The Defenestrator
AesophDarkfable
Warlord
5628 Posts
    
 | | 02/13/2006 5:02 PM |
| So I am sitting here looking at an article I am sending off to a journal for publishing consideration this week, and there is one freaking sentence that is eating me alive. Ive started at it more or less for 4 hours now, and I just cannot think of what I should replace it with, but all I know is it has to go, there is no way it will get published with that sentence. These are the types of things that drives a man to insanity. Like Seinfeld said: "You know, Schumann went mad from that." So here is an off topic post of rambling.
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wolfsbane114
Warrior
327 Posts
| | 02/13/2006 5:07 PM |
| | Well whats the sentence? | |
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The Defenestrator
AesophDarkfable
Warlord
5628 Posts
| | 02/13/2006 5:11 PM |
| Its in-consequential really, its just a small rambling on the nature of things that cause insanity. The sentence though is simply a statement in the introduction of my paper that looks fine, except it has 1) no empirical basis and thus a hollow statement, and 2) if I were to find a poll that gives it an empirical leg to stand on, it undercuts my reason for the paper (which is that computer hacking and computer hackers are events/people that are very difficult to quanitify and thus we should focus less on quantification but on the social construction process used by the media, government, academics, and other claimsmakers).
So the simple answer (if there ever is truly a simple answer) is to remove it. But removing it is seeming more difficult than should be. | |
Im out- find me on Hordelings if you want to chat. | |
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Scarecrow
Sergeant
788 Posts
| | 02/13/2006 7:37 PM |
| | Probably going to say what you already know, but as a writer it is very easy to stress over a line in your work. The best thing to do is take a step back from it and look at it in a few days. That, or have someone else go over it for you. Let them see how it works and give you an honest opinion. | |
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johnny.quest
Underboss
1366 Posts
| | 02/13/2006 8:38 PM |
| | It can't be totally hollow if there's some appeal to you. Why not admit to its shakiness and interrogate it a bit in your intro? Maybe pose it as a question. That way your article becomes less of a position and more of a discourse. Just some thoughts ... | | | |
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Most Edumacated
zenthrus
Warlord
5104 Posts
SLC, UT
| | 02/14/2006 12:14 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by johnny.quest
It can't be totally hollow if there's some appeal to you. Why not admit to its shakiness and interrogate it a bit in your intro? Maybe pose it as a question. That way your article becomes less of a position and more of a discourse. Just some thoughts ...
Addressing counterarticles makes for good papers.
Your paper topic sounds similar to what I'm dealing with at the moment: reification in industrial culture. Fun-fun stuff. Sounds as though you're more on the sociological side (while I'm on the "textual" criticism side). | |
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The Defenestrator
AesophDarkfable
Warlord
5628 Posts
| | 02/14/2006 12:22 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by zenthrus
quote:
Originally posted by johnny.quest
It can't be totally hollow if there's some appeal to you. Why not admit to its shakiness and interrogate it a bit in your intro? Maybe pose it as a question. That way your article becomes less of a position and more of a discourse. Just some thoughts ...
Addressing counterarticles makes for good papers.
Your paper topic sounds similar to what I'm dealing with at the moment: reification in industrial culture. Fun-fun stuff. Sounds as though you're more on the sociological side (while I'm on the "textual" criticism side).
Yeah this is a cut down of master thesis for sociology. | |
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Most Edumacated
zenthrus
Warlord
5104 Posts
SLC, UT
| | 02/14/2006 12:23 AM |
| I'm happy I'm in the "textual" criticism field. Sociology profs always want you to back up your claims with hard evidence. English profs don't seem to mind outlandish claims as long as you use big enough words and abstract enough concepts [:D]
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The Defenestrator
AesophDarkfable
Warlord
5628 Posts
| | 02/14/2006 12:28 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by johnny.quest
It can't be totally hollow if there's some appeal to you. Why not admit to its shakiness and interrogate it a bit in your intro? Maybe pose it as a question. That way your article becomes less of a position and more of a discourse. Just some thoughts ...
Well its hollow in the sense that without some form of backing its a meaningless statement. While it is common sense or common knowledge in some ways, that doesn't get you very far in a journal. I use the term hollow as its a turn a prof of mine uses, its often a major problem in undergraduate and even graduate writing that people will say "I find that arguments are sound" but never state why. This is a similar thing, I am making a statement about the nature of society, but the statement has backing. I've just got to rewrite the first paragraph, its really not the biggest deal but I just havent been able to wrap my head around it. It was a line I cannot beleive got through the thesis committee as it is. | |
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johnny.quest
Underboss
1366 Posts
| | 02/14/2006 12:32 PM |
| | I get it. I'm also more on the side of textual criticism, so big words are where it's at. | | | |
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griffrat
Commander
3506 Posts
| | 02/14/2006 12:56 PM |
| If it is a peer review then send it in and let the editors make comments. It is my limited exposure that there will be more than a few set of eyes on the paper.
This will give you the break that you need and a different perspective on the paper when it returns.....That is my two cents on it....good luck | |
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The Defenestrator
AesophDarkfable
Warlord
5628 Posts
| | 02/14/2006 1:20 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by griffrat
If it is a peer review then send it in and let the editors make comments. It is my limited exposure that there will be more than a few set of eyes on the paper.
This will give you the break that you need and a different perspective on the paper when it returns.....That is my two cents on it....good luck
yeah its peer reviewed, but this type of thing can often be the minor difference between a rejected and an RandR (revise and resubmit).. very few articles are accepted outright in Sociology. | |
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griffrat
Commander
3506 Posts
| | 02/14/2006 3:37 PM |
| Funny how there are such subtle differences in science journals and papers. Guess it just goes to show how involved you are and concerned about the sentence and the paper overall. You are the lead author, aren't you.....[:D] Congrats!!!
Is there a mentor that you could bounce the problem off of? Or, is this more your turn to leave the nest?
I think that you have got a good handle on what you want to say and how you want to say it. Maybe you need to take a break leave the lab and relax. I mean when I get stressed out and can't think I usually go work on my D&D game or ride my bike a couple of miles. Those things tend to let me refocus and re-evaluate. Just take a deep breath and it will be alright.....[)] | |
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The Defenestrator
AesophDarkfable
Warlord
5628 Posts
| | 02/14/2006 5:12 PM |
| | Yeah I got it fixed, figured out how to handle it the best. I have a mentor, but hes helped alot already so I wanted to bang this one out myself. Yeah I am the single author on this project. | |
Im out- find me on Hordelings if you want to chat. | |
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griffrat
Commander
3506 Posts
| | 02/14/2006 5:23 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by AesophDarkfable
Yeah I got it fixed, figured out how to handle it the best. I have a mentor, but hes helped alot already so I wanted to bang this one out myself. Yeah I am the single author on this project.
LOL!!
I know what you mean about getting help from your mentor/advisor. At times I feel like I am always underfoot!!! I think that being an advisor is much like being a parent. Sometimes you want to kill the kid and at other times you can't help but want to help....true dichotomy... | |
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