GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE WRITING

Learning to write well is like learning to swim, drive a car, or play the piano. Improvement is unlikely to result solely from reading about how the activity is to be done. Heeding expert advice, though, can help a person get off to a good start. Thus, one key to writing well is getting critical feedback from writing “coaches”—teachers, friends, editors, and even yourself. Lee Cronbach (1992), author of several of the most widely cited articles in the Psychological Bulletin, summarizes these ideas well.
My advice must be like the legendary recipe for jugged hare, which begins, “First catch your hare.” First, have a message worth delivering. Beyond that, it is care in writing that counts. . . . Rework any sentence that lacks flow or cadence, any sentence in which first-glance reading misplaces the emphasis, and any sentence in which comprehension comes less than instantly to that most knowledgeable of readers, the writer of the sentence. At best, technical writing can aspire to literary virtues—a change of pace from abstract thesis to memorable example, from brisk to easeful, from matter-of-fact to poetic. (p. 391)

Good writing, like good driving, is best done defensively. Assume that what- ever can be misunderstood, will be! To avoid these writing accidents, we offer the following tips to consider before you begin writing.
• KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. If you assume your readers know more than they actually do, you will leave them confused. If you underestimate your readers, you risk boring them with unnecessary details. Either risk increases the likelihood that what you have written will not be read. But if you must err, it is better to underestimate your readers. For example, when you prepare a research report in a psychology class, you might reasonably assume that your intended audience is your instructor. Writing for your instructor might lead you to leave a lot out of your paper because, after all, you assume your instructor knows all that anyway. It would probably be better to consider students in another section of your research methods course as your audience. This might result in your including more detail than necessary, but it will be easier for your instructor to help you learn to “edit out” the nonessential material than to “edit in” essential material that you have omitted. Whatever audience you choose, be sure to make the selection before you begin to write, and keep your audience in mind every step of the way.
• IDENTIFY YOUR PURPOSE. Journal articles fall within the general
category of expository writing. Webster’s Dictionary defines exposition as “discourse designed to convey information or explain what is difficult to understand.” The principal purposes of a journal article are to describe and to convince. You want first to describe what you have done and what you have found and, second, to convince the reader that your interpretation of these results is an appropriate one.
• WRITE CLEARLY. The foundation of good expository writing is clarity
of thought and expression. As Cronbach (1992) commented, “It is care in writing that counts.” You will need to work and rework sentences in order to achieve a smooth and logical flow of your ideas. As the Publication Manual notes (p. 65), “The prime objective of scientific reporting is clear communication.”

• BE CONCISE. If you say only what needs to be said, you will achieve
economy of expression. Short words and short sentences are easier for readers to understand. The best way to eliminate wordiness is by editing your own writing across successive drafts and asking others to edit drafts of your paper.
• BE PRECISE. Precision in using language means choosing the right word
for what you want to say. It requires choosing words that mean exactly what you intend them to mean. For example, in scientific psychology, belief is not the same as attitude; nor are sensations the same as feelings.
• FOLLOW GRAMMATICAL RULES. Adherence to grammatical rules
is absolutely necessary for good writing because failure to do so distracts the reader and can introduce ambiguity. It also makes you, the writer, look bad and, as a consequence, can serve to weaken your credibility (and your argument) with your reader.
• WRITE FAIRLY. As a writer you should also strive to choose words and use constructions that acknowledge people fairly and without bias. The American Psychological Association has outlined its policy regarding bias in the language authors use (Publication Manual, 2010, pp. 71–77):
Scientific writing must be free of implied or irrelevant evaluation of the group or groups being studied. As an organization, APA is committed both to science and to the fair treatment of individuals and groups, and this policy requires that authors who write for APA publications avoid perpetuating demeaning attitudes and biased assumptions about peo- ple in their writing. Constructions that might imply bias of gender, sexual orientation, racial or ethnic group, disability, or age are unacceptable. (pp. 70–71)
The Publication Manual (2010, pp. 71–77) provides important informa- tion to help you achieve unbiased communication. The following is only the briefest introduction based on the guidelines found in the Manual (see also www.apastyle.org):
(a) Describe people at the appropriate level of specificity. For exam- ple, the phrase men and women is more accurate than the generic term man when referring to human adults. “Chinese Americans” or “Mexican Americans” would be a more specific reference for research participants than would be Asian Americans or Hispanic Americans.
(b) Be sensitive to labels when referring to people, for example, when using terms to refer to people’s racial or ethnic identity. The best way to follow this guideline is to avoid labeling people whenever possible and use wording that preserves participants’ individuality. For ex- ample, rather than talk about the amnesiacs or the demented, a better op- tion is to refer to “amnesic patients” or “those in a dementia group.” A label that is perceived by the labeled group as pejorative should never be used. In trying to follow this guideline, it is important to remember that preferences for labeling groups of individuals change with time and that people within a group may disagree about what label is preferred. For example, although some persons indigenous to North America may prefer to be called “Native North Americans,” others may prefer “Indians,” and still others might wish to be called by their specific group name, for example, Navajo, or even more ap- propriately using their native language, Diné instead of Navajo, for instance.
(c) Write about people in a way that clearly identifies your study’s par- ticipants. One way to accomplish this is to describe participants using more descriptive terms such as college students or children rather than the more impersonal term, subjects. Active voice is better than pas- sive voice in acknowledging participation. For example, “the students completed the survey” is preferred over “the survey was adminis- tered to the students.”