2.3 Learning more Consider your main use for the PC, and check that you have the skills or knowledge you need. Although some students use spreadsheets and databases, the key skills for most students are: word processing study notes and assignments; searching for information on the web; using conferencing and email. If you feel you need to know more about using your computer there are a number of options open to you.
3.2 Using diagrams of your own choice and design This option is the most challenging and most rewarding, as it clearly shows that you have explored and analysed the source material and reworked it for yourself. In many cases, the source material may not contain any diagrams, simply text or numbers, perhaps expressed as a table. Alternatively, you may have had to make some specific observations or undertake an experiment to produce your own data. In this case, you may be expected to produce a diagram to enhance or improve your assignment. If
3.1 Using diagrams from course materials or other sources So far in this unit we have been looking at how you can improve your understanding of other people's texts and diagrams. I have shown you some study techniques that you can use to ‘translate’ text into diagrams and diagrams into meaningful text. However, this discussion has been focused on what you can do for yourself. At some point, you'll have to produce assignments that require, or will be enhanced by, the use of diagrams. One of the first decisions you'll face is whether to use an exi
2.2 Reading diagrams When you're studying, following the sense of a piece of text may not be straightforward. Often, you'll need to rewrite the text as notes or a diagram. Equally, some diagrams will need careful reading, and you'll have to make notes or draw other diagrams. So, how can we read different types of diagrams? 2.1 Analysing text Some people find it easy to use diagrams in their studies. But I realise that there are others who don't take to diagrams at all enthusiastically. If this is how you feel, please read what follows, as I am convinced that everyone can get something from using diagrams to help their thinking. However, if after working through these sections, you still believe that diagramming as an aid to studying is ‘not for you’, then don't force yourself into an approach that doesn't suit y 5.1.11 Religious Studies
Hinnells, J. R. (ed.) (1995) A New Dictionary of Religions, Oxford, Blackwell. 5.1.9 Music
Blom, E., revised by Cumings, D. (eds) (1991) The New Everyman Dictionary of Music, London, Dent.
Isaacs, A., and Martin, E. (eds) (1982) Dictionary of Music, London, Sphere. 5.1.5 English Language
McArthur, T. (ed.) (1992) The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford, Oxford University Press. 5.1.4 History There is no general dictionary or companion to the study of history as such. However, there are period and subject-specific companions and indexes, such as:
Jones, C. (1990) The Longman Companion to the French Revolution, London, Longman. Consult those appropriate to your course. 3.7 Writing clearly A final point that emerged from our analysis of Philip's and Hansa's essays was that a good essay is easy to read. Grand-sounding phrases and elaborate sentences do not make an essay impressive. Clarity and economy are what count. Such ease of reading is achieved at several levels. 3.6 Taking an objective, analytical stance One of the things I said an essay should be is ‘objective’. What does that mean? Being objective about something means standing back from it and looking at it coolly. It means focusing your attention on the ‘object’, on what you are discussing, and not on yourself and your own (subjective) feelings about it. Your ideas should be able to survive detailed inspection by other people who are not emotionally committed to them. An essay should argue by force of reason, not emot 2.5.4. Choosing the right words and phrases Both Philip and Hansa occasionally use words and phrases that don't really do the job they want. We saw, for instance, that Philip uses the word ‘resemblance’ when actually he means ‘contrast’. Here are some other examples from his writing. 2.3.1 The title The first thing I noticed about Philip's essay is that although it begins with a title it is not the one he was given. This immediately creates two problems. If I were Philip's tutor I would find it difficult to weigh up his essay against the challenge he was actually set. The title he has made up is not a good one, so it weakens his essay from the outset. Philip's title doesn't pose a question for him to answe 2.1 A lack of insight? One of the curious things about learning to write essays is that you are seldom offered much insight into what you might be setting out to produce. You know only too well what your essays look like and what your tutor says about them, but you don't know what else you might have done. For instance, you have very little idea what other people's essays are like and what comments they get back. Perhaps you are told your essay ought to be ‘more structured’ or ‘less subjective†1.4 Conclusion The aim of this unit has been to try to draw together work on numbers and text, and to try to be helpful to those who, like me, find numbers and statistics rather unapproachable. Evidence is used in social science to convince us of the value of a claim, and is a crucial element in our evaluation of theoretical perspectives. 1.3.7 Summary We can learn to use writing of all sorts as evidence by practising how to interpret it and by becoming aware of the conventions attached to its primary purpose for example as personal testimony, journalism, commercially produced material, such as market research and academic writing as well as material produced specifically through research such as interview data. When approaching a piece of writing:  1.3.6 Stage 4: Extracting the information You probably feel that you now have all the information the piece of writing contains or that you need, but now we need to categorise the information it contains and to look for connections with our own social scientific concerns. This is the difficult bit, and we don't expect you to be expert at it yet.
1.3.2 Stages in reading qualitative evidence As with numbers, we need to approach qualitative evidence systematically and with purpose, and not just assume we know what it means. 1.3.1 What evidence are we reading? Social scientists use particular methods to gather qualitative evidence, from observation to interview, but they also use autobiographical accounts, journalism, and other documentary material to flesh out and add meaning to statistics. As with reading numbers, reading textual evidence requires us to practise, to set time aside to learn how to do it, and to understand the conventions of writing which operate in the different forms of writing we encounter. One of the main pr 1.2.4 Stage 2: Find a way in It's easy to be distracted by the surface appearance of a diagram, but we are really interested in the underlying message. This is rather like the distinction made between the content and context reading of photographs. Once you are sure that you know what the main heading means, focus on a particular element and think it through. If it is a bar chart, for instance, pick on one of the bars and tell yourself what it represents, what it is telling you. Is it showing a percentage or a total? Wha
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