Creswell Did Not Write About You: Common Mistakes in Citing 'I' Statements
At the Writing Center, we often comment on sentences like
these:
During the
analysis phase of my qualitative study, I will organize data into themes
(Creswell, 2012).
Counselor
Smith should not engage in a romantic relationship with her former patient Fred
because it has been just 2 years since Fred’s treatment ended (American
Counseling Association, 2005).
In the example sentences above, the student clearly wants to use information from a source, but that
information is getting jumbled with his own actions (the first example) and an assigned
scenario (the second example). Because of the parenthetical citation, he is implying
that he read about himself in the Creswell book and about Counselor Smith in
the American Counseling Association’s Code
of Ethics. Creswell did not write about this student in his book, however,
and the Code of Ethics did not
discuss Counselor Smith specifically. As writers, we often create these types of sentences when trying to justify the procedures of our study, the actions in our classroom or
hospital, or the decision we would make in a particular case. To avoid
confusing readers, we need to revise.
Separation Equals Clarity
To revise sentences like the examples above, first revisit the information. Return to the source and ask yourself, What exactly does Creswell say about themes? What exactly does the American Counseling Association mandate about romantic relationships? Write the information down in an isolated sentence, removed from what you as the author are doing or advocating. Then, in the next sentence, add your action or claim and show how it relates to the information.Example revisions:
Creswell (2012) stated that data should be organized into
themes in qualitative studies. Therefore, I will assign specific colors
to themes and code interviewee responses accordingly.
According to the American Counseling Association (2005),
counselors are not permitted to have relationships with past patients until 5
years after the professional contact. Fred’s treatment ended just 2 years ago,
so it is not ethical for Counselor Smith to begin a romantic relationship with
him.
[No citation is needed in the second sentences because they are the author’s own explanations.]
[No citation is needed in the second sentences because they are the author’s own explanations.]
Placement Is Everything
If you want to be more nuanced with your writing, you can
try to put the source information and your application all in the same sentence.
Just be careful to place the citation in a way that tells the reader what information
is from the source.
Example revisions:
Qualitative data should be organized into themes (Creswell,
2012), so I will assign specific colors to themes and code interview responses
accordingly.
[Notice how the Creswell citation goes immediately after the information from that source. There is no citation with the “I” part of the sentence.]
In accordance with the American Counseling Association’s (2005)
rules about relationships, Counselor Smith is not permitted to have a romantic
relationship with her former patient Fred.
[In combining everything into one sentence, this example loses a lot of its detail. You might find that using two sentences allows you to fully express both the evidence and your explanation.]
Do you have similar sentences in your own writing? Help us
gather more examples, and we’ll help you revise them. Just leave your examples in
the comments!
Writing Instructor and Coordinator of Undergraduate Writing Initiatives Hillary Wentworth is attending a writing retreat this month. We look forward to hearing about her experiences when she returns!
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Thank you, this information will improve my writing greatly.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear it! Thanks for your comment!
DeleteI've always liked this post. Could you also explain the use of (See Author, year) and (e.g. Author, year). Would these be helpful in situations as described here in this "Creswell did not write about you" blog post? Thanks in advance for your reply!
ReplyDelete~Dr. Harland
Thanks for this helpful comment, Dr. Harland. I think these would be very useful in this situation. When a writer wants to indicate where a reader can access background information on a particular source, the writer can use a general citation like the ones you mentioned above.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to read a sentence that contained this type of citation, I would assume that the information didn't come directly from this source, but instead was informed by the source. It might look something like this: "The methodology for this project is qualitative in nature because those methods are best for capturing nuanced, subjective data (see Creswell, 2012)."
As you mentioned, I think this would be a wonderful option for a writer to show the reader by which sources their statements were informed.
A word of caution: I scoured the APA Manual looking for a specific rule/guideline that confirmed how to use "see" and "e.g." within citations. Unfortunately I could not find the official APA stance. Depending on the writing situation, writers may be asked to revise/omit this type of citation if it doesn't adhere to a particular publication's style guidelines. To be safe, always inquire with your editor/instructor when you can't confirm a specific APA rule.
Dr. Harland: were you able to locate the specific APA guideline that explains this nuance? If so, please share! And thanks again for your comment!