write books physically, but you read books physically as well. There's something about the rhythms of language that correspond to the rhythms of our own bodies. An attentive reader is finding meanings in the book that can't be articulated, finding them in his or her own body. (Auster in conversation with Lethem, Believer Book of Writers, 27) Is rhythm important for mathematical writing? How do we talk mathe- matics? - Writers sometimes say that their characters talk to them|that their char- acters pull the story in certain directions, or refuse a path where the writer wanted to take them. Is there something similar going on when we write a research paper? Who are the characters in mathematical writing? Eco- nomics writing? 1.2. CHOICES 9 Workshop 1 At home. Take a piece of writing that you like|an article that is important for your work, that has inspired you, or that has influenced or impressed you in some other way. It does not have to be a paper in your field. Read it and underline all adverbial phrases, like \in addition," \, moreover," \similarly," etc. Write them in a notebook. (Write them down with their surrounding punctuation.) Example: Evidently, ... At the same time, ... In general, though, ... Manifestly, ... By contrast, ... ..., notoriously, ... Clearly, ... Rather, ... ..., better still, ... Of course, ... Similarly, ... ..., however, ... Moreover, ... Instead, ... ..., as usual, ... Finally, ... As a result, ... ... which, at this stage, ... Not surprisingly, ... Nonetheless, ... ..., nevertheless, ... Beyond that, ... As it happens, ... ..., after all, ... Besides, ... ..., too, ... Keep that notebook. Use it to collect words and phrases that seems useful to you or that you just happen to like. 1.2 Choices This chapter addresses: the choices and trade-offs that you face as a writer Reading 2 • Zinsser, \Unity," chap. 8 in On Writing Well, 49{54. Discussion - Zinsser says: 10 CHAPTER 1. VOICE You learn to write by writing. [...] All writing is ultimately a question of solving a problem. It may be a problem of where to obtain the facts or how to organize the material. It may be a problem of approach or attitude, tone or style. Whatever it is, it has to be confronted and solved. In which sense is this similar to what we have heard from Hemingway? - What does Zinsser say about unity and choices? Workshop 2 In class, on the blackboard. This exercise can be used to introduce some of the key concepts that structure the rest of the workshop. Assign a scribe, who should type the transcript at home. Distribute copies of the transcript for everybody at the next meeting. What are the choices that you face when writing a paper? Example: - \I" or \we"? Or \one"? Or avoid the use of any pronoun ? - Which literature to quote? - How to organize references? - For which journal? - What can I assume that the reader knows? - Structure, length, - What to say in the abstract, the introduction, the conclusions? - Tense: \Krugman shows," \has shown," or \showed"? - British or American standards for spelling and punctuation? 1.3. \I" OR \WE," OR \ONE"? 11 This workshop is meant as a guide through some of these choices. The focus is not on what is right and wrong but on the trade-offs between various options. 1.3 \I" or \we," or \one"? This chapter addresses: the choice of pronoun { voice { mood { point of view Workshop 3 Read two of the following five articles: (1) John F. Nash 1950. Equilibrium points in n-person games. Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences of the United States of America 36, 48{49. (2) John C. Harsanyi 1967. Games with incomplete information played by \Bayesian" players. Management Science 14 (3), 159{182. (3) Michael Spence 1973. Job market signaling. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 87, 355{374. (4) Robert Aumann 1976. Agreeing to Disagree. The Annals of Statistics 4, 1236{1239. (5) Ariel Rubinstein 1989. The electronic mail game: strategic behavior under \almost common knowledge." The American Economic Review 79 (3), 385{391. Investigate the following questions: - From which perspective is each of these papers written? Is there an \I" or \we"? Or a \one"? Or does the author avoid the use of any pronoun? Does the author respect unity of pronoun? Who is the voice that is talking? Are the author and the voice that is talking the same? - If there is a we? Who is that we? What are the possible registers, or instances, of we that can appear in a research paper? 12 CHAPTER 1.
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