Abstract
Sociology has had classes on writing, a newsletter devoted to improving sociological writing, a remarkable number of books on writing, and special writing issues of sociological journals. Still, helping both sociology students and professional sociologists write more effectively continues to be seen as a major problem for the discipline. This brief essay suggests that four lessons drawn from the arts can improve the writing of sociologists and our students. First, sociologists must recognize the centrality of audience and develop their writing with specific audiences in mind. Second, a lesson drawn from the ceramics studio shows the power of sharply sculpting and focusing work. Third, understanding that research reporting is telling a story allows sociologists to draw on some traditional devices of storytellers to craft more powerful and effective writing. Finally, a phrase (“close enough for jazz”) from musical ensembles acknowledges the importance of avoiding unreasonable delay in presenting one’s work.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bartkowski, J., Deem, C., & Ellison, C. (2015). Publishing in academic journals: strategic advice for doctoral students and academic mentors. The American Sociologist, 46(1), 99–115.
Becker, H. S. (2007a). Writing for social scientists (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Becker, H. S. (2007b). Telling about society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Cowley, M. (1956). Sociological habit patterns in linguistic transmogrification. The Reporter, 15(4), 41–43.
Edwards, M. E. (2012). Writing in sociology. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Harris, A., & Tyner-Mullings, A. (2013). Writing for emerging sociologists. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Hillsman, S. T. (2013). Should graduate sociology programs teach academic writing? And if so, how? Footnotes, 41(8), 2–3.
Johnson, W. A., Rettig, R., Scott, G., & Garrison, S. (2010). The sociology student writer’s manual (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Lupton, D. (2015). Digital sociology. London: Routledge.
Roy, W. G. (2013). What’s distinctive about teaching writing to sociology students? Footnotes, 41(5), 8.
Schmidt, J., Hooper, M., & Wysocki, D. K. (2003). Six steps to effective writing in sociology. Belmont: Wadsworth.
Sociology Writing Group. (2014). A guide to writing sociology papers (7th ed.). New York: Worth.
Vaughan, D. (1988). Intimate work: teaching sociologists to write. Teaching Sociology, 16(3), 275–278.
Yellin, L. L. (2009). A sociology writer’s guide. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Acknowledgments
The author thanks Dan Farrell, Steve Kroll-Smith, and Tom Van Valey for their comments on a draft of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Petersen, J.C. Writing Sociology, Personal Reflections on What the Arts Can Teach Us. Am Soc 48, 208–214 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12108-016-9326-9
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12108-016-9326-9