How to write an essay for Social Science Workshops for AID students Academic year 2010/11

Thursday 7 October: 1 st workshop How to write an essay for social science Wednesday 13 October: submission of trial essay 1,000 words (excluding biblio, including footnotes) Thursday 21st October: 2 nd workshop Feedback on the trial essay

Trial Essay To improve writing skills, AID students will be requested to submit a 1,000 word mock essay by Wednesday 13 October, 4.00 pm [box in Barbara’s office, 4 th floor] While for real essay submission you will be requested to submit two copies plus an electronic copy, just for the trial essay you should submit only one copy Just for the trial essay there won’t be any need to submit the plagiarism form. This essay will be marked but this mark won’t count towards the other ‘real’ essays and for your final overall grade. You will receive just an indicative grade with some feedback.

Title: Are MDGs helping or hindering development in Africa? Requested readings: Easterly W. (2009) ‘How the Millennium Development Goals are unfair to Africa’ in World Development, issue 1, vol. 37, pp [online article] Fukuda-Parr S. (2004) ‘Millennium Development Goals: Why They Matter’ in Global Governance, vol. 10, pp [online article]

Writing for Social Science A social science essay must have: a title, an introduction, a main section, a conclusion and a list of references Importance on the emphasis on the use of evidence to evaluate arguments and the use of theory to build accounts Questions Claims Evidence Interpret and Evaluate

Six principal stages Reading and understanding the question Identifying the relevant material Making sense of an essay plan Writing a first draft Reviewing the first draft, maybe write a second one Writing a final version Remember: realistic time management is central to effective essay writing!!

Introduction Introductions tell the reader what your essay is about. How simple is that! When to write the introduction? (some people need it for a guidance from the beginning, some others prefer to finalize it once the rest of the essay is complete) How long it should be? (good intro are short, between 5 and 10 per cent of the total length) What should tell the reader? (identify subject; highlighting major debates behind the question; identify essay key argument).

Writing the main section Structuring your argument (select your material and relate this back to the essay question) Using evidence to support your argument (sources, theories, data, examples) Adding weight to your argument (using relevant and short quotations, extremely relevant references) Communicating your argument Key thing: Be critical!!

Writing conclusions Primary job of a conclusion is to provide a final condensed version of your essay’s core argument and thereby to summarize the key debates raised by the question The conclusion should reiterate the introduction, having a clear link with it Conclusion should be concise and effective (no longer than 10% of your essay!)

Referencing Use Harvard system (you could use footnotes but be consistent, do not mix up) Using Harvard system you should give abbreviation reference in text and full details in bibliography at the end of the text Abbreviated references in text: author’s surname, publication date and page number/s if applicable [always with quotations] example: (Bompani, 2006, pp ) Full references at the end of the text in bibliography, better if listed alphabetically

Full reference in biblio for a single author book are written: author’s surname and initials, publications date, title (in italic), place of publication and publisher References to chapters and journal articles are slightly different; for example Bompani B. (2006) ‘Mandela Mania’ in Third World Quarterly, vol. 26, issue 4 Harvard ref. system: ard_referencing.PDF

Plagiarism Plagiarism means stealing someone else’s work!! The university of Edinburgh takes plagiarism very seriously and deliberate plagiarism will result in disciplinary action The University's policy, and a statement of the steps which the University will take in plagiarism cases is at the following location: /Intro.htm

Remember: Two word-processed copies for each assessment and an electronic version should be submitted to the Graduate School office (1.21 CMB) by the assigned deadlines. Each copy should have a cover sheet with your examination number (but not your name), the course title, your essay title and an exact count of the number of words. Submit a plagiarism form. Cover sheets and plagiarism forms are available in the reception area of the Graduate School office (first floor)

In short: discussing topics with tutors reading and understanding the question answering the question using and engaging with literature referencing and quoting presentation/editing/language (plain English) penalties; no extension, be aware of deadlines!! make it interesting!!