0:00
This video is brought to you by eapfoundation.com, the website for all your academic English
0:05
needs. In the video on what is academic writing, we looked at different features of academic
0:09
writing, namely that it is structured, evidenced, critical, precise, balanced, objective and
0:17
formal. This video will focus on just one of those aspects, namely objectivity in academic
0:23
writing. We'll look at three areas. First we'll answer the question, what is objective
0:28
writing? Then we'll consider how objective academic writing actually is. Then in the
0:33
main part of the video we'll see different ways to write objectively. First then, what
0:38
is objective writing? So objective writing places the emphasis on information and arguments
0:49
And it can be contrasted with subjective writing, which relates to personal feelings, personal
0:56
experience and therefore shows your personal biases. Since objective writing is the opposite
1:02
of personal writing, it's often described as impersonal writing. It tends to use third
1:07
person pronouns, it, he, she, they, them, unlike subjective writing which uses first
1:14
person pronouns, I, we, my, or sometimes second person pronouns, you and your. Next let's
1:23
consider how objective academic writing is. To some extent this depends on the discipline
1:34
If we're talking about natural sciences such as biology or chemistry or physics, objective
1:39
writing is essential. For these subjects the writer is seen as an impartial observer with
1:44
no emotional connection to what they're writing about. It's easy to be objective for these
1:49
subjects because they deal with quantitative data, in other words numbers. A more subjective
1:56
tone may be acceptable in some disciplines, especially naturalist research that seeks
2:01
to study things in their natural environment, for example by using case studies. Subjectivity
2:06
is of course essential for reflective writing, which is used increasingly as a form of assessment
2:11
at university. Finally let's take a look at how to write objectively. There are five
2:21
different ideas we'll consider here. First, use passive voice. Second, focus on the evidence
2:28
Third, use evidence from sources. Fourth, use impersonal phrases. And finally, personify
2:36
the writing. When people think about objective writing, the use of passive is normally the
2:42
first thing that comes to mind. This removes the actor from the sentence. Most expert academic
2:48
writers would agree that passive should not be overused. An active voice is preferred
2:53
wherever possible. However, sometimes this is unavoidable. For example, if you're writing
2:57
the method of a report, you'll normally need to use passive in order to avoid first person
3:02
pronouns. For example, rather than I conducted the experiment, we can make the experiment
3:08
the subject. The experiment was conducted. And that uses passive. In the second sentence
3:15
we don't know who conducted the experiment. We assume it's the impartial observer. And
3:20
the focus therefore is very much the experiment itself. A second example, rather than I measured
3:26
the length of the string with a ruler, we make the length of the string the subject
3:31
The length of the string was measured using a ruler. So again, this is passive. And the
3:37
actor, the impartial observer, has been removed from the sentence. When studying passive for academic writing, it's useful to be aware of a special class
3:46
of verb called ergative verbs. These are used without the actor, but also without using
3:52
passive voice. Sometimes ergative is referred to as the middle voice between active and
3:57
passive. Examples of ergative verbs, which can be used quite commonly in academic writing
4:01
are dissolve, increase, decrease, lower, and start. For example, the white powder dissolved
4:10
in the liquid. So even though the white powder is not doing the dissolving, we don't need
4:15
to use passive, because dissolve is an ergative verb. Another example, the tax rate increased
4:21
in 2010. So here we use increased, not was increased. A third example, construction work
4:28
started six months ago. Those are just a few examples. There's actually many ergative
4:33
verbs, and you can find more of those in a more detailed explanation on the website
4:40
So that's use of passive. Let's turn now to focusing on the evidence. So here we make
4:44
the evidence the subject of the sentence. So in other words, results, data, research
4:50
figures, and so on. And this generally uses active voice. For example, the findings show
4:57
The data illustrate. Data is actually a Latin plural, so that uses plural verb. The graph
5:03
displays. The literature indicates. The conclusions are. So by making the evidence the subject
5:11
of the sentence, we can avoid using I, but retain the active voice
5:17
Thirdly, use evidence from sources. So citing sources is an essential part of academic writing
5:24
and intake citations usually use the third person, which we saw as a feature of objective
5:28
writing, and are normally in the active voice. For example, Newbold, 2021, shows that this
5:34
is not always the case. He further demonstrates the relationship between. Another example
5:41
Green and Atwood, 2013, suggest that. So these are author-date citations, as used by APA
5:48
and Harvard. Although a similar method works for other referencing systems, such as MLA
5:53
So the authors being cited are the subject of the sentence, and the verb is in the active voice
6:00
Another common way to make your writing objective is by using impersonal phrases. This generally
6:05
means constructions with the word it and the word there, and these are often used with
6:10
hedges, which softens the information, and boosters, which strengthen the information. Hedges and boosters are a way to show the strength of your feeling about a topic without
6:20
using emotive language, which is very subjective and should be avoided in academic writing
6:24
For example, it is clear that, so that's a phrase with it, which uses a booster, clear
6:31
It appears that, another phrase with it, which uses a hedge, appear. And those mean the same
6:37
thing as I believe that, or we must. So for example, rather than I believe that this is
6:43
harmful for health, and we must avoid it, we can say it appears that this is harmful
6:48
for health and should be avoided. Or if we want to be stronger, we can say it is clear
6:53
that this is harmful for health and must be avoided. A couple of other examples, this time using the word there, rather than I have identified
7:03
three reasons for this, we can say there are three reasons for this. And rather than this
7:10
is a terrible idea, which is very emotive, we can say there are several disadvantages
7:16
to this approach, which is not emotive and would be much more objective
7:21
Finally, we can personify the writing. So personify means to treat something as if it
7:27
were human, as if it were a person. And in this case we make the writing, the essay
7:32
the report and so on, the subject of the sentence. For example, rather than I will consider the
7:37
role of diesel emissions in global warming, we can say this essay will consider the role
7:43
of diesel emissions in global warming. Rather than I have shown that, we can say this report
7:51
has shown that. So by personifying the writing and making it the subject of the sentence
7:56
we again avoid the use of I and also keep the sentence in the active rather than the
8:01
passive voice. So in this video we've seen what objective writing is, we've considered how objective
8:11
academic writing is, and we've also seen five ways to write objectively, by using passive
8:16
focusing on the evidence, using evidence from sources, using impersonal phrases, and by
8:21
personifying the writing. For more information on this and other topics, please visit the
8:26
website eapfoundation.com, where you can also find a worksheet for this and other videos
