Human Development & Family Studies Library Resources: Writing Guides

"The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects."

This classic text has been in print for over 50 years. Includes chapters on usage, composition, formatting, commonly misused words and expressions, and developing an approach to style (for example: "do not take shortcuts at the cost of clarity" and "use figures of speech sparingly").
The transcribed (HTML) full-text of Strunk's original 1918 edition is available online.

This is a book to help social work, psychology, counseling and other human service students and professionals improve their writing. It is written without the use of complicated grammatical terms or complex rules that often confuse and discourage writers. Because it is written specifically for the human services, it contains chapters with examples on writing student papers, client reports, psychosocial histories, evaluations, professional papers, research reports, papers for mass audiences, requests for funding, letters to the editor, the use of the Internet in helping clients, the privacy rules of HIPAA, and the many other uses of writing by professionals. The book contains an easy-to-use chapter on the rules and application of APA Style and explains, in simple terms, when certain punctuation marks are needed and why the choice of certain words may give incorrect or vague meaning.

This handbook was developed for the Open University, a distance learning school in the United Kingdom. It serves well as an introduction to college-level writing for undergraduate students. Chapters cover overall essay structure, methods for writing the introduction, main section, and conclusion, and how to use references. Examples of both a well-written and poorly constructed essay are included at the end.

The Making Sense series is comprised of four concise, readable guides to research and writing for use by students at all levels of undergraduate study. Designed especially for students in the social sciences, Making Sense in the Social Sciences outlines general principles of grammar, punctuation, usage, and style, and contains guidelines for (and examples of) three different reference styles: MLA, APA, and SSS. Covering such issues as how to conduct sociological research, how to write reports, and how to document sources, it also offers valuable material on current trends in the field and on research ethics. The fourth edition incorporates new material on evaluating Internet sources and avoiding plagiarism, as well as new and updated examples.

An appealing alternative to traditional research texts,The Curious Researcherstands apart for its motivational tone, its conversational style, and its conviction that research writing can be full of rewarding discoveries. Offering a wide variety of examples from writers, this popular guide shows that good research and lively writing do not have to be mutually exclusive.

"Seasoned researchers and educators Gregory G. Colomb and Joseph M. Williams present an updated third edition of their classic handbook, whose first and second editions were written in collaboration with the late Wayne C. Booth. The Craft of Research explains how to build an argument that motivates readers to accept a claim; how to anticipate the reservations of readers and to respond to them appropriately; and how to create introductions and conclusions that answer that most demanding question, So what?" [publisher's description]

Contents: Reviewing the literature : why? for whom? how? -- Searching and screening : the practical screen and methodological quality (part 1 : research design and sampling) -- Searching and screening : methodological quality (part 2 : data collection, interventions, analysis, results, and conclusions) -- Doing the review -- What did you find? : synthesizing results.

"Doing a Literature Review is a practical and comprehensive guide to researching, preparing and writing a literature review, an essential component of research projects. It is an essential tool for postgraduate students but also for undergraduate and novice researchers across the social sciences and humanities." [publisher description]

From the "Pocket guides to social work research methods" series.

Previous editions also available.